"What the fuck is this shit?"
That was Sweet's first thought after running through the door. He had seen his brother disappearing with the fairy, and right after that Mii had struggled from his arms after H. All he could do was to drop another F-bomb and run after her. But almost immediately he had hit a wall. And he was stuck for some reason. He couldn't move his legs or arms.
It smelled horrible everywhere. And he could barely breathe. He tried to pen his eyes and mouth, but nothing happened. Yet he could taste something, but he couldn't think what the taste was. He couldn't hear anything. He tried to move his fingers and he felt something. Whatever it was, it was surrounding him all over. And then it hit him. The taste was dirt. He didn't even bother to think about opening his eyes anymore.
"I'm buried..."
Sweet started to move all his fingers in fast phase. He felt the soil moving between his fingers. In a few painfully long moments he had managed to move his fingers to the position where he could start use his hand properly in order to dig.
"Wait... How the fuck do I know which direction I should dig?"
That was a good question. He had just run through the door and got stuck. So, was he buried standing or laying down? And how did he ended up buried? But then again, he had just seen a fairy, and both H and Mii disappearing into the darkness without a sound. Thinking that Sweet came to the conclusion that nothing would surprise him anymore.
Why his little brother had to be so gosh darn stupid to walk through that door? Even thou Sweet himself had been curious about the door and the whole situation, but after Mii had started to lose herself, he couldn't care less. He had made a promise to take care of her, so curiosity and his brother had to wait. But then that idiot had followed the fairy. And Sweet had no idea where he was buried, and where those two were. Where they buried too? If they were, Mii would be dead already. H too. He couldn't hold his breath like Sweet could.
Sweet realized that he had started dig faster. The thought of his brother and little sister suffocating underground had triggered his panic mode. He just wanted to get out of there. He had to help them. But he couldn't if he'd suffocate too.
"Dig faster, you lazy fuck. You need to get out. You need to save those idiots. You'll be fucked if you let them die!"
Thoughts were looping in Sweet's mind, and with every loop, he started to feel frustrated. Frustration began to turn tears Sweet could feel fighting their way through his closed eyes.
But then, he got surprised, since he heard a faint sound. Sound that reminded of tiny feet. Like his cats trotting to the food bowl. Something was walking on top of him.
Sweet really wanted to yell for help, but he couldn't open his mouth. Instead he continued digging even more frantically now. At the same time the sound above him changed. Whatever was on top him, had started to dig too. Sweet wasn't sure was he relieved or scared at that point. Only thing he knew was that he needed to get out as fast as possible, so he kept on digging.
It felt like an eternity. Sweet had no idea, how much time had passed. He had managed to dig his arms straight up towards the sound. Sound that was now closer to him. Sweet didn't even care what was waiting him on the other side. He just wanted to get out. Suddenly he felt something hard with his fingers. And his fingers started to hurt. Something had cut them.
He grabbed the thing with his fingertips, but whatever it was, pulled itself away. Sweet was swearing and cursing everything in his mind, and he was ready to rip a new one for the first living thing he'd see. But then he felt warm air on his fingertips. Something was sniffing them. Sweet waved his hand, and whatever had just been sniffing his fingers, started to dig carefully around his hand. It' didn't take long for his right hand to be completely unburied from wrist up. Sweet felt relieved. Now he had some idea of the depth, and he was able to somewhat rotate his arm, creating more room for his arm to move, as his helper was digging around it.
After few moments his helper moved away. It sounded like it had moved somewhere above Sweet's left ear. Digging noises came from his left side. Unfortunately, Sweet couldn't dig anymore. His left hands fingers had found the surface, and his right arm was now in a position he couldn't use it anymore for digging. But whatever was helping him, was doing a good job, since it didn't take long for Sweet to feel warm sniffing on his left ear.
"If you could just free my right arm, that would be fucking great...!"
Sweet was again surprised. Since his helper had moved back to digging his right arm out. It didn't take long for Sweet to be able to move his arm properly. His elbow was freed, so he immediately started to grab the dirt around his ear. He heard his helper moving again around his ear. Sweet felt even more relieved. It shouldn't take long to get his face out from the dirt.
Air on his face had never felt that good. Sweet took a long, deep breath and then carefully opened his eyes. At first everything was pitch black, but the more he blinked, the more he could see. He could see dirt and soil around his face. He could see his right hand and arm. And then he finally saw his helper.
It looked like an armadillo, but it had short ears and snout, and the shape of its head reminded him more of a lizard than an armadillo. But whatever that thing was, Sweet was happy that it wasn't something that would want to murder and eat him immediately. Or in all honesty, he couldn't tell yet.
"Do you wanna murder and eat me?" Sweet asked the armadillo-creature, which just tilted its head, and moved to dig the soil around Sweet's left hand. "So, was that a yes, or a no?" Sweet laughed and started to toss the soil away around his face.
Once his both arms were free, it didn't take long until he was fully free. He sat up in the silly looking man sized whole he had dig with his armadillo helper. Sweet was exhausted, so he was just sitting and panting. He seemed to be in some sort of huge animal burrow. The smell was horrible; there were piles of feces here and there, some dried up leaves and grass, sticks, pebbles and even couple of roots growing in the ceiling. He had bare room to sit straight up properly. Before his eyes he could see a tiny tunnel.
He was finally free. For some reason he was butt naked, his hair wasn't tied anymore, and he didn't have his pendant, which made him furious inside. But he had to find his brother and sister. The reason for his vanishing belongings could wait.
He looked at the armadillo, and since it hadn't murdered him, at least yet, he asked it:
"Hey, buddy. You think you could use that nose of yours and find two missing ones?"
Armadillo looked at him, tilting its head, then it turned around and started to trot towards the tunnel. Sweet snorted and shook his head while crawling up from his grave. He crawled after the armadillo. The more he crawled, the fresher the air turned. And again, after a few moments that felt like eternity, Sweet could see light at the end of the tunnel.
Sweet crawled out from the tunnel and stood up. The air was fresh and warm, and he felt sun on his skin. He couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed summer sun like that, at that moment. Once his eyes got used to the light, he started to look around him.
He was standing at the edge of a forest. A conifer forest, with tiny birches here and there. Before him he could see a green field, and behind the field, solid rock with conifer forest. He could smell wind blowing from the sea. But he didn't bother to think about the sea, since there was moment on the field. He wasn't sure, but it looked like there were sheep on the field. And a sheep dog. Or at least Sweet thought it was a dog. But what he could see from the edge of the forest, the "dog" had tiger stripes. There was also someone with the dog.
Sweet heard a voice. A woman's voice. She was singing beautifully. Sweet's heart skipped a beat, since his first thought was Mii. Mii had a beautiful voice. He started to run towards the singing woman. He had completely forgot his armadillo helper, who now was trotting after him, confused.
"Hey! Missy!" Sweet yelled. The woman stopped singing, and turned to look at him. And then she screamed. Dog started to bark and growl, and as soon as the woman started to scream, the dog leaped forwards, towards Sweet.
"Oh, fuck..." Sweet muttered and stopped. He just remembered that he was naked. The dog was going to attack him. Cold sweat had started to roll down from his forehead. Sweet didn't have any time to think, mostly because he heard rustling and tumbling noises behind his back. What he saw next was both unbelievably epic and hilarious at the same time.
His armadillo helper was rolling extremely fast between his legs towards the dog. Somehow the armadillo ball was jumping towards the dog, hit its snout and then landed on its feet before the dog in full battle stance, like a superhero it was.
The dog was backing towards the young woman, whimpering. The woman was sobbing, staring at Sweet, completely frozen. Sweet took few steps and grabbed his armadillo helper, and lifted it to cover his crotch.
"I am terribly sorry, miss. I just realized that my current state has startled you, and believe me, I don't blame you! But not to crush your self-esteem, I do not want to have my way with you, I just want to know, what happened to me, where I am, and where are my siblings." Sweet explained.
The woman was staring at him, still sobbing a bit. Her dog had returned to her side, still growing and staring at the armadillo, with daggers its eyes. Armadillo was snarling back at the dog. The woman swallowed and took a deep breath. Sweet sighed.
"Really, I'm not going to hurt you. I just need some help Do you understand me?" There was frustration in Sweet's voice, he couldn't help it. "I need to find my family! They might be in danger!"
The woman took a deep breath again. She opened her mouth, and as she started to talk with her incredibly beautiful voice, Sweet finally noticed how pretty she was. She was wearing brown simple dress and white apron. Her eyes were like sapphires, and her long blonde hair was braided like pigtails. Her skin was really pale.
"Hell fucking yes, I got scared. How the fuck I was supposed react?! Seeing some dirty homeless looking man running towards you with his pine cone dick hanging out? And that vicious burrower attacking my dog! I had no fucking chance to defend myself in the worst-case scenario since the closest source of water is the fuck that a way at the shore, and my lazy ass familiar is sleeping again!"
There was a long silence after the woman stopped talking. Sweet was staring at her with mouth open, half smiling. Even the armadillo had stopped snarling and was now perfectly still in Sweet's hands.
"Come again?" Sweet laughed. That was something he didn't expect. "You're not some generic sweet and innocent farm girl, I see."
"Well, sorry to crush your prejudice, but no. I might not be the most powerful witch in this shit hole town, but I think that with better surroundings, I could beat that pale ass of yours!" the woman hissed him back. She untied her apron and threw it to Sweet. "Here, cover that literal shame of yours and get your sorry ass moving. I have some sheep to herd before I can help you."
The woman started to sing again, and all the animals started to follow her. Sweet was still staring at her with that unbelieving half smile on his face. Then he looked at his armadillo helper.
"I like her!"
Sweet dropped his armadillo helper to the ground and grabbed the apron. He tied it around his waist, and started to follow the woman, the armadillo trotting next to him.
"What's your name, ice queen?" Sweet yelled. The woman slowly turned his head, and her angelic singing voice caused goosebumps for Sweet.
"Beira."