Despite his prior claim, the most Fen could do to attempt to survive was to hang on as long as possible, keep moving, and hope for a miracle.
Another few painful hours passed. Fen figured he hadn't got much left in him - maybe a few hours before dehydration truly incapacitated him.
Another hour passed. Fen's mind began to wander even further, his mind occasionally drifting out of consciousness before being jolted back awake.
Another hour passed. Fen persisted.
Salvation came in the form of a broad-shouldered, friendly yet naive looking man.
The man saw Fen first - his eyes seemingly more adjusted to the darkness than Fen. Drawing his sword from a low-hanging scabbard, he moved closer to Fen cautiously.
"I'm human" was all Fen could rasp.
Fen had no idea if the man was friend or foe. Truthfully, Fen didn't even think he was a man, it seemed much more likely to be some kind of hellish creature simply imitating one - it wasn't like Fen was going to be able to evade him though, so praying for an ally was all he could do.
Sheathing his sword, the man moved further still, this time reaching into a backpack and bringing out a bottle of water and tossing it to Fen.
"Here, you look like you need it"
Wasting no time, Fen viciously tore the cap off. Bringing it up to his dry lips, he began to gulp the celestial aqua as fast as possible - it was bliss.
It didn't take long for the bottle to run dry.
A slight smile playing onto his shadowy face, the man grabbed another and threw it forwards.
Fen caught it, and immediately downed it yet again. This time, Fen was more or less satiated by it, and he brought his eyes up to meet the man's.
"Thanks. If you don't mind me asking though, who are you and how did you get here".
"Ah, you're certainly cautious - as one should be, certainly. The names Thorwess, but my friends just call me Thor. As for why I'm here, it was for the grimoires rumored to of been lost in these caves - surely you've heard of it after all? I came in here with a party, 5 of us. I-I'm …
the only one left. We were attacked by a horrific creature, one who seemed to dwell in the shadows. We're decently strong supernaturals, at least compared to the average, but it was completely overpowering. I managed to escape and was forced down further into the tunnel, looking for another way out or perhaps for someone like you".
The man's face lit up slightly.
"I suppose if you want we could team up!"
***
It had been bored for years now.
Nothing to do, nobody to be, nothing to learn.
After a while, it began to fade. A forgotten idea, something lost to the wind.
That was until the humans came.
Five close, friendly, certainly experiences humans.
The first one, a woman in her thirty's was a disappointment. She really ought to of gone outside more!
The second one wasn't too bad. He'd struggled for longer, and was an older gentleman, clearly well-learned.
The third and fourth went down together. They were awful! Truly, life was unfair.
The fifth though, the fifth was truly a boon. So many memories, so many extreme of terror, of sadness, of ecstasy - and the relationships! There were simply too many to count, extroverts were truly always the best.
It feasted.
Before long, it found itself wandering lazily towards no particualar goal - It had to enjoy its meal first!
The tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly, but it knew that it wouldn't take long to reach the familiar cave it had seen so long, long ago.
On the way however, there was a little surprise!
A gaunt young man staggered forward, clearly on the verge of death - dehydration, it looked like.
What a funny word. Most words were somewhat new to it, after all it had only been walking for a few days by now - it prided itself on being a quick learner however!
It tossed a bottle of water to the young man before letting the man's memories take over, a story of a naive man and his unfortunate party's demise spilling out. It couldn't quite emulate enough emotion yet, a little annoying.
The young man let out a slight smile. His name was Fen it seemed, and had apparently been looking for the same grimoires the party had been looking for too!
What were the chances?
Letting out a look of sadness for Fen's fallen comrades in the hunt for treasure, it wondered what it should do - hunger was no longer a problem, so it seemed escape was it's next priority.
It seemed like luck had certainly been on it's side recently! Not only had it been gifted a rather fine meal, it had found a perfect key to that accursed door.
The young man seemed to stumble on his words a little when describing how his last comrade had fallen right before they had claimed the grimoires they had long been searching for.
'Ahh, so that was it.'
The longing that flashed through the young man's eyes at the mention of the grimoires gave away too much. It almost wanted to truly speak for the first time, to tell Fen 'You must hide it a little better!' Of course, it did not.
Fen's comrade had certainly died on the last hurdle, but not to some sort of creature of the depths. Greed was an immense emotion, one not easily hidden, especially not by someone who, frankly, seemed a bit dull.
Fen explained how the tunnel simply led to a large cavern the way he had travelled, and that it would likely be better to keep pushing to the current exit, given their lack of supply's - the water bottles in the man's backpack were certainly limited, and there was no food. It had certainly had enough food for a very long time, but Fen required a different kind of sustenance.
'Humans, eh?'
Stating that the creature that attacked had been blind, and that if they were quiet enough they would likely be able to pass it untroubled, it agreed.
This was a lie of course, but it supposed it was a white one - Fen had no need to know of the truth, it would only be a detriment what they both wanted - to escape.
It and Fen began moving again before long, into the lightless abyss in front of them.
'This is going to be fun!'