An entire part of the cave wall was filled with tally marks; with some lines drawn perfectly straight and others with rigid lines and writings.
"Approximately thirty days in a month... Around one hundred and eighty days in six months."
"Five, ten..." Kenan counted the tally marks under his breath.
The tally marks should have been no more than forty at best, but they exceeded forty, going all the way down; there were over a hundred tally marks, which should have represented five hundred days, not just six months.
Kenan traced his fingers across the lines on the cave walls, some of which were deeper than others. Some grazed lightly over the wall, some were carved deep. In a nutshell, all of them looked different. It might have been something as simple as the writer's state of mind when he drew them, or it might have been the "other people" he talked about earlier. The other people whose whereabouts he claimed not to know.
By the time Jesse and the savior had yet to return, Kenan moved to the other side of the wall, which was also filled with weird writings and drawings. However, they were not tally marks, just poorly written notes. Kenan strained his eyes in an attempt to read what was written, but it was to no avail. Hence, he moved to the parts of the cave where the light didn't reach; various things lay around, including a broken mirror shard.
Kenan casually picked up each item, scanning their contents thoroughly. He turned open the lid of a handmade clay pot, and a repugnant smell wafted into his nose. A dark paste that smelled like a rotting corpse. He hurriedly closed the pot before moving to the bigger one. His face contorted when he saw what the other pot contained. The clay wasn't melting, which meant that... Kenan touched the surface of the content before dipping his hand into what appeared to be cold water.
Did the young man forget that he still had water in the cave? He jerked up, picking up the mirror shard, and walked to the weird writings on the wall.
He raised the mirror to the letters. And just as he had guessed, what appeared on the mirror was an inverted reflection of the writings.
"I'VE BEEN HERE FOR TWO WEEKS"
The letters were small and rough, hence they were hard to decipher.
"HE SAID HIS NAME... BUT, THE BIOSYNC TAG SAID OTHERWISE..."
The rest of the letters were scraped off, as if someone had intentionally scratched them off the wall.
"I THINK I FOU...D A WAY OUT. HE, HOWEVER DOESN'T SEEM TO WANT TO LEAVE YET. THE-"
"Hey." The familiar voice echoed in the cave, and Kenan felt a chill run down his spine as he turned his gaze away from the writings on the wall.
Ge stood up and subconsciously hid the mirror shard behind his back. "You're back."
"Hmm. You didn't get bored waiting, did you?"
Kenan glanced at the entrance of the cave, ignoring the man's question. "Jesse?"
"Ran off with your weapon; he claims to have found a path." The young man shrugged calmly.
"And the water?" Kenan asked calmly.
"I let him have it; he'd need it for the long journey anyway."
"How nice of you." Kenan gritted his teeth. "What would you drink from now, since you're out of water?"
The young man glanced behind Jesse, at the darker part of the cave. He tilted his head slightly as he walked towards Jesse, "I wonder."
"..."
"I did bring you a bottle of water, though." A small bottle materialized in his hand, and he handed it over to Kenan. Kenan glanced at the blue ring on the young man's finger before taking the bottle of water from him.
As soon as Kenan took the bottle from him, the young man walked towards the darker part of the room.
"Urgh!" He suddenly winced as he felt a sharp stab on his back.
"Where is Jesse?" Kenan had aimed for his neck, but a slight movement changed his trajectory, causing him to stab at his back instead. The young man's face contorted from confusion to anger as he pushed back against Kenan, pushing the broken mirror further into his neck but also successfully pushing Kenan away.
His hand darted to his side, reaching for what seemed like a small blade strapped to his hip, but Kenan was quicker, grabbing the man's wrist and slamming it against the wall.
"You're... stronger than you look," The man hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing as he tried to maintain a smile, "This shouldn't take too long."
Kenan didn't answer, pressing harder to keep him pinned.
He broke free from Kenan's weak grip, lunged forward with renewed aggression, his fists swinging wildly as he tried to pummel Kenan. His punches were fast but sloppy, fueled by frustration and raw strength, but Kenan managed to move backwards, dodging by a hair's breadth as his opponent's fists struck the air beside him. "Stay still, you little vermin—!" He growled, his voice seething with irritation. Kenan ducked, slipping around him and pushing his shoulder into the young man's back, throwing him slightly off balance. But the man recovered quickly, his foot lashing out to catch Kenan's ankle, sending him stumbling backward and crashing against the cave wall.
The impact left Kenan dazed, his vision swimming for a moment as his opponent loomed over him, a smirk of satisfaction crossing his face. "Look at you, pathetic fool. Should have just taken the easier route and died silently."
The young man reached down, grabbing Kenan by the collar, lifting him enough to pull his arm back for a punch.
Just before the punch landed, Kenan turned to the entrance and muttered weakly, "Hey, Jesse."
The young man faltered for a split second, his head instinctively turning. Kenan seized the chance, raising his knee hard into the man's gut. His grip loosened as he gasped in pain, and Kenan squirmed free, stumbling back as the man doubled over.
"You bastard—" He swung again, this time catching Kenan across the jaw. The force sent Kenan sprawling, but he quickly scrambled back, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip, eyes sharp as he sized his opponent up.
The young man smirked, "That all you got?" He moved in to finish Kenan off, throwing another punch, but Kenan dodged to the side just enough and brought his elbow down on the back of his opponent's arm. The young man yelped in pain, his fist dropping, giving Kenan a sliver of an opening.
Kenan didn't waste time; he kicked out low, catching the man's shin and sending him stumbling. But the man retaliated almost immediately with a wild shove, pushing Kenan back into the wall. Kenan's back slammed against the stone, and he slumped, his breathing ragged as the young man advanced.
He didn't wait for Kenan to regain his standing. He reached for his weapon, his fingers brushing the hilt, but Kenan shot his hand out, gripping the man's wrist and twisting it back with all the strength he had. The man winced, his face contorting in pain as he tried to wrench his arm free.
Kenan held on with sheer desperation, shoving him off balance and slipping around him again. The man spun around, fury flaring in his eyes, and charged. But Kenan dropped low, driving his shoulder into his opponent's stomach and slamming him against the wall with a grunt.
Both grappled clumsily, but with insane will to survive, hands scrabbling to overpower each other. Panting heavily, Kenan finally managed to straddle his opponent, pinning his arms down as he fought to catch his breath. His knuckles were bruised, his cheeks were swelling, but he wasn't about to let the man get up again.
He grabbed the piece of wood he had seen during the fight, with the sharper edge, he stabbed the man in the abdomen.
"Argh!!!" He yelled in pain. His voice, echoing in the now-dark cave. Kenan pulled out the wood and pointed it to the man's neck, "Where is Jesse?"
"Ha! You bastard, what nonsense are you spewing? I saved your goddamn life, don't you think you owe it to me?!" The man snapped, wincing between each statement.
"Is that how you redeem yourself? Save a life and it becomes yours?" Kenan pressed the wood into his neck.
"You bastard." The man winced with a low voice, "What do you want from me?"
"The paste in your fancy clay pot." Kenan glanced at the leaves, "The blood bloom's entire body is filled with acid, no matter where you cut, it would burn that leaf up as soon as it comes in contact. And that repugnant smell... can only be from a corpse...not body parts of a plant-type monster."
He paused and moved the wood closer to the man's neck, "Blood blooms don't seem to hunt dead prey, what better repellent than dead human corpses? Plus, the writings on the wall, took you a while to scratch them off, no?"
That familiar stench of death was something Kenan would never mistake anywhere.
"You have a blue spatial ring, Mr. Savior, it barely has enough space to store two months' worth of food, you fucking monster."
"Ha! Hahahaha!" The young man burst into maniacal laughter.
"You caught me. A smart one you are, but so what? I did what I had to do to survive, you bastard. Anybody would have done the same if they were in my shoes.
The young man gritted his teeth to steel the pain as he spoke. The calm smile on his face was long gone, and all that was left were the eyes of a madman.
"Where is the boy?" Kenan asked yet again.
"Getting ready to be my next meal." The young man burst into another fit of laughter, and Kenan angrily slammed his head against the hard ground.
The Dark Lands had corrupted the young man to the bones, so much so that he had not a little bit of humanity left in him. And Kenan had no intention of ending up like him.