#T3CHN0 DLC: ALONE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kentuckywrites · 2 years

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T3CHN0 DLC: ALONE

ALONE (adjective). Having no one else present.

The sky, painted black. A cold wind enveloping his body, harsh snow flying into his face. Pongo instinctively wrapped his arms around his body, his teeth chattering. He wore nothing but his usual armor, two layers far from enough to deal with the unyielding cold. Snow crunched below his feet, but he could hardly see it in the night, he could hardly see past his own body.

Pongo nearly asked Mira if it could direct him towards a shelter, some semblance of escape from the relentless blizzard, but his words fell silent. It was hard to speak when the cold pressured his throat closed, dripped ice down into his lungs. All he could do was walk forward, keep walking, hope that he found something or someone that could help his circumstance -

His foot hit something. Pongo stopped shuffling forward, looking down at the obstruction. It was so hard to tell, so incredibly hard to see, but when he touched it with the tip of his shoe again, it moved ever so slightly. A rock? Pongo had to know. He bent down, curling in on himself as his breaths came out in condensed puffs. With a great deal of resolve, he unwrapped one of his hands from his self embrace and reached down to touch the rock. And the moment he did, he felt something new. It was a jagged rock, exceedingly cold to the touch. But the curves felt more like…

Pongo yelped, falling back onto his rear. That was a nose. That was a face.

The darkness existed to torment him in that moment, for it receded enough for Pongo to discern more of the face’s features. Freckles over honeyed skin, cracked goggles a few inches away. Wires protruding out of a gaping wound, carving out one of its eyes while the other was wide open in immortal fear. And its body, its body lay segmented and broken, separated from its head not too far.

Pongo started to hyperventilate, pushing himself onto his knees to crawl back towards the body, some morbid sense of duty filling his heart to make sure there was nothing he could do. But the closer he got, the more the darkness faded, and further in the distance, more bodies appeared, more familiar faces. Some belonged to the party that had joined him in New Strasbourg, some were old friends he hadn’t seen in years. All of them were dear to his heart, and in that moment, they all broke his heart. He found himself crying, but the tears froze on his cheeks, in the corners of his eyes, ordering him to keep his sorrow buried.

Then, the sound of something cracking, something ripping. Pain enveloped Pongo’s arms and legs - the beginnings of hypothermia? He looked down at his hands and discovered that the truth was far worse. From his fingertips, claws had formed, his skin hiding itself underneath blood-stained white fur. The metallic tang even found its way into his mouth, leaking from his juice like a wine he’d drank too quickly, dripping from sharpened canines. Pongo sobbed, a dry and pitiful thing, stumbling backwards and onto his feet. His gaze flickered back and forth between his hands and the bodies, and he finally saw that fresh blood was pouring out of those bodies, the same that stained his hands, and that realization sent him spiraling. He did this. This was his fault.

The ground rumbled below his feet, and a new cavernous darkness opened up, swallowing each of the bodies whole. Pongo bawled, running forward, trying to stop them from being sucked up. But he couldn’t reach any of them, he was too far away even though he’d been kneeling next to one mere moments before. And eventually, the bodies had all vanished, and Pongo could only wait until the pit came for him next. But it never did, stopping inches from Pongo’s feet.

It wasn’t like he deserved to join them, anyways.

His chest heaving, mouth open as he desperately struggled to breathe, Pongo let out one last broken scream as he charged forward, chasing the pit’s edge until he finally made it, finally toppled over the edge and let the darkness eat him alive -

Pongo’s scream followed him into the waking world as he bolted upright in his bed. Panting, he frantically looked around, realizing that he was in his barracks, he was safe. It was all a dream. A nightmare. Swallowing hard, he gazed down at his hands, shaking at his sides. Usually, he’d only see the left one shaking, a product of getting it replaced all those years ago. But this day, both hands shook with the same ferocity, and no matter how many times he tried to tell himself he was okay, his body didn’t believe him.

It was warmer here. His tears flowed freely, and after accepting that he wasn’t okay, that he wouldn’t be for quite some time, Pongo brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face. He let himself cry, he let himself feel. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, confined to his own emotions, but when his comm device buzzed on his nightstand, he nearly jumped out of his own skin. It took him a second to finally reach for it, to read the message that had just been sent.

From: Abel

When are u free? I’ve got a surprise for u down at the test hangar <3

Pongo stared at the message. Abel had been one of the bodies.

But…but he didn’t need to burden Abel with that knowledge.

Pongo typed out a response, his hands still shaking.

Let me get my morning coffee. I will meet you there. <3

#xenoblade x #T3CHN0 DLC: ALONE #abel #pongo #yeah so I decided pongo needed a fear box #and i thought to myself #this poor baby is terrified of falling asleep #so that's where his fear box is: after T3CHN0 when he finally sleeps

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