Chapter Text
They didn't appreciate being woken up by the sound of grinding stones and a bit too bright sunlight. Her vision tried its best to adjust to the sudden change of lighting, scanning the gray walls of their room, copper accents shining a brilliant orange. She, albeit a bit groggily, got up from their resting spot and towards the now-opened door, sunlight still a bit too bright. Then she noticed it.
A construct casually waiting for them outside.
A bit confused, she walks up to the door, shielding their eyes from the harsh glare of the sun with her hand. The construct was already walking off before they could even say a word, so she might have to hurry. A duckdeer crosses right in front of the door, offering a small, curious "honk" to the young Masked one, before running off. They stared at it for a moment, before focusing on the landscape outside. It was… a bit desolate, to say the least. Ruins of gigantic buildings and machines dot the land, small trees and other such plants growing on top of them. In the distance, the tower was in full view, although she doesn't remember it having a layer of jagged, seemingly purple things on it, almost covering one side completely. With a shrug, they ran off to wherever the construct was standing. They managed to glimpse some other duckdeer and even a few birds, as well as the fact that it seems like it's been a while since there were masked ones taking care of this place, great.
When they finally arrived at the Construct's location, it was standing near a strange machine, as well as a large gate. The machine somehow sensed that she was there, causing it to form a small 'pillar.' Wait, they know what that is! It's a conservatory capsule, used to backup things! Although she wondered why it was outside. And then she realized that the construct was talking to them!
Despite being somewhat… embarrassed after that, she stared at the construct, blue eyes filled with curiosity.
The construct glanced back at them, before walking towards the large gate. It placed its hands in between the arch on the gate, before pushing it apart with complete ease. They stared in amazement, She couldn't believe how strong it was! The construct then continued walking, with the little masked one following close behind. They were curious about this specific construct, Why did it wake her up, and is it leading them somewhere? Many questions swirled around in her head, that is, until something caught her eye.
A large mass of purple, pulsating stuff on the ground, darker purple claw like things surrounding it. They immediately knew that it wasn't good, especially since it looked… sickly and gross. The scent wasn't better either, it made her feel ill just from staring at it. The construct (Frankly they kind of wanted to give it a nickname) stared at it for a few moments, muttered to the little masked one and shook its head, before continuing onwards. The stuff, corruption, apparently plagued the land, with the source seemingly being from the tower.
The Construct paused near a wall covered in bushes, before using a sword (A sword? They hadn't noticed the Construct using any swords before, how curious!) to clear out the bushes and simply punched the wall, creating a new path. She was a bit impressed and somewhat terrified of the sheer strength of the Construct, although it didn't do anything to them as yet, so it's most likely friendly.
The Construct continued onwards, opened another gate and walked off, the Masked One following close behind. They also noticed a large, cube-like structure with a sphere nestled within it. A Conductor, that seemed to be powered off. Only if they could figure out how to turn it back in. The duo walked past some more corruption, that... thing bubbling a sickly purple colour. Frankly, they genuinely dislike the mere sight of it, it feels wrong.
And they finally arrived at a small clearing, free of corruption and with a large, circular structure in the middle. The Construct walked up to the nearest end of the structure and simply punched it, sending that end rotating around and contacting the other end of the structure. It was quite fascinating for the little Masked One, they wondered how her people could create such complex, large and seemingly impossible machines and buildings.
However, they noticed a small, rodent-like creature with a flower bud seemingly for a tail. Before she even realise it, they were chasing the critter, jumping on top of the stone structure before losing sight of it. That is, until she realise that the structure was positioned in such a way that they could easily get across to the area where the Construct went! With a few well-timed leaps and lots of running, they finally made it to where the Construct was.
It was rather peaceful, green little abode with a small 'bridge' with an arched window. She immediately noticed a strange looking creature, tall and lanky with deep brown horns. They were rather curious, so she approached the creature, albeit a bit cautiously, and reached out to pet it. Oh, they may or may not lose a hand, but they're willing to try to pet it. The creature (Which they realised was a Stilt Horse) glanced at her, before nuzzling them, causing her to stumble backwards due to how large it was. They managed to regained her balance, and placed both hands on its vaguely horse-like head, yellowish-brown fur somewhat course yet soft. The stilt horse stepped away, shook its head and walked off, the Masked One placing their left arm on the arch and watching it leave.
However, she had not realised that there were several corrupted plants nearby, and may have realised that fact a bit too late.
A loud, low hiss immediately caught the Masked One's attention, all they saw was the corrupted plant aiming at them and stabbing her left arm with its stinger. They tried desperately to yank her arm from its grasp, and after a few good yanks, it finally lets go.
Their left arm was absolutely painful. It felt like their arm was practically melting. They held her arm, which was now getting the same purple corruption things on it, and they couldn't help but lie down on the floor in pure panic. The Construct suddenly came in, held their corrupted arm down, took out its blade, and all they remembered was it swinging the blade at their left arm.