HURT!

Sponge never realized how difficult it would be to find Vvh, but it was. The cave was a labyrinth; she no longer knew where she was heading or which direction led to the exit.

"Vvh?" she called, scanning the area as multiple entrances loomed around her. There were so many paths, and she wasn't sure which one Vvh had taken. "Vvh? Where are you?" she called again, trying to ignore her short breath.

God, she wanted to sit down and close her eyes. It was cold inside the cave. Sponge coughed into her hand, heaving a shaky breath. For a moment, she placed a hand on the stone wall to steady herself, closing her eyes to catch her breath.

A whoosh of wind caught her attention, causing her to snap her eyes open and stare ahead. Slowly, she moved toward the middle entrance, following the gust of wind with careful steps.

Then she stopped, spotting a familiar white fabric. Sponge's eyes widened, and she grinned. "Vvh!" She ran toward the woman, who had her back turned.

"Thank God I found you! We have to leave now," Sponge said, placing a hand on Vvh's shoulder and tapping her lightly. Vvh didn't respond, and Sponge narrowed her eyes, leaning to peer over her shoulder. "Vvh?" she called, watching as Vvh turned her head slightly, tilting it.

"There you are—uh, we gotta go. You know the kid we were chasing? I found him earlier and sent him home. He also said some concerning things about this cave and this town… So we gotta bounce, man!" Sponge said, grabbing Vvh's arm and tugging her back.

Vvh remained motionless, unfazed by Sponge's attempts to pull her away. "Vvh—come on, this isn't the time for this. I get that you're upset, but please!" Sponge's voice strained as a cold weight settled in her stomach, realizing Vvh was refusing to respond.

The dust could have affected her, and now Vvh was experiencing something—good or bad—that kept her rooted in place.

It wasn't until Vvh's hand gripped Sponge's wrist—painful and tight—that Sponge yelped in surprise. "What are you—" she stammered, only to be thrown to the ground with a grunt, her flashlight slipping away from her glasses.

Her vision plunged into darkness as she gasped for breath, struggling to push her heavy body up. Her arms trembled, and she felt worse than ever. All she needed was to get Vvh out of this goddamn cave and town.

"Stop!" Sponge cried, but Vvh yanked her hair, pulling her back painfully. Sponge fell to her knees, looking up to see Vvh staring down at her. 

"I thought I'd killed you," Vvh said, her voice devoid of emotion. Sponge trembled, fear gripping her. "Hey, whoever you're seeing, it's not them! My name is Sponge!" she pleaded, but Vvh only pulled her back harder, dragging her deeper into the cave's darkness.

"Vvh! Stop!" Sponge begged, grabbing Vvh's wrist in a desperate attempt to pry her hands away. But Vvh's grip was unyielding, giving Sponge a headache as her hair was painfully yanked.

With a grunt, Sponge spun her body, wrapping her legs around Vvh's, causing her to trip and release her hair. "Vvh, wake the hell up! It's the dust making you see things!" Sponge shouted, scrambling to her feet. Vvh turned slowly, her head twisting in a way that could have been funny if it weren't so terrifying.

Sponge trembled as she drew both of her axes. She had no fighting chance against Vvh, especially in her current state. Her vision was dimming, her legs aching as if she had walked for miles, and her hands trembled from the cold.

She might die…

"Vvh—" Sponge began, but was cut off as Vvh sprinted towards her, drawing her sword with such speed it nearly gave Sponge whiplash.

Their blades clashed, the force nearly sending Sponge to the ground. She ducked and pushed Vvh away, flipping their positions. Vvh stood menacingly in her path.

"Vvh, it's—it's me, Sponge!" she said desperately. Surely that would be enough to break through the hallucination, right? Vvh had always been able to break hers, or maybe Sponge was just better at forgetting.

Sponge dodged another attack from Vvh, screaming as Vvh's blade grazed her arm, causing her to drop one of her axes and stumble back, nearly falling.

"Stop it! Please, I don't want to fight!" Sponge cried as their blades clashed again, creating sparks that made her wince. She let out another cry, retreating against the stone wall as Vvh landed a hit on her stomach. Sponge's free hand felt the warm, sticky liquid seeping from the rip in her hoodie.

It was so dark—she could barely see Vvh's mask, but she could feel the magic of her blade. Vvh was so fast that it was hard to keep up with her. 

"The dead stay dead, Velvyn," Vvh said as she stalked toward Sponge, who stumbled away, a hand pressed to her stomach, desperately trying to hold her blood inside. Oh god, was she bleeding that badly? Why was there so much warm liquid on her hand if not?

That thought made Sponge shake in fear. It was not on her bucket list to be killed by her own teacher, who wasn't even in her right mind!

"I'm not whoever that is," Sponge croaked, her voice hoarse. She turned toward Vvh and parried her blade, slipping to the side. She almost lost her footing as she stumbled away.

She wouldn't survive this fight if she kept attacking—what she needed was a place to hide, to patch up her wounds, and to figure out how to snap Vvh back to herself.

So that's what she did. She ran, her vision spinning from the fever and the realization that she was likely losing too much blood. 

A small voice in the back of her mind noted that at least she wasn't stopping her stomach from falling out of her body. But then, more warm liquid surged toward her free hand, which had been trying to staunch the flow.

Sponge felt bile rise in her throat as she heard the sound of Vvh's blade striking the stone—it almost felt like Vvh was taunting her, playing with her. 

Sponge swallowed her bile, her vision spinning, and her legs nearly failed her when she turned the corner. Her heart raced so fast she was sure it would spring out of her mouth if she opened it.

She couldn't even find it in herself to breathe—she was so terrified right now. "Sponge," a familiar voice called as she turned her head around, still running—or stumbling like a drunken madman. "You're not real, leave me alone," Sponge gasped, distracted, not noticing a large stone on the ground. Panic filled her senses.

Vvh had always taught her to maintain a calm mind in danger, but when Vvh was the danger, Sponge couldn't think clearly. Vvh was as terrifying as she was skilled. Sponge had seen how fast she was—Vvh was treating her like some kind of toy.

With a loud cry, Sponge tumbled to the ground, rolling over something uneven. Her body twisted as she fell into a hole. There was a loud crack as her leg hit the stone wall before she fell down, her vision going completely black as she lost consciousness.

—

Her body ached, and everything felt sticky and slow at once. Sponge wasn't sure where she was. It was so dark that she could barely see, and even in the darkness, her vision felt as if it were spinning; her head felt light. She lay on her chest, head propped up by one arm, unsure of where her other axe was when she noticed she was empty handed.

Had she fallen into a pit? It certainly felt like it, because her whole body ached. Slowly, she pushed herself up, but a blinding, white-hot pain in her left knee caused her to cry out, the sound echoing off the walls. She wailed as she placed a hand on her thigh, trying to see it even in the dark.

"Oh fuck, is it broken?" Sponge murmured to herself, her voice hoarse as she poked her thigh, nearly letting out another pained yell if she hadn't bitten her tongue.

 She tasted blood as she lowered her head to the floor again, trying to regulate her breathing. The pain in her leg was distracting, and then she remembered the wound in her stomach.

Slowly, she flipped onto her back, her knee throbbing painfully again as she clenched her eyes shut. She carefully ripped a strip from her skirt and tied it around her abdomen, wincing and biting her lip to keep the pained grunts to a minimum.

By the time she had finished, her breaths were shaky and stuttering. If the wounds weren't enough to kill her, the infection definitely would. She could feel something warm in her broken knee. Thank God there was no light—she was sure she would vomit if she saw a bone poking out.

Sponge choked on her saliva, feeling bile rising in her throat as she let out shaky pants of breath. "Calm down, Sponge. You need to get out of this pit, find Vvh, and leave," she whispered to herself, almost in tears as she slowly sat up. 

Moving her wounded arm was painful, but when she ran her fingers over it, she found the blood had clotted and stopped. Still, the ache persisted as she dragged herself to the side, reaching out to find the wall.

Dragging her broken leg was agonizing, but if she didn't get out of here, she would die. That thought made her cry—it wasn't even a cry; it was a goddamn sob, tears streaming down her cheeks as she leaned heavily against the wall, not even making a single sound.

God—it hurt so much. Sponge knew she should be angry at Vvh for mercilessly attacking her and causing her to panic to the point of not noticing the pit in front of her. But deep down, she knew it wasn't really Vvh's fault; it was the hallucinations that had made her act like that.

Whoever she was seeing—she had definitely killed them.

Somehow, that thought made Sponge shiver. She could face the same fate as that person—Velvyn, was it? She wondered how Vvh had learned their name. Were they close before Vvh killed them? Or was it some bounty that she hadn't cared much about but had learned their name to find them?

Sponge let out another shaky sob, her head felt so light—she hadn't even noticed she had fallen to the ground again, lying on her side as her vision spun in a dizzying haze, making her want to puke. She curled up, her left leg hanging limply as she tried to contain the warmth of her body inside her.

God, it was so cold…

Sponge's teeth chattered, her breaths weak as she slowly fell unconscious once more.