Time Flies When You Are In The Dark PT1

Time Flies When you are In the Dark Part 1

Hello, Author-chan is here again with another update! Now It's been a damn good surprise that people actually read my piece of shit fanfic, I mean it took 2 and a half years on the other site to get this many followers as of this time I am writing.

A whopping 15 followers! DAMN with this kind of popularity, I can finally graduate from my hard life as a neet and join my future in ULTRA NEET HEAVEN! WERE TACOS FLOW LIKE WINE!

..... Ok, Mashed tacos sound disgusting, but hey you don't have to chew! Anyways I'm gonna stop rambling about and get to the damn point!

I'm cutting down my stories because they are damn fucking long! so instead of 10k per chapter, it's gonna be a 5k split between two chapters!

Aight I'mma shut up, now you can read this dumpster fire of a story! LOW SELF-ESTEEM FTW BABY!

================================================================================================================================

The week passed agonizingly slow for Billy; he walked around Konoha, trying new things, fixed his apartment, and settled down. He likewise discovered something new that was not in John's memories. Konoha looked completely different from the show.

The first thing he noticed was the academy district; it was surprisingly big. In John's memories from the show, they only showed one building, but the academy itself counts as a district based on how big it is.

The academy has five-hundred classes, training fields, a Teacher's quarter, first-year or student quarters, small lakes, survival training forest That includes a small river/streams, a kitchen, Konoha's official library, and the entrance to the bunker in case of an emergency.

The second district was the tea district, which was near the merchant districts; in this area, the majority of the civilian population lived; the shops are rare here, but they exist, and they are primarily sweet shops, corner stores, cafes, tea houses, and small boutiques.

The district was made livable, with small parks everywhere you go, civilian schools, and some small onsens.

And in the tea district was the noble's quarter, and in the noble's fashion, these fuckers built their houses too big next to each other; their place is not a district per se they live near the tea district, but because they build their houses too big you can count them as a quarter of a district, most of these nobles live here based on their jobs from the capital of Hai no Kuni.

As history goes, when they built Konoha, they needed some nobles to live there and monitor the progress, but most nobles would not live-in squalor, so they used the funds the government gave them and built huge homes that they were satisfied with; now, whenever new nobles claim the job, they will receive the same home as the position entails.

Next to the tea and noble quarter is the merchant's district. This is where I live and most of the shops in Konoha; the place is always bustling; there are shops for everything, some banks, restaurants, and a storage area where they unload and sell raw materials for shops.

East of the merchant district was the onsen district, near the Hokage rock; from the mountain, hot water comes out as a small river that feeds the onsen around Konoha. This district is mainly used for onsens, and swimming pools; because of the high steam and humidity, only the Aburame lives near the onsens, and the rest is a relaxing area.

Speaking of the Aburame, almost every clan has a base of operation or a compound.

Some clan compounds live next to each other, some live far apart in the middle of a district, and finally, some have the power to get a huge forest all to themselves; in these cases, these compounds transform into a district, these clans are The Senju, the Uchiha, the Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Hyuga, Aburame, and finally The Inuzuka who gained not one, but two forests next to them, and they have one of the three rivers of Konoha connected to one of their forests.

Next to the Senju compound is the weapons district; the district looks like a maze; there are shops hanging by a chain in the middle of the road like a bird's cage, and the buildings are stacked one by one in a zigzag motion on the road, there is only one way in and one way out like a middle eastern bazaar. They even used alleyways to build shops there; it is expected if you enter an alleyway, you may find two or even five shops trying to sell weapons.

The apartments on top of shops are also weird; there are signs on almost all the apartments advertising a shop on top of the apartment or below them,

Next comes the smell of the district; it has the smell of molten metal and coal, and when you are near the district, you can hear the sounds of the rumbling war machine working day and night.

When you are about to exit the district, you will find more apartments that are kind of rundown, but they look livable; near them are some specialized blacksmiths who do custom work; likewise, there are other weird shops that sell peculiar items of war, like Fūinjutsu stores, poisons stores, clan specialization stores, specialized armor stores, and finally shinobi toy shops.

Then there were, the last two districts I could not explore fully or not allowed to enter was the Shinobi district and the Hokage mountain.

I could not get into the Shinobi district; civilians and below-genin are not allowed inside. But it was near the Hokage building, and most people could look down at the district.

And finally, the Hokage mountain, most of it was closed off to tourists, but there are some tours that let you climb the mountain and look at the surrounding area.

================================================================

Billy sighed while he was lying on his back looking at the ceiling, he did almost everything trying to remove his boredom, and currently, he is living on instant ramen; he groaned and raised himself. "Maaaan I really want to eat some steaks!" he closed his eyes, "I think I am forgetting something here, hmm I was supposed to do something today, and I remember last night I was excited about it, hmm welp if I forgot about it maybe it's not that important."

He started rolling around in his apartment making weird sounds, "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz," then he stopped, and groaned, "I am bored; I just wish something would happen."

Suddenly he heard a crash, Billy quickly stood up and looked at his door, somebody kicked the door open 'Who is it, maybe it's that noble lady, did she figure out where I lived?'

When he looked at the figure, he only saw a blackened figure that was covered by the shadow of the sun "OI! BAKAYARO!"

Billy heard this voice before "YAMAZAKI-OYABUN!" The shadows slowly receded, only showing his shiny bald head; he is currently smoking a cigar with a smile.

"OI GAKI, I LEAVE YOU FOR ONE WEAK, AND YOU THINK YOU COULD RUN AWAY FROM YOUR DUTIES!"

"B…BUT I SWEAR YAMAZAKI-OYABUN, I FORGOT!" He stuttered and gulped a little.

Yamazaki smirked, and slowly his smile widened. White teeth opened wide promising pain, "he..hehe…HEHEHEHE!"

"Why are you laughing like that, Oyabun?!" he asked with a timid caution.

Yamazaki slowly cracked his fingers. "Oh… Gaki, I will forgive you, in fact, I am going to forgive you by showing you how I taught my sons…" then he took a deep breath and spoke in a demonic voice, "Respect HAHAHAHA!"

His eyes turned red and slowly walked towards Billy while laughing in a sinister manner, every step he took Billy felt the ground shake, the sky shatter from the pressure that this old man was showing, and when he reached Billy he slowly looked down, Billy looked up at the bald and bearded giant his cigar is slowly spewing smoke into the air shifting his appearance to that of a demon!

"W…Wha… what are you going to do to me?!" his eyes started to tear up.

In the distance, people heard a child scream and an old rumbling laugh from a demon; most thought that someone was watching a horror movie at full volume.

Yamazaki walked out of the apartment with a satisfied smile on his face, he started to descend from the staired, and whenever he took a step down, there was a sound "DING!" Yamazaki was pulling someone by their feet, like a Bengali tiger pulling its fresh prey, but this was not a simple prey; behind the demon with the thousand faces was a smoking corpse of a child in a mask.

The child's neighbor, an old woman, laughed, "THAT WHAT YOU GET, YOU BRAT!"

Billy groaned. "I think I signed my soul to the devil."

Yamazaki smirked. "Oh gaki, you wish you sold your soul to that knockoff; I am going to show you pain!" and he started to laugh.

Billy sighed his last breath "Dddd…Demon."

Yamazaki slowly reached his store and opened it with a key, then he lifted Billy from his feet, looking him in the eyes. "Welcome to day one of your apprenticeship gaki" Then he threw Billy into the store.

Billy slowly stood up. "Man, it hurts; why did you beat me up, Oyabun? I really forgot about the work" Then he looked up at the clock. "OI, I WAS LATE BY TEN MINUTES"

Yamazaki folded his arms. "Gaki, I have a no late no returns policy; if you are late by even one minute, I will break your door again!" Then he popped his neck "alright, come to the forge. I am going to show you the first steps."

Billy sluggishly stood up, "Alright."

"Damn gaki, show some enthusiasm I am going to show you an art that is at least a thousand years old."

Billy walked towards the back of the shop and descended into the basement of the store there he found Yamazaki-Oyabun tending to the forge.

Yamazaki slowly sat down on a small wooden chair. "Alright, gaki, I am going to tell you a story; sit down" Billy obeyed him and sat down on the ground.

Yamazaki took a puff from his cigar. "Back a long, long time ago, there used to be a magician who did his craft with masks. One day the magician decided to travel from his village to seek more knowledge on how to create the ultimate trick," he slowly turned around and poked the forge's coals.

"While he traveled across the lands, he met many people, he showed them his magic and brought life back to their hearts, in one of these villages a child asked him 'what is the best magic out there?' " Yamazaki turned around and looked at Billy again. "The magician smiled at the child and answered, 'Well boyo, I think the best magic out there is when you can trick people into believing what is not there' The magician answered and started to twirl his masks around, switching them in a moment's notice."

Yamazaki stood up but kept on telling his story, "The child laughed and said, 'But magician-san, I think you are wrong if you can trick people easily, what about shinobi? I heard they are great, so if you cannot trick a shinobi, I bet your magic is bad' The magician instantly switched his mask from a happy face to an angry one. 'I will show you, child. I will find the best shinobi out there, and I will trick them with my mask magic!' "

Yamazaki started walking to the back of the basement but kept on talking "The magician traveled far and wide, challenging any shinobi he met, and every time he lost, he begged them to teach him their magic, and after years of learning from the shinobi he found the best shinobi out there with eyes that cannot be tricked, that shinobi belonged to the Hyuga clan."

Yamazaki returned with a bag of coal. "The magician demanded a duel with the head of the Hyuga clan. 'I challenge you Hyuga to a duel of honor, I will trick your eyes' said the magician, the Hyuga accepted, and the magician won the duel after losing to them five hundred times" He sighed and started pouring coals into the forge.

"The Hyuga congratulated the magician, and they honored him with a feast; at the feast, one of the Hyuga asked the magician, 'Why do you continue challenging shinobi just to trick them, but not to kill them?' The magician smiled and changed his mask to a laughing clown 'Hohoho boyo, why would I want to kill someone when I can make them happy? After all, if I wanted to create the greatest trick, I need people to see it first, no?'

Answered the magician, and the Hyuga took a contemplating pose. 'Well, I can accept that you are the greatest trickster, but I bet you cannot trick a sage who is working with a summon clan' " Yamazaki sat down again after pouring the coals.

"The magician stood up and changed his mask into a schemer and declared to the whole clan, 'I will find a sage and tick him, then I will be known across the land as the greatest trickster in the world!'

The magician traveled far and wide looking for this so-called sage, but he could not find him at all, the magician grew frustrated, until one day he found a sad duck near a lake, the magician started doing his act and cheered the duck up, then the duck swam underwater and brought some fish for them to eat 'Hohoho I was getting hungry boyo to thank you for the food'

The duck and the magician started talking to pass the time 'Then the Hyuga invited me to a feast in my honor, but I am still not done boyo, one day I will find a sage, and I will trick him' The duck looked at the magician 'I know where to find a sage' The magician was shocked 'then take me to him' The duck touched the magician, and they both teleported into the summon lands."

Yamazaki stretched a little "The duck and the magician arrived at the summon lands and there sitting on a rock was a sage, the magician immediately challenged the sage for a duel, but the sage refused until the magician drank tea with him."

"The sage and the magician both sat down and drank tea; the sage kept on pestering the magician on what exactly he was looking for, and after a while, the sage accepted, but on the condition that the magician would help him create a mask for his clan, both agreed on the terms and the magician tried day and nights for a thousand days, and on the final night the magician succeeded"

Yamazaki took a long deep puff and asked, "So, Billy, you think this is the end of the story?"

Billy shrugged. "I don't know oyabun, maybe I mean he did; trick a sage, what could be better than that?"

Yamazaki laughed. "Well, I think this is a story for another time, Now let me show you how the forge works."

===============================================================

Billy and Yamazaki worked in the shop; Yamazaki was patient and knowledgeable of his craft; while they worked, Yamazaki told Billy that he needed a solid base of knowledge to start learning the craft "Oi gaki you need to learn the basics, that includes Fūinjutsu, metallurgy, woodworking, Weaving cloth, leatherworking, art, mathematics, weapon crafting theory, armor theory, weigh balance theory, advanced sleight of hand, and finally chakra channeling theory."

Billy looked up from his work, "all that for mask crafting?"

"Well, yes, gaki, what did you expect? We are not making toys here; this stuff we are working on are weapons and a way of fighting into themselves"

Billy nodded, "All Alright, so I am going to learn everything from you?"

"Well, of course, gaki, you are my apprentice, and we can add my clan history into that as well since you will be teaching my grandkids when they grow up" then he muttered under his breath, "Might as well teach the kid since Izein hates our art" he mumbles.

Billy and Yamazaki continued working; when it was time for lunch, Yamazaki told Billy to get food for them both.

Billy nodded and went to get lunch; he had to be careful because Yamazaki ordered some soup, and Billy did not like the idea of a spilled hot soup on his legs, and after traveling around the merchant district, he reached the store.

When he was about to open the store, he heard someone talking inside; he put his ears on the door, "Dad, I heard people talking; they say you got a new apprentice?"

"Yes, Izein, I got a new apprentice since you do not want to continue our family's legacy!"

"So that's it, you will teach a stranger our family's craft and pass it down? Where was your talk that our family's craft will stay into the family, huh?"

"Oh, it will stay in the family; my apprentice will teach my grandchildren everything; hell I even signed a contract with the Hokage."

"I told you, father, I don't want my kids to become shinobi; it's an ugly business; look at what it did to my brother; we could not even do a proper burial for him! And you want my children to do the same!" then he heard aloud dry cough.

"Take it easy, Izein, here, drink this"

"My…' cough' Children will never be shinobi while I am alive! I am out of here, dad."

Billy quickly moved from the store and hid near an ally way; what came out was a thin man with dark eyes and a half-mask on his mouth; he was using a stick to lean on while walking.

Billy watched the thin man walk away, leaning on his staff heavily. Billy sighed and looked down at the bags he was carrying, and started to think.

'Fuck, this is awkward, how am I supposed to walk in like this, I mean, this is a private family matter, and I really doubt I have this strong bond with Oyabun… Hold up, wait a moment; I can ignore it and pretend that I didn't hear anything; alright, Billy, you did this before, act cool and casual.'

He started walking back to the store 'wait, what if he is crying, fuck I can't do this, alright, plan B' he put his hands on the door and made some noise "Damn, the door is stuck, Oyabun! I need some help the door is stuck!" then he heard some shuffling."

"Alright, gaki, I am coming; let me come out of the bathroom!" after some time, the door opened, and Yamazaki's face was covered with water. "Come on, gaki, let's eat; we have to teach you a shit ton of stuff."

Both Billy and Yamazaki worked that day but with less passion when they started the day, and Billy tried asking some silly questions to brighten up the old man's mood, which worked somewhat.

After a long day, Yamazaki closed the shop and told Billy to come back in the morning, and he gave Billy a stack of books for beginners on all subjects he had learned today. "Now gaki, I want you to finish these books in three months, then I am going to give you more if you are having any problems with the subjects, ask me for help, alright? Oh, and there will be a test when you are finished."

Billy nodded, and just before he was about to turn around, "Oh right, how forgetful of me, here" Yamazaki handed Billy a folder. "This is this week's payment from the Hokage, and I set up an account with the rooster bank; every week, the village will put money in your account, and all the information you need will be in that folder, take care, gaki and good night."

Billy took the folder and looked up at Yamazaki. "Thanks, Oyabun!" he bowed his head. "Good night."

And with that, Billy walked back to his apartment, he fixed some dinner, showered, and started reading the books man I hope Yamazaki-Oyabun is fine, let's try to cheer him up tomorrow too.'

After reading for hours, Billy closed the lights and slept.

For the next year, Billy developed a routine; six days of the week, he would help Yamazaki-Oyabun in the store, learn from him, and develop his skills.

From Yamazaki, Billy learned how to harness his Chakra and how to do some Chakra control exercises.

When Billy first tried to enhance his body with Chakra, he started swearing all day long because, with a body of a six-year-old, he almost broke his world record when he was alive. Still, after calming down, he grew a little bit excited about the prospect of chakra enhancement 'If this is what I can do at six years old, I can't wait until I get my swole back.'

Likewise, he learned more from the books that Yamazaki-Oyabun gave him he learned the beginning of blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving cloth, leatherworking, and more.

He had some difficulties when he first started, but with hard work and nothing to do, Billy finally understood how everything fitted together, but Yamazaki would not allow him to craft a mask yet.

As the year passed, Billy finally got over his looks, it took him time, but he finally settled and accepted his lot in life. The problem is that whenever he looks at a mirror, he stops for a second, but then he remembers and moves on.

In his time off from work, which is only one day a week, Billy would walk around and try to find something to pass the time, he tried to befriend some of the clan kids he learned from John's memories, but most of the times he would be shooed off by the grown-up, apparently, clan kids did not play with 'commoners' in this day and age.

So, he settled with a hobby; once every week, he would go out hiking in the surrounding woods, and after a year, he learned much about Konoha's surrounding wilds; he discovered caves, creeks, lakes, waterfalls, ponds, and some abandoned old villages that have some ruins in them.

On these walks, Billy discovered a cave that connects to an underground tunnel system, this awoke a curiosity in Billy, and he wished to learn more; hence he decided to buy books about caves and how exploring caves work.

After months Billy gathered his courage and asked for one more day off from Oyabun, and he gathered his supplies and went down to explore the cave's subsystem.

While he went down the tunnel he was familiar with, he started to giggle about how he was more of a dwarf now, and he only needed a beard and a deep Scottish accent.

For the first day of the exploration, he found a Subterranean river that glowed an illuminating light, Billy, covered in dust and pebbles, decided to rest there for a moment.

He started a fire and removed his clothes, then he gently removed his mask, after touching the fuin, a slow hiss reached his ears, and his mask started streaming smoke from the Chakra. Billy could count a handful of things that he liked about his mask, and this is one of the reasons he liked it.

After removing the mask, he rose and walked towards the river; he crouched down and extended a finger to check the temperature of the waters.

"Fuck, that is cold," he sighed and looked across the river; the illumination from the river could almost cover the whole area; he looked up at the ceiling, the stalagmite reaching down towards him like spikes. "Huh… they almost look enchanting with the pale blue light from the river, it's almost like I could spend the whole day just looking at them."

Then he looked across the river; he noticed that the waters were calm and flowed softly; he looked across the river and saw a small fish jump across the waters; the fish was illuminated by pale blue light, then he quickly looked down at the bottom of the river and smiled "Damn look at these fuckers go." Down in the deep of the river, he saw small lights swimming in the deep.

He stood up from his position and stretched. "Well, let's do this!" Billy jumped into the waters, but his muscles quickly tightened themselves up from the cold; instinctively, he closed his eyes and tried to acclimate to the temperatures, and after a while, he started swimming.

Billy started doing some laps in the river, floating on his back and looking at the spikes; the most he enjoyed most was diving deep down at the endless bottom and watching the light show going back and forth.

After swimming for a while, he climbed back towards the fire and dried himself up.

After drying, he clothed himself and looked at the river again. "Hmm… I am pretty hungry, and I wonder what those fish test like; I mean, I have the fire with me already, so might as well."

He went back towards the fire and took some climbing rope, then he held one of his spare knives and started heating them. "Alright now, just like what Yamazaki-Oyabun told me, strike the iron while it's hot" he brought out the climbing hammer that he used on the pitons and started hammering the knife in the shape of a hook.

He brought the knife up to inspect it. "Looks good; I hope I can get a fish out of this" Billy took one of his beef jerky rations and attached it to the hook.

"And done, I have a hook, bait, and a rope; now I need the best ingredient that any fisherman needs, beer and patients. Too bad I can't get any fucking beer, bitch ass cops, heh."

He stood up and walked towards the river; then, he started spinning the rope. "Alright, just like how the people in the middle east do it, one… two… THREE!" he threw the rope at the 195 angles and let the rope sail across the wind; slowly, he watched the hook fall towards the waters; he saw some fishes jumping from the river, startled by his hook.

Billy slowly sat down. "Ahhh… nothing beats good o'l cave fishing, America's greatest sport" while waiting, he started looking around. "Damn, this river is fucking huge; it must be about 1000 feet" He sighed, then he heard his echo. "Hehe," he heard his echo again, 'Alright Billy, it's your moment to shine,' he whispered. "Psst! Kepa soul, so did you read the book?" he said in Cartmen's voice from south park, but then he changed his voice to a Mexican "Si."

"Ok, tell us what it is about?"

"Si, it starts wit de old man, and he wanted to catch a fieeesh."

"Ok great, and?"

"So, the old man tries really hard to catch de fieeesh."

"So, he catches de fieeesh, then what?"

Billy started sniffing. "But de old man was really fat, so he fell ova de boat, and de sharks ate em de end," Billy started laughing.

Then he slowly looked down and put his hands on his head while looking down. "Damn, I miss good tv!"

Suddenly he felt a tug on his rope; he quickly adjusted his position and waited for. 'Tug… tug… tu' "PULL!" The rope started swiveling around the waters, and Billy smiled. "Got ya, ya piece of shit!"

He started pulling the rope; with each touch, he felt the helpless fish fight him all the way, and with every pull, his mouth waters with anticipation for his meal.

When he pulled the last of the rope, he saw this glowing fish; he quickly extended his hands and caught the fish.

He brought the fish out of the water, and the moment the last bit of water stopped reaching the fish, the pale light of the fish disappeared.

"What the actual fuck?" Billy stood there stunned; then he slowly brought the fish back to the water; when the water touched the fish's tail, the fish lit up with pale blue light.

He moved the fish out of the water again, and the light went out. "Are you fucking serious, it's like a fucking light switch," and he did it about twenty times, laughing all the while, while the fish struggled in his hands.

"Alright, let's end your suffering" he brought his hands up and smashed the head of the fish on the ground stunning it.

Billy walked towards the fire, and he noticed something odd about the fish; it had no eyes to speak of, and without the blue illumination, he could literally see the bones, the intestines, and how the scales were transparent.

"This fucking world, first ninjas, then magic, and now this," he grumbled, "might as well cut the fish up and eat it."

He started preparing the fish, removing the innards, then cleaning the fish with water; after that, he split the fish in half and laid it on a flat rock that he had prepared before fishing.

After waiting patiently for his fish, he smiled and brought the stone near him; the fish's meat turned transparent after cooking, which is bizarre; the only reason he saw the meat was because of the steam coming out of the meat, which made the fish look like a ghost.

"Nothing beats o'l ghost fish" then he took a bite out of the fish. Billy immediately spitted the fish out; then he threw it on the ground. "IT'S FUCKING RAW!"

Billy sighed. "I thought it was done; I mean, it turned transparent and shit, and it had steam, FUCK, it smelled so good!"

After lamenting the fact that he would not be enjoying ghost fish anytime soon, he stood up and gathered his stuff; then, he continued exploring.

Soon Billy grew tired from exploring, and he returned to the river.

"I still have about 30 hours until my day off runs out; maybe I can just camp here; this spot seems alright."

Billy started the fire again, and he brought out his small tent. Then after eating some rations, he read a book by the fire.

When he could take it no longer, he stopped reading and went back to his tent to sleep.

===============================================================

Billy slowly opened his eyes to a shining light that blinded him, yet it did not blind him; he felt tired, yet he felt that he was strong; he smelled the fish he was about to eat yesterday.

Then the light subsided, and in front of him were the skeletal remains of the fish. The fish looked down at him and frowned, "Why did you do it, my son?"

Billy grew confused at the fish's statement, "wha… what is going on here?"

The ghost fish slowly descended from the sky. "Why did you not flavor me so? Has my flesh not been good to you? What does it take to please you?"

"Dude, you were fucking raw; what do you want me to do?"

The fish smiled, then the light around them started going out, and in its place, darkness crawled in; the bones from the fish turned from white to neon green, blood started seeping from its eyes, and it spoke in a loud shrieking voice "WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP!"

Billy's eyes quickly opened, and he found himself in the cold darkness; he tried to get his bearing, but there was nothing indicating where he was, suddenly a shining pale blue light emerged from the cold darkness, and he tried swimming in its direction, but for some reason, his gut started screaming at him to never go toward the light.

After pausing for a second, he looked down, and he saw rows of pointy spikes; then he looked up, and he saw another row of pointy spikes.

Billy tried to calm himself; he understood that he woke up in the middle of the river, but first, he must swim up, not down, and because he knew there was nothing but darkness and pale blue lights, he needed to think fast.

After a moment, like instinct, he blew an air bubble, and he saw it go down; he quickly swam towards it, for the bubble was his life.

Slowly, he could feel the pressure from the water eases upon him, and after a while, he felt his breath reach its limits; he could feel his muscle clamping upon him, and the cold of the deeps froze his bones and skin.

Then finally, without warning and fanfare, he broke through the surface of the waters, and he only saw darkness; there was no illuminating pale blue light, no sound except his breathing, and the only light he saw was in the distance of his dying fire.

He took a breath and quickly swam towards his fire. Billy beat his hands against the surface of the waters, desperately swimming away from the darkness that is an all-consuming nightmare he was waking up to.

Slowly but surely, the light of the fire dawns on him, and he smiles; his hope rises, and he crawls toward the fire. He climbs up the shore of the waters, and he leaves the darkness behind him; Billy slowly stands up and walks shakily towards the fire; he takes a deep breath of air that gives him life. And he looks down, he sees a toasty flat rock, and he sits on it.

Now it's only the sound of his breath and the crackling of the fire, he opens his eyes and looks at the fire, and he smiles, then he chuckles, and finally, he laughs like he never laughed before.

"That was fucking scary."

"Boy, did you think that was the end?"

Billy's eyes widened, and he looked to the left, and he saw the ghost fish, melting pale blue blood "ooooh, Billy, wake up," the fish said slowly with a crackling reverberating high-pitched voice.

Billy opens his eyes again, and he feels the cold around him; then he sees the pale blue lights in front of him, countless small lights all gathering in a small area; finally, he notices that the lights are attached to something, an ethereal rope.

Billy follows the rope to its base, and his heart stops for a moment. At that moment, Billy's heart stopped, his blood froze, his brain went into overdrive, and his nerves were on fire, yet no muscle moved.

What Billy saw shook him, the face of nightmares, beady little eyes, rows of spikes for teeth, each tooth was more than 12 ft tall, countless bones of ages passed attached to the creature's skin, oozing waters surrounded the creature, haze, and fatigue attacks his body.

Then he saw it, the ghost fish, they were attached to the creature, and it dawned on him, all this time when he first swam in the river, the time he caught the ghost fish.

There was no one but him and this monster.

The monster's maw was wide open, almost like a twisted smile, almost like a cat that plays with its food.

The monster slowly swims toward the stunned prey.

In the darkness of night, silence.

In the darkness of the cave, silence.

In the darkness of the waters, silence.

In the pale blue lights, silent delight.

In the darkness, deep violet light, an explosion of water, a small figure runs on water.