(Good morning, sugarplum!)
He woke up in a very strange way.
The last thing he remembered was rumbling, and falling rocks, and the color red everywhere-
-And fear. Cold as ice, all-consuming, horrible in every way; before the world was engulfed in inky blackness.
He came to in an unusually dark room; save for something pale and pinkish filtering through a glass hole above him.
He lay on top of a strange soft surface, covered by another soft thing. It was called... A bed? Yes. A bed.
His whole body felt peculiarly achy. His limbs were overly pliant and blurry; barely able to push himself into a sitting position on this soft surface.
He attempted to look around...
He saw shapes in the corner of a room, ones that seemed that they were meant for sitting and writing. A chair and desk.
Next to his bed was a box-like thing. It had little compartments meant for holding objects. On top of the box was a small cup of water. A nightstand.
And on the opposite side of the room was an opening. A door, closed for now.
He looked at his own body... It thankfully looked the same. Mostly.
He was criss-crossed all over with lines- stitches?- that burned with lingering pain. His mouth was sticky with something that tasted like metal.
As soon as his bleary eyes adjusted fully to the new environment, questions hurried into his now awake mind:
Where am I? Where are my friends? Are they safe? Are they dead?
He hurried to his feet, although they still wobbled. At the very least, they were able to hold him up as he waddled over to the door in the small room he stayed in.
...The patient is not in his room.
< What patient? Which one? Do you mean the big ugly one you've Frankensteined together? >
Yes, I am referring to the critical state patient. From the footage the surveillance charm is relaying, the boy is nowhere to be seen in his dormitory.
< So what am I to do about it? >
I thought you would've caught on by now. Find him, and bring him back to his room before he injures himself.
< Hey, who do you think you are ordering me around like this?!- >
-I think I am a very busy individual who cannot spare time to search for a runaway child. Now, go on. He shouldn't have travelled far, given his condition.
< Rrrgh- Fine. I won't be sewing him back up if I find him with all of his seams split, though. >
You'd do a horrible job anyway.
He stumbled hurriedly across dim halls lit by flickering torchlight; his surroundings colored a deep, almost sinister shade of red.
Clinging fast to the rightmost wall to support his weakened legs, he attempted to call out for his companions. All that arose from his throat were hoarse, pitiful squeaks.
Though he must be getting close. He's picked up a smell, faint but there, omnipresent; the sharp scent of blood. They must be hurt, bleeding out- he'll protect them- just hang on a little longer-!
He was so focused on his goal, that he didn't notice a second pair of footsteps quickly approaching behind.
Before he was snatched up in someone else's arms.
They were large, and very strong as well; picking him up and holding him under their shoulder with frightening ease, escaping their grasp near-impossible. Or was it only impossible because of his dreadful condition?
Their voice was sharp and jagged, like a serrated knife. Cutting across the broken shards of pleas he bleated out with scarce any struggle or regard. "Quiet down." "Stop your squirming."
Eventually, they both reached the room he awoke in. He was placed down in his bed, gently enough to prevent injury, but with little genuine care. The figure moved towards the open door, their shadow a harsh contrast to the light outside.
"You are to stay in this room until you are deemed stable. Heading outside would just be a waste of everyone's time."
He chirped weakly, the sound dying once it hit the air. He held out a trembling, pale hand, to beg, to please let me out, my friends were out there, they needed to be saved...
"...You must be a fool if you think that pitiful squawking would convince me."
And with that, they walked out of the room, the door closing with silent finality.
There was darkness again.
