Out of the Shadows Pt. 2: What You've Done to Me

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He awoke in the wind swept sands. He sat up and looked around. He had a feeling he did not exist until now... But he knew things. This was sand. That was the sun. He was made of cloth. And his name was _____.
And his name was _____.
Well, he didn't know his name. But something told him he would, if he searched for it. he stood and looked at his cloak. Bright red. Gold trim. He shook the sand out of it and looked onward to the hill of sand before him. The cloth swayed in the wind, as if beckoning him to come closer. He came to the top and looked onward to see the mountain. It called out to him, wordless and pure. The light seamed to chase away the doubt and confusion as to why he was there.
He went onward, passing many graves that stuck out of the sand, worn and weather beaten. He wondered what happened to them all, and if he would somehow find out.
The broken bridge was in a large area, and he marveled at all of the space. his very short scarf flapped in the wind, and he wondered if he could make it longer. He searched all around and was delighted to find more glyphs. He took every chance he got to fly, and became good at it despite the short scarf.
But than, he felt a presence nearby. He looked in that direction, and saw someone that looked just like him. He chirped, and the other wayfarer looked his way. He chirped in response. He walked up to the new wayfarer. his cloak was also red, but he had far more pattern than he did, and knew his own name. He called himself Lo, the sound he made when he sometimes chirped. He mostly just walked around and did things, ignoring the new little red cloak. He was amazed all the same. He loved the way the tattered cloth glowed and restored itself when he got near it, and though Lo treated him like a nuisance and left him behind a lot, he still managed to enjoy himself.
they crossed the bridge together, and meditated to talk to the elder, each taking away their own experience. The message was the same; get to the mountain.
The two went on to discover many things. They played with the cloth dolphins, found more glyphs, and slid down and endless hill of shifting sand. The young red cloak liked that part the best. The sun shimmering gold over the sand, the way the shadows of the city seamed to be carved out of the orange sky. He never wanted to forget that.
They soon fell into the sunken city, and he felt calm. The sun no longer beat down on him, and no sand filled wind battered his cloth. The air was cool and still. He marveled at the spots of light that washed down from the broken ceiling, and stopped to look up at them frequently. Lo however, kept moving ahead. The little red cloak huffed and tore his eyes away from the beauty. He followed closely and found some more glyphs.
"...Where are we Lo?"
"Sunken City."
"Well, what happened to make it sink?"
"I don't know. Keep moving or I will leave you behind."
"But Lo, there's so much we should see and explore-" "Our goal is the mountain, and nothing more."
They fell down into the darker part of the city. Noise echoed all around as machines of heavy stone rotated and functioned above them. He looked around at the rafters with fear and wonder. It was so gloomy… So full of places to hide and investigate. He looked above him as sand fell from the high ceiling. He wanted to go up there, and was about to ask Lo to help him get up there, when a stone serpent burst forth and ate the cloth dolphin, a creature he came to love. The sheer noise the monster made keened in his ears and he shrank away in terror. The blue light blinded him, and in a flash, the monster was gone, flying over head and vanishing into the gloom that was the Sunken City. Meanwhile, Lo had left the quivering red cloak to his own devices, as he had kept on moving ahead. He stumbled as he scurried to catch up with Lo, who continued to ignore him.
“What’s going to happen to us Lo? What...What are they?”
He chirped quietly as another flew in front of a large window.
“They have many names.” He didn’t say anything more.
He stayed close to Lo, their energies causing them to glow eerily in the shadows of the large corridor. The Stone Serpent, he decided to call them, floated lazily in front of their path, and he found himself being fascinated by these machines. He was almost entranced by their low purring and clicking noises, dangerously beautiful. It spotted a school of cloth fish, and it’s serine, blue, wandering eye turned a terrifying crimson, casting the scarves in a bloody glow. Lo continued to walk, unfazed by the death of the creatures. Lo was moving too fast, and by the time he had gotten to where he sensed he was, he was running head on into the blue pool of light. There was nothing he could do. He stood there, frozen, fear like a vice over his heart. The creatures mask closed, and was still for a fraction of a second that felt like an eternity. It lunged.
For a moment…for the briefest moment… He was connected to the creature. He knew what it was feeling, but the thoughts were old and loud, too intense for him to take. He chirped high pitched like a scream, it hurt so much. He tumbled to the sand below, tears of light falling down his face. He stood up to see Lo, his back turned, not even bothering to see if he was OK.
“Lo wait!” He sobbed. He didn’t want to be left alone, broken and scared. He still didn’t stop.
Anger began to well up in him. It was so intense, so horrid, it changed him forever. His chirp was so blood curdling, so horrible, Lo fell to the ground in agony. The Stone Serpents circled over head, and he could hear them whisper. He stood over the fallen wayfarer called Lo.
“Companion… What a joke.” He spat.
Lo looked up at him with pure fear in his eyes… And it felt good.
In one swift motion, Lo’s scarf was gone. He looked at the young red cloak one more time, before their connection as companions was severed forever. The Stone Serpents roared, as if they approved of his twisted actions. Slow moving fire as black as the blackest shadow, began to engulf him. He let his rage boil and corrupt his insides, his tears of anger and betrayal staining his face forever. The black fire moved slow as of it was under water, the black from his mask bleeding into the red of his cloak and changing his patterns.
Ater.
My name, is Ater.
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Just another part to Ater and Gelu's story. My poor little Ater, we have shared the same experiences haven't we?
I actually drew this picture a long time ago, way back in April, but was to lazy to wright this part of the story until now. If you haven't read the first part, I recommend it, but you could probably get away with just starting here.

Ater belongs to me, so if you wish to draw him, pleas notify me first.
Theme song for Ater: "Demons" by Imagine Dragons