Landing on the surface at the bottom of the pole I take a step sideways and see Inv land right next to me.
"Su wher dis fud et Joey???" Inv looks around us while asking.
"We're gonna have to travel just a bit more Inv. Remember the 'big bug' you ate? It's near where you ate it"
"Oh!!! I rewember wher dat es!!" Inv says this and starts running excitedly towards a hole in the ground near us.
"Wait up Inv!" I yell as I start running after him.
Hearing my yell, Inv stops right before entering the hole in the ground and looks at me.
"Wut wong Joey???" Inv looks back at me with a confused expression while I arrive in front of him already panting.
'Damn! He's fast!'
I already feel out of breath just trying to keep up with him in that small moment of time!
"R-remember? We got to stick together. I'm… not as fast as you Inv" I explain to Inv. I feel sort of bad saying this to him since in a way I'm slowing him down.
Inv's eyes widen by my words.
"O-oh… sowy Joey…" Inv ears flop down while saying this.
"It's ok Inv, just don't want to lose you" I say to Inv. After a second, I realize what I just said.
'Why the hell did I say it like that?! That just made me sound desperate to not be alone!'
"Ok… u leed te wa??? Sence u no were fud es" Inv says to me while taking a step back from the hole.
I'm not sure if Inv chose to ignore my words but seeing how his skin is slightly red right now it seems he took it seriously.
"A-alright! Just stay behind me Inv" I say while walking past him trying my best to not show my embarrassment.
"Ok!!!"
Before I can even start entering the hole I feel something touch me from behind.
'What the?!'
In a panic I turn around, and I'm met with a wall of shifting blue colors. For a second I'm confused until I look up and see Inv's smiling face looking down at me.
"W-wa Inv! What are you doing?!" I take a small step back while saying this. I was not ready for him to be so close to me so suddenly like that.
"U sed tu sta behin u???" Inv says in a confused voice.
Hearing him say this calms me down a bit.
'Did he seriously think when I said behind me, I meant to be right on my back?!'
"I did but not like… right on me! Take a step back" hearing me say this Inv takes a small step back.
"Sowy… es dis gud?" Inv asks me.
…
Inv has barely moved any further distance from me with that small step. There's only like… 6 inches separating us right now.
'Damn it! It's not like I don't want him to be close to me but while were traveling we need to give each other room in case we have to fight something!'
"Inv you just have to stay back a little to give me some room. It will be hard to navigate through some areas together if your right on my back" I explain to Inv.
"O-ok… hoaw fer bac shud i b??" Inv's skin turns a darker shade of blue while asking. Seeing him get sad at what I just said makes me feel a bit guilty.
Raising my arms I press my paws against Inv's chest and I gently start pushing. The idea was to push Inv back a little to an appropriate distance but…
'He isn't budging an inch! Am I just that weak or is he a walking tank?!'
"J-joey??? W-wut doin???" Inv says while sounding flustered to my action. Seeing his skin shift back into red makes me feel a bit better… I'd rather see that than seeing him sad.
"I'll show you how far back you have to be Inv just… let me push you back a bit" I say to inv feeling a bit embarrassed that I have to ask him to let me push him.
"Ok!!" Right after Inv says this I feel myself slowly pushing Inv back!
But of course, I'm not actually pushing him back. Looking down I see Inv taking very tiny steps backwards.
'How is he moving his feet like that?'
After 'pushing' him for a moment I stop and take a step back right next to the hole. Now Inv is like… 2 feet away from me. This should be good enough.
"Alright Inv from now on when we travel this is how close we should be at most times. We don't want to hit each other with a rock or spear, right?" I explain to him.
"Ye ye ye!! I nu wan tu het u!! I protec fro behin!!!" Inv says this while puffing his chest up. Hearing him say he'll protect me from behind is… nice to hear.
"Thanks Inv… now come on, let's go get that food!"
"Yay fud!!!" Seeing Inv look excited I turn around and start crawling into the hole headfirst. Crawling down in the narrow space I can hear Inv behind me. After a bit of crawling, I land in one of the corridors that lead down to the popcorn plant.
While making my way through the narrow corridor I look behind me and see Inv following right behind me. Seeing this I look forward and keep going.
…
'It's strange… to have someone follow me like this who doesn't want to kill me. To have an ally… no… a Partner'
While being lost in my thoughts I reach the end of the corridor that has a hole I can crawl in. getting on my stomach I start crawling through.
I've taken this way many times by now that I know it by heart. While it might be a bit… dark, my eyes have become adjusted to it.
Popping my head out of another hole, ahead of me i see a much wider corridor. Looking around i make sure nothing is lurking that can get the jump on me before I exit the hole.
'Never know if another dropwig is waiting for me or-
Before I can finish this thought I feel something touch my tail.
---------------
A/N: Hey to everyone that has reached this far (the few of you) I hope you're liking the story so far. as you noticed this story does in fact have a system as well like the wide majority of things on this platform.
This system will not be explored however until much further on in the story. For now, I want to focus on the relationship between Inv and Joseph. It will also be a long while until some sort of time skip happens, so this is gonna be somewhat of a slow burn, so sorry bout that.
Things like action will also not happen for a bit but when it does get to that point, things will get a little gruesome. If you played Rain World you would understand how unforgiving the world is, especially the variant in Inv's campaign.
Anyways enjoy the rest of your day!