He stopped and raised his eyebrow, having a silent conversation with one of his digits. Dave wasn't going to lie, his middle finger had a way with words.
Being reminded that he should not use his own hand for this experiment, he turned around and walked to the dead body lying at the riverbank. Why risk his own wellbeing? Better yet, why risk the wellbeing of the poor middle finger, only because it's tip is the most expendable one?
Dave grabbed the guy's hand, put it in the bag, and watched in morbid fascination as the satchel and the darkness tried to suck in the rest of the body. He pulled the bag and the arm in opposite directions and watched how the whole arm came out again without a single blemish.
Rubbing his chin, Dave decided to see if the satchel can actually suck in a whole human, or rather a human the size of two whole human bodies. Putting the guy’s hand inside the satchel again, he helped the process along by pushing the satchel.
In the blink of an eye the whole body disappeared from the riverbank.
Looking warily at his middle finger he shook his head. Maybe he would find some insects or worms first to see if they'd be fine, before risking his well being.
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Grabbing one of his sharpened sticks, Dave went out of his hideout and started poking the earth, loosening it and trying to dig for some worms. He would have gone for some insects, but while he was able to hear them buzz and chirp, he hasn't seen a single one yet.
After a while of digging and working up a sweat, he finally found a long wiggly worm. Far longer than he would have ever expected a worm to be. It's diameter and looks? They were the same as the worms he was used to, but it's length? To put it into comparison, with Dave being 1,82 m tall and it being around three times as long as he was tall, it reached around five and a half meters in length.
"A brave adventurer.. - ehr.. Worm? Yes, a wormy adventurer will need a fitting name for the first adventure to a place no living being has ever gone to! I bestow upon you the name, Ropey!" Dave said, arms spread wide and glancing between the sky and the worm. Dave was pretty sure he imagined the worm wiggling a bit more enthusiastically and happily at being talked to.
Done with his little skit he decided to start the experiment.
Slowly putting one end of Ropey into the satchel, he watched as it was sucked in like a lone spaghetti. It wiggled around as more and more of it disappeared into the satchel. Grabbing Ropey, he pulled and watched as it came out again in one wiggly piece.
'It seems like the darkness doesn't hurt living beings, but rather stores them? Well after all those tries.. I'll let the satchel suck Ropey in again and then try my luck by sacrificing the tip of my left middle finger.' he thought confidently and nodded to himself.
Dave watched in fascination while making slurping sounds, as his satchel sucked up Ropey.
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He took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally to get into the screaming in unbearable pain mindset. He lowered his middle finger and lightly touched the whirly darkness. He was surprised as instead of pain, he was greeted by a feeling of nothing.
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Dave let out the breath he was holding. His neck was drenched in cold sweat throughout the whole experiment and only now was he able to relax. His meticulous planning and gambling were successful this time.
Wiggling his finger around and stirring the darkness a little, he came to the final conclusion that the satchel is not an eldritch being waiting to feast on his flesh.
So with renewed vigor he slowly pushed in more fingers, until his whole hand disappeared into the darkness.
He searched around inside it to find Ropey and the stone again.
Thinking about his wiggly and rocky friend, he felt both of them being practically pushed into his hand and out of the satchel.
The stone, as his fist loyal and brave follower obviously deserved a name too.
'Rocky seems too obvious of a name choice.. He also looks more like a small black rock instead of a bald man. Geodude’s name in German literally means small stone. I'll name him Tiny Blackstone.. The First.' satisfied with his thought, he gently pet Tiny Blackstone The First and put him back into the satchel with Ropey.
Dave decided it was time to fill up his satchel with everything in his base. After that he would fill his water bottle and stomach with water and search for the next game or civilization.
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Sounds of branches breaking and leaves rustling were heard, as a young man abandoned all hints at stealthiness and ran for his life. Scratches continued piling up on his exposed arms and legs as he shielded himself running through the undergrowth.
He threw his head back and forth, having lost his way. Was it still behind him? Was he finally saved? Heaving and struggling to breathe, he tried to gulp as much air as possible.
The young man looked around, muscles poised to react to the slightest sound, to escape in a moment's notice. Trying to stifle his harsh breaths, his heartbeat continued pounding in his ears.
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After hours of travel, Dave finally saw the first sight of other living beings in the distance. Small puffs of smoke could be seen rising towards the sky.
The closer Dave got, the slower he moved. He put his whole focus on the surroundings while trying to maintain a clear head.
Dave kneeled down in the thick underbrush, peeking through it to see a fence separating him from more forest. While the part he was in looked wild and untamed, the trees and bushes almost seemed to have been placed with purpose, cultivated.
Narrowing his eyes he saw a campfire, littered around it were six smaller stones made for sitting and one slightly bigger stone, mimicking a throne. He also noticed multiple people sitting down on the stones, leaving only 2 small stone seats open.
"Oi mate, are ya going to join us?" shouted an older, garish man.
Dave kept his calm and stopped breathing as seconds ticked by.
"What are you shouting for uncle, you scared me so much I thought I'd die!" squeaked a busty blonde in a high-pitched tone.
"Pff, who are you trying to impress, old man?" a sleazy looking guy, with slicked back hair laughed.
To the left of the campfire a brush rustled. A black haired teen with his clothes banged up and ripped finally broke through, looking excitedly at the prospect of meeting others.
"Thank God. Finally! Other people!"
A smug smile crept onto the face of the older man for a short while, which he quickly suppressed to show a stoic visage.
"Sit down boy, sit down and catch your breath.. Heh, this old man still has a trick or two up his sleeves. I'm telling ya, felt it in my bones, someone was coming towards us. See this?" he pointed at his arm, specifically at his fluffed up arm hair and continued bragging "I got them goosebumps whenever someone watches me or comes towards me."
Surprised exclamations filled the group. The old man puffed out his chest in pride, while another young man watched everyone silently and detachedly from his miniature throne.
The group calmed down as quickly as they got excited, while the new person looked around the group and happily claimed a seat for himself.
"So, don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to have finally found someone else, but what's this gathering about?" the newest addition to the team asked energetically.
Everyone's face contorted to a different degree, with the only exception being the last person who didn't talk yet. They wore a cloak and a mask, with gloves covering their hands. The person pointed towards the young man on the throne and shook their head.
Curiously everyone glanced at the young man, only for him to bark out gruffly "Six and no less."
Everyone looked around with a strange gaze, some having heard the same sentence multiple times already.
"That's so not cool dude, can't you say anything else?" the blonde whined and pouted.
"Six and no less."