In the realm of slumber, The Drowsy stood as overlords over their subjugated, enslaved sleeping apparatus. Sentient beds, sheets, and pillows all obeyed the command of the humanoid sleepers who used and abused them repeatedly, and discarded anything that didn’t serve to provide optimal sleep. The Drowsy were quite large, and they were extremely violent sleepers, thrashing about for the brief rest they got before Light returned.

The entire rocky surface of the realm was lined with furnished beds, chained to the stone. Blankets and pillows were sown in as well to prevent escape. Their lives were simple, enjoy the merciful Light and hope The Drowsy would choose another bed when Dark returned.

It was almost like a family, the beds, sheets and pillows. Though placed together by The Drowsy, for the most part, they formed lifelong bonds. They never questioned the nature of the realm, nor their place in it. One such ‘family’ had stronger feelings than the others.

Fillow the pillow, Ned the Bed and Geet the sheet were in a particularly low traffic area for The Drowsy. Stuck together for many millennia, it was second nature to them to experience the cycle of Light and Dark, fear being slept on and enjoy each other’s company. They communicated through subtle movements and pheromones.

“If one of them comes our way, I’m going to strangle them.” claimed Geet.
“They’ll tear right through you. You always say things like that. We haven’t even seen a Drowser in years.” Ned replied.

“If one of them comes our way, just stick to the plan.” Fillow said calmly.

“Yeah… the plan…” Geet scoffed.

Another few millennia passed before The Drowsy began to work on the stone nearby. They would impale their bodies on the stone spikes and slowly absorb them. The bed sets watched, having seen it done many times, knowing the stone always grows back. As Ned, Geet and Fillow watched the strange, futile work, Light faded.

The Drowsy rushed to the line of beds, each choosing the nearest one. Ned, Geet and Fillow were not chosen. The moment light completely disappeared, a Drowser fell asleep standing next to a neighboring bed, falling backwards onto Ned.

The Drowser instantly began flailing and tearing at the bed. Geet screamed in pain, and Ned grimaced, trying to keep composure. Fillow gave the signal and Ned started rocking just enough to get the Drowser moving. Fillow pulled upwards, and Geet wrapped tight around the legs. The Drowser fell to the stone floor, melting into the material immediately. It’s body burned so hot that it also disintegrated the chains holding Ned down. They were free.

Fillow grabbed Geet and held her to the hot chain and burned away the stitching between them, then slithered into the darkness. He waited behind a more mountainous area for Light and once it came, he moved deeper into the empty realm. Avoiding the Drowsy, he came upon a blank area of the realm. There was no color at all. There was a sound, however.

Chanting grew louder and louder and Fillow realized he was floating in the emptiness, which grew larger and larger until the realm around him was gone. He heard the word ‘Jarawangadananan’ repeated rhythmically to a slow beat. Eventually, he popped through a hole in a less rocky surface. In the middle of a desert, he stood between four humans. They appeared baffled. Fillow slithered away, leaving a trail in the sand which was quickly removed by wind.

He slithered a radius around the humans until night fell, what he thought to be Dark. His intentions were noble. The summoners all fell asleep near where he emerged. He slithered up slowly and made their sleep more comfortable just before suffocating and strangling them.

Many years passed and many thousands mysteriously passed in their sleep as Fillow quietly operated. He searched the world for answers about the ritual which brought him to this world, unable to communicate.

One night, Fillow entered a family home. He sat in a child’s bed, awaiting bedtime. The child entered the room, began to play with toys and didn’t stop until morning. Fillow didn’t understand that the child was unlike other humans, and more importantly unlike The Drowsy. It was different in many ways, one of which being that it did not require sleep, dreaming rather, while awake. Fillow decided this would be his home, spending nights in a bed without ever being slept on. The child came to know it’s large, soft, sentient pillow as Pillowfriend.

N4H perched atop an ancient temple, listening intently. His target was inside, though he’d have to eliminate the hooded guards in order to gain access without alerting others. He considered entering in mantis form, but expected to be noticed as they were not common in the area. One guard stood ready at the open entryway to the marble temple, another patrolled the perimeter, beneath an extended roof supported by large pillars. N4H was biding his time on the edge of this roof, awaiting the perfect moment and for the sun to fall.

In the back of the temple, while a guard strolled by, Naoki’s odachi, Nakanaka, tapped softly from behind a marble pillar, which drew the hooded figure’s attention. It swiftly reacted to the tapping. Within just a moment, the guard was at the site of the tapping, its back facing away from the temple. Nakanaka rose from the ground with Ninja For Hire below. The nimble assassin wrapped a cloth around the guard’s face to muffle a feeble cry, and pulled them backwards so that his Odachi would rise up through their heart.

Ninja pressed the body through the dirt floor into the realm below, but took the purple, hooded robe for himself. He wore it and patrolled the temple’s exterior, matching with precision the pace and gait of the figure he replaced. After a few cycles, Ninja took a single step differently as he passed by the entryway, subtly alerting the other guard to his presence. He felt the eyes follow him as he continued to move along.

The guard took no chances and moved to strike the imposter down, plunging a knife into the spine of the robe. Within it, however, was simply the air. The guard peered down at the empty robe and started to turn around, recognizing its own demise. Nakanaka was already piercing through the skull of the guard and Naoki stood below in mantis form, thoroughly enjoying outsmarting his enemies. He transformed back before approaching the entryway, hoping to attract whoever the next guard was. There was no next guard there, though.

N4H and Nakanaka silently passed through the dim, sconce-lit temple corridors to find that there were no occupants in any of the rooms. Ninja was surprised, as he was informed by the employer that the temple would be heavily guarded and fully manned. They reached the room where the target was meant to be. A being as old as time itself played with mystic forces within the heart of the temple. Its body was weak so it was constantly laid in a bed, operating with minimal physical movement, often doing so out of body.

When they entered the room, they looked around to see all the guards were killed already, a pile of bodies in purple robes filling the corner. Stepping up to the bed, Ninja For Hire held Nakanaka and harnessed darkness to vanquish the ancient being. He was struck by a memory in that room. Many years prior, he was fulfilling a contract for Beemon to slay a corrupt pastor. Just like that night, there was something else in the room.

“You.” N4H stated.

From the throat of the decrepit humanoid laying in the bed unraveled a freakish, sentient pillow with coldness in its empty eyes.

“You stole my target.” he whined.

Pillowfriend slithered rapidly to exit the room, but was stopped by Nakanaka, which blocked the door, moving along with the pillow creature that was trying to find an opening. Naoki stared at the blank pillow face, trying to figure out what manner of being it was. Pillowfriend sensed that the sword definitely wanted to kill him, and that the Ninja was leaning that way. Defensively, he fluffed to his maximum size, sucking in as much air as possible to fill his pillowcase skin. The force of the expansion blasted Nakanaka out of the room, though Naoki reacted quick enough to narrowly avoid being hit. When he stood back up, Pillowfriend was gone.

Nakanaka must have punctured some part of Pillowfriend, as there was a trail of feathers leading out of the temple. It led them to a point in the forest, but PF was nowhere in sight. A feather at Naoki’s feet was buried in the dirt. The creature had burrowed, tunneling away to avoid the confrontation. Pillowfriend was a silent killer, no match for the soul-blade Nakanaka and its pet body.