datadiving | this is fun and we have fun here

[It figures that the shadow would be still following, even after that. Or maybe especially after that. She had her umbrella ready in reach, just in case. But as the shadow approached, she could finally get a better look at it. ...It was more dog-like than she realized. Still a little creepy, but, now she was about as curious in it as it was probably in her.]

[The kid slowly got off the scooter, which somehow puffed into smoke as she completely left it anyway. The further away she could get away from the cliff was better as well. And instead got as close enough to dog that seemed safe. Err...was it actually friendly?]

[She puts a hand out just to see. That was a pretty good indicator most of time after all. Although...the other hand was still in distance of an umbrella too if it doesn't go well.]

[ He politely cranes his neck to sniff at her hand.

His senses are immediately bombarded with colours and sound. The echoes of places he's never even heard of, much less seen, cling to her in a confusing kaleidoscope of colours. He lifts his head away from her hand, just to give himself a chance to adjust, and shakes it to and fro, to clear it.

His tail thumps the ground; there's the sound of chains jangling harshly. ]

Bark.

[ This is a normal dog noise and not someone just saying 'bark' in a spooky, echoing, perfectly flat voice. Nope. ]

Edited 2019-04-22 09:47 (UTC)

[The kid had not seen anything weird just now. But when the dog pulled away she put her hand down too. ...Wait did he just say 'bark'?]

...You're really just a dog? I thought I heard you talking earlier.

[ That wasn't him, it was the noose - or the spirit inside it, at any rate. But understandably, a living visitor wouldn't want to get too close to nooses. Most find them unsettling.

They recognise him, though. How could they not? He's been prowling these woods for centuries, after all.

In an entirely deadpan voice: ]

Woof.

....

[Again with that.]

Can you talk?

[ There's a long moment of silence, before--

All right, he's toyed with her enough. He relents. ]

Yes.

-! [So he can! The kid was beginning to loose hope but now she was pleasantly surprised...it's mixed in there somewhere with the rest of the emotions.]

Um, I don't really want to stay here any longer than I have to. So...[She unfolds a piece of paper from her pocket to show. It's some picture she made of a Time Piece.] I'm pretty sure some of these landed nearby. I need to get them back so I can go home. ...Have you seen any around?

[ He inspects it for a moment. He does remember those falling, though at the time he felt them more than he saw them. ]

Yes. I remember those. [ He raises his head, eyes glowing red through the mask's eyeslits as he spreads out his awareness and ignores the clash of confusing lights and sounds that the child beside him is.

Those hourglasses would be something that feels and sounds like her. He senses nothing like that - at least, not scattered like she'd said they were. There isn't much he can't sense within this place, which means... ]

Someone has already collected them. [ He shrugs. It can't be Vanessa, who never leaves her manor these days. So there's only one person it is. ] He claims everything that strays into this forest as his. You will have to bargain with him to get them back.

[The kid had her hopes raised and then instantly crushed in a matter of seconds. ...Why. Why could it never just be that easy?]

Well, I can't leave until I have them back! What would he trade it for?

[ Just as he sees no problem with Snatcher claiming any soul who comes here as his own, he doesn't see any problem with telling her what he does.

(Besides -- she just wants to go home. He can relate to such a thing, though his home exists as merely a memory now, never to be returned.) ]

Your service. He'll get you to do tasks for him...things he cannot do himself. In exchange, you'll get your hourglasses back.

[ He can't remember what Snatcher's last servant had been bargaining for, what he had wanted in exchange. In the end, they all bargain for their lives, though.

Almost as an afterthought, he adds: ]

He'll bind you to the work with contracts. He likes those.

Edited 2019-04-22 12:47 (UTC)

[This is sounds rather annoying and frustrating of a guy, to be honest.]

...Fine. I'll do his stupid work, if that's the only way he'll give them back.

[Although, it'd might be a whole other story had she known she had to bargain her soul too. Who does that sort of thing?!]

It's how he is.

[ He's so used to it that he doesn't think to say anything.

He understands the frustration, though. A little. ]

...If there's a task you have trouble accomplishing by yourself, seek me out. I'll do what I can to help you.

[That's...a bit of a surprise and stopped the kid for a second. But maybe she was also a little bit skeptic. So far, everyone's had their own goals in mind once they knew was Time Pieces could do.]

[And she was about to resummon that scooter to look for where this 'collector' is, but she stopped again. Something else was bothering her.]

Why were you following me?

This forest is my home. I take an interest in visitors.

[ Just curiosity this time, not hunger or amusement or because he thinks it might make Snatcher happy. Remarkably benign for this planet. ]

[Looks around at the forest and all.]

...You like living here? [It's kinda a bit...how do we say, dark? Gloomy?]

[ 'A huge, haunted, supernatural mess' might also suffice. ]

It was very different once, but that was a long time ago.

Still, I'm fond of it. It has character.

It's just so creepy... [Something else about it almost seems a little bit sad too.] I've seen other places that look a little nicer.

[Maybe not the best, but, better.]

It is. But there's little that can be done to make it less so.

[ He's never had much interest in redecorating. Neither has Snatcher. And the less said about Vanessa's 'redecorating', the better. ]

It's home. That's all that matters.

this is fun and we have fun here

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