#1. the fact that Twig’s mouth is missing and this causes her trouble until the moment she opens up to Dusknoir— whereupon it’s back

[sincerely-sofie]

Reblogging this because it’s been a while and I’m still really proud of it, hehe :>

A quick draft of an experimental piece about trauma and opening up, scripted out of 99.9% aesthetic Pinterest quotes, with as many attributions as I could find under the cut:

[neonthewrite]

Washed Up Winchesters 7

The team is closing in on the solution to their mystery! What's it gonna be, dream team?!

Cowritten with @nightmares06, the writer behind the @brothersapart multiverse!

( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 6 ) -7- ( 8 )

Story Tag

Read Time ~15 minutes

~~~~~

Jacob didn’t exit the inner roads of the city a moment too soon. A few people had started to wander closer to figure out what he was up to, despite the officer from before trying to convince them to move along. The resident giant didn’t walk among the close-packed buildings very often at all, and it only showed off how tall he was compared to everything else.

He was grateful to have passengers to pay attention to. He couldn’t think too much about his self-consciousness that way.

Once they were back on the outskirts of town, he glanced down often to get more directions from Sam or Minnie (Chase, as usual, didn’t seem too fussed about the direction they went). They eventually led him to a place well outside of town. None of the bumpiest roads even wound up out there, and the hills, covered in brush and rocks, wouldn’t be kind to most people on foot. A few dense clusters of trees formed extra barriers against travel in that direction.

“So you think these, uh, shapeshifter thingies are hiding somewhere in there?” he asked, pausing once again to consult the miniature monster hunters. “I’m not gonna be able to make a stealthy entrance, so what’s the plan?”

"Keep an eye out for any stray animals," Sam cautioned. "We don't know what their animal forms are yet, and skinwalkers are more versatile compared to werewolves like that. Whatever the pack is, anyone they bite will also turn into that animal."

"Who needs stealth when you have a giant on your side?" Dean commented, eliciting a side-eye from Sam. Likely his younger brother was remembering how trigger happy Dean had been just a few short hours back. Though considering the part that past giants had played in Blefuscu's history, it was understandable that the mini-monster hunter would feel threatened when seeing another one spring to life from the story books.

“Right?” Chase agreed. “These skinwalker thingies had no idea what they were getting into, invading Lilliput.”

Jacob’s mouth twisted into a skeptical frown. He might be big, and he’d used that to his advantage once or twice, but it didn’t make him an expert here. The monster hunting expertise all settled on Sam and Dean’s shoulders. He was prepared to help however they might need, but he didn’t like the thought of living as an open challenge to any monster that wanted to try something.

Minnie fidgeted. Her brow furrowed. “Can we just find them and get it over with?”

Jacob cupped his hand closer to his chest. “Yeah,” he tried to sound reassuring. “Just gonna …” he reached down to the tops of the nearest grouping of trees, brushing his hands over them. The young, supple trees bent back at his coaxing, though not without some creaking branches and snapping twigs, and birds swarmed away from his hand like flies.

“Can you guys tell if there’s any tracks or anything through there?”

Dean gave Jacob such a flat look that it could have dried up an ocean. Dried it up and left cracked salt flats behind. "What kind of tracks do you think we can spot from here, after you go messin' around with everything?" He pointed at the way the area had been affected by Jacob's movement.

Jacob glanced down and, in an overplayed show of drawing his hand back, let the trees spring into place with a cascade of yet more twigs and leaves. “I didn’t think they’d be climbing around in the trees,” he defended. As for how much they could have seen on the ground … he saw the point. He was too used to the Lilliputians being able to see much more detail than he ever could, and never paused to think about how high up he had everyone.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Chase said, patting Jacob’s palm. “Ya did your best. You said it yourself, you won’t be sneaking up on ‘em.”

Jacob rolled his eyes and sighed, and some of the birds that were swarming from his recent disturbance scattered even further in the sudden breeze. “Right.”

He pressed forward, this time not paying much mind to the clusters of trees unless there was motion among them. Usually, it was a fox or another flock of birds, all irate for his presence. As he navigated around boulders jutting out of the ground and stepped over thick underbrush, he understood why no one made much use of the area. If he tried to set his passengers down right then, Chase and Minnie would definitely get themselves tangled up in something. Sam and Dean might fare only a little better.

As he crested the first hill, he paused. “I didn’t really see much in there,” he admitted. “Maybe I went the wrong way?”

It was Minnie who spoke up next, and she was staring down at a clearing at the foot of the hill. “There’s a flock of sheep.”

Chase snickered. “Jeez, Minnie, do we need to get you more lambs to look after? Sheep are on your brain today.”

She pointed at the clearing and shot him a scathing glare. “They’re on my brain because they’re there, Chase!”

"She's right," Sam put in helpfully, interrupting the siblings.

Indeed, the clearing ahead was populated with a peacefully grazing herd of sheep. Several "Baas" filtered back to the group in Jacob's hand. The giant had not gone unnoticed by the sheep, as most of them had given a wide berth to the side Jacob stood closest to.

Dean's eyes lit up with excitement. "If there's sheep, it's the perfect kind of place for shifters to make themselves right at home, especially if they're holed up for a while until they think they’re forgotten," he pointed out. "We should check the place out, see if there's any predators nearby that might be stalking the herd."

"I wonder how they all got over here," Minnie mused, even as Jacob looked for a good path down the gentle slope of the hill.

"Maybe the shapeshifter guys took 'em," Chase said. "We'll see if someone back in town is missing any."

"Just hope I won't scare 'em off," Jacob muttered. Even at his lowest volume, the four on his hand wouldn't miss his concern. Just his appearance over the crest of the hill had made some of the sheep nervous, from what he could see. He inched along towards the clearing, trying not to cause a landslide as he did.

Dean was unable to stop from bouncing on his heels while they waited, unaccustomed to waiting around for someone else to do all the work while he was stuck in the air.

"The longer you take, the more time they have to run off," he helpfully reminded Jacob, which got an annoyed look sent back at him from Sam.

"If any make a break for it, we'll just have Jake round them up," Sam said dryly.

Jacob sent a skeptical glance at his hand, but didn't argue. He had never tried to actually pick up the Lilliputian livestock before. At most, there were a few herds of cattle that allowed him to touch their backs. Mostly the animals still avoided him, and he didn't exactly blame them. Even now, his shadow over the hill crept over that green clearing and the sheep weren't any more curious about him than before.

If they did turn out to be stolen or lost, he'd probably be the one carrying them back over the hill. Hopefully the others would manage to help him keep from spooking the whole lot.

As soon as he was close enough, he crouched down, one hand braced on the ground while the other lowered his passengers to the grass. "Just gimme a shout if you spot trouble," he urged them.

Chase gave a thumbs up while he helped Minnie hop down from the hand. Then, before he could chirp out a response, he had to suppress a sneeze in the crook of his arm. "Oh yeah, I'm allergic to the air I guess," he complained.

"Just don't scare the flock," Minnie scolded.

Dean followed behind the younger pair of siblings, scowling. "We don't know where the skinwalkers are, so you two need to stick close to us," he told them sharply. "Chase, you're with me. Got it?"

"That means it's me and you," Sam said to Minnie with a smile. "Don't go out of earshot of the others, and watch my back."

“Oh, I definitely don’t plan to get lost out here,” Minnie muttered back. Chase would never let her live it down. That was another perk to having a giant so nearby. Jacob would be able to find them if they shouted for him, and he could pluck them right out of danger if they needed. Even so, she stuck close to Sam as she scanned the area for any signs of something out of the ordinary.

By contrast, Chase stuck close to Dean out of convenience more than wariness. He didn't want to get lost out there either. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s bothered this flock yet,” he noted. “Think the guys are nearby still?”

"We're here to find out," Dean said, more sharply than he meant. The fact that they didn't know for sure unnerved him more than usual. Combine that with the fact that they were well away from their familiar stomping grounds in Blefuscu, and he was on edge.

The secluded field hardly seemed the place for a dangerous pack of shapeshifters, but Dean had seen weirder in his time as a hunter. They could take no chances. Selecting a direction that led away from Sam's pair and Jacob, he took point, leading Chase into the flock of sheep to search for their owners.

"Baa."

Dean ignored the sound of the sheep as they milled restlessly around the intruders, trying to spot any color in the field of white. The sheep had to have gotten this far up the hills somehow, but he wasn't seeing any sign of their caretakers.

"Baa."

This time, the sound of an impatient sheep was shortly followed by one of them headbutting into Dean's legs. Caught off-guard, he toppled into the field and vanished among the woolly animals.

"Oh shit! Dean!" Chase blurted, a smile only briefly flashing across his face. When the determined monster hunter didn't catch himself or spring right back up, he lurched over to where he'd seen him fall over. The sheep were restless at this point, no doubt owed in part to their sudden intrusion. Chase had to sidle around several of them before he could find where Dean landed.

He patted one nearby sheep's head distractedly as he knelt down. "Scuse me." He got his hands on Dean's arm to help pull him up to a seat. "What happened?"

Dean rubbed his head, blinking in confusion. "I think... the sheep?"

The herd was growing more restless by the minute now, a multitude of baas surrounding the pair. As Dean got unsteadily to his feet, a second sheep rammed its head into his legs and sent him tumbling down again.

"Ah, jeez!" Chase groused. How Minnie could keep a whole flock of sheep in line, he would never know. "Calm down, guys!" He had to step around one uppity ram that had wandered it's way between him and Dean in all the milling around.

"They don't seem to like us much," he said, exasperated. "Maybe we oughta just go around the flock instead of through it."

He knelt down to help once again, and this time one of the sheep let out an indignant baaa right next to his ear. Slapping a hand over his ear, Chase frowned. "Oh calm down a second, wouldja? We're going!"

Dean ended up needing Chase's help to stand, surrounded by the annoyed bleats of the flock. He scowled right back at them. "Seriously, since when are sheep this irritating?"

~~~

Not far away, Sam was having similar issues.

He was unable to go more than a few steps before another sheep would try to headbutt him off his feet. However, Minnie was distinctly left alone in comparison, with all the ire of the sheep directed towards the younger Winchester brother.

Minnie frowned and scanned the handful of sheep currently swarming around Sam. They didn't look sickly, or even all that scared. They were just annoyed by Sam for some reason.

"Hey, hey," she said gently, clicking her tongue at them. "What got you all worked up?" One sheep allowed her to pat its head once before shaking her off and returning to bleat at Sam.

She glanced across the flock to see Chase and Dean having similar problems, with a sea of indignant sheep in between the two groups. One look over her shoulder showed that Jacob hadn't moved and was poorly hiding his bemusement with the sight, so he probably couldn't be to blame for the flock's upset.

"Sam, we should--" she cut herself off, seeing him still struggling to keep his feet. Like her brother, she had to sidle her way past the sheep to get close enough to help him up. "We should check around the edges first, maybe. I dunno if I've ever seen a flock get this annoyed before."

“Yeah, let’s--” Whatever Sam was going to say was cut off when a ram headbutted him directly in the ass and sent him to faceplant in the dirt.

“Sam!”

Even from across the field, Dean had seen that Sam was in the same predicament as he was. The sheep were oddly focused on the Winchester brothers, while mostly ignoring the Lisongs. Frustrated, Dean pulled out his gun only to remember that it was out-of-commission from the saltwater. “Son of a bitc--”

He was knocked to the grass yet again, surrounded by increasingly agitated sheep. Chase, standing near him, made the mistake of trying to catch his fall. It ended with them both toppling into the sea of woolly troublemakers.

Minnie huffed in exasperation. “Chaaase,” she drawled, only to glance up as a shadow neared the flock.

“Okay, guys,” Jacob murmured, finally deciding he needed to step in. The first couple times the sheep had knocked Dean over, he’d been amused, but at this rate they’d never figure anything out. He would have to risk spooking some of the herd if only to deal with them later. He leaned forward, one hand planted firmly and flattening some sheep-free grass, while the other dipped down towards the flock where he’d last seen Dean and Chase fall over.

To his surprise, the sheep didn’t scatter in all directions from his shadow. At best, the ones near Dean and Chase bleated angrily and shuffled out of the way, giving him the space to scoop them both off the grass.

Before Jacob could do so, Dean bounded to his feet, fed up with the entire situation.

"That's ENOUGH!" he bellowed, yanking out his silver knife and brandishing it at the flock. "The next sheep to headbutt me gets its wool sheared off early!"

That somehow riled the sheep up even more, though they didn’t charge at him while the shadow of Jacob’s hand hovered overhead. Chase managed to regain his feet, suppressing a few sneezes from falling in the grass. All around the pair, the sheep bleated and a ram stomped just outside of Dean’s reach.

Jacob saw it before Dean or Chase did. While the ram in front made its odd show of defiance, another one edged towards them from behind. “Okay,” he muttered, “this is getting ridiculous.”

He reached down and plucked both of them up, gently herding them towards his palm before whisking them up. Once they were hovering over the heads of the many indignant baaas of the flock, he focused on Sam and Minnie.

The sheep still didn’t want to let Sam up, especially after Dean’s outburst, and they’d managed to shuffle Minnie away from him. Two fingers scooped under Sam’s middle to haul him up before the sheep smothered him or started to bite at him or something. Once he deposited Sam with the other two on his hand, he finally offered a hand up for Minnie and explained his hasty actions. “This isn’t working. You guys are gonna get trampled if this keeps up.”

Finally free of the sheep thanks to Jacob's intervention, Dean was able to bring himself to stand on his own two feet, with no fear of getting butted over yet again.

"What is with these sheep?" he demanded angrily at the air. "Don't they know we're trying to help? If there's a pack of wolves around, it's only a matter of time for them!"

That was when it clicked for Sam.

"Holy shit," he breathed. "Holy shit."

[galaxy-otter]

Self Insert Handplates Bittybones Story- ACT FOUR- Troubling Would be an Understatement

Your POV-

You ran down the hall, practically jittering with excitement. You opened the door to your guest bedroom a bit and whispered, "Guys? I have someone I want you to meet." Two small heads perked up at your voice. 

You gave them a smile and 2-P smiled back, "HELLO Y/N! WHO IS THIS PERSON?"

"Uh, he hasn't given me his name yet. He has, like, a crack running down his face. A lab coat. Other stuff." Alright, you didn't really like the reaction they gave you at the 'lab coat' description. 

They both tensed, and 2-P spoke, "DO WE UH, HAVE TO MEET HIM?"

"Well, no, but he IS gonna be staying here for a while. Like, a LONG while, but no, you don't." You heard a sigh of relief come from the boys and you trecked down the hall in disappointment. Turning the corner, you leaned against the wall of the kitchen. "Uh, well, they're a little shy right now, so no meet up. But, for now, why don't you rest a bit. Don't think I don't see those bags under your eyesockets, mister." You wagged your fingers in a playful motion, causing the skeleton to roll his eyes. 

He got up and looked over the counter, "Uh, I can't get down."

"Oh, shit, sorry dude. Do you want me to carry you there or...?"

He gave a slight nod and you scooped him up in your hands. Passing the guest bedroom, you turned and stepped foot into your room. Placing him on your bed, you gave a small 'huff,' "Make yourself at home, dude! I'll be in my office if you need me. Have a good nap, little dude!" 

Gaster's POV-

Gaster curled up the best he could with the ache in his nonexistent stomach. Why... why was this human so nice to him!? All of the other humans were absolute garbage to him, even before he was small! Speaking of which, why was he even small in the first place? What happened to him and the subjects? All he remembers before was him staring at the camera in the bo- subject's cell. 

...

....

.....

White, everything was white. He was big again, staring at what seen like an endless white void. It, in fact, WAS an endless, white void. He walked, and he walked, and he walked until he couldn't anymore. Collapsing to the ground, he sighed. There really was no end to this void, was there? This was what he deserved, in a way. He had done terrible things, to CHILDREN, no less. No... it was for the good of the underground. He said he was going to get them all out of there and he MEANT IT. All he was was a mistake. No one cares about him... no one... no on-

"Hello?"

What appeared in front of him was a human. ANOTHER human. She wore round glasses and a red scarf with a tear around her neck. She had what appeared to be a scar on her left cheek, with a blue hoodie and grey sweat pants to go along with it. She was barefoot and appeared to be a child. He gained the courage and spoke, "W-Where am I, human?"

"You're, uh, in the anti void. You're kinda dreaming right now. Still with that other human, small, and asleep." 

She reached her hand out, but he slapped it away, "I can get up on my own."

"I... okay, I guess."

Gaster got up and dusted himself off, eyeing the human as he did so. Now, with regained stamina, he started walking again, with the human behind him. "Why are you following me, human?" 

"To make sure you don't get lost!" She gave him a smile, but he scoffed at it. What did she want? All humans want SOMETHING from monsters, that was how it always was and always will be with the two races. 

"What are your motives?"

The human tilted her head, then smirked, "Not gonna ask me my name first?" Gaster kept glaring, and she giggled, "I'm just teasing, all in good fun. I don't have motives, and my name is Twiggy, by the way. You can call me Twigs, though." She held out her hand, and he reluctantly took it.

"All humans have motives, you MUST have something you must want from me."

She shrugged, "No, but a certain someone wanted me to say he missed you. He wishes to see you again, you know." 

Gaster narrowed his eyesockets at her, "Who are you talking about?"

Twiggy tapped her chin a few times, "He really big, and goopy. Has a skull face and a whole bunch of bones sprawled over him. Ring a bell to ya?"

Gaster's face drained, more so than he ever thought possible, "How do you know him?"

Again, Twiggy just shrugged it off like it was no big deal, "Spooked me by nipping the back of my shirt. Told me to tell you that, nudged me, and left."

He nodded, trying to wrap his skull around that sudden information. 

"Oh! Also, there's someone I would like you to meet. Follow me." She motioned for him to follow and he did. The anti void seemed to get darker and darker until it was just a void. A white, sitting figure sat, head to the floor.

The figure turned and spoke, "Twigs, is that you?"

Twiggy ran over to them and gave them a hug, "Swap! I want to meet someone!"

"I don't know this place like you do, but I'm PRETTY sure that there's no one... out... there." 'Swap' stared at Gaster for a solid minute, then put her hands around her mouth, "Oh my goodness, your from the original Handplates universe." Swap got up and ran over to Gaster and put her hands on his shoulders, causing him to tense. "I have a friend that lives there. Do you know Maple? Well, if so, I'm kinda an alternate version of her. Oh goodness, I'm rambling again. Sorry about that, I've just never been to the original universe before. I'm Swap, if you... already hadn't known that." She put her hand out and Gaster took it. 

Gaster sighed, "So you're a version of Maple? You... kind of look like me though."

"I'm kind of you AND Maple. I'm from SwapPlates. Everyone's roles are swapped. For example, Alphys is captain of the royal guard instead of Undyne, and I'm swapped with you! The only people who aren't swapped are the brothers. I... created them in my AU, but I didn't DO anything to them. It's kinda a MercyPlates situation. I have a wife, her name is Insanity. She's from DustPlates, has a high LV. See?" She showed her hand to reveal a blue and orange ring with tiny bones carved into it. "She had it made to represent Sans and Papyrus, or 1-S and 2-P in your case, isn't that thoughtful? She also got me this." Gaster let out a small gasp as she showed the subjects handplates. It looked to be 1-S and 2-P's handplates, half of each, put together to form one. It now read WDG-1P. 

"How did you-"

"Insanity gave it to me for my birthday last year, won't tell me how she made it or got it. Do you know?"

Gaster shook his head. He was lying, of course, he knew exactly how this Insanity person got it. The only way she could have got it was killing... the brothers... he didn't want to think about that right now. 

Swap's voice shattered his train of thought, "Are you okay? You don't seem to be handling this very well."

"I... am just not used to the lack of color, that is all." He looked at Swap, "Why are you two even here?"

"I go here to smoke, but Twiggy just goes here to relax. Queen Toriel would be pretty mad if she found out I was smoking, heh."

He looked at the black floor, then had a thought, "Is there a way that you two can make me big again?" 

Swap pondered for a bit, then perked up and smiled, "Yea, I think so, but I need someone to help. Follow me!" He followed her through what seemed like an endless loop. Black, white, black, white, it just kept going. During a white transition, however, he saw a familiar figure laying down, supposedly asleep. He backed up on impulse and Swap turned to look at him, "Are you ok?" He shut his eyes and nodded. She smiled, "He not gonna hurt you," she pointed to herself, "Not on my watch!" She walked over to the sleeping figure and lightly shook his skull, "Void, wake up, I need a favor." Void grumbled and nudged his head on her cleavage. Swap pushed him away, "Stop that and get up already."

"Alright, alright," Void sighed, "What is it Swap?" Before she could answer, however, Void had caught sight of Gaster. Gaster tensed more and more until he was eye level with the figure, "My oh my, what do we have here? Docter WD Gaster, in the void? Fall into the CORE already, huh?" 

Swap put her hands in front of Void, "No, he has not. He was shrunk and placed in a different universe by Author-Chan and we need you to change him back."

Void smiled, like a sadistic freak, "That... can be arranged..."

Author-Chan is me for you confused peeps. 

A cliffhanger! Never thought I'd do one of those.  Just a hint though, none of this will be NSFW! I don't swing that way when I write fanfics, so don't expect anything like that. Expect warnings, though. Warnings like self-harm, depression, stuff like that. Oops, did I give another hint about MC? My bad! Enjoy guys! :)

[boundless-limbo-deviation]

Part 1 - Chapter 2: The Grass is Greener

A pair of sturdy, brown, leather walking boots plodded along an elegantly maintained brick road. Horse-driven carriages creaked on their wheels through the streets of a sprawling city. Whilst the scale and splendour of this city neared what one would expect from a modern metropolis, it was contrastingly dated in appearance. For miles upon miles, stretched a city of the middle ages; Thanton. Whilst it followed the foundations comparable to medieval architecture, its buildings had clearly stood the test of time for centuries. Certain archaic towers even scratched the sky with their scale, with the very tallest being the central tower of a giant palace overlooking its community. The only thing standing higher than this castle's tower was the very mountain that cradled it amidst its southern cliffs. The mountain stood like a watchful deity over Thanton's vastness, which spanned every side of the craggy mass of rock, all the way up to the coastal harbour in the north.

The boots' steady pace came to a halt before the city’s immense front-gates. A traditional drawbridge that was vast enough in size to boast the sheer amount of commerce going in and out of the city. Naturally, this drawbridge was one of many along the walls stretching miles around the city’s circumference.

A young girl stood at the gate, her vibrant amber eyes staring puzzled at the unusual sight of the drawbridge being closed, carriages filled with befuddled traders and travellers queued up for an exit to the city, growing impatient with the wall of wood inconveniencing their day. The youth neatened up her elegantly curled hair, a vibrant ginger flowing halfway down her back like an intricately controlled fire, only further heated by the scarlet-red (and almost comparatively modern) princess coat that hung down to her calves, astonishingly groomed and clean compared to those well-worked leather boots.

“Sir Nasos!” A surprisingly powerful, authoritative voice bellowed from the petite teen’s chords, her stern expression holding impatience. In response to her voice, a flustered, heavily armoured guard’s head peeked over from the castellations of the wall, the girl bending her head right back to make attempted eye-contact with the man, with difficulty due to his helmet-masked face.

“Lady Thanos! Please, you needn’t refer to me with such formality!” He responded nervously.

The girl’s stoic expression cracked a grin, struggling to withhold a chuckle. “You ought to follow your own advice, Steve. Why is the drawbridge closed? Open it! All of these busy people are waiting, myself included!” She crossed her arms and tilted her head expectantly.

The man’s helmet almost fell from his head as he dangled nearly half of his body over the edge of the wall, clearing his throat in his fluster. “A-Apologies, Miss Haraki! There have been sightings of strange monsters emerging from the woods! I’ve been given orders to shut the gate until further notice!” Every word from his mouth was yelled dutifully, though nervous in the face of this child before him.

Haraki looked bewildered by such an order, placing her hands back down on her hips. “I’ll be your ‘further notice’, Steve! So open the gate, and if you get in trouble with the Captain, I’ll have a word with him myself, okay?--Honestly, the main gate?--Look just how much congestion this is causing! If we see monsters, we can close them promptly. It could very well just be an old farmer mistaking a black cat for a demon. We cannot be closing our gates based on sightings alone. We’re supposed to have a shipment of new medicine from Dardonia today too! We need as little traffic as possible!” She tapped her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Wouldn't a Dardonian delivery just fly into the city?"

"Steve!"

“O-Okay! Yes, right away!” Apparently intimidated by this small girl's level of authority, the guard's head vanished from the top of the wall, and after thirty seconds or so, the heavy wooden gate began to descend with a loud, impressive creak. Dense chains brought the drawbridge down with a deep 'clink clink clink clink’, until a reverberating 'clonk’ announced the bridge securely locking into place, revealing the vast countryside beyond the walls. Without delay, carriages started to roll off, several passengers waving to the young girl from their windows, shouting words of appreciation. The girl could only smile and wave back, before continuing her walk through the city gates.

“Miss Haraki! Wait! Please do be careful! If there truly are monsters, your life could be in danger!” Suddenly, the chrome helmet of Steve emerged from the wall’s castellations again, waving an arm frantically. The young girl’s eyes rolled with amused irritation, swivelling around on her heel to stare up at the concerned guardsman.

“Oh, heavens forbid; An adorable black cat meows at me. I can imagine the bloodshed now.” Spoken with an indulgent topping of sarcasm, waving a hand dismissively. Despite her elegant demeanour, the girl’s hands, much like her boots, were coarse and roughened. “Concern yourself not, my good sir. This will be just like yesterday, and the day before that. A mere sighting cannot scratch me.” She shrugged her shoulders, grinning smugly before turning around again.

“But Princess-Haaargh!” The man gave a struggled groan as his oversized helmet, too big for his own head, slid out from its amateurishly fastened straps, plummeting down onto the bridge with a hefty ‘bonk’. This left the bizarrely beautiful, flowing brown locks of the young man flow freely as he muttered curses of blunder under his breath.

The so-called royal youth turned herself around for a second time with an exasperated sigh, picking the helmet up begrudgingly. “Formalities, Sir Nasos!” She bluntly jeered back. Grasping the helmet’s loose strap, and with a powerful swing of her arm, launched it back up towards the man upon the wall, before sauntering away without another word. Unbeknown to her; the helmet came crashing down onto the brick road, all the way on the other side of the wall. She'd missed the flailing hands of Steve by a long shot.

  Brick soon turned to dirt as Haraki distanced herself further from the city, the road becoming more beaten in parallel to the rolling fields of green surrounding her. The countryside was dotted with farmhouses, smaller settlements of homes, and an absolute abundance of cows, horses and sheep. The green was only interrupted by wheat stalks spreading between alternating fields like patchwork. Whilst the weather was clear and skies were blue, off the coast to the west was shroud of grey clouds, obscurring the horizon in a light mizzle of rain.

The frequency of horse-drawn carriages and merchant carts along the roads had slowed to near-nothing once Haraki was off the main brick roads. The girl’s brisk jogging was steadily paced as if it were second nature to her, showing no signs of tiring any moment soon. She closed in on the densely wooded forest, a bright smile of excitement spread across her face, as a thrilling image conjured up in her head.

Just a couple of days prior, the young royal had found something deeply unusual in one of her otherwise regular excursions into Foloway Forest. The Kingdom’s largest forest hid many secrets, and somehow this one had eluded Haraki throughout her adventurous childhood. She blamed not finding it earlier on the fact that she’d only been permitted to leave the city without a caretaker within the last few years due to her age, but she never once felt like her freedom was suppressed.

Those worn leather boots were proving their worth, with the girl fearlessly marching off any beaten path to make a faster journey of finding her goal. If a shrub or bush of nettles so much as stood in her path, she barged on through like a battering ram. No petty piece of underbrush stood a chance.

After about twenty straight minutes of violated vegetation, where the trees were reaching their tallest and the leaves were at their densest; Haraki reached her destination. Lightly reflecting the dappled sunlight through the treetops, were the age-eroded stones of a remarkable ruin. What could have originally been a collection of small buildings, was now a pile of rubble surrounding a bunker-like structure rearing its head up from the earth. Little rounded sculptures dotted the various steps and nooks around the unidentifiable architecture. Arguably adorable, yet far too worn to resemble anything in particular.

Dried leaves and twigs cracked audibly with each cautious step the young girl took towards the structure. Her research in the library didn’t yield a thing as to what it could be, though that could be partially because she got bored trying to find out anything about this ruin via reading. Much better to face her curiosity directly by visiting again. That was her mindset in most ventures and it had served her well enough so far, with the occasional scuffed elbow or scraped knee.

‘Let’s see what you are.’ The girl pondered to herself. Just before she was able to step upon the cold surface of the ruined stone steps however, an unsettling chill ran up her spine. Looking down at her feet, she noticed the leaves and moss beneath her had turned an eerie, lifeless grey. Something about it made the young girl wince distastefully, urgently lifting her foot away and onto the stone step in front of her as if she’d just stepped in a pile of dung.

Swivelling around, Haraki examined the literally greyed-out space of plant life. Kneeling down to take a closer look, it seemed to spread directly outwards from the ruined bunker she was standing on. The same pattern continued consistently around the entire structure. She was admittedly starting to have second thoughts, but tried to shrug the effect off as a kind of chemical reaction from the materials of this ruin. She didn’t really need to care about the science of it, that was for the scholars to think about.

Making a mental note to raise this unusual phenomenon with a bookish individual when she got back home, she turned on her heels once again and regained her fearless resolve to explore this enigmatic structure. Circling around the outer path of the bunker, she gave a gasp of intrigue to find a clear, intact entrance; stairs descending into the buried building. Her heart was thumping with anticipation, eager to be sated. The lass set off downwards, the heavy pacing of her boots echoed in the abandoned corridor of stone, spiralling downwards into the ground.

The stairs continued on for a lot longer than Haraki deemed normal, and the light from outside was dwindling. The princess gave an impatient sigh, narrowing her eyes as she lifted a hand, staring at what little was left to see in this limited lighting. She made repeated gestures with her hand; clenching it shut and opening it again, growing increasingly annoyed at whatever she was trying to do. She firmly clicked her fingers, waved them in the air repeatedly, made a circle with her hand... Nothing worked. Her eyes shut, jaw clenched and teeth bared, before one more, particularly satisfying click of her fingers enticed a sudden ball of light to erupt from the palm of her hand.

Caught by the surprise of her struggled, but successful spell to light her way, the young girl gave a sigh of relief and continued her downwards spiral into the unknown.

This obscured structure was probably around six storeys into the ground when Haraki finally saw an end to the stairwell. She stopped and looked blankly along the corridor at the steps’ base. A short path leading directly towards an archway into a larger chamber; her goal was right there!

Only wishing that the arch didn’t lead to yet more stairs, she was ready to take her last few steps downwards, before a bone-chilling sound and a slithering movement slipped past the corner of her eye. She gave a sharp gasp, almost losing her footing when trying to turn, getting better look at the source of her shock.

Her amber eyes, reflecting the light of her spell, widened for a moment before narrowing in disgust; On the wall was a nondescript, unsettling creature. An insect or mollusc? It was around the length of her forearm and appeared to have legs with plates of glossy exoskeleton, but the way it squirmed was contrastingly amorphic. Firmly clenching her teeth, Haraki took a shaken breath, carefully leaning down to grab a loose brick from the ancient steps.

She firmly held her back against the inner-most wall of the staircase, trying to slip past the nightmarish entity without disturbing it further. The second she passed, an unpleasant, alarming ‘Thwop’ threw her into action as the creature immediately fell from the wall and onto the step beside her. With a panicked yelp, followed by a fast roar of action, the young lady bent her knees and brought both hands down, slamming the brick upon the creature’s uncertain shape. A most revolting ‘Shplock!’ echoed through the underground chambers, as her encounter with the alien-like creature ended as quickly as it began.

The young noblewoman had chosen not to wait and find out if the creature was harmful or not. She stood up straight, kicking the brick down the remaining stairs to get a glimpse of the crushed ‘bug's’ corpse. The slab of stone peeled away from what was now just a mess of off-pink flesh and cracked shell. She hadn’t a clue what she’d just killed, it just oozed viscous fluids down the stone steps. She could only stand a few more seconds even trying to figure it out before scurrying towards her original goal at the bottom of the stairs. Yet another question for the scientists.

Down the remaining stairs and through the archway, the girl in red gave a sigh of relief; she’d evidently reached the bottom. All that greeted her for now was darkness, and from how her footsteps echoed on the cold stone floor, this chamber was large and empty. She tried to brighten her spell, to no avail. With another agitated roll of her eyes, she cautiously paced further into the room, watching her footing due to only seeing a few meters ahead.

The girl only had the echo of her steps for company--so she thought--before the light of her spell reflected off of something in the darkness; two reddish lights glared back at her, beckoning the girl to gasp with a shrill yelp! “Aah! What the—” Her initial scare was cooled quickly, realising that staring back at her was the familiar glow of a cat’s eyes in the darkness.

“O-Oh gosh! Kitty? You frightened me.” She sighed in relief and slowly knelt down, holding out her glowing hand. “How did you get down here sweetie? Right out in the woods too, awh...” She muttered in a high, silly pitch, the likes of which people often resort to when in the close proximity of a cute animal.

As the girl’s voice resounded against the chamber walls, a deep humming began to speak back. Haraki’s fiery head of hair flung back and forth, standing up straight again as she tried to identify the source. It was as if the whole room started buzzing, and as the sound intensified, light began to seep from between the bricks, white crystals lining the walls illuminated, quickly bringing the whole chamber into clarity.

“Oh wow... There are magic installations in here?” She found herself speaking aloud, as if the company of a cat somehow justified it. The crystals distracted the girl only momentarily as the room reacted to the sounds of her presence and came to life. It must not have been activated in a long time judging from how long it took to start up. Turning her attention back to the pair of feline eyes she spotted earlier, she suddenly clutched a hand to her chest in shock, dispelling the light she'd conjured. Her startle wasn't because of the black, red-eyed cat staring quietly back at her, but because of the unconscious figure sprawled on the ground beside it.

“What—Oh my god!” Without a second’s pause, she ran closer to the body, almost skidding to a halt and kneeling by the person’s side. “Hello! Are you okay? Oh, goodness...” She was left in a fleeting panic. Everything about them was shrouded in a flowing mess of silver hair, but Haraki gently rolling them over revealed the stranger’s face.

“A boy?” Haraki muttered under her breath. It didn’t take her long to realise he was breathing steadily, alleviating her concerns. She gazed over at the red-eyed cat, who had paced a few feet away from her. “Are you with him?” She made a mental note of the cat’s eyes, and the boy’s hair, silently remarking on the unusual qualities. A shudder of mystery gave her goosebumps; finding an unusual cat and unconscious boy at the bottom of a mysterious ruin? Her day went from exciting to surreal! Not even taking into account the grotesque eldritch... thing she killed a few minutes ago.

She carefully lay the young man on his side, doing her best to remember the staple recovery position. The cat watched on studiously, with a deep, wide-eyed curiosity, until Haraki shifted her attention back towards him. “You’re adorable! Look at your amazing eyes...” She stood up and edged herself towards the feline, who sat observantly as the girl knelt down and held her hand outwards. Common cat courtesy; let the cat smell your hand first and foremost. But this cat showed no signs of flinching, nor a desire to take a whiff. The two of them merely exchanged a silent stare.

“Your ears are all curved, like horns...” Her hands fearlessly went for the petting, the response she received was the cat lowering his head back into his neck awkwardly, but not enough to truly escape the girl’s hand. She mostly just wanted to run a finger along the backs of those arched ears.

  Ten or so minutes passed with Haraki and the enigmatic cat sitting by the unconscious body of the boy. The cat seemed intrigued by the girl’s eagerness to stay and keep watch, but did not even inch from where he sat. The girl eventually had to relent from petting the cat, understanding that whilst he didn’t move, he didn’t seem too fond of it either. Eventually, the two lively figures sprang up in startle as the boy began to move.

“Hello? Hi! Are you alright?” Her concern was met by an abrupt gasp from the young man, sharply sitting up and throwing his weight backwards. Haraki stayed low, holding out a hand, (much like she did for the cat, really) and spoke calmly. “Hey hey, it’s okay; it’s fine! I’m Haraki, okay? I just found you here, do you—uhm, understand me?”

The boy took several deep, anxious breaths before nodding his head frantically. “Y-Yes... Am I—?” He glanced about his surroundings. Towering over him was a tall, familiar monolith, just like the last thing he saw before losing consciousness. This time, however, his location was completely different. Upon spotting the cat, who finally stood up from his position and moved closer, the boy exclaimed; “Yang! Did we make it?”

The boy was clearly experiencing a complete overload of emotion, unsure of where to direct his attention. The room around him, the otherworldly stranger who greeted him, or his familiar mentor, who remained quiet, glancing between his student and the stranger.

The three of them cast awkward gazes amongst one another, before the silver-haired boy spoke again. “Yang? Say something!” He uttered, stammering on his words amidst his heightened breathing.

A very human-like sigh emanated from the small animal beside Haraki, before the cat finally broke his cover with that refined, charming tone of his. “I was trying to remain discreet in the presence of a stranger, Kiyoshi.”

The girl’s eyes widened, her lips silently parting as her head turned away from the boy, to stare in disbelief at the cute critter to her side, who returned her gaze, except calmly.

“To naturally avoid frightening the lass. She’s shown nothing but courtesy upon finding us.” Kiyoshi had his turn to feel the fright; now it was Haraki’s. She fell off her heels where she knelt, staggering to the side as her legs frantically kicked along the ground, putting just a meter of extra distance between herself and the others.

The roles had quickly reversed, Kiyoshi holding his hand out and waving it with flustered dismissal. “N-No no no! it’s okay! We don’t mean you any harm!” The poor fellow dropping the most staple line of reassurance he could find in his emotionally shaken, awkward self.

Yang tilted his head back softly, with a slow blink of those blood-red eyes. “As mentioned, young lady, sorry for frightening you.”

Rather than continuing her brief tizzy, the girl was taking deep, concise breaths to try and calm herself down. “I-I believe you! I think—Oh my god...” Her shaken tone betrayed her words. She gulped down her next sentence, taking another moment to compose. “I’m um... This is just very different, I—” Her amber eyes flickered between two enigmatic entities, where initially the boy had been the most mysterious, the cat now outranked him vastly.

Kiyoshi nodded slowly, the boy and cat sitting in silence to allow the girl space and time to digest the situation. Yang wordlessly admired her bravery. He was well aware that human beings weren’t widely accustomed to silver hair and talking cats, and they very well could have sent the girl fleeing entirely.

Haraki took a long, deep breath. Her hands covered her face in an attempt to arrange her thoughts, before holding them both out as if to say; 'wait a minute'. “Are you both from... a black rock atop a hill?” Her silence-breaker struck both of the otherworldly visitors to their cores. Yang’s ears twitched and turned, Kiyoshi inhaled sharply through his nose.

“How could... Why would you say that?” Kiyoshi stuttered back, being reminded of home again so quickly felt like a dagger in his gut. He bit the inside of his lip, a hand desperately kneading into the glimmering blue garment he had been clinging to.

Yang could tell Kiyoshi was hurting, and interjected to take ownership of the question. “I’m astounded by the sudden, sheer precision of your inquiry, young lady. I didn’t expect the first human we met to be familiar with our home. May I ask how you know this?”

Haraki watched the cat speaking like an intricately orchestrated symphony. Almost mesmerised by the bizarreness, She blinked once realising he had asked a question. “Oh wow, sorry.” She paused. “It's just a bit odd, that I was petting you a moment ago and talking to you like a... Cat.”

The thought alone was enough to dispel some of Kiyoshi’s anxiety for the moment, a soft laugh uttered from the boy as Haraki continued.

“I heard it from stories my father told me. Well, rather, they were stories he heard from my mother before she passed away. I never knew her, myself.” She said, at which Kiyoshi had dropped back into reserved silence again, as Yang listened with full intent.

“He told me she travelled to the world of demons, and that it wasn’t a scary place at all! She described it as a beautiful landscape of twilight--Is that all real?--You believe these stories as a little kid, obviously, but...”

“Then we are your proof." Yang interjected. "Though you could imagine the scenery becomes rather mundane to the Underworld’s inhabitants. I suppose after some time we’ll no doubt look back on our memories of it and grow nostalgic.”

“Wait, wait--You’re not going back?” The girl was concerned by Yang's dismissive tone.

The black cat sternly cast a glance over at his pupil's visible grief. “I shouldn’t go into detail at this point, as much as I appreciate your hospitality. To keep it short; Our homeland has been ravaged by illness, and is no longer a safe, or pleasant place to be.”

“What?” Haraki’s reaction was loud and abrupt, her hands gripping anxiously into her coat as a shiver ran through her body. “Illness? Like a plague?” Yang gave a slow nod in response, staring expectantly at her. “See, there’s a massive epidemic here too, and I mean--not just here--the whole world’s been hit by it.” Haraki clarified, even Yang’s steadfast composure seemed to be shaken by the notion that this plague was spread across two dimensions.

Kiyoshi had question after question piling up in his mind, weighing down on all the stress attempting to erupt. He sat there with an ache in the pit of his stomach that refused to go away, and he didn’t expect it to anytime soon either.

“How could... How could that even be possible? What are the symptoms here? Is it terminal?” The fur on Yang’s back twitched, starting to lift and stand on end with cautious intrigue.

“Uhm, it's killed a lot of people, but it isn't definitely terminal... I'm not very good with medical things like symptoms. My father has it, uh... he feels cold and exhausted all the time. His muscles hurt a lot. He, uh..." She began making circular gestures with her hands away from her mouth.

"Vomits?" Yang bluntly said it for her, garnering a reluctant nod from the youth. Yang simply narrowed his eyes and continued. “I am truly sorry to hear about your father. Is there any discolouration of the skin and hair, or loss of sight?”

Haraki made an uncertain shrug with her shoulders and hands. “My father's become pale, but... No change to his eyes or hair. I'm sorry, I don't actually know anything specific about the sickness outside of Thanton--That is--my city. Was it... Uh, different for you?" The young woman seemed afraid to ask.

“Almost every case is severe, and fatal. I won't elaborate further on that right now.” Likely to save more grief for himself, but especially Kiyoshi. It wasn't worth giving their life story to a stranger, no matter how friendly she might be.

Haraki felt her muscles tense. She couldn't swallow this tinge of guilt no matter how many times she tried, because the dread in the air was clear as day. “O-Oh my god... I’m so sorry. I didn't mean to pry.” She stood back up frantically, her mind hitting a block on what else to say.

Yang performed another one of his very cat-like slow blinks. "You did nothing of the sort. I understand you already feel shaken by the reality of this encounter." Kiyoshi's attention was elsewhere, completely silent and empty.

"No no! I mean, yes but, it's nothing compared to what you--" She stopped herself for another deep breath, looking away to gather her thoughts. "I should... Leave you to yourselves? I'll, uhm, just..." She turned on her heels towards the way she entered and took a whole three brisk steps before Yang stopped her.

"Hold on, young lady. Please let me properly introduce ourselves. My name is Yang, and this boy is my apprentice, Kiyoshi. I understand such formalities were lost amidst our mutual... Culture shock, let's say."

Whatever Yang did with his polite cut-in, it worked miracles in dispelling Haraki's guilt. The girl turned to face them again, and with a sharp inhale through flared nostrils, she performed a clumsy curtsy. "Haraki." She smiled in appreciation at Yang's courtesy, emboldening her to speak further. "Would you two... Please join me outside? It would be my honour to escort you."

The cat's eyes widened, body language relaxing considerably. "Your hospitality knows no bounds, Haraki." As the cat lifted his back legs off the ground, he stared intently at Kiyoshi, who on the other hand, showed little sign of moving. Slouched over where has was sat, both arms folded tensely across his abdomen. He could barely return his mentor's gaze. Despite the boy's mourning, Yang had to give him the push. "Come, Kiyoshi. Just a bit further; Remember why you are here."

Kiyoshi finally lifted his head. During Yang and Haraki's dialogue, he'd been left to sink into the company of his dark thoughts. "Mm." He murmured. But Yang's words stirred a budding motivation inside him at the very least, urging the young man to finally stand before nodding his head in silent thanks at the welcoming lass.

"Thank you, um." Haraki found it difficult addressing the boy. What could she even say to him that didn't come across as empty or shallow? So instead she nodded awkwardly back at him, clapping her hands together assertively. "Great! Uh, let's go then!" Her somewhat forced pep added to her tone echoed through the chamber, as she yet again turned to walk just a few steps ahead. The chamber remained illuminated for now, but the stairwell remained dark and decrepit, meaning Haraki had to struggle and re-kindle her poor display of magic to guide the way, of which Yang stared, taking silent note. "Oh, um, I don't suppose either of you know what this thing might be? It's rather... repulsive, I think I sort of squashed it on my way down. Mind your step." Haraki was of course, referring to the revolting carcass of the 'blob' she splattered earlier.

The young man only gave a passing "Eugh..." as his line of sight passed over it. Seeing any instance of viscera again would be too soon.

Yang on the other hand, stayed true to the ways of his kind by cautiously leaning in and sniffing it, only to pull back and wince in disgust. "How vile. I'm content to have never seen any creature of the sort."

The princess felt no more at ease that her guests had no information to give on the abomination. She'd just have to describe it to a researcher at the palace library. The girl maintained a brisk pace up the stairs, with Yang remaining furthest behind to keep his student moving. As the light from above began to fill the tunnel, Haraki snuffed out her spell.

The moment they stepped outside, the human girl's breath of fresh air paled in comparison to the sheer awe in the eyes of her company. Yang was stunned, and Kiyoshi wordlessly took steps of his own ahead of the group, almost losing his footing and instead leaning his weight against the closest tree he could reach. Haraki was taken aback by how anyone could react like this to what she considered to be the mundane. The cat and girl stepped away from the cold stone entrance, each of them feeling their feet settle on the forest soil. Yang sat himself on the earth with his tail wrapping around his front paws, pushing those pads down into the fallen leaves, feline nose twitching as it sniffed the clean forest air.

Green grass, blue skies, trees in vast abundance. To Kiyoshi, this was his fairy tale. After having mustered the courage to stand before, his hand dragged down the tree's bark. He was once again brought to his knees by a surge of emotion he couldn't suppress, but this was far more bittersweet than dread. "Mom, Dad... I'm here, I made it. I can't... I can't believe I'm here." Kiyoshi's mourning no longer echoed in isolation, but instead carried on the wind through the branches of the wood. The others remained in silence, allowing Kiyoshi one more moment of release, one he truly needed.

  Given their necessary moment of reflection, the two Underworld refugees were able to stand and move on. Kiyoshi's spirits had lifted significantly, feeling more comfortable around the girl who had offered to guide them through Foloway Forest after having broken down before her like that. He couldn't stop remarking on the colour of the vegetation and sky. Each and every plant was like seeing an alien, Kiyoshi was taking excessive care with everything he laid hands on, in fear of breaking or damaging literally anything, from fragile plants right down to one particularly shiny pebble in the midst of a stream. Everybody's mood was lifted by his vibrant curiosity.

Once they had left the woods, as the rolling hills of farmland spread out before them, it dawned on Kiyoshi all over again just how much he could see. His jaw dropped, gasping and turning his head frantically, as if desperately searching for the spot where the land drops off into a sea of cloud, but instead he only saw the cliffs by the coast.

"Oh my goodness..." An open-mouthed smile of giddy awe spread across his face, green eyes basically twinkling from the lingering tears and bright light of the sun beaming down on them. "Is that seriously all water?" Far more cat-like than his mentor right now, Kiyoshi's attention was rapidly tugged from one place to the next, throwing his head back to look at the sky. "W-We're so far beneath the clouds!"

Haraki could only exchange an expression of amusement with Yang. Not that the cat's face was prone to much outside of the usual cat-like spectrum of expression. "His reaction is sort of lining up with what my Father told me about your world." She said down to him, to which he silently blinked in acknowledgement before the princess marched ahead towards the silver-haired boy who had now begun to gasp at the presence of a field full of cows in the distance. Haraki had her eye caught on the horizon out at sea, her eyes widening in intrigue as the mist from earlier had lifted significantly.

"Hey!" She called out to him. "Look back out at sea again, really carefully now. Look, look!"

Kiyoshi responded with an idle "Huh?" before doing as she asked, the girl pointing her finger sharply at a particular point where the sky had been clearing, and everything soon became apparent.

A positively colossal silhouette stretched up from the distant sea, a tower of such remarkable size and haphazard shape that its very existence should have been impossible, stretching far beyond the clouds. Even Yang approached in disbelief, his narrow pupils widening visibly.

"I had heard of a structure of fantastic proportions, but seeing it in person far outmatches any expectations..." The wise cat admitted.

"What... is it?" Asked Kiyoshi to the steadily brightening expression of the princess.

"That's Dardonia Citadel; The world's largest manmade structure, and home to the people who are going to cure my Father!"

[chaotictempleknightstory]

A Curious Plant (Chapter 1)

Today was a very drab day for William. Weekends never really had much going on, or at least; nothing interesting was going on. Time seemed to drag on, the weather was not remarkable, and the sky was overcast. There was two options: sleep or go outside. A nap would be good. After all, William had been having sleeping troubles as of late. But going outside would allow William to walk around, maybe take some pictures, and possibly find inspiration for a story or drawing. After some thinking, William decided he would go outside. Some fresh air would do him so good.

William put on some pants and slipped on his shoes. It had rained the day before and he did not want his pajama pants getting muddy. Plus what if he had happened upon someone? It would be better to be wearing pants as to not look lazy and sloppy. As William stepped out the door, he realized something: Better put on your boots dingus, it is muddy outside. After slipping out of his shoes and going for his boots, he also grapped a tote bag just in case he needed it. He also wanted to carry his camera in something of to which he also nearly forgot.

The woods echoed with the breeze of the wind. It sung of fall and the trees bore signs of this with their warm colored leaves. They crinkled and squished under William’s feet as he walked. Cloudy skies and half asleep trees would probably get someone down, but not William. William liked the atmosphere of the woods. While he enjoyed the welcoming nature of sunny days, clouds and wind reminded him of mystery and forboding places that filled one with a sense of fear and awe.

While being enraptured by the woods, William had almost missed something. Snapping himself out of the mood and changing gears, he noticed a puddle of mud that was decently sized. Curious, he grabbed a branch and stuck it into the mud. The stick went down...very down. If he had to geuss, the puddle was waist deep. It was so tempting to strip down and sink. If he crouched, he would probably sink down to his chin. But alas, it was cold out and he did not bring a rope to secure himself just in case the worst happened. William snapped some pictures and carried on.

William continued down further into the woods along a trail he had come to know. Fortunately it was mid day, so he was not worried about it getting dark out. As he walked along the trail, there was some oddities. Green leaves were strewn about the path. There was distance between them, but green leaves in fall? And spread out? Very odd indeed. Some even appeared to have a black, shiny goo on them. William snapped some pictures of this and would upload them to the web when he got back.

Despite the day being overcast in the middle of fall, the forest was actually fairly active. William was able to get pictures of various plants and small animals. Of the most interesting of the photos was photos of fallen and decayed trees. These were a particular favorite as they were excellent imagination fuel. A decayed stump with fungus could be a rest stop to a race of elven folk made of a long dead colossal tree. A rotting log could be the remannts of a giant tree populated with animal folk. William was sure to get many photos of these various fallen and decayed objects.

While taking pictures, William had seen something that had caused him to freeze. He was surroned by shiny, pitch black puff balls. This was a fungus that had arrived on a meteorite and was called black hole mushrooms. Oddly they were not invasive. Many animals seemed to love them and they are consumed by humans as a delicacy. But they were annoying for their reproduction. And if William did not back out slowly, he would soon experience it.

The puffs balls quivered and oozed with black goo. William backed up slowly.  The puffballs were sensitive to sound and running would cause them to go off. He was almost in the clear until he had stepped on a twig. The leaves were quiet, but this twig was enough to disturb the puff balls. Within an instant of dropping his bag (which disturbed even more puff balls), William was being covered in black goo. The puffballs ejected all over him, causing an upright cocoon to form around him. The goo solidified and rendered William completely helpless and immobile.

What stood in William’s spot was a man who had fallen victim to the reproduction cycle of the black hole mushroom. Being an alien fungus, the black hole msuhroom had different means of reproducing than typical Earth fungus. They used puffballs to spread their goo-like spores, but the spores are quite unique. A cluster of Mushrooms will wait for a moving, living object to come into range of their puff balls. Once in range and properly distrubed, the puff balls eject their gooey spores all over the host. Once the host is in place, the goo spreads tendrils into the ground to gather nutrients. Effeiciently, the goo forms into a fungal version of what they covered. The fungus ejects the host and goes on to spread and grow their kind. This is how they were able to reproduce on Earth so effectively. It is also believed the conditions on their homeworld required them to eject their spores in a goo-like manner. It is unclear if cocooning hosts was originally apart of that though.

30 minutes had passed, but William had lost track of time. All of a sudden, he was ejected onto the ground and a shiny, jet-black man with glowing eyes stood before him. The man turned to William, helped him up, and handed him his bag and camera.

“Thank you for hosting me” the fungal man said to William. His voice was similar to his, but it sounded like an alien without proper vocal chords trying to do an impression of him.

“Y-your welcome...” William responded weekly. And with that, the fungus walked off. A fungal squirrel chirped at William and followed after the fungal man.

It took William a few minutes to remember what he was doing. The fungus had numbed him so he would not squirm and this gave him slight amnesia. But he soon realized he was on a walk and taking pictures. The camera had helped that memory along. So after shaking himself a little and snapping a few pictures of the now empty puff balls, he continued on.

It was still overcast out and the clouds had gotten a little darker. William was worried about rain, but he remembered there was not supposed to be any rain...or was it going to downpour? William was still a little hazy from the fungus. In fact, he was so hazy that he was seeing strands of light.

But by the time William had realized what was going on, it was too late. He was tangled in almost invisible threads of to which he soon realized were webs. And even more webs were beginning to fall on him. Soon he was fully covered and could barely move. Then out of the blue, something hoisted him into a tree and caused the webs to tighten around him. He had been hoisted into a tree house made of spider webbing. He probably would have avoided the tree if he was not hazy from the fungus. That fungal man was nice, but the experience did more harm than good to William.

William dangled from several threads in his cocoon. His body said struggle, but his mind knew that was making it worse. How could this get any worse he asked himself. Life gave him an answer, or so he percieved.

“Well well, looks like I pulled in a tasty meal” said a feminine voice while licking their lips. From the shadows emerged a four eyed woman of a slender body with stripes on her arms. at this point William screamed despite being muffled by his cocoon. The woman waited and then laughed.

“Mmmph!?!” 

“Oh my goodness, you actually fell for that!” The woman said between laughs and breaths of air. “You silly, I was just getting you out of the rain. Didn’t you feel it as you were walking?” The woman asked as she removed some web from William’s mouth. There was indeed a downpour.

“Not really, I was a little hazy from an encounter with black hole puff balls” William said as he relaxed in his cocoon.

“That would explain my friend over here...”

William turned his head and saw the fungal man from earlier. “Hi human! fancy meeting you here.” It was still talking in the same voice from earlier.

The woman moved over to the fungal man. “I invited this adorable thing into my web before the rain started. Rain and these guys do not exactly mix.”

“I am very grateful for you assisting me in my spreading Miss Arachne.”

And then a realization hit the woman like a bag of bricks. “Oh shit, where are my manners? The name is Arachne, nice to meet you...”

“William” William replied.

“Mr. William, I have chosen the name Funguy to identify myself” the fungal man added in since introductions were being made.

William chuckled. “Funguy? like F-u-n-g-u-y?”

“Yes sir indeed. Miss Arachne recomended it to me.”

William and Arachne laughed while reassuring funguy that they were laughing with funguy, not at him. Arachne decided to get some snacks from her cooler since her geusts were probably a little peckish, or so she assumed. But William was indeed a bit hungy. He did not feel like being freed from his cocoon just yet as it was very comfy while he relaxed, so Funguy volunteered to feed him a granola bar.

“So how far out are you William? Heh, some spiders are not as nice as me” Arachne asked as she sipped some soda.

Will swallowed some granola he had been chewing on and answered. “Not too far. The forest around my house connects to this part of the woods.”

“That’s good to hear. Because I have certainly met some rather territorial spiders and they love the woods.”

“Miss Arachne, Are you going to tell william about the strange plant?” Funguy cut in.

“Ah yes. William, be careful up ahead. I saw a strange looking plant. It was all green which is odd for this time of year. The other reason I pulled funguy up here was to warn him about it.”

Arachne began cutting William out of his cocoon. “What does it look like? I will go get some pictures of it.” He was very curious now.

“Besides the green coloration, it had several flowers surronding a series of leaves coming up from the ground. It was also surronded by some sort of black goo.”

“An alien plant perhaps?” William inquired.

“Perhaps. Funguy thinks that is the case. Anyways, be careful if you go near it. It is straightforward past my nest. The sun is out now, so you should be able to get some good pictures.”

William hopped onto a makeshift swing. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

Arachne began to lower William down to the ground. “If you need any help or somewhere to hide, me and funguy will be right here.”

As William touched the ground, he got up, thanked Arachne for the hospitality and offered help, said goodbye, and continued on down the path.  The sun was now out and warming things up. Sunlight glistened all over the various leaves the rain had soaked. The newly refreshed mud had made him glad he had brought his boots.

William soon made it to the strange plant in question. A bush of leaves surronded by several flowers and black goo. And of course, the plants were green... in the middle of fall. He walked up to the black goo and stopped. William reached for a stick and stuck it in just like he had done with the mud before. The goo was probably knee deep. As he pulled out the stick, he noticed the goo had stuck to the stick and made it shiny. He then got an idea. 

William went into his bag to pull out a kit. This kit was for testing if a substance was toxic. His friends had recomended that he take it it with him. Similar to litmus paper, the kit had strips that would show green for toxic, yellow for acidic, purple for poisonous, and blue for neutral. William got a strip and dunked it in the goo. Fortunately, the slcikness of the strip prevented the goo from sticking.The strip came up blue. One more test. Blue again. The goo appeared safe, which was good if William was going to get close-up pictures of the plant... And do other things...

William stuck his arm into the goo. It was indeed deep...and starngely warm. A comfy kind of warm. William pulled his arm out and the goo had stuck. It created a perfect, shiny black, latex-like coating on his arm. The goo bent and flexed with his arm with no signs of wearing out. When he peeled it off, it felt like a bandage being peeled off. But it was not as painful. And it still took some effort to peel off. William scanned his surrondings. Once he confirmed no one was around, he stripped down naked.

After despositing his clothes in his bag, William walked into the goo. The warmth of the goo counteracted the cold fall air. He sat down and the goo came to his chin. The goo was so warm, but the autumn air stung his face. So William submersed himself in the goo, if only for a second. Time slowed down in the goo. He knew he would have to surface for air, but the goo was so comfy. Being enveloped, he felt as though his worries were melting away. As he began to relax, he heard a faint voice. It took a few takes, but William finally heard it...

“GET UP...”

At that point, William was panicking. The voice had snapped him out of his daze and he realized he needed air. The goo felt like it took forever to get out of and once he breached the surface, he still could not breathe. William realized the goo had fully covered his mouth and nose. He began scrapping out his mouth to no avail. The goo was very slick. He screamed for help and the goo was being sucked inwards by his need for air. Just as he was about to give out and suffocate, William was able to create a hole the size of his mouth. He could breathe again.

William spent a few moments gasping for air, sitting up in the goo. Once he had composed himself, he noticed something. He was warm. Not just the part of him submerged in the goo, but his upper body too which had been fully coated. The goo was insulating and protected him from the cold. He had to see what he looked like. William tugged at the goo around his eyes and was able to create eyeholes with some effort. He looked around for something reflective when he saw something in the reflection of the goo.

William saw a young man fully coated in goo. The goo was skin tight and eliminanted all features. Even the hair was pressed firmly down, making the figure look bald. It took William a few moments to realize it was himself. He began to rub himself. His body felt so slick and smooth. It was like he was coated in oil, but not as slippery. He stood up to look at himself. His body was fully coated in the shiny black goo which was skin tight like his upper body. The prospect of this made leap in excitement. He had just found a free way to get what was essentially a fully body latex catsuit...despite being coated in what was essentially alien goo.

“Stay in the goo...” A voice from nowhere said. William had no idea who it was, but he was happy to oblige.

Getting out of the goo pond had crossed William’s mind at first, But the voice made him change his mind. Why get out and get his new suit all dirty he asked himself. So he decided to play around and see what the goo could do. At this point, his child level maturity was setting in. Why would it not? He was all alone in a pond of goo that could do pretty much anything. And he certainly had a list of things to do.

The first thing William tried was giving himself breasts...because why not? He grabbed two clumps of goo, stuck them to his chest, and proceeded to mold them. It was not easy because of how sleek he was, so he gave up and threw the two clumps back into the goo. While putting the clumps back, he noticed something. When they hit; the goo solidified a bit, similar to water filled with corn starch. This gave him a new idea.

William looked for a shallow area of the pond. Once he found that spot, he ran. Surprisingly the goo retained it’s surface tension. He had to jump next to see what would happen. William ran around a few more times before jumping up. The goo had bounced him pretty high and even higher when he came back down. But the third jump was the last as when William came back down, the goo absorbed him up to his face causing it to be the only thing breaching the surface. He figured that too much pressure causes the goo to act normal instead of being bouncy.

Stuck was an appropiate description of William’s predicament. But a more appropiate word would have been trapped. William had wedged himself into the goo so badly that he could barely struggle. Presumably he had landed in the part that was shallow, but had something that had stuck his feet into the ground which prevented him from moving. He had no idea what to do, but at least he could enjoy being stuck in the meantime.

About ten minutes passed before William realized he needed to get out of his stuck spot. So he tried struggling again. No good. Crouching down was an idea, but he soon realized that whatever was holding him was up to his elbows. He truly was stuck. But as if something had read his mind, he felt something pull him out of the goo he was stuck in. William did not see what had done it, but he had heard a voice in his head afterwards.

“Be careful...” Nothing more needed to be said.

- - - - -

The sun was beginning to set, but William did not want to leave. The goo was so fun and comfortable. Even with the temperature sinking to about forty degrees, William did not feel a single sting of cold air. As he reclined along the bank of the goo pond, odd things began to happen. Massive leaves surronded the pond from the sides and from above forming a shelter of sorts. In the center, a pod with what looked a bed rose up from the ground. It was so inviting and it looked very comfortable. William waded his way over to the pod and got in.

“Sleep my child...” a comforting voice said to William.

As William layed on the bed in the pod, the pod began to move about. A latex-like sheath rolled over him while a vine appeared to him. The vine sprayed a powder in his face that made him more sleepy. After that, it went into his mouth and began pumping a tasty paste down his throat. He was certainly getting hungry. As the sheath wrapped around William, it got tight and formed a cocoon around him. 

The plant was not done with him though. The bed had become another cocoon that pulled him into the earth among the roots of the plant. From here, the plant itself whsipered into William’s ear as he slept. The voice was even more comforting than before and invaded William’s dreams.

“You have work to do my child. You have work to do” an entity repeated in William’s dreams over and over again.

“Yes Mother Nightflower, I have work to do...” William said in his sleep.

- - - - - 

Morning soon came and a pod had risen from the ground and out of the goo. The pod was green just like the plant it had came from and glitstened in the morning sun. It opened up to reveal a young man fully coated in what appeared to be a latex-like substance. His eyes were also coated by opaque, green lenses. He walked out onto the goo and was able to resist sinking into it. Once he got to the bank of the goo pond, he turned to the plant at the center.

“Good morning Mother Nightflower!” the goo covered man said with enthuaism.

“Good morning my child. Did you sleep well?” The plant responded.

“Yes and I am ready to spread your seeds!”

The plant reached out a vine and gave the man some seeds. “Make sure they are well hidden and find people to encounter them. Now scurry along GreenNight.”

“See you later mother” GreenNight said as he put the seeds into William’s bag and walked off.

- - - - -

Back at Arachne’s nest, Arachne had stirred and woke. Funguy was sleeping soundly right next to her. Funguy ended up staying with arachne as she was worried about him. He had proved he was a little too curious for his own good through inquiries over the night about Earth. So Arachne vowed to babysit him and make sure he did not get into trouble. Plus she found him cute, so it was win-win.

As Arachne went to get a drink from her cooler, Funguy began to wake up. “Good Morning Miss Arachne” he said with a yawn.

Arachne noticed that her fungal budy was yawning. “You need to yawn? I thought you were a fungus...”

“I guess I picked up some biological traits from Mr. William...”

“Oh shit, did you see him go by yesterday? I hope he got back alright. He seemed like a really nice guy.”

“I did not see him...was I supposed to see him?”

“Oh no, oh no...Wake yourself up funguy, we need to go find him. God, I hope he is alright.”

- - - - -

GreenNight was making his way out of the woods when he came across a mud hole that William had come across the day before. He stopped and thought for a second.

“Should I? Eh, what the heck? Might as well.”

GreenNight set down his bag and let himself sink into the mud. He went down to his waist and squat down so he would go down to his neck. He then let out a relaxful sigh. It was nice as the cool mud felt good up against his sleek, warm skin. He figured he might as well relax before he gets to his job. Finding descrete locations and leading people to them was not going to be easy.

After about ten minutes, GreenNight pulled himself out of the mud. It was a little hard as the mud created a lot of suction, but GreenNight’s sleek body helped him out. He wiped the mud off himself, grabbed his bag, and continued on. He was not able to sink in the mud yesterday, but now was a little different.

“Time to get to work.”

- - - - -

Author’s note:

This is the SFW version of A Curious Plant. When I was typing the NSFW version, I realized that I wanted to have a version that was okay for general audiences for the most part. I really like the characters and concept.

If you are at least 18 and are curious, here is the NSFW version: https://chaotictempleknightnsfw.tumblr.com/post/165467807041/a-curious-plant-part-1

Just keep in mind that that is on my NSFW blog. And that will be only link to the NSFW version. If you wish to keep up with that version, click the link. Otherwise you can stay right here.

I realize this still has fetish elements to it, but it is still toned down from the NSFW version. Also let me know if you see any errors or residual NSFW elements. I have proofread this and made changes, but I am not perfect. Also feel free to voice any critique you have. I am always welcome to critique.

A Curious Plant Copyright 2017 ChaoticTempleKnight (William Ford II)