#Hat Kid is having a awkward time while Snatcher ruins every life that's in a 5 inch radius of him

[witch-sweets]

Yet another ahit au concept? Yup once again my brain is giving me ideas

This time the idea is that due to time rift shenanigans Hat Kid and Snatcher both end up in the past and Snatcher has to hide in Hat Kids shadow to avoid being seen they meet The Prince, Snatcher hates it, chaos ensues, etc I'll explain more details later but for now here's some doodles!

[a-crash-in-time-collection]

Chapter 8: Ghost Dad Worries

The morning sun shone through the forest's leaves, a gentle breeze removing some weaker leaves from the trees. It was mostly quiet in this part of the woods, outside of the small things that came each time the hoof would make an impact with the earth. The young prince sighed as he took in a breath of the fresh air, and slowly, the laughter of children in the village he was approaching. It felt so great to finally be home.

AJ pulled back on the reins gently after they had past the bridge, the horse slowing to a stop gently as he prepared to get off. He hop to the ground, grabbing the reins and tied them to a nearby post. "Take a quick rest, Bay. I will return once I get the flowers." He said, petting bay's brown fur. The horse let out a slight huff, looking to the side as the prince smile, leaving as he took a glance around the town.

He felt so wonderful to be here again. While the place his school was located had quite the beauty, it could never match the feeling of being home. Nor did it have the same wonderful people. He caught a group of three children playing with a ball. He chuckled as one pointed him out, him waving with a smile as he walked past. He found himself staring up at the sky, the warm sun like a ray of life and hope.

He soon spotted his disation, the florist shop. There he would garb flowers for his lovely Vanessa and- he froze slightly. Something was wrong. Things weren't going to turn out right. Even if he just picked flowers from somewhere else, she would still accuse him. His legs became shaky as he tried to calm down. It's ok, you're ok. Don't let what already happened ruin the light for you. Just-

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The scream was like shattering glass in the middle of the night, waking the ghost jolted right awake from his dream that had been becoming a nightmare. After he got himself to slow his breathing, his eyes instantly laid to the source of the scream, a shaking figure wrapped in the best blanket he could find. Glowing yellow tears falling onto the ground. "NO! PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

"Shadow Kid!" He said, quickly picking her up and pulling her into a hug. "It's ok- ow!" He said, when the child's reaction was to punch him in the chest in confused terror.

The child glanced up at him with a gasp, her eyes shaking slightly as more tears fell from them. "Snatcher?" She asked, her voice so small and meek compared to how it was just seconds before. Snatcher nodded as he floated back to his chair where he was sleeping, holding her close. "I-I.." The child stumbled. "I-I s-saw you frozen. T-The evil queen froze you then shattered you in front of me! S-"

"It's alright kiddo.. just a nightmare." Snatcher sighed, trying his best to stay calm. A small part of him was pounty he had to be woken up early, but he shoved it to the darkest corners of his mind. "That witch is still in the manor. She can't get to us now. She never will."

The child's breath slowed after a small bit. Her tears did as well. "I don't like nightmares.. they feel too real.." And sleeping in a closet was probably not helping with that. In Snacter's defense, he was slowly working on getting a 'second floor' grown into the tree for the child's bedroom, but it's only been a few days since he adopted her, so things were going slow. "What should I do to make them stop?"

"Well, you could always scare someone so you get the mindset you're in charge of scaring!" Snatcher piped up, it helped him out every now and again after all. The child looked confused by his request and just glanced to the side. "Right... sorry. You're not.. crazy like me. That won't work."

"I don't think you're crazy." Shadow Kid said, wrapping his ghostly tail around herself. Great, now he's got the kid trying to consuel the adult. Another great example of his parenting skills. He was so sure Shadow would just be another Hat Kid once the manor scares passed, allowing him to get a Dad plan ahead of time. But he was blind. Shadow was so different. Not that it mattered to him that she was...

"I am compared to before. But let's not talk about that..'' He could see the child look up at him, mainly as the words 'before' left his mouth. Peck, she was going to start asking questions. "You shouldn't worry about that after all. I'm your Dad. I watch and worry about you. I steal the souls of anyone who dares try to harm you. You don't need to worry about me at all, kiddo." He said, a small smile on his face.

"But what if I need to.. steal a soul?"

Snatcher froze for a moment there. On one hand, a part of him was happy by the idea. He could teach her soul stealing, it'd be great bonding time, and it could protect her later on! But at the same time, he knew it likely wouldn't be something she liked. The way the question was phrased was enough to tell that. "You don't need to worry about stuff like that right now, alright?" He asked, tilting her head up slightly.

Shadow Kid nodded. "If you say so... I just want the nightmares to stop.." she said, wiping at her eyes before any tears can form. Snatcher felt upset at the scene. And useless. After watching over the dwellers and minions for the last he didn't know how long, he just assumed he would be a great dad to any ghost child. He was wrong. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be bugging you about it. I just... want to be happy."

"Boss?" A young voice piped up, Snatcher glancing at the minion who appeared. "Is the princess ok?"

"Yeah.. Yeah she's ok. She's my daughter, why wouldn't she be!" Snatcher playful chuckled, holding Shadow Kid in a more casual way. When he first introduce the child to the other ghost children, the minions quickly latched onto the fact that she was now, techoanlly, the princess of Subcon. They had been calling her 'princess' ever since. He honestly wasn't sure how to feel about that nickname...

"Oh, well, I heard a scream so I felt I had to check it out!" the minion claimed proudly, getting a chuckle from Snatcher in response. There was a small yawn, and Snatcher looked to see the child in his lap falling asleep. "You know, not to be rude, boss, but we noticed you've been struggling with your new responsibility the last few days."

Snatcher sighed slightly, waiting in a few minutes of awkward silence until he was sure Shadow Kid had fallen back asleep. He didn't want to say something that might upset her by mistake. "I would be lying if I tried to deny I have been. I thought having a kid would just be a piece of cake, especially since Shadow here doesn't need to eat or drink. Yet... it's been harder than I thought. I wish I had an idea how.. from someone other than a child." He gave the minion a knowing glare.

The minion shook their head slightly, with a yawn. "Well, you're the boss of things, so I can't make any good calls. Maybe there's someone who may have any idea out there... Welp, night!" The minion waved, before leaving the tree. Snatcher sighed as he looked down at his daughter. Maybe the minion was right... Maybe there was someone out there who would help him.

-------

Snatcher watched from his chair, letting his daughter play in little pool of water the tree had become surrounded in over the years. He was a bit paranoid when he first found her in it, but it wasn't deep enough for her to be stuck. And although she likely wasn’t the best swimmer, she seemed to know enough of the basics to stay afloat. Still, he kept an eye on her, rolling his eyes as a minion splash in the water beside her. It was a nice small distraction from everything. Although he couldn't stay distracted for long.

"You found what-" The DJ's voice brought Snatcher's attention back to the phone he summoned out of thin air. DJ Grooves was the only person he could think of that morning who might help him, so he had reluctantly given the penguin a call. "You're saying that all this time, the little darling had a piece of her own soul stuck here. And we've never known?"

"Don't get any ideas, Grooves. She's my daughter and you will need my consent before you throw her into any of your movies. Don't worry, same for Conductor." Snatcher warned, his slight finger wag could be heard over the phone. He sighed as he floated up, beginning to pace with the phone in hand. "But yes. Apparently she hid from me all these years and only came out recently." He found her, but he wanted to make her sound brave.

DJ Grooves chuckled on the phone. "Well, it's good the little superstar finally came to you, then." DJ Grooves, as one may expect, didn't know too much about Snatcher's past or the manor. But he knew just enough to know what the ghost child's fate could have been. "I do have to say, I'm really happy for you! Having a daughter is one of the most wonderful things in this world, after all." He chuckled.

"That's part of the reason I'm calling, actually.."

"Huh? How come?" DJ Grooves asked. Before Snatcher could respond, he heard a small giggle in the background, and felt a small pain in his soul. He could hear the Penguin place the phone down briefly, likely going over to share a small moment with his own daughter. He only saw the child a few times, but the relationship between the two of them seemed so perfect... "Sorry about that. Also, you seemed so happy about the idea of having her when you first called."

"Well... it's just... I'm failing as a Dad!" He nearly shouted, having no other real way to put it. Hopefully he didn't blow the Penguin's eardrums out. "I kept trying to bring my 'ghost that makes people sign contracts and then kill them' ways to her. I know it's dumb, but the other minons and dwellers seemed so used to it that I thought it'd be ok!"

"Well... I'll be honest, that isn't the smartness move on your part." DJ Grooves said, and Snatcher gave a slight glare to the phone. He knew the penguin was judging him for even thinking about bringing those topics up to her, but he just couldn't help it! Then again, that was the reason he was calling, so it wasn't like he could judge him in return. "She's just a child after all, if she does want to do those things with you, it'll likely be in the far future."

"Assuming she ages... but that's not all..." Snatcher amdited, sighing as he sat back in his soft chair. "Even when I try to treat her like I treated Hat Kid when she was young." As in treated her like a timeline version of Hat Kid where he didn’t try stealing her soul. "She doesn't seem too interested in other stuff! She... hasn't even called me Dad yet.."

"Relax, darling, she will be alright." DJ Grooves said, trying to calm the phantom over the phone. He never really saw this side of the ghost before, the closest he ever got was the last time they all saw Hat Kid back when she was first on this planet. Back when she swept them away from her spaceship. It was strange to see this side of the ghost, even a little unsettling. But he stayed claimed. "It took Dineanna a little over a year to call me Dad. Or to talk at all."

"I suppose..." Snatcher sighed, quickly waving his hand slightly at a minion who noticed him. "But I just... I don't know what to do. I was... hoping you might be able to give me some father pointers?"

"Well, I'm honored that you thought I would be your best choice." DJ Grooves chuckle slightly, as Snatcher rolled his eyes. He was the only father he knew personally. Well, that wasn't fully true. He glanced at the shadow child slightly, smiling faintly as he heard her giggle faintly. "But I'm not sure I can do much to help. She's 7 or 8 and Dineanna is only three. I don't know much about taking care of a child that age."

"Great..." Snatcher sighed, feeling tired slightly. "Is there anything you can tell me, anything? I need to... be better for her."

"Well... Maybe you should learn how Hat Kid was raised. Maybe that will give you some ideas?" As soon as those words came over the phone, Snatcher already knew what was going to be said. He didn't want to deal with them, especially the one...Looking over to the side, he got ready to hang up the phone. "Maybe go ask her, like what things helped her through hard times. What things calmed her down. Or you could-"

"You can say ask her Dads, but I'm not doing it." Snatcher said, glaring at the phone.

"Well... I don't see why you don't." The penguin asked. "They raised her ever since they found her, the little darling must have had some truma they needed to help her get over. They're bound to know the right things to do for someone like Hat Girl or Shadow Kid to be happy, and see you as a father as well. Besides, if- huh, oh right. I need to go darling, I have to head to the studio as soon as breakfast is finished, and I don't want to waste time with my family."

"Fine..." Snatcher sighed, using the opportunity to hang up the phone. And to resist the urge to throw it at the wall nearby. "They'll be the one who knows what's best for her? Yeah right, that kid was covered in scars when she got here! They couldn't have had her in a safe place when the rocket of thier's crashed!?"

Although, he really didn't have much of a choice here, did he? He sighed as he floated to the exit of the tree, watching Shadow Kid poke at one of those glowing mushrooms. The fact he tried to kill something so much like her before was crazy to him... the fact it was crazy to him was insane. He sighed and glanced to the side. "She deserves the best possible from me... Minions! Watch Shadow while I'm gone!" He shouted, to the surprise of many nearby.

The first one to snap out of the shocked state sluted him. "Yes boss! We promise nothing in rain, snow, or fire will come and harm our princess! You can count on us!" A few others shouted in agreement as he just nodded his head. He gave a small smile and wave to Shadow, who looked slightly confused, before turning away and beginning to head through the woods. To the one place where he could get help.

-------

"What do you mean Reg-Hats is busy?!"

"'e's T'e c'eif, did you expect 'im to not be busy?" Right Hand Man sighed, adjusting his position on top of the station.

Snatcher sighed as he looked around the place faintly. The toppats were doing a decent job of things, at least as decent as they could this early on. The kids and teenagers were close together, Snatcher having to glance away once he saw Hat Girl talking with her brother. He glanced back at the cyborg. "Look, I don't know how your clan works, but I need his help so do me a favor and call him here."

"Can't do t'at" Right Hand Man said, shaking his head with a sigh. "'e's In a meetin' wit' some of t'e ot'ers about 'ow exactly we can repair t'e station. You know, make it to w'ere we can go 'ome? W'atever you need 'elp wit', surely it can wait."

"Look, techally I can ask you it, but I rather speak to him about it." Snatcher admitted as he look at the cyborg, who rose a brow faintly. He glanced down at the ground, well, there was no way getting out of this now. The half metal man would just push him to answer if he tried to hide it, after all. "It's... with Shadow Kid... I may or may not be needing some help with her. And was hoping you could help."

"Only a few days and yer already gettin' the tried dad moments?" RHM chuckle, taking in the simple information.

"Shut it." Snatcher said, giving the cyborg a glare. How dare he assume that he would get tired of his own daughter. She was the most perfect and pure thing and she... deserved so much. Especially after everything that happened to her. He looked to the side, then backed at the man. He didn't like looking at him for too long. "I'm... having issues raising her right, I can't seem to get her to see me as a Dad."

"Really? That's the issue?" RHM asked, a little surprised when he heard that.

Snatcher sighed in defeat. "Yeah... I figured that since you two raised Hat Kid and she came out fine, that you would help me get her to see me as a Dad." And to be a better father overall, but he didn't want to admit that aloud. He was trying to act like he didn't care too much about it all, he couldn't let anyone see him acting kind... weak. "So, I suppose I should ask what stuff she would like."

"'ow Am I supposed to know t'at?" Right Hand Man asked. When the ghost first showed up and came to him, he found himself wanting to do anything else. Now he found himself wanting to see how this would go. "Can't tell ya what yer daug'ter would like or not like after all. 'er 'nd Hattie, despite t'eir connection, are two completely different people at t'e end of t'e day."

"Perfect, just perfect!" Snatcher stated in frustration.

The cyborg signed, shaking his head to the side. "Look, I can't give a better answer t'en t'at, ok?Even if she acts similar to 'ow Hattie was now, she's goin' to c'ange into 'er own person. T'e second she took 'er own form, 'er and Hattie were set on two completely different paths. Any tricks I've learnt over t'e years as a fat'er isn't goin' to be of any real 'elp to ya." Right Hand Man said. "'nd Don't go buggin' Reg for a different answer, 'e would tell ya t'e same."

"But... Hattie seems to care so much about you two!" Snatcher said, and now his desperation was becoming noticeable in his voice. "You two seemed to do a perfect job of raising someone like her. And you say it won't work for me... What should I do then." He sighed as he grabbed his head, trying to think. "I shouldn't have just adopted her on instinct. I should have prepared myself before I..."

Right Hand Man chuckled at that. "Bold of ya to assumed I was prepared." The ghost gave him a confused look. "It was a few days after we first found 'er. 'ad To go 'elp Sea Division for one day. T'e second I came back Reg told me 'e adopted 'er. 'nd S'e was already callin' 'im Dad, so t'ere was no goin' back."

Snatcher let out a chuckle. It felt nice to hear about the man's struggles. But, in a sense, it felt relieving to know the man had similar issues to what he had. "Really?"

"Yea'. I t'ought it was 'opeless, to be 'onset." Right Hand Man admitted. "I'm a fig'ter. I could easily be a murderer from 'ittin' cops wit' my bat alone! I didn't see myself as a good fat'er figure. I didn't brot'er tryin' to c'ange because I knew I couldn't."

"If you didn't change, how did you get her to see you as a dad?" Snatcher asked.

Right Hand Man sighed, a small smile formed on his lips. "Well... I guess I slowly tried to get us used to eac' ot'er. Allowin' 'er to bug me wit' questions to me looking for her if Reg got worried. I t'ought that was all our relationship would be. But one day, she came up 'nd asked 'Papa. Can ya 'elp me finis' t'is one puzzle.'" The cyborg chuckled. "'nd As soon as those words left 'er mouth, I knew I was doin' t'ings right. And it instantly became one of t'e best moments in my life."

"So... I should just... let us both try and get used to each other." Snatcher asked. The cyborg gave a shrug in return, allowing the ghost to sigh. "Well... for a man that got turned into half machine, you do seem to know a lot.. thanks."

"Anytime, I suppose..." he glanced back where the teens were, seeing Platinum backup from that 'Van' kid while Hat Girl was laughing. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but the ghost wasn't as bad as he thought... Still, he wasn't going to drop his guard around him anytime soon.

The two were there silently for a few moments, before Snatcher let out a clearly fake cough. "Well I suppose I should be going! Have to make sure those minions didn't get into trouble with Shadow..."

"Sounds good. I need to go check on how the solar panel repairs are goin'." Right Hand Man stated to the ghost. He hop off the top of the station, blasters under his feet activating and keeping him in the air. He floated to another side of the station, not even bothering to say goodbye to the phantom.

Snatcher didn't let that bug him... he had a job to do after all.

-------

"Snatcher!" The young girl's voice brought worry into the phantom's soul as he approached where his tree was. He speeded up his pace, worried inside. Until the sight entered his vision. "One of the Minions got themselves stuck in the ropes!"

"Again?" Snatcher sighed triedly as he went over to the hanging minion. He ignored the nouses' calls and gently poke the minion free. "You all need to stop going up there. You can't die, but you can still get hurt!" He schooled as he floated down to the ground.

"Sorry boss. The princess just wanted to see how strong it was, so I volunteered to-!"

"I didn't tell you to do anything." The shadow child corrected meekly, glancing at the monon in confusion. "You told me 'Wanna see a trick I can do' and got yourself stuck."

Snatcher chuckled a bit, a small grin forming on his face. "Well, looks like you are guilty, aren't you?" He asked. The minion just nodded his head, before beginning to walk away. Snatcher smiled at Shadow Kid. "Good on you, kiddo. Best to call out people like that as soon as you can. Make them know it's not smart to try and lie their way out of everything!"

Shadow Kid giggled slightly. She then glanced over at the tree she and Snatcher called home, looking up slowly. Her eyes seemed to gain a bit of awe to them, and a look of mystery. She looked back at the ghostly prince. "I wonder how things look from the top of the tree."

Snatcher glanced up at the tree. With how tall most of the trees in the forest were, he forgot his was a special case. Going beyond the human, and ghost, eye. He looked down at Shadow Kid, a smile forming on his face as an idea popped into his mind. "Why don't you and me go find out?" He asked, picking her up.

She let out a gasp. "Really?!" She asked, as Snatcher reached behind himself, placing the child, his child, on his back.

"Let's go!" He said, and began to float up. Admittedly, he could probably just float right up to the top right away if he wanted too. Would only take about 12 seconds. But he decided against that. It would be better to take things slow. Shadow could end up having a fear of heights, and he wanted to be as close to the tree for when he would need to make a quick turn around to get back onto the forest floor.

Shadow Kid glanced around in a bit of awe. Everything somehow felt bigger, but also smaller from all the way up here. She felt like she was as powerful as Snatcher! She found herself reaching for a purple mushroom, when her eyes caught onto an orange glow. She looked in the distance, and saw a tower that looked like it was filled with fire! Tilting her head a little more, she soon saw one so similar, but with ice poking out in every direction! "Woah! Snatcher, what are those!"

Snatcher paused when he heard her voice, glancing around to see the two towers. "Oh! Well, to be honest. I don't fully know.”

"Wait, there's something here you don't know!?" The child asked, her surprise making Snatcher flich.

He chuckled faintly as he turned so she could get a better view. "They've been there as long as anyone can remember." Snatcher explained, a calming tone to his voice. "But no matter how close you try to get to them, you never can get there. It's almost like they exist in a different reality altogether. Some even say they might be the remains of the Moonjumper's work."

"Moonjumper?" Shadow Kid asked, as Snatcher started to float up the tree again. "What's the Moonjumper, is it like a cow or something?"

Snatcher had to hold back a laugh at that. "No, no Shadow. He was a figure of Subcon folklore that supposedly protected the forest years ago, until one day he was just... gone" He shrugged slightly. "Who knows, one day I might get around to telling you those stories.."

"I think that would be nice. He sounds almost as cool as you!" Shadow Kid called, allowing a small smile to form on the phantom's face.

It took about half a minute to finish the trip up the tree, the phantom having sped up faintly since Shadow Kid didn't seem bugged by the idea of heights. He soon floated on top of the giant mushroom top that grew from the tree, placing Shadow Kid down. The child let out a gasp, spinning around like the mist and snowflakes around them. She soon stepped a bit near the edge, sitting down as she looked at the, a bit foggy, view.

"The forest looks so beautiful from up here." She said, a soft smile and faint blush appearing on her face. She looked over as Snatcher went beside her, mimicking how she was seated the best he could in his current form and size.

"Yeah... I wish you could have seen it when it was alive..." Snatcher sighed, as he looked at her. "Such a beautiful kingdom... that might be yours one day."

"Huh?" Shadow Kid asked, tilting her head to the side faintly. "But.. you can't die?"

"No, I can't. Already done that after all." he chuckled slightly. "But I could still have the chance to move on one day. Now, I don't see that happening anytime soon, especially willingly. But, if it does happen, I need someone to watch over the forest for me. Someone who won't let the dwellers and minions get hurt." He looked at her, giving her a small smile. "And who better to watch over it than my own child."

"But... I'm not like you.. I want to be but I can't." Shadow Kid sighed, looking at her hands. Not noticing the surprised look that dawned Snatcher's face. "I can't steal souls or cast spells or anything that you can do. What if.. I can't do a good job?"

"My little Shadow..." Snatcher said, reaching for her, gently pulling the chipped soul into a small hug. "You're kind, bright, and full of hope. That alone is enough to make you the best Queen Subcon has ever had one of these days." He glanced to the side. "Although, when you're a little bit older,I suppose I can try and teach you some tricks. Would that work?"

Shadow Kid let out a gasp, nodding happily. She quickly hugged him. "That would be perfect! Thank you Papa!"

Snatcher's world slowed from a moment, everything became a blur except for his little bundle of joy he held in his hands. A bundle of joy he could no longer see himself existing without. She called him Papa... she called him Papa.... He smiled as he wrapped his tail around her faintly. "Of course, my little shadow."

It was the best moment in Snacther's entire existence.

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Music

“I think you should learn to play the piano.”

Lukas turned his head to see that Vanessa had walked into the music room. “Why?” he asked, lowering his bow and violin.

“Because I can play the piano and I want you to play with me. Plus, piano music goes better with my singing voice. So, I want you to learn to play the piano instead of that.” She pointed to his violin as if it had offended her somehow.

Lukas frowned down at it himself. His playing didn’t sound that bad, did it? He’d only been practicing for a few weeks now but is instructor said he was doing well. And he’d known how to play cello for years now so he didn’t have to go through the hurdle of learning the basics of playing a stringed instrument. So his playing, though definitely not the best was nowhere near being as offensively awful as Vanessa’s tone suggested it was.

He didn’t want to learn to play the piano. Not that he had anything against pianos or the way they sounded but… he preferred string instruments played with a bow. He liked the way they looked and sounded and he felt fancy when he played them. And piano was the most commonly played instrument in this part of the world, he liked playing something different. Besides…

“You already know how to play the piano,” he said, looking back up at Vanessa. “So why do I need to learn it?”

“Because I want you to. We can sit next to each other and play together. We’ll be super cute and everyone will be jealous. So put that silly thing away or heck go ahead and get rid of it. I’ll teach you how to play piano instead, okay?”

Lukas looked back down at his violin. He didn’t want to get rid of it, he wanted to keep at it until he was good at it. He didn’t have any dreams or really the talent or dedication to become a professional musician but it was a nice way to relax sometimes. Vanessa wanted him to play the piano though so… piano it was. Perhaps learning to play an instrument that was so different from the instrument he’d already mastered would be good for him. He could pick up the violin again later.

[Many, many years later]

Snatcher frowned down at the violin in his hand, stolen from an unfortunate contractor who’d thought taking a shortcut through Subcon Forest was a good idea. Or maybe it was a viola or a fiddle. It had been a long time since Snatcher had held one and his large size made it seem rather small no matter what.

He never had gotten back to learning the violin. Vanessa hadn’t let him. In fact, she hadn’t even let him play his cello anymore once she’d finally gotten him on the piano. She’d complained anytime he’d tried to play it until eventually he’d given up and only played the piano with her just like she’d wanted him to. … He hated the piano now.

He was free of her now though and anything she didn’t want him to do he had to do just to spite her. So he teleported to his giant reading hollow and shrunk down to be closer to the size of a normal person. But… he didn’t have a chin anymore so how was he supposed to hold it? And would his less than normal arms make a difference in how he held it too? What about fingers? … Ah, whatever, he’d figure it out eventually by just messing around with it.

[Less than an hour later]

“That sounds like a dying cat.”

Snatcher almost flinched as he looked up to see Hat Kid in his hollow. He frowned at her, annoyed that he’d been too focused to see or even notice her approach. “What do you want kid?” he said, lowering the violin.

“I want to ask why you’re playing the guitar so bad.”

“It’s not a guitar, it’s a violin. What kind of idiot doesn’t know the difference?”

Hat Kid frowned and shrugged. “Mu has a stringed instrument that she calls a guitar, specifically an electric guitar implying there might be non-electric guitars somewhere. I thought that that might be one. I’ve never seen one before though or one of those so how was I supposed to know what it was? I’m an alien, remember? We don’t have those things where I’m from.”

Well, that did make sense. “What kind of instruments do your people play?”

“I don’t know. I’ve spent my whole life learning how to fly and repair a spaceship. I barely had time to listen to music on the radio, let alone anything else. But anyway, is the violin supposed to sound like that or are you just bad?”

Snatcher scowled. “It’s been a long time since I last played, okay? Like since before I died. I just need a bit of time to get a feel for it again. Also, I would like to add that it’s a right-handed violin, I like to play with my left hand.” He was ambidextrous these days but back then he’d been a lefty, meaning he was inclined to hold it wrong on top of the already awkward position not having a chin forced him to hold it in. “And how about you try playing a stringed instrument when your hands don’t like to form proper fingers and see how well you do.” Making round fingers was much harder when his hands wanted to make claws which would’ve probably cut the strings so he had to fight against that. “And to top it all off I’m pretty sure it’s out of tune.” And he didn’t remember how exactly each string was supposed to sound while in tune so he’d just been fiddling with the knobs every now and then, hoping the information would come back to him eventually and/or he’d somehow get it right on accident. “So, shut up.”

Hat Kid smiled up at him. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. I didn’t know you played instruments though. But I guess that explains that giant violin that’s frozen or whatever in the ruins part of the forest.”

“That’s not a violin, it’s a cello.” And Snatcher should probably get back into playing that too. It’d probably be easier because of how long he’d played the cello before Vanessa had taken it away from him.

“But… it looks a lot like the violin just bigger. Why not just call it a big violin?”

“Because it’s a cello. It’s an entirely different instrument kid, it sounds different and you hold it differently, meaning you play it differently too.” Though as large as Snatcher could make himself, he could possibly get away with playing a cello like a violin. … He’d have to try it one day for sure because it sounded like fun.

“Hmmm… fine I guess, whatever. But are those the only two instruments you can play?”

“No, I can play the piano too. And since I can sort of sometimes play the violin, I should be able to play the viola too because they’re very similar. I also played the trumpet as a kid but that was a very long time ago so I doubt I still can.”

“You’re like a musical genius.”

Snatcher opened his mouth to contradict her because he wasn’t anywhere even close to being a musical genius but stopped himself. “Yep, I sure am kiddo,” he said instead because admitting to his flaws wasn’t his thing.

Hat Kid thought for a few moments before her expression brightened as if she’d just thought of something which he probably wasn’t going to like. “Oh, I know. Let’s start a band.”

Yep, Snatcher didn’t like it. “Why?”

“Because you can play a bunch of instruments, Mu can play the guitar and Bow is learning how to play what’s called a keyboard from one of the moon penguins, I think she’s pretty good. And I recently also learned that the Conductor can play drums and of course DJ Grooves has a nice singing voice. That’s enough for a band. Though we could maybe use one or two more people, we’ll have to ask around.”

“Uh… what will you do?”

“I’ll be the person who leads with the wand thingy. I did it with the marching band in one of Grooves’ movies, he showed me how. It was a lot of fun. So how ‘bout it? Want to do it?”

Snatcher had much better things to do than start a band. Especially one led by Hat Kid of all people. She didn’t even know the names of most instruments or what a music conductor and baton were. But…

“Pretty please with lots of cherries on top,” she said, her expression far too cute for its own good. “It’ll be fun. And since you’ll be the first official member, you’ll get to help me make decisions and stuff. And with Grooves’ and the Conductor’s help we can get on the big screen and then we’ll be famous. And I can tell you from experience that being famous is pretty fun. And it’ll be…

“Fine,” Snatcher cut in. “I’ll join your stupid band mostly just to get you to shut up about it.”

“Yes!” She literally jumped for joy. “Thank you!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Snatcher would let her have her happiness for now because there was no way it could last. The others she’s mentioned probably wouldn’t want to join, except for Bow and maybe Mu. So really, he wasn’t agreeing to anything too bad which was why it was okay for him to do so. When her dumb bad idea inevitably failed, he’d have a good laugh at her. If it succeeded then he might be stuck. It wouldn’t succeed though… probably.