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~~~~THE PAST~~~~

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𝕿𝖆𝖕,

𝕿𝖆𝖕,

𝕿𝖆𝖕~

The stolid sound of tapping, the circitous din of humming ~ echoed through out the mild silence eluding the forest between breaks in the pine. The tapping, impatient but staidness as the wait presumed.

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌~

The waiter would wait... And watch...tapping his cold, lifeless fingers upon the stained wooden tabletop, as the cold didn't seem to have any affect on him. A single crimson iris scanned the area, the entrance to The Ruins being just a short distance away, as the question:

'would there be somebody there today~?'

Would serve as the central wonder for the man waiting.

The trees rustled and flailed amongst the frigid wind as snow fell from their stern branches and interwoven pine.

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌~

With the echo of the taps remaining to emulate distinct impatience - He waited, itching for even the smallest hint of somebody meekly approaching from The Ruin's entrance.

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

Until something so suddenly caught hold of his full attention:

A single whiff of something familiar...but even more so,.. ambrosial~

his tapping and humming ceased almost instantly as he would slowly glance towards the entrance to The Ruins, as a large and sinister grin swept across his face.

Just as suspected, somebody was there~

From afar, the outline figure of a small child, perhaps~?

Slowly, cautiously, approaching - arms crossed against their chest as the cold bit and pulled at their small and fragile body. They would stagger a bit whilst the cold gave numbness to their legs. And yet, they pursued their trail forwards.

Just a few inches closer, the outline gave better figure as the waiting one would slowly rest his head on the table before him, sheltering his face behind his arms. His eyes began to shut as he briefed over the figure approaching, realizing it was but a young, miniature child, clutching herself as the wind's harsh embrace forced her hazel locks to dance in the air ponderous-ly. From here, he pretended to sleep, not wanting to seem so suspicious towards this little child coming forth.

The girl would glance around, taking note of the pine and snow as the only things she could see, as her bare feet submerged in snow, inched her further away from the door she emerged from. Would this unbearable cold be the last thing she would feel? The lethal numbness that would set in couldn't be far now.. However, she didn't stop walking, not even for a second. Well, if she did, it's unsure whether she'd be able to keep moving after that.

"ℑ𝔱'𝔰..𝔰𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡.." The fragile words escaped her lips in a soft, gentle tone, as she could see the sentry station sitting in the distance before her. "𝔐𝔥~?" Perhaps curiosity got the best of her or common sense illuded her.. Either way, she locked her attention on this station, noticing a figure lying on the counter, and proceeded to walk cautiously towards it.

Her footsteps would descend an inch and another inch closer ....

until something came over her, forcing her to pause in her tracks at only a handful of steps from the sentry station. The snow surrounding the station was coated a crimson red, a blaintent red that bained from being anything natural. As she stared at it, staying as still as ice, she couldn't bring herself to step any closer as her body, her feet, her legs..did not budge.

Slowly, she broke from her stiffness and stepped an inch back, taking the overwhelming feeling of solitious-ness as a warning to ignore this all together.

"𝔑-𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡..." Softly, she told herself, grasping her arms more tenaciously.

The man's one crimson iris surreptitiously rolled to the immense crack in his skull, staring out upon the child as she would contemplate her next course of action...she was still out of arms reach and yet, didn't feel even a single hint of safety..

'𝓜𝓪𝔂𝓫𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝔀𝓪𝔂~?'

She would think to herself as she then tore her eyes away from the resting figure and proceeded to trail off. With an open crimson eye, the man watched her from behind his arms, his only iris latching full attention onto her, possibly realizing she was more careful than she appeared to be. With a slow demeanor, he lifted his head from his arms, letting a sudden and deep chuckle escape through his firmly clenched teeth.

"*᭙ꫝꫀ𝘳ꫀ ꪖ𝘳ꫀ ꪗꪖ ᧁꪮ𝓲ꪀ', 𝘬𝓲ᦔᦔꪮ?"

The sudden and deepened optical of tone froze the child in her place; a fast, frightening chill cascading down her spine as her body visibly quivered in fear.

With notable hesitance, she steadily turned to face the figure, taking in their appearance from a safe distance.

Widened cerulean irises stared down the masculine figure as immediate shock coursed through her fragile body. She noticed the figure directing her was..a skeleton --

or more so,.. An eldrich skeletal being. -- this baned from anything she has ever seen before, and yet, she stood still in her place, unwilling to move.

His deep and tantalizing stare gave her a strong, unnerving ambience as it felt like he was scrutinizing her from this distance.. Could that be it? Observing?

The cold silence was disrupted by him continuing to remark in the same disturbingly dark tone; "*𝓲 ᥴꪖꪀ 𝘴ꫀꫀ ꪗꪮꪊ'𝘳ꫀ 𝘴 𝓽 ꪖ 𝘳 ꪜ 𝓲 ꪀ ᧁ -- ꪶ𝓲𝘬ꫀ ꪖ𝓽 ꪖꪀꪗ ꪑ𝓲ꪀꪊ𝓽ꫀ 𝓲 ᥴꪖꪀ ᠻ𝓲ꪀᦔ ꪗꪮꪊ "ρ ꪖ 𝘴 𝓽 ꪖ - ᭙ ꪖ ꪗ."

The dreary words he spoke bit through her ears in a concerning manner, leaving her in what felt like a hypnotic and relentless state of silence. But it was true.. She was hungry. But not so desperate, ..and yet, pushing it further he would add;-

"*ꫝꪮ᭙ ꪖ᥇ꪮꪊ𝓽 ꪖ ꪀ𝓲ᥴꫀꪗ - 𝘴ρ𝓲ᥴꫀꪗ ꫝꪮ𝓽 ᦔꪮᧁ 𝓽ꪮ ᠻ𝓲ꪶꪶ ꪗꪖ ꪊρ?" He proposed, whilst upon the wooden tabletop stood a single hotdog, sat near the edge of the table as if to make it, in a sense, more accessible, but planted there specifically for her alone. It's mere being would be enough to churn her empty stomach but the uneasy feeling looming around him.. Was the victual worth taking~?

She wanted to leave, it wouldn't be questionable, right? It wouldn't be wrong, right? And yet, she didn't want to be rude by ignoring his offer and yet..she didn't want to risk it. She let out a soft sigh, releasing a cold gust of air through her mouth as she mustered up the will to reply.

"ℑ'𝔪...𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶, 𝔟𝔲𝔱...-" She paused abrumptly, conceiving how she could word her sentence without it sounding disrespectful as she wanted nothing more than to show respectfulness towards anyone she meets, no matter how they made her feel. But how...?

She merely resumed, believing what falls out of her mouth next is not ill in nature; "𝔘𝔪.. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 - ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔫-𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔣-𝔣𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔰" She stuttered. " 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢..ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱-𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢, 𝔲𝔫𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔲𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔶." She didn't want to admit her stuttering came from fear, she wanted to keep it hidden but it couldn't be more clear. Through out her softly spoken words there was a heavy reminence of fear following in each sentence.

"*ᥴ'ꪑꪮꪀ, 𝘬𝓲ᦔ" He started, not allowing a single, uncertain rejection deter him in the least. With sights set high on persuasion, he would only push his offer more firmly. "*𝓲 ρꪊ𝓽 ꪑꪗ ꪮ᭙ꪀ ᥇ ꪶ ꪮ ꪮ ᦔ ꪖꪀᦔ 𝘴 ᭙ ꫀ ꪖ 𝓽 𝓲ꪀ𝓽ꪮ 𝓽ꫝ𝓲𝘴 𝓽ꫝ𝓲ꪀᧁ.."

Hearing this alone seemed considerably torrid to her.. But still, would it be worth it?

The thought echoed through her head;

'𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀.. 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓹𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓶..'

And yet, the hotdog remained enticing even from a distance. The luxurious and ambrosial scent of a freshly made piece of meat was a smell that nearly brought her mouth to water, and yet she surpressed.

Her attention grazed over the clear thick, deep red liquid that had been impetuous-ly strewed over the entire morsel, leaving a pool of the liquid to surround it, and sink deep into the wood.

.. It would take a moment of consideration, a moment of contemplation, but she took to agree. "𝔄𝔩𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱.. ℑ..𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢" Despite it was against her better judgement, she dragged her bare feet closer and closer to the stand-

'𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓲𝓽 𝓰𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭...𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓼..'

"*𝓽ꪖ𝘬ꫀ 𝓲𝓽, 𝓲 ᭙ꪮꪀ'𝓽 ᥇𝓲𝓽ꫀ." With a perfidious grin, the skeleton remarked, giving her a subtle wink. He took to readying himself then for his next move once the time was just right for him to strike, as his serrated claws were beginning to dig into the wood of his stand.

She ignored his words, focusing on the single morsel lying only a few inches away. Her little hand shakily extended out, yet the tabletop was only a few centimeters taller than her, causing her to have to reach up over the table to grasp it.

However, to her horror,

as soon as she was close enough to the table, now the hand hovering shakily over the hotdog in preparation to grasp, the skeleton's grin extended, horrendously grabbing her hand in a quick, and skilled succession;

His grip being tenacious, refusing to loosen at any given moment.

Then, with a single firm pull, the girl was forced uncomfortably close to the stand, as her head then rested on the tabletop infront of him and her feet barely touched the red snow below. Her blood ran deathly cold as shock and fear filled her body to the brink, disabling her from uttering a single word.

Cold sweat poured from her face; the fear and inability to move caused her whole body to quiver as tears slowly crept to the corners of her cerulean eyes and yet- she didn't want to cry..to show fear.. To give up.. But it wasn't easy to be brave. Not now. She's so small and fragile..so scared and worried..her thoughts were racing and asking:

'𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓘 𝓭𝓸~?'

The skeleton's bony fingers then wrapped around the axe he possessed and had stowed from view, as the grin he wore only grew bigger with some twisted enjoyment. Without hesitance, he brought the axe into the air, having his attention set on her head-

"*ꪮ ꪀ ꫀ ꫝ ꫀ ꪖ ᦔ ᦔ ꪮ ᧁ ᥴ ꪮ ꪑ 𝓲 ꪀ ᧁ ꪊ ρ!"

With a quick flinch, she tightly shut her tear-soaked eyes. In response, her body fell death in anticipation as she mentally prepared herself for the moment she meets death's cold embrace.

The axe was soon swung down at such a force she could never comprehend...

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There was but a loud thud echoing through the woods...

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Slowly, her eyes opened, being blurred by her tears and vision readjusting itself. Upon doing this, she could see pure steel sitting only inches away from her face. It was the axe head. She was...confused... Had he missed? Still, she didn't want to lift her head up until-

"*𝘴 𝓲 𝘬 ꫀ"

The skeleton erupted into a virulent laughter that could nearly shake the trees around them; he put his axe away, leaving the frightened child inquisitive and shaking. She pulled herself away from the table, resting her feet upon the snow once more, taking a step back. She stared at the skeleton as he howled with laughter...how could it possibly of been t h a t funny? To frighten such a delicate poppet half to death...

She wiped her eyes of her remaining tears and sniffled, feeling as if one more frightening experience will cause her tiny heart to burst.

"*hєhє, í αlmσѕt mαdє чα jump ríght σuttα чσur ѕkєlєtσn" The skeleton spoke up, finally calming down from his inane laughter.

She couldn't reply verbally, her mouth couldn't move to make words.. The more she thought about what happened just moments ago, the more her tears clawed their way into her eyes, blurring her vision. as she brought her hand up to wipe away the tears once more, she could feel some of them break loose and cascade down her cheeks. She won't be able to hide how frightened she was now..

The skeleton noticed her fear, her tears, her quivering.. His eyes narrowed if only slightly at the sight with his grin still remaining plastered on his face. "*αwww~ dσn't crч- ít wαѕ juѕt α jσkє." He uttered before standing and stretching his arms above his head.

"𝔑-𝔑𝔬.," She softly stuttered, "𝔗-𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱..𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔧-𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔠-𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩.. 𝔄𝔫𝔡...𝔐-𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫.." Meekly, she corrected him, wishing only for this to never happen again..and wishing only for herself to at some point be brave enough to cease her stutters. "*hσw?" He queried, as if that broken statement couldn't be any less true. "*í hαvє mσrє tríckѕ up mч ѕlєєvєѕ." With a single wink from his hollow eye socket, he raised up his left hand, with the inside of it facing her. In the center there stood a single sharpened steel spike implanted on it.

Her eyes studied the spike, feeling a little bit more uncomfortable than she did before, and yet, her body stayed still..so still that even the biting cold didn't deter her. " 𝔄-𝔄𝔥..𝔱-𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱...𝔞-𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔰 𝔱𝔬...𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠-𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔶" She said, softening her tone a bit more than normal. The skeleton put his hand down and raised his other hand up and over the wooden counter, leaning forward slightly, he rested his palm against the top of her head, giving her a few head pats and replied, saying; "*nαh, í thínk ít'ѕ funnч."

She tried to calm herself after that, feeling slightly uneasy but no longer so much in danger. "ℑ 𝔤𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔰...𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔶 𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲..." She stated, staring at the red snow homed around the station, holding her arms tightly to preserve any warmth she may have. "*hєhє, чєα." He replied before crooned a low hum. "𝔄𝔥, ℑ..ℑ 𝔰𝔢𝔢." The girl would mutter before glancing away, allowing her feet to back her away from the skeleton. "𝔘𝔪- 𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩, ℑ.. 𝔊𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔰 ℑ 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤.." She said in excuse as she turned around and began to trail away, releasing a quiet sigh once completely facing the other way, where the pine before her was a more comforting sight than anything else around.

"*whєrє?" He asked, keeping a particularly close eye on her. "*í cαn tαkє чα tσ gríllвч'ѕ, - m ч t r є α t ~" His sudden offer made her pause once more. She didn't know what that place was... The name didn't sound at all enticing to her... But by the way he said it... Could that be somewhere she could actually get something to eat? The thought swirled around in her brain for the longest moment, as she contemplated his offer.

She knows she was tricked before.. But even so, she turned, nodding in pure agreement, though it was against her better judgement..."𝔄𝔩𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱," She said, before noticing the skeleton was already out from behind the stand, standing a few short feet away from her...and yet he stood tall, truly towering over her meager frame. Did he know she'd agree?

"*hєhє, fσllσw mє thєn." He adjured, before he began to saunter away from her with his hands inside his pockets.

She watched him for a second or so before following behind him at a distance...

'𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓘 𝓰𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸~?'

Description

~~~~THE PAST~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~

~~

~

𝕿𝖆𝖕,

𝕿𝖆𝖕,

𝕿𝖆𝖕~

The stolid sound of tapping, the circitous din of humming ~ echoed through out the mild silence eluding the forest between breaks in the pine. The tapping, impatient but staidness as the wait presumed.

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌~

The waiter would wait... And watch...tapping his cold, lifeless fingers upon the stained wooden tabletop, as the cold didn't seem to have any affect on him. A single crimson iris scanned the area, the entrance to The Ruins being just a short distance away, as the question:

'would there be somebody there today~?'

Would serve as the central wonder for the man waiting.

The trees rustled and flailed amongst the frigid wind as snow fell from their stern branches and interwoven pine.

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌,

𝖂𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌~

With the echo of the taps remaining to emulate distinct impatience - He waited, itching for even the smallest hint of somebody meekly approaching from The Ruin's entrance.

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

𝖂 𝖆 𝖎 𝖙 𝖎 𝖓 𝖌...

Until something so suddenly caught hold of his full attention:

A single whiff of something familiar...but even more so,.. ambrosial~

his tapping and humming ceased almost instantly as he would slowly glance towards the entrance to The Ruins, as a large and sinister grin swept across his face.

Just as suspected, somebody was there~

From afar, the outline figure of a small child, perhaps~?

Slowly, cautiously, approaching - arms crossed against their chest as the cold bit and pulled at their small and fragile body. They would stagger a bit whilst the cold gave numbness to their legs. And yet, they pursued their trail forwards.

Just a few inches closer, the outline gave better figure as the waiting one would slowly rest his head on the table before him, sheltering his face behind his arms. His eyes began to shut as he briefed over the figure approaching, realizing it was but a young, miniature child, clutching herself as the wind's harsh embrace forced her hazel locks to dance in the air ponderous-ly. From here, he pretended to sleep, not wanting to seem so suspicious towards this little child coming forth.

The girl would glance around, taking note of the pine and snow as the only things she could see, as her bare feet submerged in snow, inched her further away from the door she emerged from. Would this unbearable cold be the last thing she would feel? The lethal numbness that would set in couldn't be far now.. However, she didn't stop walking, not even for a second. Well, if she did, it's unsure whether she'd be able to keep moving after that.

"ℑ𝔱'𝔰..𝔰𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡.." The fragile words escaped her lips in a soft, gentle tone, as she could see the sentry station sitting in the distance before her. "𝔐𝔥~?" Perhaps curiosity got the best of her or common sense illuded her.. Either way, she locked her attention on this station, noticing a figure lying on the counter, and proceeded to walk cautiously towards it.

Her footsteps would descend an inch and another inch closer ....

until something came over her, forcing her to pause in her tracks at only a handful of steps from the sentry station. The snow surrounding the station was coated a crimson red, a blaintent red that bained from being anything natural. As she stared at it, staying as still as ice, she couldn't bring herself to step any closer as her body, her feet, her legs..did not budge.

Slowly, she broke from her stiffness and stepped an inch back, taking the overwhelming feeling of solitious-ness as a warning to ignore this all together.

"𝔑-𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡..." Softly, she told herself, grasping her arms more tenaciously.

The man's one crimson iris surreptitiously rolled to the immense crack in his skull, staring out upon the child as she would contemplate her next course of action...she was still out of arms reach and yet, didn't feel even a single hint of safety..

'𝓜𝓪𝔂𝓫𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝔀𝓪𝔂~?'

She would think to herself as she then tore her eyes away from the resting figure and proceeded to trail off. With an open crimson eye, the man watched her from behind his arms, his only iris latching full attention onto her, possibly realizing she was more careful than she appeared to be. With a slow demeanor, he lifted his head from his arms, letting a sudden and deep chuckle escape through his firmly clenched teeth.

"*᭙ꫝꫀ𝘳ꫀ ꪖ𝘳ꫀ ꪗꪖ ᧁꪮ𝓲ꪀ', 𝘬𝓲ᦔᦔꪮ?"

The sudden and deepened optical of tone froze the child in her place; a fast, frightening chill cascading down her spine as her body visibly quivered in fear.

With notable hesitance, she steadily turned to face the figure, taking in their appearance from a safe distance.

Widened cerulean irises stared down the masculine figure as immediate shock coursed through her fragile body. She noticed the figure directing her was..a skeleton --

or more so,.. An eldrich skeletal being. -- this baned from anything she has ever seen before, and yet, she stood still in her place, unwilling to move.

His deep and tantalizing stare gave her a strong, unnerving ambience as it felt like he was scrutinizing her from this distance.. Could that be it? Observing?

The cold silence was disrupted by him continuing to remark in the same disturbingly dark tone; "*𝓲 ᥴꪖꪀ 𝘴ꫀꫀ ꪗꪮꪊ'𝘳ꫀ 𝘴 𝓽 ꪖ 𝘳 ꪜ 𝓲 ꪀ ᧁ -- ꪶ𝓲𝘬ꫀ ꪖ𝓽 ꪖꪀꪗ ꪑ𝓲ꪀꪊ𝓽ꫀ 𝓲 ᥴꪖꪀ ᠻ𝓲ꪀᦔ ꪗꪮꪊ "ρ ꪖ 𝘴 𝓽 ꪖ - ᭙ ꪖ ꪗ."

The dreary words he spoke bit through her ears in a concerning manner, leaving her in what felt like a hypnotic and relentless state of silence. But it was true.. She was hungry. But not so desperate, ..and yet, pushing it further he would add;-

"*ꫝꪮ᭙ ꪖ᥇ꪮꪊ𝓽 ꪖ ꪀ𝓲ᥴꫀꪗ - 𝘴ρ𝓲ᥴꫀꪗ ꫝꪮ𝓽 ᦔꪮᧁ 𝓽ꪮ ᠻ𝓲ꪶꪶ ꪗꪖ ꪊρ?" He proposed, whilst upon the wooden tabletop stood a single hotdog, sat near the edge of the table as if to make it, in a sense, more accessible, but planted there specifically for her alone. It's mere being would be enough to churn her empty stomach but the uneasy feeling looming around him.. Was the victual worth taking~?

She wanted to leave, it wouldn't be questionable, right? It wouldn't be wrong, right? And yet, she didn't want to be rude by ignoring his offer and yet..she didn't want to risk it. She let out a soft sigh, releasing a cold gust of air through her mouth as she mustered up the will to reply.

"ℑ'𝔪...𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔯𝔶, 𝔟𝔲𝔱...-" She paused abrumptly, conceiving how she could word her sentence without it sounding disrespectful as she wanted nothing more than to show respectfulness towards anyone she meets, no matter how they made her feel. But how...?

She merely resumed, believing what falls out of her mouth next is not ill in nature; "𝔘𝔪.. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 - ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔫-𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔣-𝔣𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔰" She stuttered. " 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢..ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱-𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢, 𝔲𝔫𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔲𝔫𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔶." She didn't want to admit her stuttering came from fear, she wanted to keep it hidden but it couldn't be more clear. Through out her softly spoken words there was a heavy reminence of fear following in each sentence.

"*ᥴ'ꪑꪮꪀ, 𝘬𝓲ᦔ" He started, not allowing a single, uncertain rejection deter him in the least. With sights set high on persuasion, he would only push his offer more firmly. "*𝓲 ρꪊ𝓽 ꪑꪗ ꪮ᭙ꪀ ᥇ ꪶ ꪮ ꪮ ᦔ ꪖꪀᦔ 𝘴 ᭙ ꫀ ꪖ 𝓽 𝓲ꪀ𝓽ꪮ 𝓽ꫝ𝓲𝘴 𝓽ꫝ𝓲ꪀᧁ.."

Hearing this alone seemed considerably torrid to her.. But still, would it be worth it?

The thought echoed through her head;

'𝓗𝓸𝔀 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀.. 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓹𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓶..'

And yet, the hotdog remained enticing even from a distance. The luxurious and ambrosial scent of a freshly made piece of meat was a smell that nearly brought her mouth to water, and yet she surpressed.

Her attention grazed over the clear thick, deep red liquid that had been impetuous-ly strewed over the entire morsel, leaving a pool of the liquid to surround it, and sink deep into the wood.

.. It would take a moment of consideration, a moment of contemplation, but she took to agree. "𝔄𝔩𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱.. ℑ..𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢" Despite it was against her better judgement, she dragged her bare feet closer and closer to the stand-

'𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓲𝓽 𝓰𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭...𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓼..'

"*𝓽ꪖ𝘬ꫀ 𝓲𝓽, 𝓲 ᭙ꪮꪀ'𝓽 ᥇𝓲𝓽ꫀ." With a perfidious grin, the skeleton remarked, giving her a subtle wink. He took to readying himself then for his next move once the time was just right for him to strike, as his serrated claws were beginning to dig into the wood of his stand.

She ignored his words, focusing on the single morsel lying only a few inches away. Her little hand shakily extended out, yet the tabletop was only a few centimeters taller than her, causing her to have to reach up over the table to grasp it.

However, to her horror,

as soon as she was close enough to the table, now the hand hovering shakily over the hotdog in preparation to grasp, the skeleton's grin extended, horrendously grabbing her hand in a quick, and skilled succession;

His grip being tenacious, refusing to loosen at any given moment.

Then, with a single firm pull, the girl was forced uncomfortably close to the stand, as her head then rested on the tabletop infront of him and her feet barely touched the red snow below. Her blood ran deathly cold as shock and fear filled her body to the brink, disabling her from uttering a single word.

Cold sweat poured from her face; the fear and inability to move caused her whole body to quiver as tears slowly crept to the corners of her cerulean eyes and yet- she didn't want to cry..to show fear.. To give up.. But it wasn't easy to be brave. Not now. She's so small and fragile..so scared and worried..her thoughts were racing and asking:

'𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓘 𝓭𝓸~?'

The skeleton's bony fingers then wrapped around the axe he possessed and had stowed from view, as the grin he wore only grew bigger with some twisted enjoyment. Without hesitance, he brought the axe into the air, having his attention set on her head-

"*ꪮ ꪀ ꫀ ꫝ ꫀ ꪖ ᦔ ᦔ ꪮ ᧁ ᥴ ꪮ ꪑ 𝓲 ꪀ ᧁ ꪊ ρ!"

With a quick flinch, she tightly shut her tear-soaked eyes. In response, her body fell death in anticipation as she mentally prepared herself for the moment she meets death's cold embrace.

The axe was soon swung down at such a force she could never comprehend...

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There was but a loud thud echoing through the woods...

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Slowly, her eyes opened, being blurred by her tears and vision readjusting itself. Upon doing this, she could see pure steel sitting only inches away from her face. It was the axe head. She was...confused... Had he missed? Still, she didn't want to lift her head up until-

"*𝘴 𝓲 𝘬 ꫀ"

The skeleton erupted into a virulent laughter that could nearly shake the trees around them; he put his axe away, leaving the frightened child inquisitive and shaking. She pulled herself away from the table, resting her feet upon the snow once more, taking a step back. She stared at the skeleton as he howled with laughter...how could it possibly of been t h a t funny? To frighten such a delicate poppet half to death...

She wiped her eyes of her remaining tears and sniffled, feeling as if one more frightening experience will cause her tiny heart to burst.

"*hєhє, í αlmσѕt mαdє чα jump ríght σuttα чσur ѕkєlєtσn" The skeleton spoke up, finally calming down from his inane laughter.

She couldn't reply verbally, her mouth couldn't move to make words.. The more she thought about what happened just moments ago, the more her tears clawed their way into her eyes, blurring her vision. as she brought her hand up to wipe away the tears once more, she could feel some of them break loose and cascade down her cheeks. She won't be able to hide how frightened she was now..

The skeleton noticed her fear, her tears, her quivering.. His eyes narrowed if only slightly at the sight with his grin still remaining plastered on his face. "*αwww~ dσn't crч- ít wαѕ juѕt α jσkє." He uttered before standing and stretching his arms above his head.

"𝔑-𝔑𝔬.," She softly stuttered, "𝔗-𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱..𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔧-𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔠-𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩.. 𝔄𝔫𝔡...𝔐-𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫.." Meekly, she corrected him, wishing only for this to never happen again..and wishing only for herself to at some point be brave enough to cease her stutters. "*hσw?" He queried, as if that broken statement couldn't be any less true. "*í hαvє mσrє tríckѕ up mч ѕlєєvєѕ." With a single wink from his hollow eye socket, he raised up his left hand, with the inside of it facing her. In the center there stood a single sharpened steel spike implanted on it.

Her eyes studied the spike, feeling a little bit more uncomfortable than she did before, and yet, her body stayed still..so still that even the biting cold didn't deter her. " 𝔄-𝔄𝔥..𝔱-𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱...𝔞-𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔰 𝔱𝔬...𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠-𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔶" She said, softening her tone a bit more than normal. The skeleton put his hand down and raised his other hand up and over the wooden counter, leaning forward slightly, he rested his palm against the top of her head, giving her a few head pats and replied, saying; "*nαh, í thínk ít'ѕ funnч."

She tried to calm herself after that, feeling slightly uneasy but no longer so much in danger. "ℑ 𝔤𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔰...𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩𝔱𝔶 𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲..." She stated, staring at the red snow homed around the station, holding her arms tightly to preserve any warmth she may have. "*hєhє, чєα." He replied before crooned a low hum. "𝔄𝔥, ℑ..ℑ 𝔰𝔢𝔢." The girl would mutter before glancing away, allowing her feet to back her away from the skeleton. "𝔘𝔪- 𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩, ℑ.. 𝔊𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔰 ℑ 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤.." She said in excuse as she turned around and began to trail away, releasing a quiet sigh once completely facing the other way, where the pine before her was a more comforting sight than anything else around.

"*whєrє?" He asked, keeping a particularly close eye on her. "*í cαn tαkє чα tσ gríllвч'ѕ, - m ч t r є α t ~" His sudden offer made her pause once more. She didn't know what that place was... The name didn't sound at all enticing to her... But by the way he said it... Could that be somewhere she could actually get something to eat? The thought swirled around in her brain for the longest moment, as she contemplated his offer.

She knows she was tricked before.. But even so, she turned, nodding in pure agreement, though it was against her better judgement..."𝔄𝔩𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱," She said, before noticing the skeleton was already out from behind the stand, standing a few short feet away from her...and yet he stood tall, truly towering over her meager frame. Did he know she'd agree?

"*hєhє, fσllσw mє thєn." He adjured, before he began to saunter away from her with his hands inside his pockets.

She watched him for a second or so before following behind him at a distance...

'𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓘 𝓰𝓸𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸~?'