IN THE FOREST OF THE LOST

[beathollow]

it's all too perfect.

Comments

[strawsandals]

[ FUCK you castle, yes he does.

He's going in. What's up with this room. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Well, they were all chasing Mafuyu pointlessly, so it makes sense he ends up where Yoon is. ]

...the h— [ Rrrghhhh. ] ...eck... Why would this place even have a room like this?

[strawsandals]

I'm not sure. ... It can't be good news, though.

[ unlike mcgillis and izou's fight having player rewards, this reeks of bad news....... ]

[fullmoonmutt]

I mean, it's gotta mean something...

[ And then comes the man with the brain cell, Yi Sang. ]

[idealitas]

[ PANDA MAN IS ACTUALLY A TRASH PANDA MAN FUCK OFF

Don't worry about it... He's just going here with a Purpose. ]

Her mother would throw away or break her belongings.

[fullmoonmutt]

She did?!

[ Did he know that? He feels like... oh. Oh right. The reason she didn't want to throw out his muzzle, even though she hated it! ]

Let's dig around!

[ Eli is immediately diving into the trash to search for anything of interest. ]

[idealitas]

[ ...A muzzle? Huh.

He'll also poke around, though. ]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ ...yes. don't worry about it. ]

[strawsandals]

So we're going to get them back for her.

[ Said like it's even an option. ]

We'll put them back together, even.

[idealitas]

Yes.

[ GETTING HER STUFF BACK!!! Or fighting a trash monster. Could be either or.]

[privatedomicile]

What an asshole.

[No, he is not gonna stop swearing despite the fact that it keeps getting dirt on him. The ruler of the palace can suck it.]

Maybe she tossed a key to where Mafu is in here too or something.

[idealitas]

I'm hoping for something important in here, at least.

[privatedomicile]

[Damn right! Fuck the rules!

Jesse is on the lookout for anything that looks important.]

[strawsandals]

[ HELL YEAH. SCREW THE RULES WE HAVE MAFUYU ]

[beathollow]

...

The room is full of broken things.

Old toys storybooks. Dolls that look like people (old friends, old classmates). Warm blankets that are too small.

Manga and novels and wrapped presents that were opened preemptively, by hands that they weren't meant for.

A soaking wet cellphone.

A juice-stained laptop.

All the while, a gentle voice asks-

You don't need these anymore, right, Mafuyu?

[strawsandals]

[ Screw that, he's digging through all the broken things, pushing whatever he can to the center of the room so they're not just discarded like they're nothing. ]

Be quiet. They aren't yours.

[ How...how broken are these things, exactly... ]

[beathollow]

Some are torn to shreds, and some are just a little dirty.

...

The gentle voice speaks again-

Please understand. I just want what's best for my daughter. These dalliances will only hurt her- and so will you. Won't you go back? For her sake?

One of the dolls seems to be crying.

[strawsandals]

The only one hurting her is you. You're oblivious if you can't sense that.

[ He knows he's just talking to something purely cognitive, but he can't help it. This place makes him angry.

He's going to keep bringing the items over. To the others: ]

Here. We can take a look at these, some of these are repairable.

[fullmoonmutt]

How you going to fix a crying doll?

[ That's creepy? ]

[privatedomicile]

[Jesse looks up trying to find the source of the voice.]

Hey, shut your cakehole, lady!

[He picks up the cell phone.] Maybe we can find some rice or whatever in the palace kitchen to try and fix her stuff.

[beathollow]

Jesse's shirt gets a smear of dirt across his chest.

[privatedomicile]

...oh, what, you got a problem with that? Cry about it, why don't'cha?

[Jesse is taking the phone with him.]

[fullmoonmutt]

Should we just take everything?

[ Is there any one item that stands out? ]

[beathollow]

Not particularly, but there's a heavy feeling of grief.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Oh. Sad dog instead... ]