Masked (A Hat In Time)

Sorrow

Why would someone want to wear a mask?

Maybe to hide something. To hide the face below from the world. To cover her identity.

Or...to gain something?

Who knows?

The world is dark. She does what she can....it's hard to blame her.

---

Hattie's eyes flickered open. Everything was so blurry...what had happened?

The memories slammed into her like a train.

Oh, right. The Outlander had thrown her to the ground and one-banged her.

Fun.

Her vision cleared, and she saw Bow Kid kneeling in front of her. Hat Kid pushed herself to her feet, surprisingly not feeling any pain. "Where's the Outlander?" she asked.

Bow Kid's brow furrowed at the mention of the demon. "I beat him," she said quietly.

Hat Kid nodded. "And...the timepiece?"

There was a moment of silence. Bow Kid's eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open. She clapped a hand to her forehead. "I completely forgot about that," she whispered. "I was so focused on finding pons to revive you...th-the Outlander didn't drop the timepiece."

Hattie nearly fell over at the information. She whipped around to face Bow Kid. "What?!"

"He didn't!" Bow Kid said, her voice rising. "I...I don't know why he didn't!"

Hat Kid gritted her teeth. Did he still have it? If he didn't....then...how would they get it? They couldn't manipulate shadows like he could...so was it lost forever?!

That's when she noticed the thing in Bow Kid's hands. "What's that?" Hat Kid asked.

Bow glanced down. "Oh...it's the mask." She lifted the blank-faced mask to show Hattie. "I knocked it off the Outlander's face and beat the peck out of him."

Hat Kid couldn't help but grin. "Nice."

"But then he escaped," Bow Kid continued with a frown. She lowered the mask. "You think he'll be back?"

"They always are," Hat Kid said with a groan.

He would come back, wouldn't he? If he still had the timepiece...would they have to fight him again?

Bow Kid stood. "I think we should find Jaide," she said. "I think we need to talk with her. I have some questions, and she's probably going to want the mask back. Besides, I don't want to hold it any longer. It's starting to give me the creeps."

Hat Kid nodded. She reached out for the mask, wanting to give Bow a break from carrying it. Bow Kid gave the mask to her.

As soon as Hattie touched it, a shiver ran down her spine. The mask was cold. A chill spread through Hat Kid's fingers and raced through her body. Was it overrunning the spell Jaide had used to protect them from the cold?! Jeez! Not to mention that there was something about it...it was fine when the Outlander and Jaide wore it, but now, seeing just the blank, empty eyes of it...

Hat Kid swallowed hard and turned her head away. "Let's just find Jaide," she said.

---

Using the hat to track down Jaide, they set off.

Eventually, after several minutes of running past the various Dwellers and ice spikes, Hat Kid started to recognize the terrain a bit more. She used the hat again and realized that Jaide was at the huge ice curve- the one where they'd found the first timepiece.