Masked (A Hat In Time)

The Horizon

"Pale is the prison they doomed me to dwell,

With room for just one, but two in a cell.

The dusk is upon us, I knew as it fell,

That darkness is honest, are you to yourself?"

That's one of my favorite parts from JT Music's Little Nightmares 2 song, Nightmares Never End. It's strangely fitting for Moonjumper and his servant.

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Bow Kid slowly opened her eyes and looked around the Horizon.

It was nothing like she would've expected. The entire Horizon had no horizon...it was just one endless white void. Far in the distance, she could see some red strings leading up to the ceiling...if there was one.

Speaking of which...Bow tilted her head back to see if there was any ceiling or sky. The strings that led up to the top gathered more and more until the very sky was an entire mass of red. Her jaw dropped open. Those were a lot of strings.

She tore her eyes away and looked back at Hattie. They shared a long look. Then Bow looked up at Snatcher. His eyes were narrowed, and his face was set into a solemn expression. He looked down at them, then sighed quietly.

"Well, kiddos," he said. "This is Moonjumper." He gestured to someone in front of him.

Bow Kid looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw Moonjumper.

His face was a crescent-shaped mask, though there weren't any straps holding it on like there was with Jaide. He had two red streaks leading down from his eyes and mouth to the bottom of his mask. He wore a long, tattered red cloak, and his tail was yellow with a black v-shaped stripe on it. He had a crown floating above the horns of his mask.

Sure, he looked a little odd, but Bow had come to expect that by now with ghosts. But what shocked Bow Kid the most was that he was another one of their future friends she saw in the flower.

If she remembered correctly, he was the one Jaide was hugging in the image. In the picture, he'd looked embarrassed but happy. It was nothing like the cold, sharp look he was giving Snatcher.

"Snatcher." Moonjumper's voice was soft and smooth. He spoke quietly, but he was heard clearly.

"Moonjumper." Snatcher crossed his arms.

They stood floating there in silence.

"And-" Moonjumper gestured to the children. Bow Kid noticed that he had shackled on his pale blue wrist, with the chains broken. "Who are they?"

Snatcher smirked. "They're the kids who beat the peck out of your servant." His eyes narrowed. "And now we're going to do the same to you."

Moonjumper chuckled, his frown spreading into a wry grin. "Funny. I didn't know you had pets."

"HEY!" Hat Kid yelled, whipping out her umbrella.

"PECK NECK!" Bow Kid shouted at Moonjumper, pulling out her umbrella too.

Snatcher laughed. "Oh, that was a mistake!" he jeered at Moonjumper. "You really wouldn't wanna make them mad!"

Moonjumper tilted his head. Bow Kid saw that while his left eye had red circles in it, his right eye had a moving plaid of diamonds. "Is that a threat?"

"Obviously," Snatcher scoffed. "Are you so stupid that you don't know what a threat is?" He scowled at Moonjumper, the sarcastic tone in his voice suddenly turning harsh. "You really think you can come into my forest and try and take over? I know what you were planning."

Moonjumper returned the scowl. "Your forest?" he repeated. "Oh, please. I am the rightful ruler of Subcon!"

Snatcher laughed. "Don't make me laugh, Moonboy!" He pointed a claw at Moonjumper. "You may have that crown, but if you were the rightful ruler, you would've gotten there first! It's my domain!"

"And how are you treating your domain?" Moonjumper challenged, his eyes growing narrow. "You kill anyone who comes into your forest. Anyone you don't kill immediately, you bind into contracts, then you kill them later!" He shot a glance at Hattie and Bow. "Or at least you did. But it appears you're going soft."

"I am not going soft!" Snatcher yelled, his face twisting in rage.

"Sure you aren't," Moonjumper said with a smirk.

Snatcher glowered at Moonjumper for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was dangerously low. "If you think you'd be such a better ruler than me, prove it."

Moonjumper's eyes widened. "Oh?" he asked. "What are you suggesting?"

Snatcher straightened up, his yellow eyes sharp and bright. "I'm suggesting that you and I fight for Subcon. The winner is the rightful ruler."

Hat Kid and Bow Kid both gasped.

He scoffed. "Relax, kiddos," Snatcher chided. "There's no way this fool is beating me, especially with you two."

"You have gone soft," Moonjumper murmured.

"SHUT UP."

Moonjumper merely smirked at him. His eyes darted between Snatcher, Bow Kid, and Hat Kid as if he were sizing them up. Bow could tell by the look in his eyes that he was considering Snatcher's offer.

She couldn't help but feel a prick of anxiety. Despite Snatcher's assurances that he'd win, she didn't like the look of Moonjumper. He looked dangerous. And she knew he could control people with his strings. That was kind of a scary power to have.

What if Snatcher got controlled? What if he lost and Moonjumper became the ruler of Subcon? To be honest, Bow Kid didn't want Subcon to be run by this creep. Even if he would be their friend in the future, he was a jerk.

"I'll accept your offer," Moonjumper said finally. "Under one condition."

Moonjumper opened a hand and lifted it, turning his palm down to the floor. A circle opened up in the blank whiteness below his hand. When Bow Kid leaned forward and looked out of that hole, she could see the purple tops of trees. Subcon?

Red strings reached down from the tips of his fingers and shot down through the hole. A few moments later, the strings retracted, pulling up the limp body of the servant with them. The strings were wrapped around his ankles and wrists.

Bow Kid gasped. The servant wasn't even conscious. She could see red streaks starting to creep up to meet the bottoms of his eyes and mouth. Was that a side effect of being used as a puppet?

"If you're going to have those children fight with you," Moonjumper said with a sneer, "then it'd only be fair for me to have my servant."

Bow Kid watched the servant carefully. His eyes were closed, but she could see them slowly flickering open. It was sickening to see the way he dangled from Moonjumper's hand in the strings. She felt really bad for him now. Bow couldn't even imagine what it was like to be used as a puppet.

Snatcher's voice was strained. "Let go of him!"

Moonjumper grinned at Snatcher. "So you do care about him!" His fingers rippled, and the servant stood up straight. The strings around his ankles and wrists were taut. "I can't say I'm surprised, though-"

Suddenly Snatcher lunged at Moonjumper in a blaze of blue fire. Moonjumper scowled and leaped back, moving his hand. Pulled by the strings, the servant moved forward to protect Moonjumper.

Snatcher grabbed at the strings, severing them. The servant immediately went limp. Snatcher caught him before he face-planted and threw him back toward Hattie and Bow.

He fell at their feet and didn't move. Bow Kid winced. That looked like it had to be painful.

Snatcher backed away cautiously. Moonjumper looked furious. "So that's how it is?" he snarled.

More strings appeared from the tips of Moonjumper's fingers.

The red in Moonjumper's eyes flared. "I'll show you why I'm the rightful ruler of Subcon!"