Masked (A Hat In Time)

Losing Control

Sorry guys, you're gonna have to wait another week to see the Outlander again. It's hard for me too, since I spent more time planning out the scene with Bow, the prince, and the Outlander than this scene.

In the meantime, the boomers are angry.

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With the new bear-masked Dweller at her side, Hattie chased after Jaide and Moonjumper. Where was Jaide going? Where was she taking Levi? Or, well, just his body.

She didn't know what was going on, but it was clearly messed up.

Moon kept calling out to Jaide in a forlorn voice, asking her to slow down. She ignored him. It was honestly heartbreaking, especially when you thought about how Moon felt about Jaide.

Jaide wasn't acting like herself at all. Normally, she would be trying to comfort Moonjumper, right? Didn't she tell Hattie and Bow that she wanted to help him? That she wanted him to be happy? What was happening right now was the complete opposite of that.

Hat Kid picked up the pace until she was walking by Moonjumper's side. "What's going on?" she asked him.

Moonjumper's eyes were fixed on Jaide. His face was creased with pain. "I don't know," he murmured. His voice was high and panicky. "I-I don't know, but I don't like this. I don't like how Jaide's acting- she won't answer me, she won't even look at me-" he cut himself abruptly, cringing. There were tears in his eyes.

Hat Kid wanted to hug him, but she was moving too fast. The Dweller seemed to have had the same thought since it floated up and curled itself around Moon's shoulders. Moon stared down at the Dweller with wide eyes. It nuzzled him. Moon just looked confused.

Hattie looked over the horizon and saw that they were heading back to the wreckage of Jaide's house. But why? Wasn't everything...well, wrecked? What was she going to do there?

Right outside the melted circle that used to be her home, Jaide finally slowed and stopped. She bent down and gently laid Levi's body on the ground. Moon and Hattie just watched, each with an expression of bewilderment on their faces.

Before standing straight again, Jaide felt the ground next to him. The grass was still wet, and the ground seemed hard. Jaide stood, her shoulders falling a little.

Hat Kid suddenly remembered something Jaide had said. I tried to melt the ice to at least bury him...but the ice is magical. And it's not like the ground around here is soft enough to dig, anyway.

Well, the ice was melting now that Vanessa was dead. But the air was still cold, and the ground was still hard. Hat Kid relaxed a bit. Jaide just wanted to bury her son. As sad as it was, it was in character. She was still herself, right?

The Dweller uncurled itself from Moonjumper and floated over to Jaide. Hat Kid was suddenly reminded how tiny the Dweller was.

This time the Dweller nuzzled Jaide. Jaide paid no attention to it.

"Jaide?" Moon asked.

Finally, Jaide acknowledged him. She turned toward him, her vibrant yellow-green eyes empty.

Moonjumper inherently wasn't expecting this since he went silent.

Hat Kid spoke up for him. "Are you okay, Jaide?" she asked, shooting Moon a supportive look. "What's going on with you?"

Jaide didn't answer, but Hat Kid saw her hands twitch. Only the tiniest reaction. Her heart sank.

The Dweller by Jaide's side nudged her as if encouraging her to respond. Jaide glanced at it but said nothing.

"Why won't you answer us?" Hat Kid asked.

Jaide obviously didn't answer. Hattie should've expected that before she asked.

"Jaide," Moon murmured. There was an edge in his voice now. An edge that made Hat Kid uncomfortable. It reminded her of the first time she ever saw Moonjumper when he was evil and controlling the prince. "If you're ignoring me because...because I did something wrong, please tell me."

Jaide stared at him blankly. Moonjumper's gaze slid down before shooting back up and meeting her eyes defiantly.

"Why won't you tell me?" he asked, his voice rising. "Why won't you answer me?" At his sides, his shaking hands clenched.

Asking why didn't help at all. Jaide wasn't going to answer. There was something almost sinister about the way she was so quiet. It was as if all her personality and emotion had been wiped away.

Then she did the worst possible thing she could've done. She turned away from Moonjumper and started to leave. The Dweller gave her a wide-eyed look.

Moon's eyes widened. "STOP!" he yelled, his voice reverberating with fury and fear. Hat Kid cringed and had to cover her ears at the intensity of his shout.

Thankfully, Jaide did stop. She floated to a halt and looked over her shoulder at him as the Dweller came back to Hattie's side.

Moon took a moment to gather himself before speaking again. "Just where," he spat, "do you think you're going?"

Hat Kid did not like his tone of voice. She lowered her hands from her ears. "Moon," she started. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. Something soothing and reassuring, maybe. Anything to calm him down and get that dark look off his face. He was acting less like the gentle, nervous ghost that Jaide managed to bring out and more like the angry, evil villain he used to be.

Moonjumper shot her a shadowy glare. Hat Kid involuntarily took a step back.

Moon looked back to Jaide. "Answer me," he hissed.

Jaide said nothing, but she slowly turned her body until she slowly faced him. Her yellow-green eyes were blazing.

Hattie took a few more steps back. She didn't like how tense everything felt. "H-hey," she tried to say. She tried again, and this time her voice wasn't shaky. "Hey! Why are you guys getting mad at each other? Neither of you did anything wrong!"

"Shut up!" Moonjumper snapped. This time his angry comments and scowl were directed at Hat Kid. She glared right back at him.

The look in Moon's eyes was scaring her, but she had to remain steady. Moon looked back to Jaide. "Just answer me!" he yelled.

Jaide was quiet, but Hat Kid could see her hands clench.

Hattie had a bad feeling she knew what was about to happen. Even though she wanted to stop it, it felt like her feet were stuck. She couldn't move. She could only watch the disaster as it unfolded.

Moon glowered at Jaide, then summoned his strings and lunged at her.