OCTale: Pacifist [Editing]

5) Snowy Forest [Edited]

As I walk towards the next area, the snow crunching beneath my feet, Luke appears, floating behind me, and I begin chatting to him.

"You know this place, right? Where are we now?" I ask politely, Luke smiling and raising an eyebrow.

"This is Snowdin Forest, the snowy area of the underground!" He answers simply, shrugging. Nodding and smiling, I focus on walking again.

Eventually, I skid to a stop, spotting Impact and Castellar ahead. I overhear a part of their conversation.

"So, as I was saying about Crimson..." Castellar explains, before glancing over at me. She gasps, and suddenly starts spinning around in circles. Impact watches her with a look of weariness on his face.

I giggle as she stops, facing...the opposite direction. What a silly skeleton.

"Behold." Impact presents, gesturing towards me. Castellar finally turns to face me, and her jaw drops comically. Even Luke is finding it very hard to not start laughing at her goofiness.

"OH MY GOD! IMPACT! IS THAT A HUMAN?!" She exclaims, still in a half-dazed euphoria. She must be really excited to meet a human after all this time.

"Umm..." Impact replies, squinting at something behind me.

I look, and lo and behold...a rock on the ground. I resist the urge to laugh. "I think that's just a rock." He jokes.

"Oh." Castellar sighs, disappointed.

"Wait, what's that in front of the rock?" Impact responds, now gesturing towards me. He winks at me. He must be very good at cheering his sister up like this.

"OH MY GOD!" She exclaims once again. Turning her head towards Impact, she then loudly whispers "Is that a human?" Impact whispers back with a "Yes," winking at me again like this is all one big joke - which is, honestly, what it is.

She starts screaming again, and I have to cover my ears this time from the shrillness. "OH MY GOD! IMPACT! I FINALLY DID IT! I FOUND A HUMAN! CRIMSON WILL...I'M GONNA...I'LL BE SO...POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" Castellar takes a deep breath to regain her bravado, then clears her throat before speaking again.

"HUMAN! I am going to capture you... Uhm...wait, what is your name?" She blushes, unsure of what to say for once. For a second, I wonder if this was all rehearsed beforehand, as she seems to have forgotten her regular lines

"My name is Tyler. Although, I don't think it will matter once you capture me..." I admit, Castellar rolling the name around her mouth to test the sound of it.

"I don't know what you mean by that, but hello Tyler! I can tell that your capture will be very great! A capture only worthy of the great Castellar! Nyeh!" She laughs. I'm not sure if she really comprehends what capturing me means. Oh well. She seems to be having fun, and Impact seems rather proud of me.

"In any case," She continues, gaining back mine and Luke's attention, "The path ahead is full of dangerous traps and puzzles, which will be sure to confound you! Continue...Only if you dare! Nyeh heh heh!" Castellar gives me a little wink, as if she's saying, Don't worry about it, and I sigh, relaxing.

Impact walks over to talk to me. as Castellar runs ahead to prepare the puzzles. I get a sense of deja vu, remembering Guidea telling me about dangerous traps. I giggle a little at this.

It must be some kind of weird tradition down here.

"Well that went...well." He chuckles slightly, and I laugh too. His good mood is infectious. "Don't sweat it, kid. I'll keep an eyesocket out for you." I blink, and suddenly, Impact is gone. I'm not sure how he disappeared so fast, but I feel lonely once more.