Healing of a Broken Soul | Snatcher x reader |

Parting Ways

You and the kid found a neat little hangout spot in the woods, it was a little wood shack with the whole front just being an opening, there you got many questions answered like, how big is this place? How many people visit here every month? How inhabited is this forest? Then the kid started talking about these cool fire spirits and how their boss hates them, but they just thought they looked cool. And then they fell asleep on you, which was a surprise since you didn't expect them to get this comfortable that quickly but maybe they thought of you as a parental figure, since they did say they didn't have any parents.. You also didn't want them to freeze to death so you put your wind breaker on them, there wasn't too much wind outside though, just a pleasant breeze that drifted by every once and awhile. You were going to move when you saw a statue in the distance start running towards a kid with a hat, but decided against it since the kid on your lap was sound asleep and you didn't want to wake them. Since you couldn't move you decided on just resting your eyes, what was the harm in taking a little nap?

***

You were awoken by a panicked shaking, not wanting to get up just yet you turned around grumbling at whoever was interrupting your rest.

" C'mon! We have to leave, boss is here! " You suddenly recognized the voice and turned around sluggishly.

" It's fine, he won't come in here. "

" Yes he will! I don't want him to take your soul too! " The kid whined, wait- take your soul??

" Take my soul? Why would your boss take my soul? " You say, now more alert than you were seconds ago.

The ghost babbles " Everyone who tresspasses in this forest gets their soul taken by him, and then he'll make you do dumb chores that unevitably lead to your doom! " On second thought maybe we should leave.. And why didn't your teacher tell you that this forest was private property?!

You quickly shot up, grabbing the little ghost with you and ran off in the direction of a weird purple swamp.

" DON'T GO IN THERE! " The kid suddenly shouts, causing you to stumble on your feet before you righted yourself.

" Why? " You ask, a little out of breath from all that running

" If you stand in there for too long it will pull you under. " They say shaking, gripping onto the front of your shirt. You nodded and walked in another direction.

***
After a few minutes of walking you came across a quaint village, it had many children that looked just like the kid in your arms, you looked back at the kid and to the many duplicates that resided in the village. You shrugged and placed them on the ground and pulled out a yellow bandana from your pocket and wrapped it around the ghost's neck, they looked at you questioningly and you shrugged.

" I just don't want you getting lost, i'm sorry if this is rude but I can't tell the difference between you and your buddies. "

" Okay, is it alright if I go look around for a bit? " You ask, putting your hands in your pockets.

" Sure, just.. Please don't leave. " They say, fiddling with their hands.

" I won't, don't worry about it. " You wave them off, and walk in a random direction.

In front of you was a beautiful crystal clear lake, and right beside you was a giant purple cherry? You turned to the fruit, putting your hands on it and poking its tough skin.

" That's a bomb! " You let out a loud gasp at the voice from behind you. Turning around it was another ghost kid, but it wasn't the one you had become acquainted with.

" Why is there a bomb in your forest? " You ask cautiously, the ghost's eye squinted in amusement, and they shrugged.

" We sometimes use them to blow up the ice in our village. " Thinking of that, you did notice huge blocks of ice with what looked to be yarn inside them.

" That's pretty cool, thanks for the heads up! " You smiled, the subcontie walked away and wandered up the path you and your friend came from. You poked the gigantic fruit again before pulling out your notepad you brought with you to track your discoveries, the first page was filled with questions and answers when you were questioning your ghost friend. And the next page you flipped to was blank, so you wrote down what you learned about the weird fruits.

" WHAT?! Who let a mortal in MY forest?! " A loud voice boomed out, it sounded like the one you heard earlier today. Suddenly you saw the person known as 'boss'. And a subcontie walking beside him.. Wait, that was the one you were talking to about the cherry! Did they snitch on you?? Aw hell, they didn't seem to notice you yet so you bolted, if it was anything like your acquaintance said, you should definitely be running for the hills, because this 'boss' was anything but friendly. You whipped past trees till you found a tree with a face carved into it, in the hollowed out part was a chair, a bookshelf, a gramophone and a coffee table. You contemplated going in to hide but decided against it because this could be the soul stealing ghosts house. Footsteps were heard behind you and you whipped around, seeing the hat clad kid running towards you waving her hands. She beckoned towards you.

" You.. Want me to follow you? " She nodded, jumping up and down.
" I don't know if I can do that, I don't know if you're trying to help me out, or if you're gonna lead me back to the ghost I'm hiding from. " You say, taking a slow step back. She let out a huff and grabbed your hand, dragging you to where you were earlier today. Where you had a nap.

" Uh, thanks! But don't you think he'll come back here? " You ask, looking around the surrounding area, she shook her head, making the cross my heart motion. You smiled at her childishness and nodded. She waved and then took off into the direction of the village. The boss guy hadn't hurt anybody here as you've seen, so you don't think he'd hurt the girl. But you couldn't help but feel worried for her, and for your subcontie friend. You felt bad for leaving them there, but in their own words- ' I don't want him to take your soul too ' so it was best to leave them you suppose, you'll go look for them once you deem it safe.