Splendorman: Papa

Papa

AN: This is just a made up story I made that was inspired by a friend of mine who is a Splendor-fan/roleplayer online (you know you are XD, #PapaSplendy)  ^-^ Enjoy --

There was a girl lost in the woods. She was running; running fast. She was scared, but it wasn’t because she was lost. The girl was afraid of what was coming after her. Looking over her shoulder she saw a big burly man barreling after her. He was laughing, but not in a pleasant way. His laugh was malicious and his lips were curled up in a sinister grin.

“C’mere, Girly! I ain’t gonna hurt you,” the man called out.

The girl knew he was lying. She didn’t trust him, and she didn’t stop running. She kept her eyes facing straight ahead and pushed off of her legs harder. She was going so fast, so fast that she began to stumble over her own feet. Surrounding tree branches and twigs were scratching her face and getting caught in her hair. She couldn’t keep up with her own movements anymore. The trees were flying past her so fast that they blurred in her vision. She felt the uneven dirt ground beneath her feet, and then the impact of a raised tree root connecting with the tips of her toes. Suddenly it wasn’t just the trees that were blurred in her vision. The dark path was rushing upwards, and the ground was getting closer. She landed hard on the cold ground. Immediately she tried to scramble back up but she couldn’t move.

“W-what happened?” She stuttered under her breath, dazed.

Heavy footfalls of the approaching man sounded behind her. The girl didn’t want to look. She couldn’t stand to look into those crazed eyes of his. His footsteps slowed, and she felt his leather boot nudge the side of her ribcage. She tensed her body and squeezed her eyes shut.

“No, go away. Please,” She whimpered.

The man just laughed and said, “We weren’t finished with our little game back there. You ran off too soon.” He let out a snicker and pressed his boot down on the girl harder. “Now, where were we?”

The man reached down and picked the girl up by the collar of her dress. The girl swung out her arms, trying to defend herself.

“NO! LET GO!” She squealed.

“SHUT UP!” The man bellowed.

His booming voice startled the girl, and she closed her mouth. He grabbed and pulled at her skirt, and he held onto her wrist. His grip was too tight; it had begun to leave a mark. The girl whimpered again, and the man smirked.

“No one will help you here,” He said.

The girl kept her eyes shut and she began to cry. All she wanted at that pointed was to be anywhere but there with that man.

Crying in the hands of the horrible man, the girl heard a noise come from somewhere nearby. It sounded like leaves crunching beneath the feet of something very large. The man didn’t acknowledge it. He was too busy putting his grubby hands all over the small girl.

“H-help me,” She whispered.

Suddenly, the man released his hold on the girl with a scream. The girl collapsed to the ground and opened her eyes, looking up. She saw the man pinned up against a tree a few feet away. He was being held up by something… No. Not something. The girl focused her line of vision, squinting her eyes. It was someone. It was another man, but… He didn’t look like a human man. He was too tall, and so slender. He was wearing a suit covered in coloured polka-dots, and a top hat sat on his head.

The man against the tree was still screaming and he was kicking his legs, but hit nothing.

“LET ME GO, YOU BASTARD!” He yelled.

The tall man said nothing. The girl watched as thick, black tentacles slowly raised from his back. They wavered in the air above his head, pointing towards the man pressed against the tree. Then the tall man turned his head to look at the girl. She gasped in shock. His face looked like a mask. There were big, rounded black eyes that looked like they were painted on, and a hollow, wide-mouthed smile on his face; nothing else.

“Please, look away for just one moment,” The tall man said.

The girl obeyed, turning her head in the other direction. It was quiet for a second, and then more screaming. This time the screams were different. They didn’t sound full anger anymore. They sounded more piercing and distressed. The burly man was in pain. The girl kept her eyes away from the scene. There was the sound of flesh tearing, the splattering noise of what could be nothing other than blood, and wheezing from the man as he ran out of breath. The girl wasn’t stupid; she knew that she was at the scene of a murder. But she felt nothing for this man. She stayed quiet, listening to the last breaths of the dying man. It didn’t take long. Within seconds his life had ended. The girl heard leaves crunching again, and a loud thud of something heavy landing in the dirt further away.

“It’s alright. You’re safe now,” the tall man said.

The girl turned her body around to face him. He was crouched down in front of her, holding out a hand black as charcoal with long, bony fingers. She blinked, trying to make sense of what had just happened. A voice inside her head was telling her that she should be afraid of this man, but for some reason she wasn’t scared. He had a welcoming aura surrounding him. The girl felt that she could trust this man.

She took hold of his hand, hers tiny compared to his. He then scooped her up in his elongated arms and stood up, holding her close.

"Do you have a home?” He asked.

The girl shook her head. “Not anymore.”

The man started walking again, and lifted his head high. “Then I’ll take care of you. I’ll keep you safe forever.”

The girl felt relieved. Although she had only just met him, she felt very fond of the tall man.

“Who are you?” She asked in a soft voice.

The man tilted his head and looked down at her. “I’m Splendorman.”

The girl looked back up at him with her round doe-eyes. “Splendor…?” She smiled. “I’ll call you Papa.”

“Papa?” The man chuckled quietly and hugged the girl to his chest. “Yes, that’s right. I’m Papa.”