Chapter Text
Artful finally found peace leaning under a tree in the woods, fortunately, there were no civilians around. He felt somewhat safe here, even though it was he who should be feared by others, and not others striking fear in him. Yet the only fear Artful felt was drowned with overwhelming guilt, at what he's done. He couldn't change it, and he feared facing the consequences. So he hid as much as he could, from the outside world, and from himself.
It all changed once he felt sharp pain in his head, like some kind of headache... He felt as if there were thousands of needles stabbing his forehead simultaneously, and he didn't like it. He tried dipping a leaf in a river nearby, and set the leaf on his forehead to sooth the pain... Yet it didn't stop, it only made it worse. His vision started blurring, it was as if he was having a panic attack, minus the panic. He tried drinking, yet his body wouldn't listen to him anymore, and he could only lay there and watch as the river's stream blew the leaf he so tried to keep on his head away, and his vision aswell.
Then it all went dark...
...
..
Tap.
Tap. Tap.
The next thing he knew, Artful felt tapping on his forehead, cold tapping of something wet and soggy, fluffy almost. He heard muffled voices around him, yet couldn't quite make out what they were saying. He felt as if he was between consciousness and unconsciousness... And then he suddenly jolted awake as he felt the splash of water against his skin. His vision was still blurry when he opened his eyes, adjusting himself to the dim light of the room he was in.
"Ssee? I told you it would work! Nothing elsse wakes ssomeone up better than a bucket of water!"
Said an unfamiliar voice, that definitely exaggerated the letter "ss" like a snake would. Artful turned to see a pink looking figure before him, staring at him with a cocky looking grin that reminded him of one of those Taunt civilians. As his vision adjusted, finally making out the appearance of the one before him, his examinations were interrupted by a second voice, one sounding more feminine and high pitched.
"That was still mean though!"
Artful quickly turned to see a pink-haired girl standing near him, her shirt mixed with whites, blues, and pinks, mostly pastel-looking.
Artful suddenly felt that sharp pain again as he tried to stand up, immediately rubbing his head, it wasn't as bad as earlier... Probably just an aftertaste. He let out a groan as he managed to stand up, gripping the wall behind him as if it was his lifeline.
"Woah woah, easy there."
He heard another voice, too many people in the same room, it made him even more nervous. He finally turned to greet the new voice, seeing a blonde person, his eyelids closed and eyelashes white as snow. He wore a hat on his head, something that looked horrendously close to an ice cream cone.
And with that, Artful finally decided to look around the room, eyeing all the people in it. There were about 11 people, not including him... Well, sort of people, most of them didn't even look like civilians... There were a couple tables and cushions scattered around the room, one of the people, was sitting on a cushion nearby, staring at the ceiling like it owed him money. Artful could just make out his appearance in the dim light, due to him glowing like a street board ready to advertise their new axe deodorant. His torso glowed neon-green, yet every other part of his body seemed to be pitch black, except for one glowing red eye and a green domino crown on his head.
Artful shrugged, that guy didn't seem to be paying any attention to him... Or anyone to be precise.
He looked to the other side of the room, sitting at the table, were three people conversing with eachother. A long white-haired man, who seemed well-mannered and as tall as a skyscraper. (i know i'm exaggerating but please work with me on this) Another smaller light blue-haired man sitting next to him, Artful thought he was imagining things because he was sure that guy had wings on the side of his head, AND a HALO? Not the weirdest thing he has seen, but still one of the weirdest. The third one sitting at the table, to no surprise, seemed like someone straight out of a fictional book of some kind. He wore a red top hat and a red suit, he seemed to be floating a few inches above ground, not even sitting on the chair, Artful noticed that his legs looked ghostly, and his feet were... Sort of missing? Not to mention his weird dark-grey to almost black skin, and a half-mask that was oddly similar to Artful's covering half his face, it's just that this one was white. He just seemed to be bickering with the others, non-stop.
There were these two people playing cards sitting near another table, one looking like some plant-guy with a red hat, and another was covered by a dark cloak covering their head, though sure enough, they also had wings on the side of their head, though a little bigger than the blue-haired guy's, and they were brown. A purple-black figure was sitting near them on a cushion, watching their game curiously with a cheeky smile, Artful resisted the urge to gag when he saw that the purple on the figure was just half of his body rotting...
Artful noticed a figure sitting at the far corner of the room, seemingly careful not to touch anything, and always looking around as if scared if someone would touch... Her... Artful could make out a long tail and wings, even horns on the top of her head like a dragon... She seemed humanoid in a way, yet she had smouldering scales all over her body, coloured copper. Smoke seemed to rise from her scales, and sometimes her nose as well. Maybe she was scared to set something on fire, Artful shrugged... Better not get close.
And then he just let out a sigh, he preferred to stay on the run somewhere, not sit in a cramped room with a bunch of random people... Or did he? He honestly didn't know.