Chapter Text
Player hated this place, was that even the right word anymore. They didn't know, all they did know was that this place gave them the absolute creeps(well it would if he could still feel but it did the first time so..). One thing he was mad at? disliked? lets just go with wished was different, but did they even have wishes anymore, was the fact he’d grown so used to this place, the same place that had taken so much from him.
Currently, they were walking down the path he’d come to call the “rain road” since the only things left there were the path (obviously), the man with the umbrella that never seemed to move -at least not in sight- and the rain that never seemed to end. (For reference, it’s the first path after you exit the house.) They hated were passive about this DREAMWORLD. Even if somehow, someway the emotions that had tortured them, ripped them apart and let them die. THEIR emotions. They should have been dead, gone, buried like everything else, they were still here roaming in this place. He couldn’t understand it.
At first, he thought they were gone. He felt nothing, didn’t even dream, just woke up the next day to continue their journey to get the firebrand for Shedletsky. It didn’t feel like resting at all… When he visited his friends they always spoke with concern lacing their tones, as if there was something to worry about. Kyoko would always say the same thing, and he quotes, “Are you sure you’re getting enough sleep, Player? You still look so tired..” Their friends could be… insisting sometimes, even Greifer had shown some concern the few times Player had made the trek to his ‘crib’, even with his brash attitude and personality, Player enjoyed his company somewhat though he could never identify or guess what the remnant of the thing he was feeling was. Why was Player even walking, sometimes he just found himself walking around, never able to stay in one place without feeling restless and unsafe.
So he simply walked, for how long he didn't know. He walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and w-
A purple arm of many propped out to stop the marching hero in his tracks. Player hadn’t even realised he’d walked straight into the forest of fears, but the emotion themself had stopped him, clearly looking quite worried for their partial creator. Fear spoke before Player could open his mouth, when was the last time he talked to someone outside of his interactions while adventuring, “Player, is everything alright in the real world, you seem quite stressed? Have any of the others been bothering you? Did someone get hurt on your mission?? Did you get hurt!?”
It seemed like Fear was going to start spiraling before Player finally spoke up, his voice a little scratchy and rough form disuse, “d’ont worry, everyone is fine. no need to worry, fear.” Fear seemed to visibly relax when their worries were disproven, slouching over a bit to be at Player’s height but still a bit uptight, but that was simply normal for Fear.
Fear responded with a sigh of relief but a still concerned look on his face, “That is.. good, very good. But that still does not answer the question of why you look so stressed…” Fear paused, trying to think of a solution to whatever could be troubling the adventurer. “ Would you like to have some tea with me? It may calm your nerves.” Player surprised by the offer took a few more seconds than necessary to consider the offer, shaking off the shock. Instead of responding verbally, Player simply nodded in favor of the offer, which Fear was delighted that he’d accepted. Fear hastily turned around not wanting to waste any time that could be in favor of tea. They turned around quickly, beckoning Player to follow as they walked deeper into the forest.
After maybe thirty minutes (30 mins) of walking -Player couldn’t tell- they got to a small cabin with a lot more colour than the rest of the forest’s purple and black landscape. Fear opened up the door that had an ungodly amount of locks, like 5 separate ones but oh well, it took another five minutes (5 mins) to actually get it fully open but in the end, Player was welcomed to the humble abode of Fear. and might he say, it did look quite cosy indeed, with a nice kitchen ( that was completely boarded up but…it’s Fear, what did you expect.) a living room that was surprisingly, pretty full of little trinkets and all. From the few times Player has been here, he could deduct that not much had changed, other than a few new knickknacks having popped up since his last visit to the emotions home.
Player went to take a seat on the very, very baby proofed couch while Fear somehow slipped by all the barriers to the kitchen to prepare the tea, how they did that, he would probably never know. All Player did know was that Fear made incredible tea, so good it rivaled Mayor Thaniyel’s sweet fruit tea. He started to think about Mayor Thaniyel, then his son, Greifer. Previously known as Brad, Player was always interested in what made him into what he was today, in Player’s eyes Greifer was more or so okay to be with even if he somewhat made him feel a bit strange, b-but that was not something he was going to bother with today, nope. Player felt the bit of emptiness that came when he began to feel an emotion already long gone, he’d grown quite good at telling which ones were which, though for once he was confused at what this was exactly. It felt close to embarrassment, but not, like a mix between that mystery emotion he felt with Greifer and the previously identified embarrassment.
He was snapped out of his thoughts however at the soft chink of something glass like on the same material to wood, he found the source of the sound came from Fear placing down the tea cups onto the table, the little set they so prided themselves on being put into play now. Fear took a seat next to Player, sitting down and taking their tea, blowing on it a short bit before taking a first sip.
Player simply watched, unwilling to let their guard down around the, mostly, harmless emotion. In the end, Fear took notice of the fact they had not even attempted to drink their tea, worrying if they had made a mistake with how they preferred it. “Is everything alright with the tea, I promise you, it isn’t poisoned.” Fear said wanting to reassure Player that it was fine to drink, before realising how bad the joke was, especially since the other could not even feel the correct emotions to find it funny in the first place. “ That was not as funny as I thought it would be, my apologies. But is it not to your liking, truely?” Player, responding as to not worry the emotion further said, “no, i just wanted it to cool down first.” He didn’t know why he felt the urge to reassure the emotion, maybe he reminded him of someone but he brushed it off, going to pick up the cup and bring it to his lips.
Just as he’d thought and just as usual, the tea was excellently made. He didn’t think he’d ever understand how they ever managed to make such great tea, there were a lot of things he didn’t think he would ever understand, and one of them would probably never be his emotions again. Before Player could begin to spiral more however, Fear decided to get to the point of why they were here other than for tea, which had already been accomplished. “Player, I ask you again, is everything alright? You seem a lot tenser than the last time we met, even if it was on…less than friendly means. Do you wish to speak of it?”
Player, not wanting to face the music, shook his head, signaling no to the anxious one sitting at his side. Fear, understanding of his motives, decided to begin speaking to Player, even if the conversation was more one sided than not.
It’d been, well there were no clocks in the DREAMWORLD, Player distinctly remembered some obscure internet dream rule of never try to find out the time in a dream or something similar, but he assumed it’d been a few hours since Fear had begun his rambles about the other emotions, currently they were recounting a story a bit after Player had first came through with HIS influence, when they were still exploring their new found autonomy. Greed had apparently tried to immediately start playing dirty, using emotional manipulation ( and a bit of threats, but you didn’t hear that from me or Fear) to get some of his knicknacks, but Solitude had stepped in to help Fear out. Player listened quite attentively to the recounting as hearing Greed get his butt handed to him by Solitude is hilarious. “-and then, solitude sent Greed back home under the guise of a ‘time out’ even though we all share the same creation date. It was quite funny, she and I always got along. Solitude and I.” When Fear had finished his story he looked over at Player still entranced in the story.
Fear was about to begin another story before he looked at his wrist, acting alarmed before turning to Player and speaking “Player, I worry for how late it is getting, if you wish to wake up on time in the real world, I’d suggest you start your walk back now. As much as it pains me to see you go, I do hope you’ll visit again.” Player was confused when he acted as if there was a watch on his, probably alarmingly small wrist, however there wasn’t but Player went with it standing up and saying his thanks and good byes to Fear before heading to the door.
He stepped into the forest of fears once again, however with a much clearer head and a goal this time. Make it back to the happy home, and the walk back was incredibly peaceful in its entirety. When he got back to the happy home (aka the beginning house of the DREAMWORLD) he went to the bed, slipping in and closing his eyes, before waking up in the real world once more, his little excursion through the DREAMWORLD definitely not the picture of rest, though he came back more refreshed than he had in weeks.. perhaps months. Maybe their friends and Fear were right to be concerned…
Oh well, Player picked up his things from the previous night's spot where he had made camp before setting off through the desert once more, off to find the Firebrand again.