Snap!

Part 17

Warning: it's a slender man one shot, blood, somewhat-descriptive animal death

***

Hyrule wanted to enjoy his meal. It was a nice thick stew full of hearty vegetables and delicious chunks of meat. Wild had even baked bread at the last village they rested at, and he reheated the individual loaves by the fire. Hyrule found he could only eat a couple of bites, idly chewing on the same piece of meat for minutes at a time. His eyes were cast down, not engaging in any of the conversations the others were having.

An elbow lightly nudged his', catching his attention.

"Hey," said Warriors. "You feeling well? You've barely touched your meal."

Hyrule nodded. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been quiet as well."

Hyrule thought about making up a lie. It would be so easy to say something like I'm just sleepy or I'm homesick. Simple answers to explain away his silence. But as the moment went on and the others stopped in their conversations to see what's wrong, Hyrule just didn't have the energy to try. He put aside his barely-touched bowl of stew and asked, "Have you guys heard of the Uncanny Valley?"

At the random question, everyone frowned. A couple of the heroes shrugged.

Wild spoke up. "Isn't that... when something appears to be human, but there's something wrong about it?"

"Wrong?" Said Sky. "Like how?"

"It's like..." Wild trailed off, unable to think of an answer.

Time set aside his bowl of food. He wiped his fingers on his pants and reached to his bag, pulling out his Ocarina. "No worries. I think I have the perfect example."

Time put the Ocarina to his lips.

It was a rarity to hear Time play and everyone shared smiles as he performed a short, yet hauntingly beautiful song.

"That was nice," Sky said once it ended. "But why-"

A light glowed on the ground in front of Time. Slowly a figure emerged, taking shape. At first it was just a silhouette, like that of a chess piece. When it finally formed and it became clear, the group took one good look at it and recoiled in revulsion.

"Ugh."

Time patted his ugly doppelganger fondly. "This is what the song, Elegy of Emptiness creates. No need to fear it, it's simply a statue. I use it to test traps and the such. But my reaction to seeing it the first time was exactly like yours."

Warriors held up a hand to block the sight of figure. "Uncanny Valley. Got it. Now please put it away before I get nightmares tonight."

Time laughed and played the song again. The figure disappeared back into the void, leaving only a circular imprint in the grass where it once stood. "Alright, everyone here now knows what this term means. Why do you bring it up?"

Hyrule fell quiet again. He looked out into the forest.

"I've been seeing something for a while now. At first I thought it was just it was just something at the corner of my eye. Because every time I looked, it was gone. Nobody else noticed it so I thought it was just me. That's why I chose to be quiet about it. But now... I've been seeing him more often."

"Him?" Time said.

"I think it's a person. I can't quite tell. He doesn't look like a monster..."

"But he doesn't look human, either," Legend said.

Hyrule nodded. "He looks like a regular man. He's... tall. Thin. Wears a black outfit. Honestly nothing too out of the oridinary. Because of his thin shape and dark outfit, it was easy to mistake him as a shadow or a tree. I actually thought about seeing an eye doctor or something. But then... do you guys remember that deer group we found?"

An uneasy hush fell over the group. Those who were still eating suddenly lost their appetite and put aside their bowls, touching their stomachs in revulsion.

Two weeks ago Twilight was trying to give Wind horseback riding lessons. Due to Wind's nervousness, he kept tugging on the reins, jerking Epona's head from side to side. As a result she became agitated with her rider and started bucking. Wind got off without incident though Epona refused to take him back on even after she calmed down. Wild suggested a deer instead, claiming he's ridden them plenty of times before.

It was a weird suggestion but nobody dismissed it, and Wild went off into the woods where they spotted deer from earlier.

He came back only a few minutes later, a look of distress on his face. "Guys," he said. "You should look at this."

It didn't take long to find the pack of deer... what was left of them.

Previously the deer had been peacefully grazing in the tall grass. There were five does, a buck, and two fawns. The group had only passed them an hour earlier.

It looked like a pack of lions had gone through them. There were parts and pieces everywhere. So much blood was on the ground it turned the dirt into thick, crimson mud. Worse yet, their heads were missing.

"What is this?" Twilight said in horror. "Did moblins do this?"

"I've seen moblins eat deer before," said Wild. "I have never seen them do something like this before. But if you look... nothing has been eaten. Whoever did this... did this for fun."

They searched the area and found no evidence of monsters or men. With nothing else to go on, they burned the remains. Sky said a small prayer, the group decided not to spend the night in the area despite how close to sunset it was. Better safe than sorry.

"As we were leaving the massacre," Hyrule said. "I took one last look back. Standing there, in the middle of the still smoking ash, was the tall man. This time he wasn't sitting just on the edge of my peripheral or was obscured by trees. I saw him fully. He stood there, motionless. Taller than any moblin I've seen. So thin it was as if he had no internal organs. His arms reached down past his knees. His fingers were like sticks. And when I tried to look at his face..."

Hyrule stopped, his eyes shutting tightly, not wanting to repeat that memory. He struggled for a long minute, and when he opened his eyes again, his voice was strangely calm.

"He had no face," Hyrule finally said. "No eyes. No mouth. There was nothing there and yet... it felt like he was looking right at me. And I knew he was the one who hurt those deer."

"Why didn't you say something?" Time asked.

"I forgot." Hyrule shook his head. "Strange, isn't it? The moment I looked away, it was as if the memory dissolved right there."

Time's body tightened, his shoulders going back. "What you're describing... why do you think you're remembering this now?"

"Because..." Hyrule said. He pointed to the woods. "He's standing right there."

***

a/n: for those wondering what the statue looked like: For those who want to know what the statue looks like: https://zelda.gamepedia.com/File:MM3D_Elegy_of_Emptiness_Link_Statue_Model.png