Requested by: @hannahconkle
Nothing else to say. Enjoy!
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...
...
...
Hat Kid fell into Subcon Forest with a backpack and a task in mind.
The place looked the same as always; spooky atmosphere, purple hue, burning forests and in the distance, Snatcher's tree. Her face lit up with glee, and she began running up towards it.
...and then, just before she climbed it, she heard a voice.
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"You again?! Didn't I tell you to stay out of my-"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Can't talk now! Emergency!"
She zoomed off, completely ignoring Snatcher's glare. With the click of his tongue (wherever the heck it is-), he continued reading his book while Hat Kid made her climb up the tree...
Luckily, she reached the top with almost no complaints. She was so high up she could reach the horizon .
Once there, she called out his name.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Moooonie!"
...no response...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"MOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!-"
༻ ??? ༺
"Silence, child! You're going to alarm the whole forest like this, let alone Snatcher himself!"
She heard him, but his voice sounded like... it was everywhere. She looked around, alarmed, but he didn't seem to be anywhere...
The tap on her shoulder was enough to alert her, and she turned her back to him . He held a tint of annoyance, but it quickly went away with a sigh.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Now, what is your purpose to summon me?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"What?! You don't know?!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Am I... supposed to?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Yes, of course! It's my BFF's birthday!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"And... who is that, exactly?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Snatcher! How could you not know?! You two literally know each other for centuries!"
Hearing that made Moonjumper look to the side with a hint of guilt...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"...well, yes, I do. Just... not in a good way. We made a promise that I would be freed from the horizon BUT I can't be in his sight in Subcon."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Then... you won't help me prepare a birthday party for him?..."
She pouted sadly, and that alone was already enough to guilt-trip the Moonjumper.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Alright, then. I'll help you prepare this so called "birthday party" but do promise you'll never tell him I was there..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Okie dokie!"
And with no fear, Hat Kid jumped off the large mushroom tree, pulling out her umbrella at the perfect time and opening it, aiding her when landing back on the forest floor. Then, she ran down the dirt path, away from Snatcher's home.
Once she was further away, she called him out again...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"MOOOONI-!"
༻???༺
"Could you at least find a better way to call me?..."
She heard him again, but at least she could tell where it came from. She turned back and saw the man himself.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But... how else could I call you?"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"You could've at least waved your hand to the sky. I can still see something like that..."
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"...either way, what else do you need help with?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Invitations!"
She grabbed her bag, unzipping it and revealing a handful of envelopes, each decorated with markers and a heck ton of glitter. There was a pile full of them, and they weren't even packed into the bag properly! This made the Moonjumper flinch, though Hat Kid luckily didn't notice...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"We need to give these all to the forest ASAP!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Are these even enough for the whole forest? Even with this many invitations, we might not be able to give away letters for all of them..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But that took me days! And lots of glitter! I can't make more on the spot!"
The two were left to think about any possible solution...
...then, something came to the Moonjumper's mind, and it would be imaginable if a cartoonish light bulb popped up near his head.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Hmm... how about... an announcement in Subcon Village?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Huh?"
Hat Kid was suddenly interested and turned her head to the Moonjumper sharply.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Yes. Either you or a Subconite can give an announcement to the whole village and inform them about your plan. Then, we can give the remaining letters to those who didn't listen to the announcement... or we could tell the residents to tell them instead, then we don't need the invitations."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But I wanna!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Hmm... alright, then. If you want to, I won't bother."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Yaaaaay!"
She yelled happily, rushing over to Subcon Forest with the bag dangling on her arm.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Come on! Let's go!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"I would... IF I was actually allowed into the forest..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But why-?! Oh, right... the "promise"..."
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"You're commanded to do this on your own. Now, go on..."
Then, he flew back to the sky...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Alllllllright, now to announce to the village..."
She made her way to the village, not too far from her view...
Now that she was in Subcon Village, she made her way up a large stump with ease, clearing her voice and speaking.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Hello, everyone! I ask for everyone's attention!"
-𝔖𝔲𝔟𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 1-
"...huh? Is that the newbie again?..."
In just a few seconds, multiple Subconites and Dwellers surrounded the hatted girl. Though slightly intimidated, she began her speech.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Now, Snatcher's birthday is coming up and I need help to plan a surprise party! Does everyone get that?!"
-𝔖𝔲𝔟𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 2-
"Yeah, we know, but, uhh... we only have one problem with that..."
-𝔖𝔲𝔟𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 3-
"We don't have any supplies."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"No problem! I can get supplies later!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"So... what does everyone think? Do you want to help plan a surprise party?!"
Muttering was heard between them. Not long after that, they concluded with one word.
-𝔖𝔲𝔟𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢 1-
"Sure."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Yes! Now, everyone get ready! I'll be bringing supplies in... not that long!"
She said, rushing off to get back to her spaceship.
How does she get back, though? Well, I'm not telling ya.
------
Not long after Hat Kid returned with supplies, everyone began decorating.
Things were coming along pretty smoothly. The Subconites lit candles, along with basically anything that had to be done on the ground, while the Dwellers helped with the decorations on the higher areas like trees.
Hat Kid stood aside, watching the Subconites get to work.
Then, something came to mind.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Wait... what about Snatcher?!"
She thought out loud, then rushing up the path to Snatcher's home, a cold sweat slightly forming.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"What if he sees?! I shouldn't let him see the surprise!"
She thought to herself and continued rushing up the dirt path, seeing the large mushroom tree in the distance and pushing herself to it. She ran along the various thorned vines and jumped into the tree with energy.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Snatcher!"
...
...he wasn't in the tree...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Damn it... did he already go out?..."
The overbearing anxiety in the air didn't stop. She rushed out of the tree from the other side, looking out before rushing out into the forest...
...several minutes later, she came back to his home with no Snatcher in sight.
Then, she had an idea...
She waved her hand into the night sky, signaling the Moonjumper.
And then she waited...
...
...
...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"...he's not going to answer, isn't he?"
She pouted, then cleared her throat and began yelling his name again.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"MMOOOOOONN-"
༻???༺
"I'm already here..."
She heard his voice once more and quickly turned her back...
Once again, he floated there in her sight...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Have you seen the Snatcher?"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"I'm afraid not. Why?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Well, what if he goes into the village and ruins the surprise? That's why I wanna tell him not to go to the village!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"...hey, are you listening?!"
She yelled, noticing Moonjumper looking at something on the floor of Snatcher's home.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Yes, I am, but..."
He slowly floated down to the floor, reaching out his hand to the object he saw and reached his hand out to it. The widening of his eyes caught Hat Kid's interest.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"What's that?"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"This... this is serious..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But... that's ice..."
She said, baffled by the item that the Moonjumper held. It was just a chunk of snow, but he treated it like a crucial piece of evidence.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Yes, it is. The most drastic thing is... it never snows in Subcon..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Huh? But what about that other part of Subcon?!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"That... isn't natural snow. It is the snow of a witch..."
He looked out to Vanessa's side of the area, holding hatred and envy in his stare. Hat Kid noticed this as well...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"You mean... that ice lady that lives in the mansion?"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"It seems you know..."
He floated back up and noticing one more thing...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"The bridge..."
He flew there, too fast for Hat Kid to catch up. She boosted over there and saw what Moonjumper was talking about...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"This... wasn't here before..."
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Exactly. That's why it caught my eye..."
The bridge that separated Subcon Forest from Vanessa's domain was connected together with an icy platform and had some snow trailed from Snatcher's home to the gate leading to Vanessa's manor. The path leading to it even whistled with wind and a ton of snow.
Then, a scenario came to the Moonjumper's mind. A scenario he wish he didn't have to face again...
...but he had to.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"...stay back, young one..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Wha- where are you going?!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Isn't it obvious?..."
He said, making his way over to the manor before feeling a violent tug from the hatted child, making him back away.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"What are you doing?!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"You can't go there! What if it's dangerous or something?!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"It IS but it is more dangerous for YOU! You shouldn't be going there!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"I HAVE gone there! I've confronted the lady in that manor, and I saw what she done!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"You... what?"
His eyes widened and he turned to the child who had let go of him.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Yeah, I saw her! I went in there for myself and I know I can deal with her by myself!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"So can I pleeeeeeeease go in with you? Pretty pleeeeease?"
She gave him puppy dog eyes and he floated there, thinking of an answer...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Hmm... if you managed to escape and survive that place by yourself, then..."
------
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"So why the heck would I come back to you after everything you did?!"
A slap was heard in the room and Snatcher hissed in pain once more. He was pinned to the wall with shackles and was painted blue as well, one of his biggest weaknesses.
The lady who pinned him onto the wall glared, yelling at him.
♥ 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒱𝒶𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 ♥
"How rude! That is no way to talk to your princess!"
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Seriously, like, you're literally in your thirties! ᵖʳᵒᵇᵃᵇˡʸ ᵃ ʰᵘⁿᵈʳᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶠᶦᶠᵗʸ ᵃᵗ ᵗʰᶦˢ ᵖᵒᶦⁿᵗ but you literally act like a child throwing a tantrum!"
♥ 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒱𝒶𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 ♥
"Wha- I do NOT!"
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Well, if only your eyes weren't covered in peck ton of hair then you could've SEEN it better!"
He didn't know how much torture from Vanessa he could handle, but he held in the pain for the sake of it and defended himself whilst doing so...
He was going to be there for a while...
------
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"There! I think I can see it!"
Hat Kid yelled through the strong blizzard, spotting a glow from a window of the manor which possibly held the Snatcher. Moonjumper, despite his huge magical different from Hat Kid, could also barely move in the harsh condition. But he held a similar reaction when he spotted the manor's glow. He held onto Hat Kid's hand tighter.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Come on, we're nearly there..."
He gave it his all to push through the blizzard pushing them both back.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Wait... is that..."
The tone of her voice sounded serious and Moonjumper looked up to look.
The front door of the manor was busted down and broken, leaving the entry wide open. The doors didn't even seem to be there anymore...
Moonjumper took a long glare at the entrance before heading in...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Come on, we need to find him..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"O-Okay..."
Though trembling, she headed in with him...
They both entered the manor and immediately felt an unnerving aura surrounding them. Now, Hat Kid had two things to shiver about; the cold and the aura.
Moonjumper noticed and took his coat off, leaving only his yellow sweater on the inside. He then held it out to her.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Take it. You need it more than I do..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"T-T-Thank you..."
She took the coat he held, quickly snatching it from his grip and wrapping it around herself, shivering mad.
It pained him to see her in that state, let alone when he can't do anything about it. It was just another burden he had carried on his back...
But he held that thought aside and checked around, looking left and right in the hallway. Pictures have been scratched and ripped off of the wall while the wall itself was covered in scratches and dust.
He bent down to carry Hat Kid in his arms, taking the direction upstairs.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"We're going upstairs. Make sure to check around for anything just in case..."
...then, he floated up the stairs, going to the second floor.
There were drastic differences there. One of them was that the windows were completely shattered, leaving dozens of glass bits on the floor. This wasn't a problem, though, since Moonjumper was able to easily fly over them.
Then, there was another problem; the large chunks of snow that was piling up from the outside. It was a small obstacle and it only took a flick of the Moonjumper's strings to whip them away.
They checked the bedroom, the bathroom, the playroom, the attic but still... nothing...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Where... are they?..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"M-Maybe try checking downstairs..."
Hat Kid muttered, still deep in the Moonjumper's warmth. He then floated downstairs, checking various rooms. The music room, the kitchen and the game room but there was still no sign of Snatcher nor Vanessa...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Hey, we haven't checked the basement..."
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"...the basement?..."
He shivered at that thought.
The basement...
The basement...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Moon, are you... okay?-"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"C-come on we don't have time to waste..."
He floated over to the hatch leading to the basement where he could hear something.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Is that... yelling?..."
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Mooooooon! We gotta go now! Who knows what she's doing to him! What we need to do is save him!"
He took a long, good stare at the hatch, slowly floating down to grip its handle. He had second thoughts about this, but Snatcher couldn't wait...
He flung it open violently and saw the scene that took place.
Vanessa gripped Snatcher's fluff painted blue and as she was about to bring him into a kiss, Moonjumper flicked a string like a whip, stopping the scene from happening. Vanessa only turned back to see Moonjumper's glare.
♥ 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒱𝒶𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒶 ♥
"You... what are you doing?! GET LOST!"
She charged at them and a trauma flashed into his mind, feeling her perilous aura. However, before she did, Hat Kid, who was still in the Moonjumper's arms, equipped her Brewing Hat and threw a concoction at the lady, blinding her and knocking her back. Moonjumper then finished the knockout by spewing strings at her, wrapping her up rather untidily.
In the end, they still managed to tie her up.
Hat Kid jumped out of the Moonjumper's arms, picking up Vanessa over her head, who was cursing and shouting cruelly. She then casually walked over to the small dungeon in the basement.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"I'll put her in the cage."
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Alright..."
He said, attempting to picklock the shackles keeping Snatcher onto the wall using his strings.
A little after they freed him, they left the snowy area...
------
Once they were a good distance from Vanessa's manor, Hat Kid kept Snatcher at the far side of the snowy domain, ordering him not to enter Subcon while Moonjumper barricaded Vanessa's manor.
Of course, Snatcher was furious about not being able to entering his own forest.
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Kid, this is MY forest, and you're telling me to stay out of it?!"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"But it's a surpriiiiiiise! Just wait until Moonjumper arrives!"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"I have arrived."
He came out of the icy cave with snow all over his clothes. He then dusted it off...
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Ah, sorry about that. The blizzard somehow wouldn't stop in there..."
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"But... you did barricade the place, right?"
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"Completely."
Hearing this, he turned to Hat Kid.
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Alright, kid. Now, can I go into my forest?"
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Wait! I gotta check something!"
And with that, Hat Kid rushed back into Subcon Forest, running to the village...
...
...
...
Snatcher and the Moonjumper floated there awkwardly.
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Hoi, what's the kid planning?"
He whispered to him.
༻𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇༺
"She told me not to tell..."
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Damn it..."
Snatcher glared at the Moonjumper who could only giggle in return.
Then, they spot Hat Kid in the distance, rushing up to both of them.
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Alright, are you ready?!"
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Never been more ready, kiddo..."
They went on over to Subcon Forest, and walked along the path to the village...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Oh, close your eyes! This is a surprise!"
⊱𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗⊰
"Alright..."
He did as told, closing his eyes. He guided his large hand to Subcon Forest, where her hype peaked. Then, she finally yelled out...
---=ʜᴀᴛ ᴋɪᴅ=---
"Open your eyes!"
Snatcher did as told, opening up his glowing eyes to see the surroundings. Neon-colored banners hanged on the trees, streamers were hung around the stumps and around other trees, Snatcher candles were lit in random places and everyone stood in the vicinity of Subcon Village, yelling out two words...
"Happy Birthday!"