Then It Doesn&#x27;t Matter Where You Go...

"Oohhh. Ok." She takes his hand to shake it. "45. Nice to meet you. I'm Lily. I live in the house mostly but mommy says I used to be in an egg."

She paused for a moment before looking back up at him.

"Do you have any bread or something to eat?"

"Nice to meet you, too, Lily. And an egg, huh?" 45 smiled in amusement, "That's pretty cool. You must be pretty special to come from an egg." Of course 45 had an idea of what Lily's mother actually meant, but he doubted Lily did. Sometimes it was better to roll with a child's world view.

"As for food..." 45 would normally invite a hungry person to his house, but it seemed weird to invite a little girl without her parents. "I don't have any on me, but I know where we can find some berries." That was the benefit of living in the forest.

"But first, let's get back on the path," 45 stood back up and then motioned for Lily to follow, "We'll be safer there."

Pristine huffed around trying to look over her pile in her arms, trying to take in an understand what 45 was telling her. She continued nodding at each instruction but quickly took back the last nod.

"I -I can t -tie bows?? T -the curtains c -can be cute that way yes???" She sparkled excitedly, ready for praise despite not being able to do what 45 originally asked of her.

45 couldn't help but shile at her enthusiasm, chuckling. "Well, firstly," he motioned to the pile on the rug he made, "You're more than welcome to rest your pile where I did."

Looking back up at the nails and the window,45 held his chin. He wasn't sure that a bow on it's own would hold the curtains up. "As for the knots," he looked over at Pristine, "How about I tie the knots, then you can make them into bows." With a smile, 45 added, "While I tie the knots, you can hold up the blankets. Sound good?"

"Mommy knows where I am all the time. I get this when I go outside so mommy can watch after me from home." Lily gestures at her shoulder, where there is a small eye-shaped red marking that seems to be glowing faintly.

"If I have this, mommy will be able to find me. I think. That's what mommy said, anyway. Is this forest where you live, mister?"

#Asktheseparticularfanpros #text rp #((sorry for the short reply and the long wait ;; ))

"Oh, alright." Well, that was good. At least the little girl would be able to find her way back home. Hopefully.

At her question, 45 couldn't help but smile. "Yes, I do live in the forest, have been for most of my life." He held out a hand for her to shake. "I go by 45, what's your name?"

"Yeah, I live in a house in there. But there's a weird lady there now and I think she was gonna eat me. Mommy said to go outside and play, 'prolly so I wouldn't get eaten."

Lily looked around at the trees as she spoke.

"So I went outside and walked and walked and then I got sleepy but I was a little scared to go back because what if the lady ate me while I was sleeping so I took a nap in a grass pile and when I woke up I was over here, I think. I've never been here before, I might have gotten here by accident 'cause I was sleepy still."

She looked down and frowned a bit.

"I 'prolly shouldn't go back until mommy finds me and says it's okay..."

...Well, it certainly wasn't the strangest story 45 had heard from travellers. Though, children's tales weren't always so factual. 45 just hoped that this little girl's mother was okay; it would be awful for her to go hope and find that something had happened to her mother.

"That is true," 45 began before crouching down to her level. "Is there a way that your mother can find you out here? Maybe a place where she said to meet her?" At the very least, 45 could find her a safe place to stay.

Pristine laughed skeptical but happily at 45’s comment. “J -just wait ‘til I actually do something g -good.” She continued watching on their pets below until her friends request.

"S -sure" It must have been to insulate the home. It wasn’t as if it was easy to start a large fire in a home made of wood anyways. And she did notice with the autumn settling in, it has been cooler in the house, that at times she could see her own breath.

She didn’t mind though, this was much better than how she was living when she arrived, usually on the streets or inside the trunks of trees in the forest if she was lucky. She hoped 45 was just as happy with her company as she was with him.

They made way towards where all the extra blankets and sheets we’re kept, to the part of the small household where just about anything and everything was stored. In fact things might have looked a bit dusty.

Moving over to the closet, 45 immediately went to the side where he kept the thinker blankets. Hopefully these would do for now.

"Okay, grab some of the thicker blankets," 45 instructed, already taking some from the higher shelves. Once 45 hand a good arm full, he moves back to the center of the room letting them plop on the rug there. After Pristine had returned with her batch, 45 motioned to the windows.

"First order of business is to block out the windows." Pointing up to the nails from last year, 45 continued. "You see those nails right above the window? We need to tie the blankets to those." There were nails above every window. "Then we can use them like curtains."

There was a pause and a blink before 45 glanced down at Pristine. "Wait, I forgot to ask. Do you know how to tie a knot?"

"Ok, good. The lady at my house wanted to eat me, I think."

Once she was up, she brushed the forest debris off of herself.

"Normally Shadow would've told me there was something there but maybe it didn't notice either? I'll try to be carefuller."

Now that she had been jolted fully awake, it had become apparent that nothing here looked familiar. Just how far had she gone without realizing?

"...I dunno where this is, though... Where are we?"

#Asktheseparticularfanpros #text rps

45's brows shot up at the young girl's words. Cannibal ladies? Talking shadows? Honestly, with all of the people 45 met, he shouldn't be surprised any more.

"Well, you're in The Forest." 45 motioned to the trees all around them. "Right outside of Fanpro City. Is that where you're from?" Most of the people 45 have found wandering about the forest were. It was good that more and more people where getting less afraid of the forest. But at the same time, no one ever seemed prepared for the travel.

Pristine nods, “O -of course! I -its hard to believe the little c -clothes you have, I’ll have to be sure to g -get m -more materials/ingredients to make more.” She carefully puts away 45’s harvest before making her way back to the window, checking on her lion and friend’s eevee playing on the forest floor. She realized she felt so at peace here, something she didn’t get to feel very often.

45 smiled at the offer. "You really are the best, you know that?" The more warm clothes 45 had, the better off he would be. He also needed to find a way to keep the tree house warm, while he was at it...

Holding his chin and crossing an arm over his chest, 45 glanced around the small space, trying to think of how he would keep the inside warm and the snow out. Blankets worked well last year, but he was lucky no big storm came. If one came raging through, he doubted that they would hold up.

For now, though, that was all he had.

"Hey Pristine," 45 sent her another smile, "Do you think you could help me put up some blankets? Just to keep the cold out." His gaze followed where she had been looking before, his smile softening a bit at the sight of the animals playing. This would be the first time 45 spent the winter with someone, or at least he hoped it would be. It was nice, having company.

#askfanpro10003 #text rp

Lily's eyes darted about frantically, trying to get a look at what was happening. It seemed something had become tied around her ankle and was holding her up. Her shadow was moving erratically and filling her mind with its noises That combined with her own panic was making it hard to concentrate. Was that the voice again?

It was, and its owner was approaching. Trying to calm her breathing, her mind was slowly beginning to make sense of things again- It seemed he was going to let her down?

Her shadow continued flapping its wings as she was lowered, making the rope move in strange ways, but she made it to the ground. Freedom! Though she was shaking a little, her mind was clearing of the shadow's noises, and able to process the question addressed to her.

"Yes I... I think so." She paused. "...You aren't going to eat me, right?"

45 let out a small sigh of relief when the young girl replied. Good, she was okay. If she had gotten hurt by one of the traps, 45 didn't know what he would do. Though, he couldn't help but express surprise at her question.

"What? No, of course not." 45 gave her a warm, reassuring smile. "I am just happy that you are okay. Now I am going to untie your ankle, alright?" He motioned to the knot to give her some warning before he reached down and undid the noose. Once he was done, he dusted his hands and reached out a hand to help the young girl up.

"You need to be careful out here, Miss. The forest can be very dangerous."

asktheseparticularfanpros:

Lily always felt a bit off around this time of year, like she had somewhere else to be. Maybe that’s why she’d wandered so far when mommy told her to go outside and play. It was strange, though, she’d never seen this place before, and the surrounding areas didn’t look familiar either. Or maybe it was her imagination, she was still a bit drowsy from the nap she had taken in that comfy grass pile.

As she kept moving forward, occasionally glancing at the sky through the gaps in the trees, she heard a voice coming from further ahead. At least, that’s probably what it was. She rubbed one of her eyes and moved forward a bit more.

"Huh? Yeah, I-" That’s all she had time to say. Her shadow suddenly lurched to the side, frantically flapping its wings as Lily felt something closing around her ankle and pulling her upwards. Her words were followed by an unholy screech that certainly didn’t sound like something a little girl should be able to produce. She had learned recently that there were people out there who wouldn’t mind eating her. If that was a voice she heard, she really hoped they weren’t one of those people.

The hair on 45's neck stood on end as the scream burst through the air, his whole body tensing.

"Shit--Hold on, I'm coming!" 45 dashed through the bushes and trees, easily finding the trap that was activated. A wave of relief washed over him when he realized it was just a rope trap. Though, nevertheless, what was a little girl doing all the way out in the forest?

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you down." He tried his best to reassure her, his eyes glancing over the trap. In a few moments, 45 was undoing the trap to let the girl down. "Alright, I've got you, but this might feel a little jerky." As carefully as he could, 45 grabbed the rope at the other end of the trap and lowered the girl down to the ground. Once he was sure she was safe, 45 rushed back over to her. "Hey, you okay?"

It had been a week since halloween started and a little longer since Pristine was invited to stay with 45. By now all the excitement had settled down and Pristine found herself much more relaxed than ever, just about forgetting the horrid nightmare she went through before. And as soon as she felt ready she hoped to head out on her own again and hopefully find something to show her thanks to her gracious friend. Thing we're looking up but for now she sat by the window waiting for 45s return home.

Though it was still technically fall, 45 could feel the chill seep into his jacket and clothes as he walked back to the tree house. Soon it would start snowing and, if this year would be anything like last, 45 needed to prepare.

At the very least, because of some very gracious friends, 45 would be going into the season with some warmer clothes. But, 45 worried it wouldn’t be enough. He couldn’t count on Pristine staying through the season and conjure up anything they might need. Thus 45 found himself busy with stocking up food and saving up money. Winter wouldn’t catch 45 off guard this time.

His boots crunched against the ground as he finally entered the clearing, holding fast to a basket of berries and herbs. This should be the last of what plants he needed for the season, even getting himself extra just in case. A few moments later 45 climbed up to the treehouse and opened the hatch, a smile on his face when he noticed Pristine.

"Hey, Pristine, glad to see you home." 45 pulled himself in with ease, balancing the basket as he closed the hatch. "Did I keep you waiting for long?"

Pristine shined at 45’s arrival. “W -welcome home, kuya!” She called to him using a nickname she had given some time before; only now did it start to settle in. Since she couldn’t truly do anything for 45 yet, (she’s tried cooking and cleaning and well lets just say it was just more work for poor 45)), she stood up to hurriedly scurry over to help him with whatever he may have needed. She automatically plucks the basket from his hand and makes way to his refrigerator.

"N -not at all! I’ve b -been mostly napping a -as usual to b -be honest. H -how about you. Your f -face is rather flushed. Aren’t you cold?"

#askfanpro1003 #ask #text rp

45 blinked when Pristine took the basket, opening his mouth to protest. But he stopped himself, letting his hands drop and a small smile come to his face. Despite some minor mishaps, 45 knew Pristine only wanted to help around the house. Stocking food in the enchanted closet seemed simple enough, as long as Pristine was careful with the other objects on the shelf.

"It's getting a little colder," 45 admitted, "But I'm doing fine. The outfit you made helps a lot." He plucks the collar magically crafted jacket in reference, currently wearing the entire outfit. It was one of the few things 45 had collected over the past year that would hopefully make the season easier. "Thanks again, by the way."

#asfanpro1003 #text rp

At the very least, because of some very gracious friends, 45 would be going into the season with some warmer clothes. But, 45 worried it wouldn't be enough. He couldn't count on Pristine staying through the season and conjure up anything they might need. Thus 45 found himself busy with stocking up food and saving up money. Winter wouldn't catch 45 off guard this time.

"Hey, Pristine, glad to see you home." 45 pulled himself in with ease, balancing the basket as he closed the hatch. "Did I keep you waiting for long?"

Lily: *Wanders through the forest, looking upwards every so often* (Asktheseparticularfanpros)

"...and that should do it." 45 dusted his hands as he finally finished resetting the last hunting trap. Winter was coming, and if 45 remembered anything from last year it was to make sure he was stocked up with plenty of food. It was a lot of work, a lot of work still needing to be done. But it would all be worth it in the end, especially if Pristine stayed for the winter.

Picking himself up, 45 stretched his arms, his body feeling tight from being in the same position for so long. However his peace was broken when the crunching of leaves reached his ear. Someone was coming. His head turned to the direction of the sound, his brows furrowing as he tried to focus.

"Hello? Is someone there?" On a normal occasion, 45 would assume it was just an animal. But lately there have been a lot of people wandering the woods. With 45 just having set up his traps, it could be dangerous for anyone not paying attention.

#Asktheseparticularfanpros #ask #((Sorry for taking so long ;;; ))#((I was gonna draw a thing but))#((nothing was working sooo))#Anonymous

Leo purred at 45’s gesture. It was now obvious and clear now he was a person to be trusted since Pristine appeared to approve of him highly. He came next to pristine before dropping the item he originally let to retrieve.

"Thank you Leo" Pristine says quietly, sparkling. On her lap now was one of the few physical/material/non-magically-created things that pristine. She hugged the soft deer plushie, before turning to watch 45 start his dinner. Leo curled by the base of the tree house, deciding it would be where he would sleep.

There it was another silence, with the occasional forest inhabitants making their nightly noises and the plants swaying in the light breezes. This time though it was much more light hearted. “….Thank you 45.”

At her words, 45 smiled softly. "It's my pleasure." It was a good feeling, helping someone; especially someone that 45 was so close to. Honestly, it had been a long time since he was able to do so, and he was always more than happy to give people what they needed.

"And don't worry," 45 nudged Pristine, "We'll have a lot of fun. You'll see, everything is going to be okay." Optimism beamed from 45, wholeheartedly believing that he could make things better. They might not be real family, but this was the closest thing 45 could give her.

The weight of 45’s reassuring words didn’t bother to even sink in. Pristine felt too relieved she finally “spilled all her secrets” to someone and had received such a positive response. Though she knew none of what he said was true about her, and she continued to remain oblivious to exactly what it meant, that he understood, she looked away a bit worried again. The feelings melted as Leo came into view slowly walking into the light of the fire before them.

45 could feel the emotional atmosphere wash away when Leo came into view, glad to see him back. Hopefully Leo was able to get whatever Pristine had sent him out for.

"Welcome back, Leo." The greeting was warm and bright, a smile on 45s face. He was about to continue when 45 remembered his food, by now it should be warm enough.

"Hold on, I'll be right back Make yourselves at home." It only took a moment for 45 to dash back up to his tree house, and then back down with a small cloth and a bowl. After putting the bowl down, 45 folded up the cloth and used it to help remove the pot from the fire. "There we go..." He then poured the food from the pot to the bowl, then let the pot rest to the side. Picking up the bowl, 45 then sat back down next to Pristine and started to eat. The fire continued to crackle in front of them, giving off a warm glow.