{ Something is there. }
{ They are quiet. They say nothing. }
{ They reek of death. }
{ They watch, but they do not think. }
{ They stand. }
{They wait for orders. }
{ Covered in dirt. }
{ Never to rot. }
{ They are just outside. }
*She frowns with unease, freezing like a deer in headlights— his eyes melt into a soft gaze of pity upon them*
..Sweets?
I believe they are here. What shall we do?
Hhhhm? Whatcha-
oh.
{ Candys mannerisms shift considerably from its typical, unavoidable cheer. Candy is being faced with mistakes that refuse to leave it alone, corpses that refuse to die. It can't bring itself to continue looking at them once it realized what they were. }
I'll take care of it. Don't worry. It won't take long.
*The tender gaze flutters to Sweets; he opens his mouth to say something, then decisively shuts it*
..Take as long as you need. I shall be here in waiting— and shall bring support should you come to need it.
*Her eye shifts back to the corpses, patiently awaiting their inevitable return to the dirt with a sense of regret that he burdens— though it does not belong to her.*
{ Sweets steps outside and speaks to the rotten creatures. They don't listen or understand, but they move nonetheless. They follow orders mindlessly. They will finish their task, but they always return. It had tried things as simple as telling them to leave, or stay put, but it never lasted. }
{ Sweets' tendrils were drooping, and it was standing far more proper than it typically did. It returned inside the building. }
We can leave now. We have time.
*She gazed at Sweets wordlessly. A sunlit sorrowed eye of yellow hugged candy.*
..Alright. I have made our preparations.
May you lead the way.
This-a-way~! It'll be a little while before we make it out of my part of the forest... But it's the shortest way!
{ It doesn't want to think about Hansel and Gretel. Candy needs to get its mind off of it. Focus on the travel. }
*He followed with inaudible footsteps, swaying with each step as she closely trailed the erratic slender.*
..Might I ask, when was the last time you left your forest?
When I was looking for your bones! Bones, bones... bones don't taste very good. Before that? Ummmmmmmmmmmmm.... I dunno!
..Hm.
Where… did you find my bones, exactly?
In the dirt! A lot of bones were there - lots and lots and lots! But yours were the easiest to find the most matching ones of. At least, I think the ones I used were all yours - some of them are really hard to tell apart!
A.. A lot?
Do you.. know specifically, exactly where they were located? Like a name for a country, or some sort of town, or even the land, potentially.…
I really hope you did not use another poor soul’s bones, Sweets— please stop using deceased strangers bones—
Wait, were they all unmarked, or did you just not bother to check who you were digging up? Did you desecrate a burial site?????
You are using a lot of words I don't understand~! What's a country? Is it a kind of person? I didn't take bones from a living person!
And I've only used strangers bones this one time!
Marked but what?.. desecrate sounds like a verb! Oh, let me guess - wait, I don't know what a burial site is either...
*Blink blink*
Were you raised in a well—??
—Sorry, that is rude to ask. I am just merely… bewildered by the knowledge you seem to lack. Perhaps there is much you have yet to learn from me..
Well, a country is… a particular settlement of people. Usually with some form of.. government? Like a king…
Marked, like with a headstone, or some sort of declaration of whom the deceased were— as a form of respect and honor of their memory.
Desecrate means… well, simply it means to treat a respectful place with disrespect. Like digging up remains at a burial site, which is where people are buried and marked, for example…
Please let this be the only time you use strangers’ bones. If any at all.
..You may go to burial sites where your loved ones are buried and marked, to visit them… it can be a place of peace or great loss. Often both.
..I….. hope I received marking…
Nope! I was raised in the house we were just in. Lived there the whole time!
{ At least it doesn't seem to understand the concept of 'being offended'... In this case, anyway. It would be very offended if you suggested it wasted food. }
I don't know what a government is... But I know what a king is! So... Government is probably... Like when there's a king and queen..?
{ Congratulations, Sweets, you are the best to ever do it. }
......so that's why they wanted to be in the dirt?
{ Oh fuck, now it's actually thinking. }
...did you want to be in the dirt?
{ oops. }
I see.
Yes, most commonly. Splendid job!
..I am not sure, since I do not remember my time in my past.
However, can you see why I was upset when you told me you unearthed me without anyone, including myself’s, permission?
It is immoral to dig up remains. The dead were typically laid there to rest, and unearthing them disrupts their peace… not to mention the act can greatly offend their loved ones.
{ It clasps its hands together and stares forward. Its footsteps quicken as it tries to think through this. Candy revived the goat - that was very true. Candy wouldn't have been mad if someone else unburied Hansel and Gretel to revive them (properly). But if someone else took their bodies and ruined them, like candy did? }
{ It couldn't have done anything wrong. It was just doing what its mother. It - }
{ Candy halted. }
Am I desecration?
*She stopped, her expression twisting in confusion as she slightly leaned to look at Sweets*
Pardon?
The bones. My bones. They're not -
My bones? They weren't always mine? Am I - I'm hurting people - ?
….
*Her eye narrows*
…Were you unearthed yourself?
*His lip scrunches.*
If you were conceived the same as you revived me..
*Its mother’s books. Sweets’ mother. Its mother’s books. It’s mother.*
..Then I’m afraid the answer may be yes, if your mother practiced the same behavior regarding how they obtained the bones needed for you.
{ Candy is having quite a few emotions. Emotions candy doesn't know how to handle, because of course, candy wasn't taught anything but kill or be killed. It wasn't fair. None of this was FAIR. It didn't want to exist to hurt people. It wasn't candys fault that it was made like this! So why was it hurting people by existing? Why was it so... }
{ It was sad. It was angry. It was hurt. It was guilty. It was so many things. It wanted to speak. But it couldn't find the words. }
*He fidgets with worry, before slowly approaching Sweets.*
..We are both desecration, are we not, now?
A horrible action. A gruesome come to existence.
Yet.. that will not define you. You are you, and I am me. I do not want to be buried again, not while I am alive once more. No matter if I was desecrated.
Take this opportunity to change, my friend. You may not be able to change the past, but you can change the future. Follow your mother’s path no longer! Try to learn more about the world than what your mother had offered you which seems to have been little—um, no offense— and find your own path to good. I can help you, if you would like.
{ It wanted - no, it needed to defend itself. To prove it didn't do anything wrong, to show that it was only doing what it had been taught to do, but it couldn't. It was just getting more and more frustrated. It wanted to stop hurting. Or it wanted someone else to hurt like it did. It couldn't tell which anymore. }
{ Candys very existence was a crude excuse for real life, for real people. Candy knew candy wasn't a real person. That had never bothered candy before. }
{ Everything inside of it told it to lash out. To attack the one who dared call it out for anything. But that was its friend. It didn't want to lose a friend. But it was so, so upset... }
I'm not a blight.
{ Such a sophisticated word for a creature that knew so few of them. }
I'm not. I'm not. I'm not!
{ A childlike temper tantrum, perhaps. }
I didn't - I didn't want to hurt anyone - I'm not a blight I'm not a blight I'm not a blight I'm not -
{ But it was clear that it was never given the right opportunities to stop being like a child. Could it be blamed? }
A…- Sweets, I never called you that! You are most certainly not an ailment—
*He would not let go of his resolve, but he certainly did not mean to upset candy—shit*
*She slowly reached for Sweets, to bring some sort of comfort he could not give through words..*
I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding, I was not- I did not call you that. We are not disease—
{ It hissed, sharp spines tearing through its skin along its back. It is becoming aggressive, quite possibly for reasons that the goat cannot understand. }
I DIDN'T DO ANY OF IT ON PURPOSE! I DON'T BREAK EVERYTHING! DON'T TOUCH ME DONT TOUCH ME DONT TOUCH ME!
*She put her hands up in retreat and backed away— really, he instinctively wanted to stomp his foot and charge at the perceived threat with his horns—but she would not allow such a thing when her friend is clearly just distressed. Instead, she kept her dejected eye on Sweets and stood as still as a statue.*
I’m sorry, I was merely trying to soften your anger— I’m truly sorry, Sweets, I- I will stand here and nothing else. Is there anything more I could give to calm you?
{ It does nothing but hiss and step backwards, tendrils lashing. It didn't know what to do. It didn't know what it wanted to do. It wanted to stop feeling so bad. It just wanted to do good, but it had stopped listening after it heard that it was "a horrible act". }
{ It couldn't physically cry. It had no eyes or tear ducts. }
I don't break things on purpose...
{ Even still, candy wasn't listening }