Wash u Soul
What surprised Fang most about the dump was how well ordered everything was. He’d been expecting mounds of rotting wet trash that collected in piles from the flow, washed into the underground from above. Instead, there were platforms of wood and stone where trash had been collected and sorted into all kinds of piles and packed into crates. Monsters that looked like a strange cross between turtle and bucket could be seen trundling up and down paths between all the piles and carefully washing and sorting items. By this point Fang was beginning to expect a sour or angry mood from just about everybody, or at the very least the pretense of toughness. These monsters, on the other hand, seemed to be genuinely content as they went about their work, occasionally muttering things like “Wash u face” or “scrub a dub dub!” Another monster met them where the walkway they were on opened up onto the massive platforms of the dump. It was a sort of dog/cat-like monster with white fur who was wearing a small maroon suit that had clearly been tailored just for them. It was hard to tell if they simply had two sets of ears or whether the floppy parts that hung down on either side of their head were just tufts of fur. The creature smiled up at them pleasantly. “Hello, Welcome to the Waste Collection and Redistribution Center. I’m Temmie, let me know if there’s anything you need.” With their little golden monocle they gazed up at the pair of monsters, taking them in. “I recognize you,” they said to Monster Kid. “But you, first time coming?” Fang nodded, “As far as I know, yeah.” “Ah, it’s always nice to have new customers. As this is your first time here, you are entitled to one free item of medium size. Bring it up to the desk with your other purchases.” With a paw the monster gestured over towards a wooden desk to the far left beyond the piles of sorted trash. The person sitting there was... Temmie? The monster looked exactly the same, down to the suit, the monocle, and even the same pleasant and slightly amused smile. Fang glanced back at the monster in front of him, only to find that they were no longer there. How...? Noting that Monster Kid was looking just as perplexed and confused as he was, Fang decided they probably weren’t going to get any answers. Some Monsters seemed to just be weirder than others. As they began picking through the piles, Fang pelted his friend with more questions. “I thought this was a dump. Why are they selling it? Isn’t it just trash?” Monster Kid snorted. “Well yeah, dude. Its human trash. And it used to just be free for any scavengers who got to it first. But the Tems made a deal with the Royal Family. If they cleaned it all up and stopped people from killing each other over scraps then they could sell the junk for profit. But its not too bad, their prices aren’t high, and they do everything they promised to do. You shouldn’t make deals with Tems if you can help it, but if you do, they keep their word no matter what.” Fang opened his mouth to ask why he shouldn’t make deals with the Tems if they kept their word when he accidentally ran right into one of the Woshuas. It stumbled back, grumbling angrily, before looking up at him in surprise. “Wash u face?” it inquired suspiciously. Fang had no idea how to answer that, but it seemed the little monster didn’t really want an answer as it continued on anyway. “Your soul is....... Clean?” Though he had no idea what it was talking about, the little monster’s expression was so startled that Fang wondered if it was alright. “Sorry,” he said offering a hand to help the creature, but it recoiled from his touch and trundled away as quickly as it could. “No thanks no thanks no thanks. Green means clean. Wash you hand. Wash you hand!” Mystified, Fang glanced at Monster Kid for an explanation, but the other only shrugged and went back to looking through the piles for something to buy. The Woshua returned to its cleaning and sorting with the others, but every so often Fang would catch it staring at him from a far off pile, wearing an unreadable expression. But whenever it saw him looking it turned away.