#once-thing

[once-thing-blog]

It seems that I was gone... Was preoccupied with the forest's matters far longer than I anticipated.

It's rather cold out here.

[once-thing-blog]

Okay, sorry, I'm going to bed for real now, but first...

THIS!

[once-thing-blog]

Thing/Insert-Person-Here Fanfic/Story

This is me giving into peer pressure. And failing. Read away, and put whoever you damn please in.

They walked into the woods with a knife. What they wanted to do seemed innocent enough. They were going to carve the initials of them and their true love into the bark of one of the many trees.

They ventured deeper into the forest, looking for the perfect place to make their mark. As they progressed, the sunlight faded, consumed by the ever-growing canopy. There were no birds, just the sound of their footsteps and the gentle breeze.

Finally, they found it. the perfect place. They walked up to it, and began chipping away at the bark. And on the wind came a sound. It wasn't human, yet not like any animal of this world. It was like a cross between a low moan of pain and a howl of unrelenting rage.

The carver froze.

The endless tree trunks looked foreign now, and it looked like dark shapes were moving quickly among them. The wind howled again.

This time, it said their name.

The fool broke into a sprint, blindly trying to flee the forest. In their peripheral was something big. Something lean. Something angry.

The shape moved from tree to tree, barely even moving. It was far taller than the fleeing carver, and was catching up fast. He ducked behind a thick-trunked tree and looked back. The woods seemed to be getting even darker, and there was the scent of flowers and rotting bark nearby.

That's when they realized it.

They turned back around.

And there it was.

The moss green figure reached out with its long, clawed hand. Its face was black as pitch, its eyes like two dying embers. And in those eyes was a great sadness... And an unrelenting fervor.

It kept approaching, its talons drawing nearer, its mouth slowly opening like the gates of hell.

"YOU CARVED THE BARK..."

Its hand was inches from the carver's face.

"IT'S TIME TO REPAY THE FAVOUR."

- - - -

The search party scoured the woods, but found only the knife and the shredded remains of the victim's clothes. If only they had looked up. If only they could see the treetops.

Then they'd find what was left of the bloody remains.

[once-thing-blog]

[once-thing-blog]

Once-thing had dragged himself back to his home and lay against a tree he knew better than most. In his head, the voices of the forest kept haunting him.

"... All your fault..."

"...If you let him live..."

"They were alive before you came along..."

"... Why, Thing, why?"

Thing curled up on the ground, legs broken, crimson hands clasped over his ears. He killed Lust, but Dream-ler's valley was killed with him. And now he must live with the choice he made.

Rain began to fall. He wished it would help ease the pain, but his wishes were all for naught. He killed them. He was no protector. He was a monster.

A thing to be feared.

"I failed the trees..."

[ask-onceler-stein-blog]

*creeps up behind you, silently places a small, potted truffula on the ground, and slinks away*

Oh? How very lovely.

[asktheonceler]

*creeps up behind you, silently places a small, potted truffula on the ground, and slinks away*

Wha-? I thought I heard something...

...

...

Where did this little truffula come from?

There's nobody around.

Hmmm...

I think I'll keep it.