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Jschlatt woke up.
Grass blades below him stabbed into his neck and became tangled with his fur. The stained shoddy wood floors no longer present.
They've must've tossed his body into the forest or something, might as well give a few lucky animals a meal. Schlatt wouldn't doubt for a second if they had tossed his body out like a piece of disgusting garbage.
The bitter taste of alcohol still lingered on his lips, even after- wait, how long has it been since he died?
Why was Schlatt even here? Wasn't he supposed to move on to the afterlife and rest for all eternity? God, that sounded nice right about now. Schlatt hadn't opened his eyes yet. He hesitated, his eyes opening before shutting again.
Was he even dead? Well, he was here, conscious, had Schlatt chosen foolishly to live his last life?
He wanted to open his eyes and take a look around, but he wasn't sure, what would he see? His bloodthirsty allies? A void?
God. Schlatt scoffed quietly, he was such a fucking coward, wasn't he? Not wanting to face his ex-allies, after what he did to them. He was a horrible person in life, he was well aware of that. The gazes of his citizens and old allies were enough to tell. Even before he died. Alcohol was a bitch.
Schlatt realized, he was still laying there in the grass, zoning out and brooding. He should probably get up now, whether it be hell, or nothing.
He mentally prepared himself for anything that he might see,
Schlatt looked around the place, He was in a field, on his right, there was a forest. To his left, Well, he didn't know. All he could hear was a stream, rushing by as normal. As if this wasn't.. some sort of purgatory. The ram started to notice how dark it was, he could barely see in front of him, due to the grass almost being pitch black, if it wasn't illuminated by the sky. Schlatt stumbled around in the dark, nearly slipping several times on small rocks and patches of damp grass.
The ram huffed, slightly annoyed. He decided to look up, and that's when he saw it.
The night sky, except it, looked beautiful, unnatural, but beautiful nonetheless. The moon was surrounded by a vast sea of stars, freckled across the blue-tinted void. Schlatt admired it, as if it were a pretty gem. "What the fuck?" he suddenly said, noticing the grass. It..sparkled? Schlatt reached out to brush his fingers against the blade. It felt like warm sparks of fire under his fingers, It didn't hurt though. Schlatt squinted at the grass. He couldn't tell if it was reflecting the starlight or was the starlight.
Schlatt was confused now, what the fuck was going on? He sat in the starry grass, wondering what to do next. At least they warmed up his bum a little, in contrast to the night air. Though, it wasn't uncomfortably cold. He slipped back into his thoughts again, what was he going to do now? When was he going to get out of this place?
Then, he heard.. something, an odd hum, along with a second, more human-sounding one. He strained his ears, trying to figure out what the sound was, until he realized.
The strumming of a guitar, someone humming along in a calm and scarily familiar melody.
What? Schlatt wasn't really hesitant or scared anymore, the feelings since been replaced with curiosity. Gathering his courage he opened his eyes.
The fuck? The last time he saw that bastard is when he was completely insane. Practically frothing at the mouth at all times, ranting wildly about random nonsense. He didn't get how Tommy dealt with that mess for what.. 3 months?
Schlatt continued to stumble blindly towards the noise, his heart slightly hurt at the painfully nostalgic tune. Only one person knew how to play that song- His breathing started to sputter- was it really him? Schlatt flicked his tail in nervousness and slight anticipation, he was almost there- a few more steps-
His heart dropped. He was right, he was painfully right.
There he was, in all his glory, Wilbur fucking Soot. His old friend was dressed in a familiar yellow sweater. Wilbur sat upon a rock, the moon shining down on him as the tree's leaves shaded Wilbur. His chestnut hair sparkled as well, as if he couldn't look more fucking magical. The latter looked up, and he met eyes with him, the calm coffee brown eyes met fearful and confused cedar ones. He halted playing a dazzling guitar. His face held a confused expression for a brief moment.
Schlatt froze, he was suddenly bolted into place, horrified. Wilbur searched his face as if trying to recognize an old friend. He spoke in a soft voice "Schlatt..?" Wilbur smiled widely at him "Hey, my pretty princess" His genuine smile growing into a mischievous grin. Oh. Schlatt internally winced at the familiarity. He would've laughed at the old joke if he wasn't in this situation.
He swallowed thickly, before making an attempt to play it off. Schlatt snorted "I told you not to call me that," he said in mock annoyance, though tension eased from his shape. There was an awkward pause, Putting him slightly more on edge.
"So uh.. come here often?" Schlatt leaned on a nearby rock, deciding to make a weak attempt at a joke. Wilbur laughed brightly, a laugh he hadn't heard in ages.
"Seriously though, where are we?" Wilbur gave a small shrug before answering. "The afterlife I guess," He paused, taking a look around before stopping on Schlatt's face "It's beautiful," Schlatt rolled his eyes. Flirty bastard. "I know, by the way, don't you remember anything when you died?" Wilbur nodded in confirmation "Mhm, I do, It's just that I just don't.. feel anything, and, my mind isn't messed up anymore."
A period of silence fell between them, they admired the stars and their surroundings, silently making a mutual agreement to not look at each other. Wilbur decided to break the silence. "Soo," he said, the ghost tugging at his guitar. Schlatt groaned "Wilbur, Im not interested in learning the guitar, you know what happened last time-" Wilbur shushed the ram, a grin spread across his face.
"Nah, it's just an old song," He tuned his instrument and tried the strings, satisfied, he gave it an experimental strum. Schlatt knew where this was going. Not that he didn't like it though. "Fly Me to the moon-" Schlatt felt his non-existent breath leave him, the first lines sent Schlatt flying into a flashback to back when they were kids. Back when everything was okay.
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"psst, Schlatt!" Wilbur said in a hushed voice to his friend during one of his visits. The ram answered "Yeah?" Wilbur walked off, gesturing for Schlatt to follow "I wanna show you something, let's go" The two walked out of Phil's house, Wilbur making a hasty announcement to where he and Schlatt were going before closing the back door to his house. "It's in the woods," He said, Schlatt nodded silently before following his friend.
This was.. shocking, to say the least, Wilbur usually spent time with Phil when his father was off on an adventure with his brother, Technoblade. Wilbur had never openly complained about being forced to raise his younger brother, Tommy for months on end. He usually invited Schlatt over to hang out and take care of his brother.
Eventually, the duo made it to a hollow tree stump. Schlatt raised an eyebrow "A.. stump?" Wilbur raised a hand, a signal to wait. He grinned, before sticking a hand into it, something rattled inside it. Schlatt raised an eyebrow even higher, giving him a questioning look. Wilbur grinned back, his smile wider this time. Before pulling out a sloppily made guitar. It's silky strings taped to its body and wood looking crude and rough.
Wilbur started to beam as he sat down on the stump and brushed a hand over the strings. "Made it a few weeks ago, had to hide it since Tommy would probably break it," Schlatt gave a small chuckle, that kid always had a knack for breaking things in every way possible. One time, the child had bent Techno's wooden sword in half after he got pissy that Wilbur wouldn't make him mac'n cheese. Sometimes Schlatt swore he was an actual gremlin sometimes. But Schlatt still loved him, he made a certain guess Wilbur did too.
"I learned how to play a song on it, wanna hear?" Wilbur didn't wait for Schlatt's response as he began to sing. "Fly Me to the Moon, Let me play among the stars," Schlatt listened, watching contently "Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and mars,"
("You rhymed Jupiter and Mars?"
"Shut up! I didn't even write the bloody thing. And that's not even rhyming")
"In other words, hold my hand,
In other words, Darling kiss me"
("Jeez, take me out to dinner first Wil"
"Shut the fuck up, JSchlatt")
"Fill my heart with song,
"Let me sing forevermore,
"You are all I long for,
"All I worship and Adore,"
("Why did you have to play the most romantic-sounding song ever?"
"It's a good song! Shut your bloody mouth already and let me sing already")
"In other words,
Please be true,
In other words,
I love you,"
Schlatt didn't mind the romantic context of the song, he listening intently, Wilbur's singing faded into humming. Schlatt didn't mind the small mistakes, such as missing a key or messing up a lyric, he listened instead.
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Wilbur finished his song, he looked at Schlatt expectantly. He clapped soundlessly, another effect of being dead, Schlatt noted. "So, what now?" Schlatt shrugged "I don't know, fuck around I guess?" Wilbur got up from his rock and slung the guitar over his shoulder. Schlatt gestured to follow, "There's a field and a river nearby" he suggested. Wilbur nodded and followed. They silently made it to the field.
"Careful, you can't see shit in this place, You might slip and," Schlatt shrugged "Die twice or something" Wilbur flashed him another grin, the two ghosts started to shuffle clumsily in the dark.
"FUCK-" A loud thump on grass was heard, Schlatt cackled loudly, aware Wilbur fell. "dude, watch your stEP- SHIT-" Wilbur laughed in return as Schlatt fell victim to the grass.
They had kept the game up for a while, mocking one another before falling themselves as some sort of karma.
Eventually, the duo found themselves coming across a small stream.
"It's a river"
"No shit sherlock"
Schlatt bent down, reaching out, he settled his hands on the smooth stones of the riverbed. The water was cold, it ran smoothly over his hands. "I'll pay you $20 if you drink it," Wilbur said suddenly. Schlatt rolled his eyes "I don't even need it" He pulled his hands out of the water "Do you even have money?"
After that, the two ghosts had wandered their way into a field, with shorter grass so they could actually see. They laid down, after a while, Wilbur spoke up "Hey Schlatt,"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever heard of Elysium?"
"What's that?"
"It's a type of afterlife, the greeks made it up, actually. It's supposed to be kinda like paradise"
"Oh god, don't tell me you're going to make some weird-ass greek reference nobody's gonna understand"
"No- It's just- Do you think we're in Elysium? Is this what it looks like?"
"..I don't think we deserve to be there, Wil. Y'know, after what we've.." Wilbur gave a small hum of affirmation after Schlatt trailed off. The two sat there, in a puddle of their own regret.
There was a stretch of silence, before the duo dissolved into playful banter and joking. Schlatt noticed there wasn't any guilt or sadness, the taste of cheap beer now gone. He didn't feel much after that, like Wilbur. After a while, they both laid by each other and decided to stargaze.
Schlatt sighed quietly, content. Things were bad right now, he guessed. He was glad though, to get these few moments of ignorant bliss and just hang out again. Be the friends they weren't towards the end of their lives.