Work Text:
W-what… what happened to me?
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You awake to an eerie scraping noise, almost like claws brushing along barren stone.
You groan in pain and attempt to open your eyelids, but even when you finally manage to crack them open just a bit, your vision is dark and blurry.
Suddenly, a bright, searing light flickers into view, and you snap your eyes shut with a sharp cry of agony. When you dare to open them yet again, you see a dark, looming shadow standing nearby.
Before you can react, two more figures pace over to stand beside the first with the same, bone-chilling scraping noise as before. Some sort of primal fear within you causes you to jerk your arms up into a protective stance, but…
They are tied to a chair.
Your blood pressure begins to rise and your heart pounds rapidly against your chest, when a soft murmur fills the air, and an unknown sensation makes you freeze all movement.
The murmur is indistinct, yet somehow, a little voice inside your head says you know exactly what the strange figure means.
“So, you thought you could get away with it?”
You begin to struggle once more, but it is no use. The ropes are too tight.
“You should know by now,”
A pause.
“That I never, ever, forget a loan…”
And then abruptly, you hear a sickening crack, and everything goes white.
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Tom Nook cleans the blood off his clawed hands with a disturbingly already-stained-red cloth, and turns to meet the gazes of Timmy and Tommy, who stand emotionlessly at their master’s either side.
The gigantic apple he had launched at the fraudulent human villager had rolled off to the side of the small, rectangular room, glistening slightly in the now-dim light overhead.
“That should teach them to pay up on time,” The manipulative raccoon snarled.
The two younger raccoons nod, implying agreement.
“Did you collect the owed amount?” Tom Nook questioned them.
Both Timmy and Tommy shared a look, before one of the identical brothers spoke up. “Well, the human did not seem to have enough bells in their account to make the proper payment, and although we searched their home, we could not find anything more of value…”
“Well, then surely, you know what to do,”
“Of course, Master Tom Nook…”
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You awake to a small hand shaking your shoulder.
You do not want to open your eyes, for fear that the horrific nightmare might be reality, but the source of the hand lets out a threatening growl, and they snap open regardless.
That was a mistake.
An evil smile stretches wide across your nemesis’ face. You bite back a yelp of terror at the manic glee in his eyes.
“Do you know where you are, little human?”
You do not wish to take your eyes off of the menacing presence for even a moment, but curiosity betrays your strategic thought, and you glance around.
It seems you’re on a beach at the edge of the small island on which you dwell.
But there is no time to contemplate just how you got here, for Tom Nook is speaking again.
“Have you ever wondered what happens to villagers who take out loans and don’t pay them back?”
A face flashes through your mind, and you remember with a start one of your oldest friends…
“Wait! D-did… did you do whatever you’re going to do to me… d-did that h-happen to Bob?”
The purple feline had been the first to welcome you and make you feel at home on the tiny, remote island, and you remembered fondly the way he smiled whenever you talked together, and then how he had mysteriously disappeared one day, out of the blue, leaving behind nothing but a paper note pinned to the door of a once-lively house saying:
“Resident has moved; House for sale.”
Shortly thereafter, a lively pink ostrich filled the residence, and while you were a bit miffed about Bob leaving on such short notice without telling you, ultimately you wished the best for him.
But now your heart twists in agony at the thought of what might have really happened to him.
There is little time for further discussion though, as your captor drags you by the hand (You now notice your arms are tied behind your back; this is not surprising however, considering all that had happened…) towards a rickety old wooden boat bobbing lazily in the shallow water.
With a final thrust you are pushed into the vessel, the force of the impact causing it to rock, and small amounts of water to slosh over the edges, soaking into the floor.
“Don’t worry, your curious mind won’t have to wait any longer to find out,”
He shoves the poorly-made craft into the current, letting it be pulled out to sea with you inside it.
You are too shocked and afraid to utter a word, but Tom Nook’s final revelation still reaches you over the growing distance.
“They disappear.”
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