Chapter Text
The player never admitted this, but they hated the cold. So much so, they'd planned to avoid the whole season and skip WinterFest! in favour of staying safe and warm by oversleeping nonstop, despite GOD's non-stop complaints... Why do you need me to go out THIS time of year?! Please, you need to understand I can't–
...Until the following verses flashed behind their eyelids, waking them up from their slumber:
...Winter claims all, makes
their cold hands succumb.
It is-...
Jolting out of their sleep, they found themselves back alive in their respective hotel room. Pale as a ghost, they sat up from their bed and noticed the open window next to them. Snowflakes had entered their home and created a thin layer of snow on the window sill, the wind taking away any bit of warmth their room had left previously, making them pull their blanket all the way up to their chin...
...They swore they closed it before they went to bed.
The player then pulled the blanket over their head, glancing down at their cold, shivering hands. They immediately gritted their teeth at the sight, sucking the air up through them in anger as they trembled.
Damn you little-
=)
***
The player cursed under their breath as they exited their semi-cozy hotel room and into the freezing hallway. One glance outside told them everything they needed to know: the cold season had arrived.
...And with the arrival of it, something within the human told them to leave. Like an outside force pulling them out from their lazy mindset - thus their personal 'afterlife' - in favour of being more productive, despite the awful weather. Immediately the player saw this as a sign to investigate at least, remembering how during the fall season they had the 'pleasure' of meeting one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, The Soul Harverster, better known as Famine. At this rate, they wouldn't be surprised if another horseman is now presenting themselves near Dorthpeck...
Who could it be, they wondered... As they entered the elevator and descended down to first floor, the player stood there and pondered for a moment, trying to remember if there's anyone they've met who had mentioned anything about the horseman for this specific season, considering they couldn't remember the last verse for it, thus not learning what its name is.
Jorge was of great help before by complete accident, since he was the one to mention them and how each was assigned to their own personal season. He was loud enough for the player to overhear. Unfortunately, he only specified about Famine for Autumn's Eve and that was it...
Watching the elevator doors finally open and shortly exiting through them, the Player again mourned needing to go outside, having forgotten to ask GOD before starting the new season for better winter clothing... Most importantly for a pair of thick gloves.
...Lately the player witnessed more and more changes happening ever since they entered this world. How undeniably real everything felt now. How much better GOD had gotten at creating this reality, just for them apparently. Whatever that meant..
It was a while ago when they asked about why and how they suddently had the ability to feel pain, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and most importantly for them: temperature, to which GOD didn't know how to answer in a way that made sense, so he only danced back in response. Then he beckoned them endlessly to continue 'PLAYING THE GAME' and to 'DO BETTER NEXT TIME'. This only discouraged the player from asking him anything else at the time, and so they had left the Oversleep Plane slightly irritated to start anew. 3 years ago?-
The player stopped ruminating about it at some point, but still wished they'd insisted more, especially now having to deal with such a terribly cold predicament... But thankfully, this whole ordeal would only last a day for them. The locals also might be kind enough to give them solace at least. Maybe they'll understand the player's predicament just from looking at them, as dramatic as it might sound...
...And spoiled, they admitted. Considering they don't walk around Dorthpeck often, they didn't expect anyone to even give them a glance unless the player approached them first, too busy dealing with their own stuff, or just simply relaxing with friends and family on the one time of year where it's literally encouraged to. Nonetheless, they still craved those brief connections with the people around, no matter how much they denied or tried to ignore it.
It gets pretty lonely sometimes, even with GOD around to watch over the player.
Ahem...
Speaking of townsfolk, the player finally stepped outside the building and immediately felt themselves freezing up. They looked around for a moment, seeing how everyone was happily out and about, all still doing their own thing more or less... The player then felt guilty for feeling such bitterness about the weather now, sighing deeply. That was until they remembered why...
Looking down at their hands, they could feel their skin dry up immediately, like all the moisture they had left was sucked out in an instant when the harsh northwind hit them. As if the open window wasn't bad enough... They hated how they reacted to the cold and low humidity in the atmosphere. Each time they'd flex their fingers, more and more tears would start to randomly appear between them, near their tendons, with old scars randomly opening back up into freshly bloodied wounds. Their skin felt like it had turned into literal pastry and was slowly flaking off with each movement, along with sour cherry-compote looking blood seeping out and staining everything it touched. I'm hungry..
The pain alone made them wince, instinctually making them lick off the small open wounds around their fingers. Everywhere else they felt just fine - mostly because they're wearing as many layers of clothing as they could just for this, all except for their hands... And that's without mentioning just how depressing winter is every year, especially back home, with night time lasting far longer than daytime. Stress and exhaustion alone amplified their symptoms. They always had 'seasonal depression' every year, or however it was called...
Why did they have to carry this on from their old life..?
They should have specified to GOD about this, they think. Unfortunately, it's far too late to go back now.
Not wishing to accidentally leave a bloody trail on the freshly layered snow, they quickly shoved their hands in their pockets and moved along their way.
***
It didn't take long tracking down the horseman, through the help of Mr. Wick and Ms. Luma having witnessed a random flying object falling from the sky towards the cemetary. They pointed to that direction for the player, but before that: they expressed their worry for the player's physical and mental health, quoting they looked like they were 'having a hard time even just standing up', and were shivering a lot.
The player was well aware of the fact that they were pale and sick, with hands that looked like they'd already aged 40 years just from standing out in the cold weather.. It wasn't even snowing that much for GOD's sake! The player only shrugged them off, having better things to deal with first, before they could retreat back into their hotel room to 'recover'.
The two didn't say much else to the Player, only giving eachother worried glances. In the end, they wished them good luck on their endeavour. The player nodded, quietly thanking them. In a weird way, that small act of concern from the two individuals made the player feel reassured, despite not knowing much about them at all, and vice versa.
...
"Hm... I'm not too sure how to feel about that fella's well-being to be honest."
"...I'll have to agree. Poor youngster... It's not even that cold out and they're already shivering so much! My goodness..."
"...Let's hope they won't drop dead on the snow at least."
"...O-oh dear!"
"Sorry, sorry... But still. I wonder why they're wandering outside if they're feeling this sick... I'm sure someone else would've checked out whatever that was. It must be important then if they're willing to risk it."
"Hmm... Maybe."
"..."
"... Anyway."
...
...Anyhow, they finally reached the cemetary with few obstacles interrupting their way. At some point though, the town's kids had a snowball fight and one of them accidentally hit the player in the back of their head, to which Bob profusely apologized for and offered to help. Apparently, it had been none other than Bob Jr. himself who did it. The player politely declined the father and left it at that.
Other than that, the player felt just fine. Just dandy. They'd slipped on ice and ate dirt with snow because of the hit. With a pulsing headache, they continued on, the pull only getting stronger.
Why the hell were they doing this again?
Entering the cemetary, it took them a while to push open the secondary gate, considering how much it had been snowing these past couple of weeks here in town. Not that the player would've known, but they did overhear Strawberry Shortcake mention it when they passed by the Town Hall.
Just how nosy could the player possibly be? It was almost comical. Almost.
The wind started to pick up again, leaving the player trembling in its wake. So much snow was hitting their face, it had started to obscure their vision. Trudging forward, they found themselves entering a small clearing, where random ice spikes could be seen everywhere they looked, making it harder for the player to progress forward. They all pointed tall towards the sky creating a long barrier around the area, some standing more crooked than others.
Thankfully, this allowed them to take shelter for the time being behind the more massive ones to recover from the painful northwind slowing down their movement.
There was no sight of the horseman around yet, but what did catch the player's eye was the glowing colourful figures moving around the place ahead. The player couldn't tell if they were simply hallucinating at this point.
Wiping off the snow from their face with their sleeves, little by little they gained their bearings. Looking around, standing just a little further ahead to their left, they could make out three glowing colourful figures staring at a fourth one in the distance. The fourth one looked stuck for some reason. Like they were trapped under the snow. By what?
The player then deliriously decided to try and go help them. Two of the gem-like figures – who wore mining helmets for some reason, failed to spot them in time, only noticing the player when it was far too late. They've already walked across the fragile ground much too far for anyone to be able to try and go after them. The three miners all then heard small cracks forming under the surface the "stranger" was walking on.
They shouted out for them to turn back, but it was no use.
***
Heh... This is fine, right?
*crack* *crack*
*crack*
*crack*...
They could be a hero in this story, right? Right. They... they'll be fine.
*crack*...*crack*
They were always a hero... They just didn't know it.
The wind continued to pick up even harder. All the player could see was white and the ice underneath them.
Yet, they persisted.
...*crack* *crack*
W-why wouldn't they be fine? After everything...
... *crack* *crack* *crack*...
The player hiccuped. Using their right hand, they felt the warmth of shedding tears rolling down their cheeks. They had missed the warmth...
*crack* *crack*... *crack* *crack*...
The player despised the cold. Always did. Like an old foe they could never escape, even across different realities... They couldn't bear feeling this vulnerable because of it. Feeling this weak to their bones. This helpless each year because of the cold elements. Why did the player do this? Why did GOD think this would be fun?-
*crACKK*
The player looked down.
...God please heLP ME--
***
...Winter claims all, makes
their cold
hands
succumb.
"...id!?"
...It is-
Suddently, they felt themselves getting dragged up to land. A massive green gem-looking figure hurriedly fished them out right before they could reach the bottom of the freezing cold body of water.
The player was still somehow partially conscious, somehow too stubborn to let themselves pass away. Darkness swarmed in the corners of their eyes, barely registering the voice calling out to them. They were sopping wet. It was a miracle they didn't pass away yet or weren't in a hypothermia induced coma, but they sure as hell had frost bites all over their body now.
"Kid?! KID!!! WAKE UP!-"
The player felt their shoulders getting grabbed by... something? Someone? Like two massive hooks that tore into their clothing, it shook them vigorously in an attempt to get them to respond.
With whatever energy the player could muster up, they reached out and touched one of the 'hooks'. Feeling the freezing hard surface, the player whined from exhaustion.
"...S-sss...sto...p..."
"Oh my life, finally!"
The being then shook them even harder, this time responding bitterly. It didn't seem to care enough how badly this action affected them while in such a horrifying state, not after what the player did by risking it all for seemingly no good reason.
"What the hell were you thinking, kid?! Wandering off like this... Right into a lake! Bah, you could've died out there!!"
Then with a heavy sigh, the being shook their head in disapproval and turned to the previously mentioned gem-like individual:
"EM. RALD!!! Grab the kid and drop them outside that uhh... that cemetary!! Don't get caught!"
"Lord Conquest... I'm pretty sure my size alone will-..."
"Just grab the dumb kid and drop them there!!! 'm sure someone else will take care of this mess..."
"...Alright then, boss."
The Player then felt themselves getting picked up again. They were soon carried over by the shoulder, a massive hand being placed on their back to make sure they don't slide off by accident. Only small murmurs of complaints under their breath were heard, far too quiet for anyone to understand properly.
Either way, Conquest understood what they meant, but still continued on irritated:
"Look, don't take this the hard way. I'm sure someone will find ya kid... I can tell you've been out wanderin' for far too long. You mortals can't know of my existence, so you better not tell anyone if ya do make it... Alright, kid? Don't EVER pull stupid stunts like this again!"
"...m-mmh."
"Ugh... Can't deal with a random mortal slowly dying under my watch... s'not for me to finish the job, so..."
"..."
"...And you better be quick about it EM.RALD!"
"sigh- Yes, boss..."
Just as EM.RALD was about to leave the area, the being froze mid-step the moment they layed their gaze on a certain pink-ish figure wearing a cloak. They seemed mad... furious even. EM.RALD took a few steps back and called out to Conquest nervously.
"U-Uhm... Boss? We have a new guest here..."
Conquest groaned in irritation, rolling their eyes.
"Oh my life- Who is it?! I swear if it's another human-"
The horseman finally turned around and laid its eyes on the new figure. Immediately it fell silent, now staring back at the being standing just a few feet away from its minion, blocking their way. It then made a sound, similar to a tongue click, impatience running thin as it closed its eyes.
"sighhh... Hello Death."
"... Conquest. Inquire me as to why you're sending the anomaly away when I tasked you specifically not to let them go on the note I gave you."
"... Anomaly? Anomaly?! That's what this is about?!? YOU botherin' me all 'cus o' this dumb rascal?!"
"Ain't no way this is the godforsaken anomaly that "kept getting away" from you, Death, this is just a damn human kid who got lost in these cursed woods!"
"Sighhh... Although... If yer just tryna take the shot and not upset the Boss-Above again, let me just get my sleight workin' first so I can get outta 'ere. Not like they can run off or anythin' anymore in their current state..."
This only served to aggravate the Reaper even more in return.
"...Are you seriously going to make me wait?! I don't have time for this! I've wasted enough of it already by simply waiting! ...You can't just-"
"...Oh yeah?! Just watch ME!! ...FAMINE!!!"
In an instant, the autumnal being teleported to them, button eyes crinkling, showing its impish glee about the situation.
"Hahhahaha... HAHHAAHAAHAAHAAA!!!!"
Shattering was then heard from the cloaked horseman upon Famine entering the scene, signaling its limit had been finally reached. Its pupil now looked like that of an upside-down broken heart, its eye's outline no longer present as a way to indicate its current enragement. Ichor pooled around its arms and trickled down its scythe. The being's boiling resentment concentrated its very blood in that moment, to the point it melted the snow and ice on the ground instantly each time it dripped.
Strangely, while in the presence of its much colder counterpart, the substance would just as quickly freeze over the surface. This in return had created a peculiar formation of black ice instead, which only seemed to occur when the two horsemen were enraged with one another, both standing in close proximity.
...Nonetheless, the two barely acknowledged this happening, too preoccupied on convincing the other to back off first.
It was clear Death's glare did not intimidate Conquest one bit into stepping away from its target, thus ensuring their dispute.
The whole time the player had no choice but to lay helplessly frozen on EM. RALD'S shoulder, cursing the GOD(s) above and themselves for their current state. Just barely still living, numbed completely from top to bottom and bruised from the cold, the player pondered every life decision that led up to that point. The minion only grunted once and sat down, like this wasn't anything new.
"I gotta say... you're one unlucky kid. Hopefully this won't take long..."
The minion then grabbed the player again, to which they responded in quiet grumbles. Sliding them off their shoulder to be placed in its lap instead, the player was at least somewhat thankful the being was radiating warmth, feeling encased by its comforting green light, although not enough to unfreeze them or help them survive for long.
Famine, having been called by Conquest to just piss off the Reaper with their presence alone, was now sent off to sit near the human mortal instead. With the behaviour of a petulant teen, he couldn't be part of the 'grown-up' discussion, to which Harvey tried to protest repeatedly.
"HEY!! I didn't just teleport all the way here for-"
"DAMN IT FAMINE!!!"
"...whatever."
...Either way, it had no choice but to oblige in the end... otherwise it would've faced the wrath of two horsemen having a "disagreement".
The three quietly sat on the sidelines, waiting for Conquest and Death to wrap up their argument. They all hoped it wouldn't take long...
***
Sighh.... And it went on and on and on and on.... Eventually they stopped mentioning the 'anomaly' altogether, almost reaching their limits.
"... CONQUEST."
"...For Life's sake- JUST COOL IT REAPER!!!"
"...Cool it? Cool it?! Who do you think you are to tell me to "cool it", you lazy bag of rocks?! I'm your leader-"
"Do you seriously think that gives you the right to take over my season unnanounced, Reaper?! To disrupt it so you can make up for lost time tryin' to fix this mess, that you've caused 'cause of your incompetence?!!
"...I-"
"Don't drag me into it, I don't want to hear it anymore. The Lord's dissapointed enough, and I don't want to get in trouble aswell because of you disrupting MY work, making me waste my time for this NONSENSE!!!"
"YOU--"
"You're too damn arrogant for your own good..."
"..."
The two ultimately fell into silence, tension thick enough it was almost suffocating.
"...Since when do I listen to these two idiots... telling me what to do... Hmph."
Famine was now sitting on EM. RALD'S shoulder, disappointed their personal show at long last ended, but then ruminated their link to eachother as horsemen. He was sure they were all probably going to hear it from the Lord one way or another...
Its two fiery crows, Pyre and Wisp, were now being held gently by the player, providing them the much needed warmth and comfort after everything that had transpired today. It kept them somewhat alive thankfully, cold with hypothermia and starved as they were now... Famine felt just a pinch of guilt watching the slow rise and fall of their chest, breathing shallow as ever, like they were desperately trying to grasp the few strands of life they somehow still had left in them.
"... Ignorant fools... ALL OF YOU!!!"
At long last Death had stormed off, relunctantly having given up on getting past the stubborn horseman to reach their old target. The moment it disappeared completely, Conquest finally relaxed, then hissed from the back pain they felt from standing tense the whole time. These damn crystals...
...Thankfully, the fight lasted long enough the sleight was now fixed! Conquest still had a few hours left to win the deal with that popular feller who always wore red. ...Arrogant bastard.
Right as they were about to gather up the minions' souls, EM. RALD quickly spoke up:
"Uhh, boss.."
"Ugh- Yes EM. RALD? What is it now?..."
"Lord Harvester took the human and ran off... muttered something 'bout feelin' bored as an excuse before they left..."
"..."
"...Not my problem. Plus... I'm a horseman of the apocalypse, not a damn babysitter for reckless kids!!"
"...mhhgh... What matters is no other mortal heard me standing up against that stuck-up snob of a horseman... wastin' my time an' energy on stupid useless things... draggin' me into mess..."
Conquest grumbled bitterly at the end, then shook their head to rid themselves of these thoughts. This time, it required a bit more focus than usual to collect every single one of its minions into its massive weapon. It took a few tries, but it managed as always.
Feeling out of breath, it hopped inside its sleight and magically flew up into the sky, now grouching over the unmarket gift-list that sat in its pocket the whole time, waiting to be crossed out.
...This will take a while, it concluded.