Sticks and Stones Inside My Guts

by Shroomie_aza

Summary:

He walks through the forest, its quite lonely. But he keeps going, for reasons unknown to even himself. He'll find something soon, won't he? It doesn't matter what he finds, death, hatred, comfort, patience, something is better than nothing.

Chapter 1: Lost Cause

Summary:

Walking eternally until you found me. How can I call you hateful when you choose to heal me from his scars?

Notes:

This design of The Masked is different since I believe he's supposed to get a redesign at some point so...I GET TO DO WHATEVER HAHA

Also this is gonna be apart of a collection of mini sorta lore dumps ^v^

Light.

It had him by a hold.

He was like a moth or sunflower.

Why?

He didn't know.

He never knew.

He just had to follow it.

But this time it was different.

 

Instead of following it through an endless forest, swaying back and forth as his body felt like it was out on autopilot, he'd found himself a door, and a figure stood by the open door. It wore green and black armor, covering everything except it's heart. Two swords were hilted on both sides, both the same sickly green color. This...thing was radiating death, evident by the dead grass around it's feet.

But he didn't care. Maybe...Maybe this being of death could be what he needed. To rid himself of this infection. So his body could stop aching because it'd been forced by something to walk. So his skull no longer had the piercing headaches his overgrown wooden ram horns and wooden antlers caused him. So the intestines that'd been ripped out would no longer be dragging along the floor.

He managed a few steps, but couldn't make it any longer without his legs eventually giving up.

He fell, his knees digging into the hard dirt. Voices could be heard, those voices had appeared once more. It grew louder and louder. His consciousness slowly fading out...

 

-.-- --- ..- / --. .- ...- . / -- . / .-.. --- ...- . / .- ... / .- / -... . .. -. --. / --- ..-. / .... .- - .-. . -..

 

By the time he woke up he found himself lying on a soft mattress. His back aching now that he wasn't slouched over. His mask had also been broken, someone had tried taking it off but only managed to take the lower half. He tried looking around but his mind and eyes felt too unfocused to actually tell. A black and green figure stood nearby, and another red figure was beside it.

He watched for a while more, but soon felt something rise in his throat. He tried standing up but only managed to turn himself away before vomiting on the floor. He felt someone pulling him up once he stopped, putting him on a different couch. The taste of iron and grass stuck to his mouth like gum.

It was saying....saying something he couldn't hear. The only words he'd managed were "wood" and "guts". Well at the mention of guts he placed a hand over his stomach, finding that his intestines and whatever else was back instead. No longer dragging across the floor and leaving a wet trail of blood and small bits of the flesh.

The person gently moved his hand away, shaking it's head. Then turning to the other two figures to talk. He didn't mind though, anything was fine if it meant he wasn't in agony.

 

.. / .- -- / --. .-. .- - . ..-. ..- .-.. / ..-. --- .-. / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-.. .-..

 

His vision and hearing got better, however his limbs had practically turned into jello. All he could do was lay there, but someone came over. They looked at him moving their hands but he didn't understand up. They figured it out quickly and wrote it out. While blurry he did manage to make out a few letters. Wh-t- y--r n-m-?

He tried mustering up what little strength he had to answer what he thought it said. "...T...To..." He paused, trying again. "...Tom..."

They tilted their head to the side, before getting a little closer to his face. Trying to get a good look at his face but unable to because of the broken mask stuck on. The branches and horns growing out of his head keeping it in place.

They wrote down something else, showing it again. C-n I c-t th- b--nch--?

He didn't understand.

They pointed to the branches before doing a snipping motion with their fingers. Tom nodded. Hopefully he understood that right, otherwise it could go badly.

They left for a few...minutes? Seconds? Whatever, they came back with something sharp and started to trim down the horns and branches. Eventually the mask surprised him by now touching his face. Causing him to flinch and get a cut on his cheek.

They noticed and pulled away, removing the branches that'd fallen off as well as the mask. Wiping his cheek as they took a closer look. Muttering something to themselves that he couldn't hear. Then walked away.

He was confused but at least he got that mask off. He didn't know why he wore it in the first place, it didn't have great ventilation.

 

-.-- --- ..- .-. / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ... / ... .--. . .- -.- / .-.. --- ..- -.. / . ...- . -. / .. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / .-.. .- -.-. -.- / ... --- ..- -. -..

 

Finally his vision had gotten to good enough point where he could somewhat see far. His hearing had also gotten a lot better. His horns still bugged him and his body felt stiff. It wasn't something he could fully control no matter how much he tried.

He'd learned who a few of these people were, but their names always slipped out of his mind as quickly as they came. Like right now.

He could see the green armored person go over to him. He tried sitting up but didn't manage to get far up without falling back.

"You're stubborn y'know." The being hissed, putting a hand on the couch.

"Sorry... It's just getting...boring laying down.."

"Whatever. I'm surprised you even lived from whatever..." They pointed at his stomach "THAT was from."

"Aren't we in...limbo? Some of us are...dead outside of here."

"Are you one of them?"

"..." He went quiet. He wasn't sure...It was hard to tell since he was infected. Was his brain too damaged or was there something still left? "I...don't know."

They sighed, sitting on a nearby chair. "You should still be careful, I don't trust Sorcus' medical skills."

"Who?"

"Death. He has a scythe and visible ribcage." To which Sorcus just happened to appeared once they'd started describing him.

"Did I hear my name?" He chuckled, strutting over. Twirling his scythe around before eventually holding it properly. His ribcage was indeed visible, and a star was visible in the middle of his chest.

"He's...death?" Tom asked, trying to get up again even though his chest felt like hell from trying to bend it.

"Why yes I am!~ I finally get a proper introduction with you. You've been rather...unresponsive if I do say so myself. Glad to see that you're getting better." He started shaking Tom's hand aggressively. Making him slightly dizzy before the other person stopped the two.

"Stop. You'll worsen him, remember what Doombringer said?" They whispered aggressively to Sorcus. About to snap him fingers right then and there.

 

Tom felt the need to throw up rise again, turning towards the garbage bin that'd been put beside the couch and throwing up blood in it. His head felt unbelievably dizzy afterwards, he always did.

"Ah shit....hehehe..." Sorcus nervously glanced away, likely being the reason for it. The green armored person gave Sorcus a death glare.

"He'll kill us if he finds out." They hissed, getting closer to Sorcus' face.

"Woah there, calm down!"

The two continued their argument, Tom still rather spaced out during it. But he could see a masked man walk down the stairs. Fidgeting with his necklace, before being stopped by the conspiracy theorist snake guy. He looked in another direction and saw the nightshade covered guy kicking at the clock.

 

He was spaced out so much that he failed to notice Doombringer standing above him.

"No kidding... He's lost in his own mind. Aye kid, kid!" He snapped his finger beside Tom's ear, making him snap out of it.

"Huh...?"

"You were daydreaming or whatever. Just gotta make sure you're... good enough."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah sure you are. Listen this time you're answering my question, got it? Now what the hell is the deal with you?" He snarled, getting close to Tom's face.

"...What do you...mean?"

"You're missing a heart for Telamon's sake! And you've got plants growing on you! That ain't just nothing."

"I don't...know myself. Kinda just...Well, I think I remember a little bit."

Doombringer gave a slight nod for him to continue on, backing off and watching him intently.

"... Its a hivemind... That's for sure."

"So you aren't in control of yourself?" Sorcus asked, sitting on the couch beside Tom. Tom shifted his position a little, moving his legs off the couch.

"Kind of...? My mind's...foggy that's for sure. I definitely lack a lot of memories too. But I'm not constantly...unaware."

1x1x1x1 scoffed. "Thats a problem..." Sorcus and Doombringer nodded.

"But we can't really do anything can we? Besides, I still want to know what happened to his heart." Sorcus poked at Tom's chest, quickly getting a slap at the back of his head from Doombringer. "OW!"

"I mean...I might remember that..."

Chapter 2: You Took It All

Summary:

It used him, tricked them all. Tom had fallen for it, losing the things that were most dear to him. But of everything, there was one thing that he could never get back.

Notes:

Bloxburg Reporter is called William
Lumber Tycoon Mascot is Jack
Hes also a deer hybrid oh how fun!!!

Also I just realized I'm writing this it's less like a flashback and just a backstory chapter... oops

Tom and William walked along the dirt path. Slowly wildlife disappeared the further they went but more and more plants grew. Most were harmless, but there was more than a few pieces poison ivy that Tom had accidentally hit.

"Is this really a good idea? I get you want to see where Jack went but this seems dangerous." Tom said after getting smacked in the face with a branch.

"Hey don't blame me! It's just someone at my job needs someone to investigate since the police are doing...Basically nothing."

"C'mon, I could've talked to them about it. I'm the Mayor of Bloxburg afterall."

"Probably more reasonably in hindsight but some people are stubborn..." William sighed, eventually finding a large opening ahead with an odd tree. "Oh look! Lemme get the camera ready, you can go ahead."

"Alright." Tom reluctantly agreed, walking through the path and past William as he fiddled with his camera. He stood in the opening, most of the plant life was dead, except for the tree itself. It was beautiful and had lucious green leaves that faded into orange for fall. Yet no leaves could be seen near the base of the tree. And- Hang on! It was spring not fall!

Tom felt uneasy about it, backing away a little. But soon something else made him calm. It was louder than that tiny voice. He couldn't help but find himself walking towards the tree, like he was a puppet.

William soon came over too and yelled for Tom to come over. He snapped out of it, looking back at William. Walking over and stopping once he was beside him.

 

William took pictures of everything, from the smallest of things to the most obvious. He'd need as much evidence as possible. But all Tom could think about was the tree. For some reason his heart felt like it was beating quicker, almost like he'd ran a marathon. He decided to sit down, leaning against a nearby dead tree. He was just...tired. Yeah, tired!...

"Hey Tom, look at this."

Great.

He slowly stood up, walking over to see what William had found. Surely it wasn't too- What.

 

No.

 

No that...

 

That couldn't be true.

 

He was dead.

 

He was supposed to be dead.

 

Why was he here? He remembered that day all too well, when Jack had started getting far too aggressive. The plants starting to grow out of his empty eye socket. That day he just had to. He could still remember all that blood, how he'd unevenly chopped his wooden arm off. All the blood that pooled. The broken leg Jack had gotten from trying to run away. But most importantly, the torn up heart that'd been left within his chest.

As those memories flooded his head he kept questioning how or why he was still here. Still standing. Yet lacking that arm. Oh it just made him more nauseous thinking about it. That he'd done something like this. Now wasn't the time though.

"...I...I don't think this is a good idea." Tom whispered to William, the two of them still hiding from Jack.

"Why not?"

"It's just that-"

"Oh why hello! What brings you here our- my friends?" Jack had spotted them, limping over.

"Jack! Are you okay? Everyone back at Bloxburg is worried, you disappeared for a week!" He placed his hands on Jack's shoulders, helping him stand up. But he didn't notice Jack glaring at Tom.

"I'll be okay. I managed to find some help. But you know it's dangerous out here dear..."

"It wasn't my decision to. Someone at the company wanted to investigate your case and the police won't."

"Oh? I wonder why..." Jack's gaze still lingered on Tom, who became very uncomfortable at it. "Well I'm alive this time, so don't worry.

Tom knew that wasn't him, but oh...William didn't know one bit did he? His thoughts quickly interrupted at seeing Jack pushing away William's bangs and giving a quick kiss to his forehead.

"Okay- Guys let's not right now. We still need to...find out what happened." Tom interrupted. Silently panicking in the inside. Jack raised an eyebrow but lifted himself up and backed away. William nodding, even as his cheeks were red as a tomato. Reluctantly letting go of Jack.

"Right. No offense but you look... bad." William gave Jack a worried look. "You're missing an arm, your leg is broken and your eye is torn out. Are you sure you're okay...?"

"It's... it's nothing. I've gotten worse injuries." He smiled. "Since you've found me...I suppose you should write down a few things, no? How about this, you get what you need and leave. Oh, but I do need you for a little bit longer Tom. Just a...private chat y'know?"

Tom shifted uncomfortably, goosebumps rising. Everything telling him it wasn't a good idea but...It couldn't hurt that much could it? "Fine."

"Wonderful!"

 

William started asking a bunch of questions, writing down the answers and recording some stuff. Tom mostly stayed quiet, his gaze darkening whenever Jack flirted with William. Was it even him? Likely not, and his anger rose more as this...thing was pretending to be Jack. It wore his skin but its eyes were dead. A stone gray instead of the swamp green he knew.

 

.- .-.. .-.. / - .... . / -- .. ... - .- -.- . ... / .. .----. ...- . / -- .- -.. . /

 

God whatever happened flew by or simply didn't stay in his memory, because before he knew it he was alone with it.

The same thing that killed Jack, that took him away.

"...What do you want." Tom snapped as Jack turned to look at him. Its gentle smile quickly changing to a cold expression.

"I don't want you around the town anymore. You'll ruin my plans."

"I can't. I won't let you ruin the very place I've lived my whole life and cared about."

"If you cared you'd let them know the truth."

Tom froze, his eyes slightly wide and his breath stopped.

"Hehe. Even now you're afraid of it. Oh don't worry..." It slowly walked forward, its skinny legs carrying an odd sense of grace to them even as one was broken. "I'll be sure to make a great plan so they'll all know. Starting with this..."

 

Suddenly it pinned Tom to the floor, practically digging one of its feet into his stomach.

"We know you said you didn't want to join us, but it's not like you have a choice anymore. Either this or you'd get shunned for the truth. No one would believe you if you said Jack was taken by a parasite, hivemind, whatever you want to call us." It smirked, before shoving a mask onto his face. He couldn't barely breathe, instead having to take quick gasps of air from how little ventilation there was.

His fear was accompanied by pain, as he could feel some tear at his flesh. Branches started growing, piercing his skin and wrapping around the mask as tightly as it could. He was helpless, unable to move as it pressed against his chest harder. It was also starting to get foggy. His vision blurring and thoughts becoming muddy and mixed it. With more thoughts coming from seemingly somewhere else.

"C'mon smile~! You should be happy we decided to let you live." It chuckled, lifting the leg up as it leaned down. Running a finger from his neck to his chest before stabbing its clawed hand straight to his heart. He screamed loudly. The pain. Everything ached, everything was starting to blur together. 

"What's the matter? We're just...borrowing a little something you destroyed." It chuckled, kicking Tom to the side as it inspected his heart. Blood dripping down onto the cold grass. "Afterall, we need to replace it if we want a chance at convincing them that he's still alive." It lifted its shirt up, the branches underneath slowly pulling apart to let in the heart. Then pulled the shirt down like nothing was there.

 

Tom coughed and coughed, but it didn't help with the mask covering his face. The blood that nowhere to go except to stick onto the inside and onto his skin. He slowly pushed himself up, the little strength he had left barely enough to get him to sit up. But he quickly got kicked back down. With how strong the kick had been he probably should have some kind of concussion. The world spun even move, his eyes unable to focus on what little the mask let him see.

"Pfft, how pathetic do you have to be? You'd really let us kick you around like a ball." Jack laughed, walking away. "Have fun trying to get back~. Oh wait, you can't!"

The sound of its hooves clicking against the dirt soon faded into the distance...

 

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Even now he could still feel the slight ache in his chest. He hovered his hand over the spot where his heart would've been. Yet nothing was left anymore. Even though he felt pain from sitting up, he couldn't be bothered to lay down. Not after having told such a story.

He hadn't noticed by everyone in the room had went quiet, staring at him. Whether it be from pity, disbelief or maybe even some kind of respect.

"... So...How do you remember this but not your own family?" Socrus managed to blurt out after moments of silence.

"... Remember what?"

"What you just- The whole thing about you getting your own heart ripped out!" He yelled out.

"I...Oh right. That. Um...I don't know. I think I forget things randomly. Just bad memory haha..."

"Doesn't sound like it. It's more like something makes you forget when it's useful." Doombringer growled. The man covered with nightshades slowly walked over.

"Could be the same thing controlling you're..."friend". Wouldn't be surprised if you somehow got it in your system. I mean look at you!" The man pointed out, gently holding one of the wooden antlers.

"Perhaps...He did start acting tired and...a bit oblivious before that happened." Tom mumbled.

 

.. / .-- .- -. - / - --- / --. --- / -... .- -.-. -.-

 

Everyone in the room started trying to figure out if he had it too or not. Slowly all the noise built up and he started hearing those voices once more. He wanted to cry from how noisy it had gotten, barely able to contain himself because the thought of sobbing right there was too embarrassing.

However it'd gotten interrupted when the green armored person put their hands on his shoulder. Lowering their body.

"Hey, wanna go take a breather?" They asked in a gentle whisper, their stoic expression softening. He turned his head towards them and nodded, pushing himself to his feet even as they ached in pain. But found himself leaning against them.

 

The two got outside, they lead Tom to a chair and let him sit down. He stayed quiet, only giving a small smile to them before looking away. A comfortable silence lingered between the two, before Tom eventually spoke.

"I miss...the old him." He mumbled, his eyes starting to water but he quickly wiped it away. They only gave him a small pat on the back, trying to give him what little comfort they could.

His heart ached for those two. Lacking one only made it worse, causing him to feel nauseous and almost throw up. He tried shrinking himself away. He felt embarrassed from his reactions but also hated the idea that someone he didn't know saw him like this.

"Hey. It's okay to miss him y'know?" They said, trying to get Tom to pull himself back together. Mostly fearful of what Doombringer would do if he found out they let Tom break.

He slowly nodded. "I know.. it's just hard....Knowing he's not himself anymore..." He mumbled, letting himself sit closer to them.

"Are you sure that's why?"

He paused, thinking of why he actually didn't want to admit it. "... I'm positive."

"If you say so." They sighed, leaning slightly against Tom as the two watched the place in peaceful silence.

 

... --- / .. / -.. --- -. - / .-. . .--. . .- - / -- -.-- / .--. .- ... - / .- -.-. - .. --- -. ...

Notes:

If you're wondering, no Tom never gets his heart back until Post Forsaken