forum “What’s your greatest fear?” // 5/5, closed // Stalkers welcome!

Started June 19, 2023 by @the-void-phantasmic language

tune

Salmook deflates a little. All he's understanding is that he's not going to like what's coming next. And why is he here anyways? He's not very good at answering questions - he can't even understand the funny squiggles these people write in.
Salmook looks over at the others in the room with him. Why are they so okay with this? Do they know something he doesn't? Because all Salmook knows for sure is that he's been kidnapped by jabby-people that give him nightmares.
He reluctantly comes out of his corner. Who here does he trust the most? Nobody, actually, but relatively, who here does Salmook trust the most?
"Sef?"
That was his name, right? Well, whatever it was, he's twice as tall as Salmook. Maybe walking up to an almost complete stranger was a really bad idea.

Tseth didn’t like Sylvia’s answer. The last competition only brought up more questions he knew wouldn’t get answered. He could try and force the answer, but he didn’t like the idea of going unconscious from one of those tranquilizers.
And then Salmook moves over to him. Tseth looks at him, a bit surprised the kid actually came up to him. He watches Salmook curiously. “Yes?”

It's like Salmook's entire body is shutting down. He's pretty sure his heart just dropped to his knees.
"Uh - Big Sef Man? Friend?"
That's being a little too hopeful - Salmook's only just met him. And why is he so big and tall and very much scary? A thick glob of words catches in Salmook's throat. He chokes them down.
"They, uh…" He gestures towards the jabby-girl. "…talk in big, big words. Salmook not understand!"
He wrings his hands together. When he's not yelling things on instinct alone, it's actually pretty hard to form sentences. Or maybe that's just general terror setting in? Hard to tell.
"What they trying do to we? What us do?"

Tseth crouches down to Salmook’s height. “Tseth. And yeah, we can be friends if you want.” He glances back at Blaze and Sylvia. How do I explain this to a kid? I’m only beginning to understand myself. “I know it’s a bit hard to understand. I’m not completely sure what they mean either.” He shifts his wings a bit as he thinks about how to say what’s going on. “Basically what Sylvia’s saying is… you’ve played games before? Competitions are a bit like games. So they want us to stay here and play a few.”

Sylvia glances at Lucas, then slips out of the room, leaving the group to roam around freely. Lucas watches them all nervously.

Daphne looks around. She questions walking around a bit, but she’d rather stay near Tseth. He’s the only one there she really trusts. She starts fidgeting with Tseth’s jacket, not because she’s uncomfortable or anything, there’s just so much stuff on it. “What’s with all the belts?” She half-mumbles to herself.

Salmook shudders as he locks eyes with Tseth, and he quickly looks away. Although, what he said was very helpful. So they're just here to play games? Okay..? Salmook has a sneaking suspicion that these games aren't going to be much fun.
"Thank, Tseth-friend. Thank for help. Me like."
Salmook takes a step backwards, still very much intimidated, and he averts his eyes to Tseth's… other friend? Sister? He wasn't too sure, honestly, but she seems just as fidgety as he does. At least that's one thing in common. He points at her.
"Friend, too?"

Tseth smiles at Salmook. “You’re welcome.” He stands back up, and looks over at where Salmook’s pointing. Daphne’s fidgeting with the different things on his jacket. “This might come as a surprise, but they keep the jacket from blowing off in a sandstorm.” His tone is practically dripping with sarcasm. “Plus, they look nice.”

Daphne rolls her eyes at Tseth and slaps him with one of the jacket’s sleeves, then looks over at Salmook. She blinks a few times as she processes what he said. “Me-? Oh- uh, yeah. Sure.”

"Hi, Tseth-friend's-friend."
He tilts his head, glancing in the direction the jabby-girl left. He clenches his fists. Maybe he could take the jabby-boy in a fight? His thoughts are interrupted by Tseth-friend's-friend.
"Have name? Me Salmook, yeah."

Daphne tilts her head slightly. “Uh- I’m Daphne.” She keeps fidgeting with Tseth’s jacket. “Look, I get where you’re coming from, but too many belts is just tacky.”

Tseth looks slightly offended at Daphne, by her slapping him with the jacket sleeve and her comment. “It’s not tacky. And there’s not too many. I could insult your military’s uniforms and say too much gold is a damn eyesore.”

Daphne huffs at Tseth. “It is tacky. And you can’t be saying anything about ‘too much’ of any color, you emo bastard.”

Salmook blinks at them. Are friend-folk supposed to fight like this? He's not too sure, but he raises his hands above his head in an attempt to stop it.
"Please, no fight?"

“I am not-“ Tseth doesn’t finish his sentence, interrupted by Salmook. He looks down at the kid and huffs. “Fine. But it’s not tacky and I’m not emo.”

Daphne mutters under her breath, “It is tacky, and you are emo-” then crosses her arms—or tries to, the long sleeves aren’t helping much—and leans back against the wall with a pouty look on her face.

Salmook sighs. Maybe it isn't safe to be with anyone in here - not even Tseth-friend. He takes another step back, putting some much-needed distance between him and Tseth. Salmook looks over towards the jabby-boy again. Oh, yeah. Salmook could definitely hold his own in a fight with that one. And Sal would win, too, as long as the jabby-boy didn't have his jabber. Innocent or not, Salmook already hates the kid's guts.
Salmook narrows his eyes, and for the first time in a while, there's an open threat in his tone. He raises his voice at the jabby-boy.
"Mean lady promise food after big words. Where. Food. Or Salmook eat somebody."