Got another chapter here, get it while it's hot!
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"Huuuuuurrgg…" Donald groaned groggily, vision blurry. His head ached horribly, and he could feel himself slipping into and out of consciousness. He quickly closed his eyes again, sleep ready to take him once more. Donald could feel someone carrying him before eventually putting him down into a sitting position against a wall. A small, metallic click! went around his wrist, and even disoriented as he was, he could easily identify it as a set of handcuffs.
"Er… Rose?" he heard from somewhere nearby.
"Yeah, doc?"
"… Why, exactly, do you have a pair of handcuffs?"
"Well, 'cause, y'know… you just… never know, when, uh, you might need… a set of cuffs."
"… I'll take your word for it."
The heavy whirring noise Donald heard before the Doctor and his companion arrived sounded again, and the noise was brutal on his eardrums. Or, more importantly, the overwhelming migraine he had.
Sleep, my host…
Why? Thought Donald, So you can 'maneuver' my appendages more easily? He said angrily as he slowly lost connection to the world around him. So you can 'save' me from all the pain?
… Come with me, my host.
Donald was silent for a moment as the rest of the world went totally black. All right… but to where? What for?
Nowhere. I just think it's time we properly introduced ourselves.
… 'The hell is that supposed to mean?
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No matter where Donald looked, there were trees. Thin, spindly, dead trees in every direction. The ground was solid, but cold. A light mist coated the area, slinking around roots and winding up through the tree branches. The last time Donald checked, mist didn't defy the laws of physics.
Meaning that he must be hallucinating, or something.
He stood in one spot for a moment, peering around through the pale moonlight for something, any sign of life.
Instead, just as he turned his head to start off in a random direction, a flash of movement went by in the corner of his eye. Donald's head snapped around, searching warily for the source of movement. However, he found that when he did so, the movement shifted to the other side of him. Every single time he moved his head.
This does not bode well.
It must be an optical illusion caused by the mist in the trees… Donald thought to himself.
Silly humans. Rationalizing everything they can't understand.
Donald's head snapped up again, listening closely.
Vee? He thought.
What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?
"… Vee?" Donald said aloud nervously. The rapid movement in the trees came to a halt. Donald checked a few more times, quickly turning his head back and forth. No movement.
"Vee? Is th- holy FUCK." Donald exclaimed in shock.
A tall, dark figure slowly emerged from behind the trees. Though I suppose that isn't the proper term. The figure didn't so much as emerge as he did materialize, the shadows of the dim forest wrapping themselves around him and slowly revealing an incredibly tall, lanky man.
A tall, very thin and faceless man.
In a suit.
"… Vee?" Donald asked quietly in a shaky voice. His heart felt like it was freezing in his chest.
"I don't know why you seem so disturbed, my host," Vee stated cheerfully, his faceless head tilting toward his (it's?) shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like me."
Donald rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them. Once he looked back up, however, the lanky faceless man had vanished. Am I hallucinating or not? he thought.
"Nope," Vee said, his pale white faceless head suddenly appearing in front of Donald as he leaned over him from behind. Donald screamed and leapt forward in terror. "I don't think so."
"Holy shit, dude! Don't do that!" Donald yelled from the ground, crawling away backwards and clutching his heart, trying to steady his breathing.
"Don't do what, my host?" Vee asked him mockingly, spreading his hands out innocently as if he had nothing to hide. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. I believe you are losing your mind."
"Where… where are we?" Donald asked quickly.
Vee turned to him, as if questioning his reason for asking. "Well, I should think it's obvious, my host. After all, you created this gloomy little hollow. Such a boring place, really. Quiet, but boring."
Donald thought rapidly, climbing to his feet. "What do you mean, I created it? How did we get here?"
"… My my, you are a thick one." Vee stated bluntly, turning back to look at the trees.
"Are we… inside my head?" Donald inquired. "Is this some kind of mental symbology crap?"
"Close enough," Vee replied, crossing his arms as if disappointed. "This place is rotting. Decaying. And as much as I love watching a human fall apart from the inside out, it's not quite as much fun when it's my host."
"What do you mean, decaying?" Donald asked. "Do you mean… I'm dying?"
The mist swirled weakly around Donald's feet, as if trying to swallow him.
"More like… slowly suffocating." The tall slender man said to him. It was very strange, watching him speak without a mouth. Like his voice echoed out from everywhere around him instead. "You lack the sufficient… spiritual nutrients that your world is incapable of producing. The constant universe jumping has taken a rather drastic toll on the both of us."
As Donald inspected himself, he saw that we was rather thin… more so than that. A small puddle nearby glinted in the moonlight, and Donald kneeled down to view his reflection.
"I wouldn't suggest that…" Vee stated without moving, his head following Donald's movement.
Donald ignored him and leaned over the puddle to get a better look at himself. Which was almost as horrifying as Vee scaring the hell out of him.
His face had grown gaunt and thin, the skin pulled back from food and sleep deprivation. His brown eyes and sunken into his head, giving him a hungry, skeletal look. His hair had grown filthy and wild, and Donald's feral reflection glared at, haunted.
"… Jesus Christ."
Not even close,Vee said mentally, placing his long fingered hand on Donald's shoulder. Oddly enough, he knew it was there, but he couldn't feel it. As he wondered, Vee answered as if he could read his mind.
Which he could, of course.
It's because you are leaving this place. Slowly. These are the last vestiges of sanity you shall have for quite a while. Lost, in this forsaken place.
As Donald felt himself drift back into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard echoed from Vee.
But you shall not be alone. No.
The world went black, and Donald grew very cold.
I have seen your mind. My grip remains firm around your heart. And hold your soul in my hands.
As he slipped away back into the real world, he heard Vee whisper quietly to him;
No, my host. You shall never be alone again.
And Donald could almost swear he heard him smiling.
…
Which disturbed him, a very great deal.
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"So… are we even going to look for him?" Ichigo asked Danielle as he stared out the window as yet another storm rolled in.
"Well, I would, but I've got somethin' really important ta do first." She replied, brushing a lock of black hair out of her eyes.
"Lemme guess," Ichigo said, rolling his eyes as he turned back to her. "Zombies to shoot, snacks to shovel down-"
"No, ass-hat." Danielle said, heading upstairs. "In case you hadn't noticed, we've got three people missing now, not including Grimmjow."
"Yeah, and?" Ichigo yelled up the stairs after her as she speedily climbed away. "What now?"
"Now," Danielle said to herself as she silently unlocked Donald's door with a bobby pin, "we go get them back."
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Hope you enjoyed, everybody!
