Play With Me. Skull Kid x Reader

         Strange, loud, echoing laughter rang through your ears like sirens as you struggled to open your eyes. Each time you raised your heavy lids, no matter how slightly, your head would start to spin and your temples would throb. Since there was nothing else you could do, you lay there, flat on your back, in a thick patch of grass and waited for the strange sensation to leave. “What in the world is going on here? I feel like I got hit in the head with a rock.” Weakly lifting your arm from your side, you placed the back of your hand over your eyes and groaned at the discomfort you felt. It wasn't until a full ten minutes later that you were finally strong enough to sit up and look around. Even then, keeping your eyes open was a difficult task. As you looked over your surroundings, fear crept in to your chest. Nothing around you looked even remotely familiar to you. “Where am I?”

A very quiet voice, coming from very close behind you quickly answered your question. You were exactly where you'd promised yourself you would never go, especially not alone. “You're finally awake. Eh he he. I've been waiting for you for a very long time you know. Now that you're up, we can play together.”

You slowly turned around, fully expecting to see someone there, but saw nothing. “The fact that there was no one there caused a shiver to run down your spine. Someone was there a second ago, you heard them. Hoping you weren't hallucinating, you opened your mouth and spoke to seemingly no one. “We can't play if I can't find you.”

“But we're already playing. Eh he he. You've got to find me.” The voice had come from somewhere overhead this time. That fact didn't give you much to go on though. You were in a forest, completely surrounded by trees. “Aren't you going to start looking?” The thick branches that covered your view of the sky from your vision rustled and cracked as the unsettling laughter started once more. “You're not being very fun.”

Though you were understandably uneasy about this, you really didn't have any other option but to go along with his little game. Maybe if you did as he said, he'd safely escort you out of the woods when it was over. “I'll try to be fun then, sorry.” Leaves crunched under your feet as you pushed yourself off of the ground. “My head still hurts a bit. It's hard to be playful when you have a headache.”

“Eh he he. Your headache will go away if you start to play.” The rustling directly above you started to move farther and farther away. He was leaving you, fully expecting you to chase after him. “I'm getting impatient now, come on.”

As he traveled away from you at an alarming speed, your heart started to race. Following him as quickly as your shaky legs would allow, you called after him at the top of your voice. “W-wait a minute, where are you going? Don't leave me alone, I'll never get out of here if you do.”

“I'll help you out. He he he. But you have to find me first.” After he'd finished speaking, the laughter and the rustling came to a sudden stop. The entire forest was terrifyingly silent. The only sound you hear now was the sound of your hurried breath and pounding heart.

“How am I supposed to find you? I can't climb those trees, and even if I could, I could walk across the  branches like you do.” You waited for an answer, hoping he might change his mind, but the silence continued. “Fine, don't help me out.” With a snort, you searched the ground for something you could hurl into the tree tops. After a moment, you'd managed to gather a dozen or so pebbles. They were small, and light enough for you to throw, but heavy enough to knock him from his spot should one actually hit him.

“This is your last chance. If you don't want to get hit with a rock, I'd come down now.” Even after your warning, he didn't say a word. “Okay, have it your way.” Determined to find him and escape these dreaded woods, you squinted your eyes and focused your eyes above you. He'd have to move eventually, even if it was only slightly. His movement would make the canopy of leaves tremble, and if you were lucky, you'd be able to catch him. Each and every second seemed like a lifetime of waiting, but you had to keep yourself focused.

Ten minutes passed before you saw even the slightest hint of movement. The very instant your eyes caught the almost nonexistent shift, you pulled your arm back and threw the pebble as hard as you could. A second later, Skull Kid fell from the branches and landed face down on the ground. The fact that you'd actually managed to find him made you more excited than you could even begin to describe. Smiling in a confident way, you walked up to where he lay and stood over him. “I found you. That means I won and you can lead me out of the forest now, right?”

Skull Kid hopped onto his feet, seemingly unharmed by the rock you'd lunged at him. “I wanted us to play longer. Can't you stay?”

“No, I can't.” Afraid he was going to go back on his earlier promise, you quickly came up with an excuse for why you couldn't be there and hoped he would believe you. “I have things I'm supposed to be doing right now, that's why I hadn't come to see you on my own yet.” Trying to give yourself a serious, determined look, that you certainly didn't feel, you crossed your arms over your chest and snorted. “Besides, you can't just go stealing people and expect them to play with you. That's wrong, and not much fun at all for the other person.”

“I had to steal you, eh he. I couldn't wait any longer to see you again.” With no remorse at all for what he'd done, Skull kid took your hand and happily began skipping towards what you hoped was the exit. “If you had come to see me sooner, I wouldn't have had to bring you here.” He giggled eerily. “Didn't you have fun with me?”

Honestly, you'd been too concerned about escaping to have any fun. Now that you thought about it, he'd only wanted to play a simple game of Hide n' Seek with you. Had you allowed yourself to relax, it really could have been fun. Feeling a bit guilty for the way you'd acted, even if he had brought you here against your will, you lied. “I guess it was a little bit of fun, but it would have been better if you'd let me come here without being forced.”

“Why would that change anything?” What you were saying wasn't making any sense at all to Skull Kid, but that really didn't surprise you. “I won't force you anymore then. Eh he he. Now that you know how much fun it is to play with me, I shouldn't have to.” He held to your hand a little tighter. “But, if you don't come see me again, I might get very sad and have to break my promise.”

“O-okay, I guess that's fair enough.” You weren’t sure if he was threatening you, or just trying to tease you, but it was better to be safe than sorry. “I don't want to make you sad after all. That wouldn't be very nice of me now would it?”

“Good. Now that I know I'll see you again, I'll help you out of here.” Skull Kid spun around on his heel so that he and you were now facing the opposite direction. “Eh he he. Here we are.” You weren't sure how it was possible, but directly in front of you was the exit. A little reluctant to let you go, he slowly released your hand and took a step back. “Come back to see me soon okay? He he. Next time you can pick the game.”

The almost sad tone in his normally giggly, happy voice made you second guess your opinion of him. Sure, he was definitely a little eccentric, but really, was he that bad? Deciding that you'd have to find out for yourself, instead of believing what everyone else had told you, you did something you hoped you wouldn't regret. “I'll come see you the next chance I get, I promise. Just promise me that you won't steal me again if I take too long, okay?”

“Okay.” He nodded, laughing in a way that still made you shiver. “Bye now, you'd better leave, before the forest changes again.” Turning away from you, Skull Kid ran deeper into the Lost Woods, disappearing from view completely in only seconds.

You stepped out of the forest and breathed in the outside air. “Ah, freedom.” Just being free of that eternal maze calmed you down and cleared your head significantly. This made you realize that you were actually much more afraid of the woods themselves than you were Skull kid. If you were able to coax him outside, maybe the two of you really could have fun together.