The delusional pervert in the forest
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
In which you're in desperate
need of a rape-whistle.
____________________________

-li_wri_ on twitter

[I've changed a sliiiight bit in how Karl's powers work, guys. Just so you're aware]

   "It's... Me?" You repeated his words, pointing a confused finger to yourself. Judging by his tone of voice and bewildered expression, you guessed he recognized you from somewhere. But you were sure you hadn't seen this guy before - and you're pretty sure you'd remember if you had. Let alone his clothes seemed memorable enough.

   The weirdness of the situation made you forget everything about Schlatt and the fact that you were hiding. Now you were just looking at the pale boy, who was still pointing at you. 

   "What do you mean it's me? Who are you?" You tried sounding polite, but his actions sure challenged your manners. 

   He finally snapped out of his surprised state and shook his head aggressively. In fact, so aggressively that he struggled to keep his balance once he stopped. Afterward, his gaze returned to you, lips curled into a forced smile. "I'm so sorry, that came off weird. I'm Karl... Uh, Jacobs. Karl Jacobs."

   You could tell he put a lot of effort into staying calm, which only resulted in you getting more weirded out. He gulped and continued. "And you're (Y/n).... Uh, hi. You're prettier than I remembered you to be. Your hair is way shorter..."

   He was mumbling the last bit to himself but you heard him clearly. Your brows lowered and you squinted your eyes. 

   "We've met before?" You questioned, even though you were sure the answer was no. You spoke your words loud and clear, like you were speaking to a five-year-old.

   Karl waved his hand and laughed. "Oh, oh no. Not yet. Or well, I mean we have now." Then his eyes widened. Without a warning, he stepped closer to you and took a grip of your shirt. You gasped as he lifted it up slightly.

   You, being way too shocked to react right away and stop him, slapped him right the second he let your shirt fall down again. You fixed your shirt and protected your upper body with your life if the scenario was about to repeat itself.

   "DUDE!" You yelled, clenching your fists and ready to punch him again. Your face was hot and red, and you were one second away from summoning your bow.

   "Gosh, sorry! I'm so sorry!" Karl burst out, panicking just as much as you did. He lowered his hands in a calming manner as he backed away. "I was just checking if it had happened yet! Thank god it hadn't... Uh, does the Manburg festival take place in about a week by any chance?"

   You backed against a tree, getting as far away from his as you could. "You're not... You're not making any sense. You're crazy. Crazy and a pervert." Your voice was a terrified whisper, but your actions answered his question yes.

   Karl sighed. "Dammit. Very nice Karl, you screwed it up." He walked up to you, reaching his hands up to each side of your face. "I guess I have to fix this..." he mumbled. "I hope I won't fry your brain." 

   Your finger froze in the air, about to tap the slot with your bow in your inventory when Karl placed his hands on your temples. Shock ran through your body under his touch. Your eyes rolled back, turning everything black. You couldn't feel anything but you also felt everything. The pain was so strong for your body to register. And It was like you could feel the events of the last two minutes being zapped out of your head - you tried to grasp them in a hopeless effort to keep them in your memory, but they slipped out of your fingers.

   Just when you thought it would stop, you saw pictures flashing for your eyes. You were able to pause some of them to take a look, even though it all happened within seconds. The majority of them showed the same scenery. It showed an expanded Manburg, but it was absolutely covered in red vines. You felt such a familiarity upon the sight and it completely overwhelmed you.

   Then a clear picture of an egg appeared in your head. So clear, you refused to believe it was just a picture your mind made up. It was large. Tremendously large, and the power escaping from it in waves was in sync with your heartbeat. So much, you felt as if the egg was a part of you. You couldn't describe it, but it felt so important to you that everything else turned irrelevant. You tried reaching out to it, wanting to reach it so badly, that you felt your blood run cold when you realized you couldn't.

   Not yet.

   Then the vivid pictures faded, getting replaced by something else. The feeling of falling, bleeding out, and then a sharp pain in your stomach. Falling, bleeding out, getting stabbed. Falling, bleeding out, getting stabbed. You felt in on repeat.

   And if felt so real. So real, you refused to believe this was just something your mind made up. It felt like memories. But then how come you didn't remember it?

    You got sent back to reality as soon as Karl removed his hands. You gasped for air, falling to your knees as your legs refused to support you. You completely forgot everything you had just seen, but the memories had been carved into your mind, lulling in your unconsciousness.

   You blinked several tears out of your eyes, as you worked on your rapid breathing. Your shirt and hair clung to your body in sweat. What in the world had just happened?

   "Hey, are you okay?" A worried voice spoke from above, and you felt a pair of arms help you back onto your feet. "I was just asking you a question and then you suddenly fell."

  You looked at the boy holding you, horrified of how you didn't remember falling to the ground in the first place. The concern in his grey eyes managed to calm you a bit down, but not much. He was wearing a purple hoodie with a green square-spiral on it. His hair was light brown and he seemed to be around the same age as you. He smiled nervously, eyeing you carefully. 

   You blinked, cheeks burning from embarrassment. You wondered where he or your sudden headache had come from, as you tried to smile at the stranger in front of you. "Oh, sorry, I don't know what..." You cleared your throat. "I'm sorry, what was your question again?"

   He pointed in the direction behind you. "Is that possibly the way to Manburg?"

   You looked behind you and nodded. "Oh yeah, it is... It's just five minutes away."

   You felt very light-headed and you debated whether or not to take a minute and sit down. This boy had just appeared out of nowhere, and you were pretty sure you had hid alone behind a tree just a second ago. You didn't remember suddenly feeling sick. 

   You closed your eyes and rubbed your temples. It was probably just your mind playing games with you. Seeing Schlatt in person had hit you harder than you had thought. 

   "I'm sorry, where are my manners." You laughed. "Who are you?"

   "I'm Karl. Karl Jacobs." He smiled kindly, reaching his hand out. You took it.

   "I'm (Y/n). It's nice to meet you."

   The two of you stared at each other for a moment, and you wondered if you should warn him about Schlatt. If he was going to Manburg and planned on staying there, Schlatt would definitely try to make a loyal soldier out of him. So should you try and take him with you to Pogtopia instead? Your friends could use all the help you could get.

   But before you decided what to do, Karl turned around and began walking in the complete opposite direction.

   "Wait, where are you going?" You yelled after him.

   He looked back with another smile. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon! See you later, (Y/n)!"

   And so you watched him walk away. You were left as confused as ever at how the boy had disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. That was a really strange encounter.

   A part of you wanted to follow him, but then you remembered you had to meet Techno at the hollow tree in a couple of minutes. So you decided to make your way back.

   You were glad Techno had helped you out by telling you to run off. It would have been a disaster if you had stood face to face with the Schlatt, considering how you had almost fainted just by looking at him from afar. 

   It didn't take you long to get back to the van - after all, you didn't care if anyone saw you or not anymore. Fundy and Eret had looked like they didn't really care about you being back, so you guessed Manburg had given up their search-party for you. 

   Techno wasn't there when you arrived, but he came not so long after. No one was following him, much to your relief.

    He made sure no one was looking, when the two of you crawled into the tree, and down into the tunnels. "What did you talk with Schlatt about?" You asked as you walked down the stairs. "Did you do what you came here for?"

   Techno nodded. "I did."

   You waited for him to elaborate, but his mouth stayed shut. You narrowed your eyes, deciding to 'help' him a little. "Well, what was it?"

   "You don't need to know."

   You huffed, slightly offended. You had planned on telling him about the strange guy in the woods, named Karl, but if Techno didn't want to tell you what he had been doing, you didn't want to tell him what you had been doing.

   When realizing he wouldn't change his mind, you changed the topic. You've wanted to know what the plan was for the Manburg festival for quite a while now, so you asked him about it.

   Techno thought about his answer for a long time, which made you even more skeptical. "The two of us are attending the festival. I guess we're just gonna see what Schlatt is gonna do, and how Tubbo's speech is gonna go. If Schlatt decides to do something bad, then we'll stop him in the act. And if he's not, we're just gonna gather information and stuff. I think a war is coming up, and we need to be there if Schlatt announces anything about it."

   You nodded. That was a decent plan, and there would probably be free food at the festival too. Now you just had to figure out yourself what you were gonna do with Schlatt - and when.

   "Okay, so now we're headed back to Pogtobia, where we'll be until the festival. Are we gonna suit up for the occasion, or?.."

   "You can borrow some of my stuff," Techno shrugged as he walked. "But I doubt we'll need it. After all, we're not the ones Schatt has something against."

   You nodded. "And what role will Dream have in all of this?"

   Techno shrugged. "I don't know - no one knows when he shows up or where he is. He continues to be a mystery. But I still think he's on our side for now."

   For now, you repeated in your head. You wondered where he was - because if it was in neither Pogtobia nor Manburg, where would he even be? And was he safe?

   You shook your head. Not like you cared. He was a dick. But a kind dick... No, he wasn't kind. At all. But he could be. At times - like when he had comforted you yesterday. But he was still a bastard. A psychotic one. But a nice psychotic one... Only on special occasions though.

   You were forced out of your thinking state when Techno decided to punch you harshly on the shoulder. You stumbled sideways, grabbing his cape in order not to fall. "What was that for?!" You groaned, annoyed. You tried punching him back, but he easily dodged.

   "You looked like you needed it."

   You had needed it. Your thoughts hadn't made any sense. But that didn't give him an excuse to hit you.

   "What were you thinking about?" He asked you.

   Your mind thought it wouldn't be a good idea to answer truthfully, but apparently, your mouth disagreed. "What do you think Dream thinks of me?" it blurted out.

   You cringed when you realized how that sounded. You rephrased. "I mean- I did get kicked out of L'manburg because he had shown interest in me, and that made me appear suspicious. And I mean, he brought me to you. That was nice of him, right? And he doesn't want me to go to Manburg because he says it's too dangerous - that's to protect me, isn't it?" You purposely forgot the little detail about how you had cried in his arms yesterday.

   Techno thought about his answer - he did that a lot today. "How am I supposed to know?"

   You laughed dryly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right, that was a dumb question."

   A silence fell upon the two of you. You had walked for a long time, and you were almost in Pogtobia. You could see the end of the tunnel when Techno suddenly changed his mind.

   "I think it's because you remind him of someone."

   You stopped up, heart skipping a beat. You remembered that conversation you and Dream have had after his and Tommy's duel. I used to have a special someone, he had said.

   Did you remind him of that person? It sure would explain his weird interest in you, and how he had looked so shocked when he had first seen you. You still remembered that night very clearly. When you had shoved Tommy into a bush, and made up a fake persona as Nina-the-nether-lady to cover the fact you had stolen the potions back.

   Did you look like the person? Sound like her? - assuming it's a she. And was it a sister? Maybe a previous love interest?

   You mumbled a thank you, as your thoughts once again ran wild. Two of you continued to walk the rest of the way.

   Tommy and Wilbur had returned to Pogtopia about an hour ago. They hadn't found all the netherite they needed, but they had gotten tired half-way and decided to go home. And speaking of tiredness, you felt the exhaustion consume you just as soon as you saw your bed. You decided to go to sleep early, telling the boys that you would talk to them tomorrow, and help them with whatever they wanted you to.

   You still had that headache ever since you had met Karl in the forest. He had seemed nice but also given off a very strange vibe. You couldn't stop thinking about your odd conversation with him - how he had just turned around and left, after you provided him with the information he needed.

   Your eyes slowly closed and you slowly drifted into sleep.

   You dreamt about strange, red vines that night.