Chapter Text
The Subcon Forest
It was an infamous place, known for its share of shadowy spirits, lurking ghouls, and even a haunted manor. The forest was always cold, always dark, when you lived in the Subcon you could probably tell when night and day was, but for newcomers it was as if time had just completely stopped all together. The trees were dead, the place crawled with giant spiders and foxes of fire, even the occasional plant-cat hybrid creature that would quit hiding if only for a moment. But the main reason Subcon was so infamous, the reason people were wary of the forest itself, was because of the ruler of the forest known as The Snatcher. The Snatcher was described as a giant, snake-like spirit with a mane of sorts, sharp claws, and a very rememberable, fanged smile that glows like a Jack-O-Lantern. He was rumored to work people to death, rumored to steal people's souls, that if you encountered him...you would never make it out of the Subcon Forest alive.
Unless you were a little girl with a purple hat of course.
Hat Kid had finally gotten done talking with Conductor and Grooves, it appeared the two directors were starting to tolerate one another more while still being the industrial rivals that they are. In fact, the two birds seemed to be in disbelief that she was here...before she got scolded about leaving without goodbye and without a final movie with them. Bow seemed to like Grooves though, so that was good. Speaking of Bow...
"Um...Hat, where are we now?" Bow asked, looking around anxiously as they ventured deeper into the forest.
Bow Kid, despite being Hattie's sister, was very different in appearance. She had dark brown curls and a light blue bow headband to keep her hair up out of her face. She also had light brown skin with purple eyes. She wore a green jacket with cat-shaped pockets, a black shirt, and a blue skirt with that. She had green tennis shoes as well. She was younger than Hat Kid by a year, being 12 years old. She stayed close beside her sister, not liking the dark, gloomy environment with the sight of bats flying out of the forest. Hat, however, seemed unphased and even slightly excited to be back in the forest. Speaking of Hat, she still had her famous purple top-hat with a yellow ribbon and her brown hair was still in its ponytail, although her hair had gotten longer after the 4 years of being out of the planet. She had on a yellow scarf, a black jacket, and a purple dress with a black belt in the middle. She also wore black leggings and brown boots. Her eyes were still the same blue they have always been. Hat answered Bow's question, now that they were deeper in the forest.
"Where are we? Why, Bow, we have now made it to the place of my BFF! SUBCON FOREST!" Hattie exclaimed, her hands up in the air for further exaggeration. Bow just seemed more confused.
"Best friend? What do you me-AH!!"
Bow screamed as she tripped on an exposed root, Hattie quickly following into the circle as their surroundings would soon change from the dark forest to a bright pink-purplish pocket dimension with thousands of lost souls floating upwards. Hattie stood there with a smug, confident look while Bow cowered besides her, confused and frightened as she heard laughter in the air but no source.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!"
Popping out of the ground was The Snatcher himself, clearly not noticing the two fully at the moment due to doing his dramatics.
"YOU BLEW IT! YOU HAVE TOTALLY SCREWED YOURSE-eeeeeeelfs..."
Snatcher cut himself off in his introduction, now noticing the two girls fully. He stared for a moment, almost in disbelief. Hattie stood there, with Bow who had finally calmed down but was still hiding behind Hattie. The hatted girl's smug look grew before she spoke up.
"Hi Snatcher! Been a while, have you been improving your-wOAH!!"
Hat Kid hadn't expected the spirit to suddenly pick her up by the scarf. His eyes narrowed, but he didn't seem angry...if anything, he seemed to have missed the child. Not that he'd let that show, of course. He had a reputation to keep up for Subcon's sake!
"YOU!? AGAIN!? I thought YOU LEFT FOR GOOD! After you pushed all of us off the ship I thought!-"
"What?? Did you miss me?"
Snatcher stared at Hattie for a moment, before he just scoffed and dropped her back on the ground.
"Absolutely NOT!" that was a lie.
Hattie just raised her brows at that, before she glanced over at Bow Kid. Snatcher seemed to notice her as well, since he addressed the other girl in the room.
"Who's this brat?? Don't tell me she's another one of YOU..."
Bow gave a small wave to the ghost, now speaking up the best she could. She even gave him a smile.
"Um...hi mister! I'm Bow...Hattie's sister.." She explained, Hattie nodding in agreement before she wrapped her arm around Bow and pulled her close to her.
"Yep! She's my LITTLE sister! I decided if I was going to come back to see everyone again, I might as well have Bow join and meet my friends!"
Snatcher examined the two for a moment, before he smiled and clasped his hands together.
"WELL! You introduced her to the WRONG ghoul, kiddo! Because guess what? I told you, to NEVER come back to my forest! I gave you your soul, those hourglasses...yet you CAME BACK! So, as a WELCOMING BACK GIFT..."
Two contracts appeared in front of the kiddos, causing Hat kid to be in disbelief, now looking up at Snatcher.
"Wha- I come BACK and you're giving me and MY sister work!? That's not fair!"
Snatcher seemed to just snicker at that.
"Oh it's not fair?? I don't CARE, kiddo! But don't worry.... I'm not taking EITHER of your souls. I already learned my lesson from last time....No! I just need some...help. I've been spotting these...strings. Some red, some an almost chilling color..."
Hat Kid and Bow Kid exchanged glances of confusion. Hattie spoke up first.
"Ok...? What's the problems with the strings-" Snatcher quickly interrupted Hat, "Well if you would just let me FINISH speaking maybe you'd know!"
Hattie glared but allowed the spirit to continue. Snatcher made sure both girls were listening, before he continued.
"The strings WOULDN'T be a problem if it wasn't for the fact not ONLY are they getting tangled up in the trees.... but they've been TAKING things that belong to ME! Books, Paintings, STEVEN!"
The two girls stared in confusion at that last part. Snatcher stared back, before he narrowed his eyes.
"Steven is one of my minions."
Hattie let out an 'Ohhh', while Bow seemed more confused than ever. Snatcher cleared his throat.
"Because of these...strings.... taking my stuff, I've tried snapping them but it's like they're- made of some hard material OR SOMETHING! It's incredibly FRUSTRATING! SO! Now that YOU and that sister of yours are here now.... you two can track down this THIEF with their strings and teach them a LESSON! Got it?"
Now that they had the full explanation of what Snatcher wanted them to do, Hattie had to admit she had missed adventuring- especially when it came to Snatcher's contracts. Sure, most of the time they were difficult, and he was super mean about it, but he had fun ones like the mail delivery! This one should be fun as well! She gave a small salute.
"You got it! Come on Bow, lets sign these contracts and get to it!"
Hat kid stated, now signing the contract that was given to her about the current string situation. Bow hesitated for a second, glancing at Hat before looking at Snatcher....she realized she really didn't have too much of a choice. She went ahead and signed hers as well. With both contracts signed, they would vanish from sight and Snatcher would clasp his hands together with a pleased expression on his face.
"Great! That SEALS the deal! Now, try not to DIE while you both are looking for that THIEF! Good LUCK! HAHAAAAAAAA!"
With that, Snatcher vanished from sight, leaving behind Hattie and Bow in the forest. Hattie fixed her hat before giving a smile to Bow.
"Well, Bow, let's go see and if we can find any of those strings Snatcher was talking about!"
She then went ahead and ran off, Bow quickly following after her and speaking up.
"Hattie! Remember, we aren't HERE to solve all the planet's problems! It was just to visit!"
She reminded, but it just fell on deaf ears as they looked for the strings Snatcher talked about.
Talk about a welcome back to Subcon Forest.