[The Void Project] BACK FROM THE DARKNESS

This all seems rather cool, even if this thread is sort of dead. Here's a little thing I worked on
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" The gentle voice of the Mayor seemed worried above all else that she could have felt. But, I couldn't see why. She tried hard for me and I know she liked having me around.
"I promise you, Rarity, everything will be fine. I know you tried hard and it's kinda fun to go to a mystery place instead." I replied, watching Porter pick up my last box of items.
"I feel like I could have done more..." She trailed off and her gaze was kept firmly at the ground. I know she wouldn't let me see, but I still knew she was close to crying.
"Don't fret over it, alright? With any luck, I may end up in the same town as Fang or maybe Nibbles and Mira!" That attempt at cheering her up seemed to work for a moment before the frown appeared on her pretty face once more.
"Fang's started to show up in Main Street." She mumbled.
"Shouldn't you be happy?" I asked, confused.
"I am. It's just he seems..." She trailed off as she couldn't find the word to use.
"Off?" I asked. She snapped her fingers and nodded.
"Off! Like, he'll talk to me and be happy to see me, but it's like I'm not talking to the Fang I knew. He says he misses Konoha, but I feel like that's only a half-truth." Her normal cheery face was replaced with a look of confusion or hurt. Finally looking at me, she gave me a small smile, "If you do happen to come across him, ask him about it for me please." She requested. I nodded quickly, knowing how fond she was of the wolf she let slip. Everyone in this village that knew Fang would know the two were close and our poor mayor was heartbroken when she returned from being ill to find he'd moved.
"I promise I will ask him about it if I see him." The train gave a ring of it's bells to signify it was leaving and she looked sad once more. Hastily, she pulled me into a tight hug and I immediately hugged back for the last time in a long while.
"I'll miss you." She whispered. I didn't reply back and hugged her a little tighter before I pulled away.
"Look after Vesta for me." I told her with my usual cheerful smile before I stepped onto the train. Taking my seat at the window closest to the platform, I waved at Mayor Miku until the train station and Konoha were out of sight. Then, I sat back in my seat and wondered about where I'll go.

All I know for certain is that by any means I must keep my promise to Miku. I will find Fang and I will send him back to Konoha. Even if it means I can never return. She's happiest with him like I was happiest with Vesta. And I want her to keep that happiness. So, if it's Fang she needs, it's Fang she'll get.

Well, there you do. Not my best work, I'll admit. But since this was done an hour before I leave for college, I'm a bit rushed and tired. XD Anywho! Some story notes!
So I wasn't intending on using Shep for this since he was never actually voided in my town. However, he came close to it and I was worried I'd have to void him. So this kind of take place if my worries became reality and he was voided. Hence why the mayor is upset about him leaving without any idea as to where he'll go.

It was originally going to be a story about Fang and he is still part of the main focus and will probably be a main character for my story. But since so many others have started with the notion of them moving away because they didn't see the mayor for a while (which is exactly what happened to Fang in my case. I was ill for a week and when I came back, he was gone.), so I wanted to go for a different approach where the mayor let the villager move, but tried hard first to find them a new home but failed to do so.

I remembered the mention of main street in other stories and how animals from the void will be allowed there, but not all of them is technically there. And how each of us kind of have particular animals we are extremely close with that they feel personal to us than the same one in a different town (as shown by the Marshal fic a few pages back). I figured, if you're really close to a particular villager and you accidentally let them leave, if they were to return to main street from the void, they'd seem a little off. You wouldn't know why they seemed off and they wouldn't be able to tell you regardless, so you'd be left suspicious or curious as to why they act like that. Also, Fang does actually say he misses the town when you see him on Main Street (first thing he said when I first saw him there)

Oh, and for those of you wondering; my mayor is called Miku, but I had Shep give her the nickname of Rarity. I actually got the small idea (though it's invisible in this as I couldn't really find a way to make it more known or at least subtly known. Maybe if I do think of a way, I'll edit this post to include it) that when Shep stepped on the train, that was when he first starts to 'lose' or 'forget' himself as he doesn't call the mayor by her given nickname like he normally would. Just something I thought of because I've never heard any animals I've gotten from other towns call they're mayors by given nicknames, so it's like a small bit of themselves is erased for the new town once they step on the train. That's my idea anyway. XD

Currently now debating if I have Fang be somewhat crazy and have Shep try to 'bring him back to reality' or have Fang just 'give up' on returning home and try to have Shep accept his fate of being in the void. So, not quite sure where this will, so we'll see.
 
I like it, the idea behind what's going on with villagers that appear in the main street was talked about fairly early on in the thread (way back on page six) but it isn't very well established what it is exactly so you have plenty of flexibility for whatever you want to do with that. Feel free to use any of my voided villagers if you need background characters or something. I look forward to seeing where you go with this.
 
CainWolf said:
I like it, the idea behind what's going on with villagers that appear in the main street was talked about fairly early on in the thread (way back on page six) but it isn't very well established what it is exactly so you have plenty of flexibility for whatever you want to do with that. Feel free to use any of my voided villagers if you need background characters or something. I look forward to seeing where you go with this.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I may include some of your villagers at some point assuming I reach a point where I feel it would be suitable to add them (maybe chapter 3 or 4). I had a feeling main street wasn't really established to what the voided animal could and couldn't do and how they end up there, etc. As for now though, Chapter 1 commence!

I wasn't quite sure when it was that I drifted off. It was like something compelled me to do so, some unforgiving force. Regardless, I had fallen asleep and was woken up rather harshly by the conductor.
"Last stop on the line." He grunted and walked off. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and shrugged, figuring it didn't matter where I was as long as the town was nice and the mayor liked me. Grabbing my things, I cheerfully walked off the train only to be confused at the bleakness of the world around me. This wasn't any normal town by any means. But before I could turn around to ask if I could go on the return trip instead, the train had already pulled away and was off to wherever now. A sigh escaped past my muzzle and I scratched my head, wondering where I was.
"Maybe the bulletin board has the town's name..." And with that, I picked up my things and went outside.

Outside of the train station was worse. Everything seemed bleak and depressing, as if all hope was lost here. Trash was scattered about and the only form of vegetation was wilted flowers and trees the looked as if the reached up into the clouds. It was hard to tell if the town was just over cast or consistently dark since I was sure it about 8 am. The feeling of this place was not happy or friendly to say the least... I feel like I've gotten off at the wrong stop.

It only took a few moments for me to find the bulletin board. "Void?" I questioned, seeing a worn out sign hanging from the side of the board with the town's name on. "Where is this? I've never seen a town called Void on any map Miku showed me. And this place seems to stretch along for much further distances than normal towns.
"Shep?" A voice questioned, a familiar one at that. Turning around a saw a familiar teal squirrel staring at me with confusion and sympathy.
"Nibbles? Is that you?" Her coat seemed duller than I remembered and her eyes didn't shine with the same happiness she used to spread through Konoha. The squirrel approached me and hugged me tight.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Konoha still... Did Miku void you?" She fired several questions at me quickly as she tried to process why I was here.
"I fell asleep on the train and was woken up by the conductor at this stop. And what do you mean by 'void me'?" I asked.
"You'll figure it out later on. I'm not really supposed to explain." She pulled away from the hug and picked up a few of my things. "Follow me." She said. I gathered up the rest of my things and quickly tried to keep up with the small squirrel through the monochrome.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"My house. Or what's left of it. Mira lives there too. And as a word of warning, don't go into the forest alone and avoid Chow and Violet at all costs... they don't take well to everyone who got on with Miku." Nibbles warned.
"I can understand they wouldn't like Miku... She never really liked them." I muttered.
"Exactly. They're not quite as you remember them. Bitter would be the biggest understatement you could come up with. Insane would be a better word, but they're worse than that even." That comment left me wondering just how bad this place was and if it was even safe. Just how long had Nibbles and the rest been here for?
"My house is just up ahead. I'm sure Mira will be happy to see you. She hasn't smiled in a bit, but maybe seeing you will cheer her up. A-And you can tell us about who's in the town now, what's changed and everything else." A small, happy smile appeared on her face as she seemed excited for a moment at being able to hear stories of Konoha. And just like that, she fell into her old self of rambles as we struck up a conversation about things that had happened to us. And I know Nibbles tried hard to keep to good moments she had since I could easily understand that this place wasn't the happiest place in the world. I was thankful for that.

So I'll admit this story isn't going to turn out as the best that I can bring despite me usually being good at this sort of thing. Anyway, chapter 1 story notes:
So correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a true world setting was done for this other than it being where everything erased goes. I remember the mention in another of the stories of the place being divided into small villages so I'm probably going along that route. I figured there wouldn't be any sun, but I couldn't remember if it was always night or just overcast all the time, so I decided to leave Shep confused about it as well (and if I am wrong about the world setting of the void, I apologize. I read most of the stories late at night and will probably re-read them for a better understanding of the environment despite everyone's depictions being slightly different).

Violet and Chow were actually two villagers of mine I didn't like and spent months trying to get them to leave, so I feel like they will be on very bitter terms with me and probably the ones to go animalistic. Mira; I'm going to keep her safely neutral for the moment until I decide what to do with her, so she'll probably just be a bit depressed/miffed at everything but at the same time try and look out for Shep and Nibbles. Nibbles is probably going to go the way of she'll be quiet and cautious of everything, not really trusting anyone and try to guide Shep in the right direction on how to live in the void.

Still unsure of what Fang will be like, but he may not appear until chapter 4 or something, so I'll debate with him. Not really much else to say about this chapter. ^_^"

So there's chapter 1! I may be posting a chapter a day depending on if I get ideas or if I'm free to write a bit. Anyway, this is a fun thing for me as I haven't written a story in a while. XD
 
People tend to be their own worst critics, I think your story is looking good so far even if you have issues with it and I continue looking forward to the next chapter.

There isn't really a solid cannon for what The Void is like so you aren't really obligated to stick to any one path but the general consensus seems to be that it's full of all the deleted stuff in the game, for me I include whatever a villager had on them when they left like my Curlos's periwinkle tee scarf or whatever random furniture I gave to the others. The Void is interpreted as being pretty run-down and dull in color but since it's supposed to be big enough to contain every voided villager ever and might be growing there could be a fair amount of variety that simply hasn't been explored. I imagine with all the villager houses that have been thrown into chaos by people who are careless about what furniture they give their villagers and the deleted paths that were too gaudy and colorful to be used long-term there could be a part of the void that is just bright, nonsensical, and a general eyesore to the point where most would prefer hanging around the depressing sections we're familiar with... Now that I typed all that out I kinda want to write a void story in this setting, maybe I can include the void villagers that are too brightly colored to hide well in the normal sections.

I am so glad I can bounce ideas off of other people like this, I didn't think too hard about what The Void's setting was like outside of the dark, depressing nature of being a place where dead plants, trash, and abandoned villagers go but I always forget the other deleted things like erased paths, demolished public works projects, and balloon furniture that gets shot down over paths/flowers/water and deletes itself when it can't find a spot to land. As a matter of fact I bet that if a game gets corrupted an entire well-developed town could wind up in The Void too. I imagine that deleted human characters might even have their own section since they can't escape like villagers can seeing as how no human character has ever wandered around someone's main street or been picked up from the void into someone else's game the way a villager would so perhaps deleted humans have a walled of section that animals can't get into.
 
I'm back! I'd like to write a story, I'm just trying to figure out where to start. The only idea I have is the super cliched amnesia storyline. :L
Anyways, adding onto what could be voided I'd imagine that plot resetting would lead to a lot of voided humans and villagers. Would it just be their plot that gets voided, or the villager themself?

- - - Post Merge - - -

I also really like your story, Shadow Star! I'm hooked after just two chapters. ^_^
 
I'm not sure if resetting a plot would void a villager, at least not if it's a single villager invited from the campsite, seems like you'd wind up with a small army of Marshals hanging around The Void if that were the case but the topic of multiple versions of the same villager has come up a few times before. I even considered writing something about my insane smug version of Curlos fighting a different Curlos with the lazy personality that he had in previous games but since my Curlos is known for being crazy any other Curlos he confronts may or may not even exist. People tend to have their own personal head-cannons for their versions of villagers based on personal experience and nobody has to stick with a single cannon for The Void so you can do whatever you want and use parallel universes as an excuse (The Void itself may not even be the same dimension considering it works on different physics than the normal animal crossing world).

I suppose plot resetting may void villagers if they aren't pre-determined move-ins from the campsite or other towns. If you just reset a plot and it's a different villager every time then the data is sort of deleted in a sense even if those villagers don't actually appear in your personal void but if you have a specific villager moving in then their data isn't deleted since it remains intact through the resets. It is an interesting subject though, you've given me something to think about.

Feel free to use my voided villagers if you need background characters or something for your story. Curlos just loves to stick his nose into everyone's business in The Void in his efforts to help those that can't help themselves, and antagonize everyone else.
 
The walk to Nibbles house was quite short and it when we arrived, it looked the same as it did in Konoha, if not just a bit dull with a bit of damage. Nibbles stepped up to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open.
"Mira! I'm back. And I have an old friend with us." Nibbles announced. I followed inside after her and saw Mira sitting in the back, reading a book. She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw me. "Shep?" She placed the book down and ran over to hug me. Much like Nibbles, her coat was duller than I remembered and her spark had left her eyes too.
"It's good to see you too, Mira." I greeted.
"Shep has so much to tell us about Konoha! We have some catching up to do! I'll make us some tea." Nibbles happily ran off to get some tea for us while Mira and myself sat back down.
"So... Miku voided you?" Mira asked.
"I still don't know what that term means." I replied.
"Ah, you'll find out soon. Especially if you run into Curlos."
"Curlos?" I questioned.
"A smug personality sheep. I would say you two would get along great, but he's a bit wrong in the head. Some know why, most avoid not bothering since many villagers here are insane now."
"So why aren't you?" I asked.
"It's because we've decided we're going to escape. We don't think Miku purposely voided us. She was too sweet for that and she loved us. I really wish I had gone to her about moving now..." Nibbles sighed and placed a cup each down on the small table for us all and sat across from us. "So!" She began cheerfully, "Tell us about Konoha!"

After the catch up session, it was silent for a few moments.
"So if we were still there, we'd only recognize Merry and Vesta." Mira mumbled. "Wow, a lot has changed." She concluded.
"Oh, by the way. Have you two seen Fang?" I asked. The two physically cringed a bit at the mention of him and I tilted my head in confusion.
"You don't wanna see Fang..." Nibbles mumbled.
"Why?"
"He's not quite the same as he used to be. Slightly insane... mostly depressed. There's no use in talking to him about attempting to return. He's given up." Mira replied.
"Given up? On returning? But he and Miku were so close! She cried for a week when she found out he moved." I exclaimed.
"We know... but it's just been so long since he left. We've tried to convince him before that all we need is a plan and we have an escape." Nibbles explained.
"But he's long since given up and we just don't try anymore. It's sad to see him like this, but if you want to try and knock some sense into that thick head of his, be our guest." Mira motioned to the front door. "His house isn't too far from here. Just keep walking straight and you can't miss it. If the door is locked, the spare key is in the mailbox." She instructed. I nodded, finishing the tea and standing up.
"It was nice seeing you two again." I thanked.
"If you need a place to stay, I have extra space." Nibbles offered. I nodded and left the house, sighing to myself.

Just how much had everyone changed?

I have no real story notes for this one. Fang is set to appear the next chapter and I'm sure Curlos will be making an appearance some time soon. Mostly to explain what the others mean when they say you've been voided. I'm hoping I can get his character just right. XD
 
Awesome, and don't worry too much about getting Curlos just right, nothing about that sheep is right. Curlos walks that fine line between pretending to be crazy to keep others from messing with him to actually being crazy due to his many issues. All you got to remember when writing him is crazy sheep, blue scarf, self-appointed guardian of villagers who would just as soon avoid him, and he doesn't like talking about his old mayor.
 
I'm gonna start posting the sequel to my first story. It continues where the epilogue left off but from Curlos's perspective. The format is a little different in this story, while the first had the different perspectives of ten different villagers that loosely connected this has a more solid storyline focusing on Curlos as the protagonist/antagonist and switching between the happier past in the town of Crystal and the current unpleasantness in The Void on each chapter.

Curlos sat in the high branches of his favorite dead tree, his black eyes calmly surveying The Void. Leaning back against the trunk he started to relax. When there aren't terrible monsters, ruthless bandits, and various other dangers to deal with things get a bit dull, I'm feeling a bit bored keeping watch but I guess peace is preferable. Curlos felt himself start to drift off when the familiar sounds of panicked gasps for air and rapid footsteps crunching against dry grass. Sounds like somebody is fleeing in terror! Oh joy, I was worried I'd die of boredom and deprive my enemies of the pleasure of killing me themselves. Curlos glanced down as the figure slumped in exhaustion beneath the tree. Must be a newbie, most who run out of breath that quick either get in shape or get eaten. Curlos thought to himself as he leaned forward for a better look, his scarf flutters in the breeze and the terrified newcomer immediately looks up at the scarf catches his attention and his eyes meet Curlos's.

Curlos felt time come to a crawl when the familiarity of those eyes set in, his curiosity became surprise, and his surprise became anger. For what seemed like hours but was actually mere seconds Curlos glared down at the kid before a mischievous grin etched across his face, Curlos felt this may have been an opportunity for a revenge he could only fantasize about since his arrival. "Well well, there's a familiar face I wasn't expecting! How delightful to have such an unexpected guest!" Curlos greeted in a gleefully menacing tone as he dropped down to confront Mayor Aidan of Crystal.

"Curlos?" The human gasped out in shock, still too out-of-breath to muster the proper volume to express his surprise, probably a good thing seeing as how Curlos didn't want anyone, friend or foe, to be drawn to the commotion and ruin it. The fear in Aidan was almost palatable though, and Curlos enjoyed drinking in this fear as he pondered what to do. Now this is an opportunity I never thought I'd have! In all my daydreams of vengeance I never really picked out a favorite! So many options but so little time! Hmm... Hmm? Curlos noticed that during his musings the kid passed out from either shock or exhaustion. Drat, the little creep couldn't even stay awake long enough for my vengeance! Revenge on an unconscious victim is hardly satisfying but if someone catches me then I may not get any revenge at all! What to do?

Suddenly the roar of a familiar foe rang out, it was nearby but not quite an immediate danger. Oh, in my excitement I nearly forgot that he was fleeing something. I suppose I should get going and avoid Alli, getting eating by an angry monster is revenge enough I suppose, better than no revenge. Curlos started to walk away but paused. The kid might have something useful on him, better search him for supplies. Curlos turned back and searched Aidan's inventory. "A gold axe? Score! And perfect peaches instead of rotten ones!" Curlos's mouth watered, he wasn't even sure if it was because of the food or the axe but he was more exited than he was when planning his revenge just minutes ago.

Curlos filled his own inventory and started to retreat again but he paused once more. Why am I pausing? Move feet! How dare you disobey me? You're just feet! Curlos quietly argued with his feet for a couple minutes when another roar sounded out, closer this time. "Damn it feet I don't have time for this, I'm leaving him to his demise and you can't stop me!" Curlos's feet silently disagreed with this statement. Curlos sighed, "Okay you have a point, fine! I'm not happy with this though." Curlos went back and picked up Aidan, slinging the boy over his back like a parent giving their tuckered-out child a piggy back ride after an exiting day. Curlos carried Aidan away to someplace safer as he continued arguing with himself.
 
Here's another chapter, taking place in Curlos's past in Crystal back when he was still friends with Aidan.

Aidan crept towards the tarantula with his trusty net at the ready, it wasn't anything special like a gold or even silver net but everybody has to start somewhere and Aidan hadn't been mayor all that long. His tongue sticking out the side of his mouth slightly in concentration as he got within range and brought his net down a few inches short and the tarantula turns and seems to glare at Aidan with all eight of it's eyes. "Aw ****."

Curlos was shaking random trees when he heard panicked yelling. Curlos turned to see Aidan flailing in panic with a tarantula on his face before stumbling backwards and fainting. Curlos immediately ran over and swatted the tarantula away into the nearby river. "Aidan! You okay amigo?" A groan is the only response and a concerned Curlos slings his friend across his back and begins to carry him home.

As he arrives at Aidan's house a worried voice calls out, "Curlos! What happened? Is Aidan okay?" Curlos slows as Bangle approaches. "Aidan could use a little first aid, tarantula got him. Could you get some medicine and meet me in his house?" Bangle nods, "You can count on me!" Bangle runs off to get medicine as Curlos goes in and carries Aidan up to his bedroom. "You really should lock your door buddy, you must be the only guy in town who doesn't lock up before he goes out." An unconscious mumbling is Aidan's reply.

Curlos gently sets his friend down on a big modern bed customized in silver ore with a starry bed sheet. Curlos sits next to his friend and gently brushes some hair out of Aidan's face with his hoof, but when he hears the front door slam he quickly pulls away and stands up before Bangle makes it up. "I got the medicine Curlos." Bangle says softly as she comes over and hands Curlos the bag. Curlos administers the medicine as Bangle glances downstairs. "Do you have a spare house key or did he just forget to lock the door again?"

"Why would I lock my door? I have a lot of awesome friends in this town and they should be able to come in when they need to." Bangle looks back in surprise as Aidan starts to get up. "This proves it pretty well don't you think?" Curlos gently pushes his friend back down. "You need to rest amigo, when giant spiders try to eat your face you need to rest." Aidan gets up anyway. "I'm fine Curlos, besides I just have a few more things to get done before today is over." Aidan brings his friends in for a group hug and runs out before they can stop him. Curlos sighs in exasperation. "I wish Aidan would listen to me a bit more. That kid is just a bit crazy."
 
Another chapter, I'm labeling whether they take place in the past or future to avoid confusion.

Fauna was tending to her garden when the sound of an approaching madman arguing with himself came from behind her. "Oh shut up appendix, I don't want to help him either but feet outrank you, and I don't need your high-and-mighty attitude molar, not you upper-right side molar, you're still cool, I was talking to lower-right molar." Fauna sighed and without turning around greeted her "friend" as he came to a stop behind her. "Hello Curlos, you can stop your insane rambling, there's nobody else here to put on a show for." Curlos sighed, "How I wish that were true, I have someone who needs a place to stay and your house is one of the few intact ones, seeing as how nobody messes with you anymore, you're welcome by the way." Fauna rolled her eyes and continued gardening. "I can't babysit everyone who needs a place to stay Curlos, no matter how much I'd like to." Curlos dropped a basket of perfect peaches. "Perhaps you'll make an exception, our little friend here probably wouldn't mind sharing his food, although if you want to wait until he wakes up to ask him I'd understand."

Fauna finally looked up and did a double take when she saw who was drapped over Curlos's back. She immediately got up and looked closely to make sure it wasn't the shadows playing tricks on her eyes. "Is that Aidan?" Fauna asked in shock. "No, it's the dali llama, you know how similar they look and of couse it's Aidan! Don't remind me, I can't believe I'm helping him but my feet are being jerks today..." Fauna ignored Curlos's sarcasm and insanity in favor of letting them inside. Curlos imediately dropped Aidan on the bed and starts to leave.

"Curlos wait! You can't just leave!" Fauna calls out. "Watch me, I don't owe him anything. The kid is lucky I didn't leave him to be eaten by Alli." Curlos snaps as he starts to walk out. Fauna blocks his path. "You at least owe me an explanation." Curlos sighs, "I really don't, you said yourself you can't babysit everyone who needs a place to stay and you chose to let me dump him off on you when you let me in. Besides I don't have an explanation either." Curlos pushed past Fauna and went off into the darkness, his dark brown fur vanishing from sight long before his bright blue scarf does.
 
"I don't know Bangle, as much as I like Fauna I really need to make room in this town. I've always wanted a wolf in this town but I just haven't been able to find a single one in the campsite! I find about a half-dozen deer but not one wolf!" Bangle looked at Aidan with concern. "But I thought Fauna was your favorite?" Aidan sighed. "I do like her, a lot, but she asked to move and you know what they say about setting things you love free. Besides, if I was picking favorites I think I'd be more inclined to pick my oldest friend." Aidan put a comforting hand on Bangles shoulder to emphasize what he meant.

Bangle turned her head to the side to hide her blush. It was worrying that Aidan was letting Fauna leave but being called Aidan's favorite friend in the town was a relief. She didn't plan on going back to The Void anytime soon and she felt her position was safe, she was worried about Fauna though. Aidan stood up and ran a hand through his spiky black hair, "Well I'm gonna hang with Fauna for a bit to make the most of her last few days here in Crystal. Care to join?" Bangle smiled, "No, you go have fun. I don't want to get in the way of your alone time with Fauna." Aidan blushed at Bangle's teasing as she smirked, "S-she's just a friend." He stammers nervously before running off. Bangle giggles at her friend's nervousness but pauses when she hears someone else laughing along.

Bangle looks up and sees a black scarf sticking out of the leaves of the perfect peach tree she was sitting under. "Curlos, that bleak black scarf of yours sticks out like a sore thumb in a tree full of vibrant leaves and colorful fruit." Curlos pokes his head out. "Yeah but it looks cool doesn't it? It was something Aidan put up in the Able's shop, that kid is almost as fabulous as yours truly." Bangle rolled her eyes at the sheep's nonsense. "What are you doing up in that tree? Eavesdropping?" Curlos dropped down next to Bangle with a grin. "Of course! How else am I supposed to get the latest gossip?" Curlos's grin drops suddenly and lowers his voice. "Besides, I'm worried about how things are around here. If Aidan's willing to get rid of Fauna I don't think any of us are safe."

Bangle stiffens up at Curlos's words. It seems whenever he gets angry or paranoid or crazy something seems off about the way he talks. "I wouldn't worry about it, I don't think Aidan will get rid of me any time soon." Curlos stares at Bangle with a hint of pity in his eyes, Bangle glares back with conviction. "If you say so Bangle, I hope you're right."
 
Curlos wandered around aimlessly trying to clear his head. He pulled out the gold axe again and it made him feel a bit better but there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why am I so much more distraught than usual? Is it the lack of vengeance? Guilt from dumping off the extra burden on Fauna? Shut up feet I'm not worried about Aidan! Aw **** my outside crazy is becoming inside crazy. I've been in The Void too long, and it's all Aidan's fault. I should've taken my revenge when I had the chance, no way Fauna is gonna give me the opportunity now.

At this point Curlos was convinced his feet brought him to Fauna in their insidious plot to get in the way of his vengeance and briefly considered using his new axe to rid himself of the traitors before remembering that would be a crazy thing to do. "I really need to do something to take my mind off things, I should antagonize an angry gator! No wait, that's insane. I should antagonize my friends! Wait, talk to friends! Yes, don't want to antagonize the only people who still talk to me besides me... And even I don't want to talk to me." Curlos cackles maniacally at his own deranged rambling, laughing much harder than he should at something that isn't particularly funny.

"Will you cut that out Curlos? It is really unsettling and I get worried for you." A voice calls from the trees, Curlos looks up and his mad grin settles down into a genuine smile as he lays eyes on his favorite tiger. "Hey Bangle, didn't see you up there! How is it we share the same brown and yellow color scheme and yet you're so much more stealthy?" Bangle climbed down. "Because I don't wear a bright blue scarf Curlos, literally everyone here has told you that at least once." Curlos rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't say literally everyone, Alli has never said a word against my scarf." Bangle stares at Curlos with an exasperated look. "Curlos, Alli doesn't say anything except "graaagh" while she attempt to kill you so I wouldn't exactly count on her to give fashion advice." Curlos smirks, "Shows what you know, Alli is a snooty villager. If she could just gather her wits long enough to form a coherent sentence then she would give fabulous fashion advice!" Bangle facepalms while trying not to laugh. "You're just a bit crazy Curlos."

Curlos felt so much better, talking to Bangle always helped him relax even before they wound up here. The Void may be a bit cold and lonely at times but the few friends I have make me feel so much more sane. Bangle, Bella, Bruce, Bam, even Broccolo despite being more of a frenemy than a friend... Why are there so many voided villagers who's names start with 'B' from Crystal? That is weird. I feel kinda bad for ditching Fauna now, she's sort of a friend too. "Curlos?" Bangle called out in concern, Curlos realized he had been staring off in the distance aimlessly and shook his head. "I'm fine Bangle, but I have to go. I have a few things that need to get done before the day is over."

I made a reference to a certain villager's catchphrase in the chapter, 20 tbt to the first person who spots it.
 
CainWolf said:
Curlos wandered around aimlessly trying to clear his head. He pulled out the gold axe again and it made him feel a bit better but there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why am I so much more distraught than usual? Is it the lack of vengeance? Guilt from dumping off the extra burden on Fauna? Shut up feet I'm not worried about Aidan! Aw **** my outside crazy is becoming inside crazy. I've been in The Void too long, and it's all Aidan's fault. I should've taken my revenge when I had the chance, no way Fauna is gonna give me the opportunity now.

At this point Curlos was convinced his feet brought him to Fauna in their insidious plot to get in the way of his vengeance and briefly considered using his new axe to rid himself of the traitors before remembering that would be a crazy thing to do. "I really need to do something to take my mind off things, I should antagonize an angry gator! No wait, that's insane. I should antagonize my friends! Wait, talk to friends! Yes, don't want to antagonize the only people who still talk to me besides me... And even I don't want to talk to me." Curlos cackles maniacally at his own deranged rambling, laughing much harder than he should at something that isn't particularly funny.

"Will you cut that out Curlos? It is really unsettling and I get worried for you." A voice calls from the trees, Curlos looks up and his mad grin settles down into a genuine smile as he lays eyes on his favorite tiger. "Hey Bangle, didn't see you up there! How is it we share the same brown and yellow color scheme and yet you're so much more stealthy?" Bangle climbed down. "Because I don't wear a bright blue scarf Curlos, literally everyone here has told you that at least once." Curlos rolls his eyes. "I wouldn't say literally everyone, Alli has never said a word against my scarf." Bangle stares at Curlos with an exasperated look. "Curlos, Alli doesn't say anything except "graaagh" while she attempt to kill you so I wouldn't exactly count on her to give fashion advice." Curlos smirks, "Shows what you know, Alli is a snooty villager. If she could just gather her wits long enough to form a coherent sentence then she would give fabulous fashion advice!" Bangle facepalms while trying not to laugh. "You're just a bit crazy Curlos."

Curlos felt so much better, talking to Bangle always helped him relax even before they wound up here. The Void may be a bit cold and lonely at times but the few friends I have make me feel so much more sane. Bangle, Bella, Bruce, Bam, even Broccolo despite being more of a frenemy than a friend... Why are there so many voided villagers who's names start with 'B' from Crystal? That is weird. I feel kinda bad for ditching Fauna now, she's sort of a friend too. "Curlos?" Bangle called out in concern, Curlos realized he had been staring off in the distance aimlessly and shook his head. "I'm fine Bangle, but I have to go. I have a few things that need to get done before the day is over."

I made a reference to a certain villager's catchphrase in the chapter, 20 tbt to the first person who spots it.
Click to expand...

I'm loving your story! I'm sorry for not commenting very often, but I get excited every time I see a new chapter up. C:

Were you referencing Alli's catchprase (graaagh)? She showed up in my cycling town so I recognize it.
 
BlooBelle said:
I'm loving your story! I'm sorry for not commenting very often, but I get excited every time I see a new chapter up. C:

Were you referencing Alli's catchprase (graaagh)? She showed up in my cycling town so I recognize it.
Click to expand...

You got it! I never had her myself but someone gave me permission to use their voided Alli in my stories so I looked her up on the wiki. I'm glad you enjoy the story, I worry that I'm posting for an imaginary audience at times because I don't want to shove it into people's faces like "Here's the sequel nobody asked for!" but it's fun to write anyway. I think once I finish Curlos's saga I might post it as it's own topic to get the story more attention but for now I'm happy with the no-pressure approach of posting in one or two topics that several people share.

I sent the tbt bells, good job catching it.
 
Another chapter of Curlos and Aidan's past in Crystal, I am really happy with how this chapter turned out and hope it brings out the feels right before I try to murder those feels right around chapter 10. By the way I don't know if you noticed but during the "past" chapters that take place in Crystal Curlos goes in and out of his comic sans font rather than the constant comic sans dialog he has when in The Void. I mentioned it in chapter 4 but I just wanted to be clear that I'm doing it on purpose.

Curlos shivered and coughed as he paced his home. "Being sick is the worst... Well, I guess not the worst but close to it..." The sheep complained to himself. Suddenly there's a knock on the door and the mayor walks in. "Hey Curlos, how ya feeling buddy?" Aidan asks in a gentle tone. "Hey Aidan, I'm pretty sick today so I can't hang out today." Curlos punctuated his sentence with a sneeze. "Yeah Bangle told me you were sick." Aidan said as he reached behind his back and pulled out a bag. "That's why I stopped by with some medicine for you."

Curlos smiled gratefully and took the medicine from his friend. "Thanks amigo, you didn't have to do this." Aidan patted his friend on the back. "Nonsense, I'd do this for anyone and you'd do the same for me too. What are friends for?" Curlos continued smiling until a coughing fit interrupted. "I'll be back tomorrow with more medicine in case you need it, get some rest Curlos. Seriously you have two beds and you should be using one, I never see anybody use their beds, you guys are always sleeping standing up or sitting at the most." Aidan says on his way out as Curlos chuckles at the observation.

True to his word Aidan comes back with medicine the next day to help Curlos recover. "Hellooo nurse!" Curlos teases as Aidan hands him the medicine. "Shut up Curlos." Aidan says, trying not to laugh. "This is pretty cool of you amigo, you really don't have to go out of your way to do this." Curlos remarks as he takes his medicine. "I do this with anyone, what kind of mayor would I be if I ignore when one of my villagers is sick?" Curlos ponders the rhetorical question. "A normal mayor? I don't think personally delivering medicine and telling your citizens to get bed rest is a mayoral duty." Aidan smirks at this. "Exactly! Who would want to be known as a normal mayor? I'm an awesome mayor and don't you forget it!" Curlos laughs at his enthusiastic young friend. "I won't forget Aid."

Aidan brings in medicine ever day until the morning that Curlos wakes up to find himself completely recovered. The sheep walks outside for the first time in days and stretches as he takes a deep breath of air, taking in the scent of peaches and... Roses? Curlos looks around and notices his house is suddenly surrounded by gold roses that circle all the way around. Only one person in town has the gold watering can needed to make gold roses but Curlos could've guessed who did this without the obvious evidence. "I really won't forget it..."
 
"Forget it Bangle, can we just drop it?" Curlos grumbles to his nosy friend. "Come on Curlos gold axes don't just appear in The Void, where did you get it?" Bangle pressed. After Curlos said he had to go and turned to leave Bangle noticed the new toy Curlos had on his back and now she wasn't going to leave him alone until she got an answer. Curlos tried to walk faster but Bangle grabbed him by the shoulder roughly to stop him, he turned his head in slow and menacing manner. "You don't want to mess with Crazy Curlos Bangle, that's not a game you can win." Bangle rolled her eyes. "Don't be like that Curlos, we're friends and there is no reason you can't..." Bangle trailed off as she inspected the axe. "The axe in engraved Curlos."

Curlos perked his head up at this odd change in subject before it sank in, and he looked up to see Bangle glaring at him. "Why does your axe say 'Aidan' on it Curlos? What did you do?" Curlos pulled away from Bangle's grasp. "I didn't do anything, stop bugging me over it." Before Bangle could press further they Curlos came to a sudden stop and his ears perked up as noise emanated in the direction of Fauna's house. Someone was whistling the end of K.K. Stroll while a guitar played. "Oh it's bad enough he had to come here but he's gonna get Fauna killed making that racket." Curlos ran back to Fauna's house to find Bella strumming her guitar and Aidan sitting on the ground next to Fauna as she worked on her garden.

"How about we do Lucky K.K. next? That's my personal favorite." Aidan asks Bella after she finishes the last few notes. Bella nods and starts to position her fingers when Curlos grabs her arm. "Are you all completely mad?" Bella's eyes glow red in surprise for a moment before she recognizes him, then raises an eyebrow at Curlos's remark. "Really Curlos? Really?" Curlos glares at the mouse. "Don't act like I'm some hypocrite, I know what kind of reputation I have a but this is completely different."

"Curlos, calm down buddy you're acting crazy." This casual remark didn't hold a hint of malice but everyone felt a huge wave of tension sweep over as Curlos turned to the one who was foolish enough to speak such words to him. "What did you call me?" Aidan was either oblivious to the cold rage lurking behind Curlos's eyes or didn't care. "You heard me, you're acting crazy."

Suddenly Curlos was in Aidan's face grabbing him by the shirt to pull him to his feet to look him right in the eye. "I'm not talking about your accusations of insanity, I don't care about that!" Curlos snapped at the human, his voice lowered to a deeper more menacing tone. "The other thing..." Aidan looked confused. "What?" Curlos slammed Aidan into the wall of Fauna's house and presses a hoof against Aidan's throat, causing him to choke. "You do not have the right to call me buddy you-" Curlos is interrupted by a strong pair of arms pick him up like he weighs nothing and pulls him away from Aidan while Fauna and Bella rush over to the human, the brown fur with yellow stripes holding him is quickly recognized.

"I'll kill you all! You aren't friends! Your just a bunch of fools and traitors and if I don't finish you something worse will! You will all be dragged down to your doom by this pitiful excuse for a mayor!" Curlos gasps for air after his rant, forgetting to breath during his fit of rage. Everyone is silent except for Curlos and Aidan panting. Aidan is the first to speak. "Are you okay Curlos?" Curlos's eye twitches a little at the sound of Aidan's voice but his fury had calmed a bit and he answered in a calm tone. "Shut up Aidan." Aidan shakes his head and walks over to Bangle and Curlos. "Let him go Bangle." Everyone looks at Aidan like he's the craziest person in the immediate area. "What?" Four different voices ask at once. "You heard me, let him go... Please."

Bangle hesitates, looking at Aidan in complete confusion. "Oookay then, but don't do anything stupid." She relents as she carefully lets go of Curlos. Aidan looks directly at Curlos as the sheep glares back. "Curlos, I want you to hit me as hard as you can." Aidan says in a serious tone, causing Bangle to facepalm. "What did I just say!?"

Curlos and Aidan really have similar personalities, at least my interpretation of Curlos relates to the persona I give Aidan. Curlos wont currently admit to it but in chapter 4 he mentioned Aidan's interest in fashion rivals his own and they both happen to be a bit crazy (I mentioned in my previous story that Aidan liked to wear a hockey mask and carry an axe) but underneath the crazy they do care about others. They do have their differences, Curlos is fairly headstrong and his insanity can sometimes be less pretend than he claims while Aidan is naive and a bit selfish. I don't think I'll go into much detail about it in this the story but Aidan isn't a people person, he gets along with villagers well for the most part but he gets nervous around other humans so for a few villagers he simply didn't even try to find them a new home if there wasn't enough interest in them, like Curlos.
 
Curlos stares at his new painting, a fine masterpiece bought off a shifty fox. Curlos had a good feeling about it and brought it to Reese to get it authenticated. "What do you mean it's fake!?" Curlos couldn't believe he was tricked, normally he tends to be better at reading others but his time in Crystal was starting to dull his otherwise sharp instincts. "I'm sorry Curlos, but the woman in this painting is supposed to have a blue scarf. If you want you can pay a disposal fee and I'll get rid of it for you." Reese offered. "I can't afford it right now..." Curlos said sadly as he walked out with the fake painting.

"Stupid stupid! I can't slip up like this, if I was in The Void then I'd be a snack for misjudging someone so badly. What am I going to do?" Curlos was worried, he was low on bells and out of practice dealing with the shifty types. Perhaps the best way to get into the heads of shifty individuals and make back my money is to try my hoof at it, two birds with one stone... Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the perfect target. Well... My little friend looks quite wealthy in his little crown, I'm sure he could afford to waste a little.

"Hey Aidan... Wanna buy my prized possession?" Curlos asked as Aidan walked by. "Prized possession?" Aidan asks curiously, coming to a stop. "Indeed, this wistful painting is a favorite of mine but I may be willing to part with it for the right price..." Curlos hinted with a mischievous glint in his eye. Aidan nodded his head, "Sure, can never have too many paintings, if Blathers doesn't need it then someone will."

After Aidan bought the painting and walked off Curlos felt a pang of guilt. "I shouldn't have done that, I don't think Aidan will hold it against me but-" Someone tapped on his shoulder. "What are you talking about Curlos?" Curlos nearly jumped out of his skin from Bangle's sudden interruption. "Nothing! Ahem, nothing, sorry I was just rambling to myself." Bangle looked at Curlos oddly but decided to drop it and left.

Curlos let out a sigh of relief. I really am slipping up, nobody could sneak up on me like that in The Void and they shouldn't be able to if I return. Curlos put his feelings of guilt aside, he knew he needed to be prepared for the worst, even if it meant he had to be the worst.
 
Curlos stared at Aidan with a confused and suspicious glare. "You want me to do what now?" Aidan maintained his serious face. "I haven't been here long and I don't fully understand what this place is but Fauna and Bella have told me some stuff about The Void, and some stuff about you." Aidan's expression softened. "I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy, let alone a close friend, so just let out your frustration." Aidan's voice cracked a little towards the end and despite his attempt at bravado looked like he was about to cry as he braced for a hit.

Curlos rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hit you Aidan." Aidan looked at Curlos hopefully. Curlos slammed Aidan into the wall again but this time refrained from chocking him. "You think one little punch is enough to make up for all this!?" Bangle pulled Curlos back again but he kept yelling. "You don't want me to punch you because it will make me feel better, you want me to do it because you feel guilty, as you should, but you can't just waltz in here and act like we're still your friends."

Curlos pulled away from Bangle and stormed off, glancing back only to see the looks they gave him. Aidan watched him sadly, Fauna looked angry, Bella avoided eye contact and distracted herself by tuning her guitar again, Bangle just looked at him with disappointment. "Those idiots, they should hate him just as much as I do but they don't, because they're stupid." Curlos muttered under his breath as he retreated through the woods out of sight. "I see you're coming around on the 'everyone is an idiot' bandwagon, and personally I agree with you." Curlos darted his head around to see a pair of glowing yellow eyes peering through the nearby bushes.

Curlos sighed, "Go away Broccolo I'm in no mood to deal with you today." Broccolo emerged from the shadows, his glowing yellow eyes fade back to a cold black. "Not in the mood to deal with me? Curlos, I want to help you my friend, I believe we can help each other." Curlos snorts in derision. "Don't call me your friend, I've had enough of 'friends' for one day." The little blue mouse climbs onto Curlos's back, lightweight enough that Curlos barely notices. "Oh don't be like that Curlos, you just need a little devil on your shoulder to show you the way to deal with this, Aidan didn't come here the same way we did meaning that we can use him to escape and then take him out in one go!"

Curlos pauses, considering Broccolo's words carefully. "I... I don't know, if you're suggesting what I think you'rs suggesting then it might be a bit farther than I'm willing to go." Broccolo rolled his eyes at Curlos's timid mumbling. "You were threatening to kill them all a few minutes ago Curlos, I think that ship has sailed." Curlos looked at Broccolo skeptically. "There is a difference between insane ranting in the heat of the moment and actually going through with it." Broccolo climbs off of Curlos and looks him in the eye.

"Curlos, fewer and fewer of your friends and allies are willing to take a chance in dealing with you, you're too out of control and you only get worse the longer you stay. I know you're reluctant to leave those so-called friends behind but we won't need friends once we escape and they wouldn't help us anyway." Curlos shifted uncomfortably, he knew the rodent was at least partially right. "If there is a way out then an attack probably isn't even necessary, we could probably just ask Aidan to-" Broccolo cut off Curlos with a surprisingly fierce glare. "You think he'll help? He already sent us away once because we didn't fit in with that perfect town of his and he made it more than clear he'd rather have villagers who aren't us! I thought you despised Aidan more than anyone, including me. It isn't like you to be this uncertain... Don't tell me you have a thing for pretty-boy as well?" The sheep snarled at Broccolo. "No, I don't, and I resent that you even suggest such a thing. I'm in." Broccolo smirked, satisfied that his goading had set another domino in place. "Then let's do this..."
 
The final chapter, I'm working on the sequel already but I think this is a good place to pause as I prepare the third story. In these stories I've been experimenting with how to go about writing; the first one had each chapter from the perspectives of different villagers with a vague connection that can kinda be followed, this one was a more solid story that switches between past and present to slowly reveal why Curlos acts the way he does, and I think the last one will just be a story unless I think of something else I want to do with it.

Aidan knocks on the door of Curlos's house and enters, his dark eyes surveying the boxes scattered throughout the room. "Hey Curlos..." The sheep finished patting down some tape on the box he was packing and turned to look at Aidan. "Hey." The exchange seemed brief and awkward but Aidan tried to continue the conversation anyway. "So I guess this will be the last time I see you Curlos, I'm gonna miss you." You're not gonna miss me enough to want to keep me apparently. "Yeah, I'll miss you too, I sent my picture to you in the mail so you won't forget me." Aidan nodded. "That's cool, I don't really use villager pics for much but I'll hang on to it."

Curlos grinds his teeth a little but hid it well. "I don't really know where I'm gonna go, I don't suppose you know anybody who could use a villager like me in their town?" Curlos asked hopefully, but Aidan shook his head. "I'm afraid not Curlos, you know I like you but in general you aren't very popular." This remark made Curlos's blood boil, he struggled to keep his tone polite. "Can you at least try to find someone?" Aidan shook his head again. "I'm sorry Curlos but I'm just terrible at finding people to take villagers, I couldn't even find someone to take Bam when he left, I just don't know how I'll find anyone who will take you." Aidan tries to pat Curlos on the back in a gesture of comfort but the sheep pulls away. "I have to finish packing, you should go..." Curlos's voice dripped with venom and Aidan decided it was best to listen.

"Goodbye Curlos." Aidan called out as he walked out the door, a snort was the only response. Aidan closed the door behind him and turned to leave when he saw Bangle staring at him sadly. "I can't believe your letting him go Aidan, you two got along so well." Aidan rubbed his arm guiltily and glanced back at the door. "Curlos is great and all but I never planned to keep him here this long, he already overstayed his welcome." Bangle growled at Aidan. "I can't believe you, I've been here longer than Curlos, I suppose I've overstayed my welcome too?" Aidan looked up at Bangle in surprise. "What? No, you didn't overstay any welcome! I liked you when we first met but with Curlos I was waiting for the day he'd ask to move out since the day he moved in..." Bangle looked shocked but Aidan continued. "I just never thought he'd grow on me as much as he did, but he was never going to stay... I have to go, things to do and such." Aidan left, rubbing his eye a little and Bangle went her own way with a heavy heart.

Curlos meanwhile was leaning against the door and slumped to the ground with a lump in his throat, his vision blurred as tears threatened to burst from his eyes. "I should've seen this coming, they're all the same." Curlos sighed sadly, he blew his nose on his jade plaid scarf and threw it away. Through his blurry vision he spotted something blue in the corner. Wiping his eyes he recognized the periwinkle scarf Rory gave him and walked over to it. "Heh, Aidan really hated this stupid thing... I thought changing it would help, but it didn't..." Curlos wrapped the scarf around his neck tightly and started laughing, softly at first before the unnerving giggles turned into an uproar of hysterical laughter. "You want to tell me what I can't wear!? You can't tell me what to do, I'll use your clothes as furniture and laugh at your rage! Nobody will tell me I can't wear this scarf!" The mad laughter continued as tears steamed down his face, before eventually settling down into sobs. "Nobody..."
 
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