Haunted Doll Aftermath
Following the events of the Haunted Doll Watch quest, Selena tries to make Zara feel better by talking to Trouble.
Hearing the sobs coming from the room of the Raccoon Mom, her knocks ignored, Selena decided to start quietly camping out in the hallway as she tried to figure out how to navigate this new, confusing social situation.
When Zara finally falls asleep, Trouble wriggles out of her grasp and finds his way out into the hallway, meeting Selena's gaze.
"What's wrong with your mom?" She asked him, a frown between her brows. "I was going to bring a snack but then I didn't know what she likes and Hanx didn't have a list of her allergies, which could make snack time a very dangerous prospect."
"Something weird happened to me when we went out to meet the others. Something with a creepy doll. I honestly don't even remember what happened but, she's so angry." His ears fell flat against his head. "I did everything I normally do to cheer her up when she gets upset but, none of it worked. I can just feel it. She is just so angry, it's kinda scary..."
"Why is she so angry? Because something bad happened to you? Because dolls are creepy?"
"I got this strange feeling then it all just got dark. The next thing I knew, she was carrying me through the city we were in and she kept telling me she was sorry for letting that happen to me. We got back here, she gave the angry buff rabbit guy the fuzzy ring back while he was talking to the nice lady who sings really pretty and then came to this room and kept telling me that she was sorry. That she shouldn't have trusted other people with me."
"Weird. Well, I... wish she would let me talk to her! Penelope says that you shouldn't go into people's rooms unless they say it's okay, so I didn't want to just bust in on her privacy, but she sounds like she's taking on a lot of blame for something that probably wasn't her fault. Or your fault!"
"She can't talk to me like you can. I don't know how to convince her. I've seen her get mad before but not like this... I'm really worried about her."
"If I write a letter, can you give it to her? Or... um. Oh! I can cast Speak with Animals on her. So she can talk to you. And then you can tell her to talk to me. Or. Um maybe she can just talk to you. Because you know her better. And I guess I would have to talk to her to cast Speak with Animals on her. Hmm."
"I can try giving her the letter. What would you say?"
"I... mmmm. Come with me and we can write it together--" She hopped up to her feet and held her arm out for Trouble to climb onto. "My room's down the hall, and I got some parchment."
Trouble climbed up her arm to her shoulder. "Let's be quick about it. I don't want her to wake up without me being there."
"Okay! Let's do it," she said brightly.
Her room was small and cozy, filled with rocks that gave off a soft, natural glow. She had blankets and pillows strewn everywhere, linen sheets creating a makeshift canopy over her bed. She pulled parchment out from a notebook and sat on a cushion on the floor.
Dear Zara, the Raccoon Mom.
Hi, it's me. Selena. And Trouble.
"I can take that part out if you're not supposed to be here writing a letter."
We're really worried about you because we know how sad you are. I don't know exactly what happened on your mission. I kind of wish I was there. But from what I gathered, something bad happened to Trouble and it really scared you. And also, I think the hardest part, it sounds like you're blaming yourself for it. And I understand that. There are a lot of things that have happened that my brain tells me is my fault. Like the whole Egan thing. And when Lindy died. And it's pretty hard not to feel responsible for that. But I think the people on the outside... they can see it different. Because I think people like you and me like to blame ourselves for things. Because then it's easier. And then, maybe next time, that means we can stop the bad thing from happening, since it was in our control. Or maybe other really big jerks told us it was our fault. But I think there are some people around now that can tell help us see when it's our fault and then, you know, maybe when it's not. And it kind of sounds like this isn't your fault. And maybe you don't need to beat yourself up. And maybe I can be the friend that tells you when you're being mean to you. I'm also not great at letters and I know I'm going long here, but I guess, the point is, you can talk to me. If you want. You don't have to do it all alone.
"Okay, I could probably take out a bunch. I got lost in there somewhere trying to talk about feelings. Do you want to say anything to her?"
The sounds of a slamming door and heavy footfalls filled the hallway and Zara's voice strained with panic as she called out... "Trouble? Trouble?! Where are you?" Trouble scurried away to the hallway quickly.
Selena hopped up and rushed out of the room, letter clutched quickly in her hand. "Sorry, Zara! He's okay. I was just chatting with him. We were writing you a letter," she tried to explain.
Zara stood in the hallway, her spear clutched tightly in her hand as her chest heaved shallow panicked breaths and her eyes glossed over with frantic rage that softened ever so slightly when she saw Selena. "A letter?"
"Yeah. Because, um, I wanted to come see you. Because I could hear you were upset. And Trouble was worried about you. But I didn't want to barge in. So Trouble said he would bring you the letter. I didn't get to edit it. So it's a pretty rough draft. I was going to wrap it around a cool rock, too." She extended the letter out to her.
Zara's breathing regulated before she flipped her spear around and stabbed it into the floor before kneeling down to pick up Trouble and saying slightly more calmly "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you. I just... I left him with other people and nearly lost him. I appreciate what you're trying to do but, I just need some time. I don't know who I can trust anymore."
"Okay," she said quietly, continuing to extend the letter to her. "You don't have to read it now. Or ever. But if you want to take it...?"
Zara snatched the letter out of her hand and quickly turned on her heel to walk away.
Selena shuffled her feet and then headed quickly back into her room and into the little bed canopy. A soft glow pulsed from inside as she whispered the verbal components for a spell.