#i have Thoughts about this one my dudes sldfsd

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Taako woke up to voices talking over his head. He had put the light from his fire out before he went to bed, but the air still smelled of smoke, so it couldn't have been too long since he had fallen asleep. It was certainly dark enough to be the middle of the night. His stomach clenched with anxiety and he kept his eyes closed, trying to still appear asleep.

"-not going to remember you," the first voice said, so quiet Taako could barely pick it up.

"I- I gotta see, though," the second voice said. "If there's a chance that something got past the ######## then I have to try. I have to."

An uncomfortable feeling shot through Taako's body. He knew that voice. Where did he know that voice from?

"I know," the voice first said. "I know."

This was not a good situation to wake up into. He was currently stuffed inside his sleeping bag, in a poor attempt to avoid any night terrors. This was the first time he had gotten to sleep since- since the... incident had happened at Glamour Springs. His wand was in here with him, sure, but if these people were coming to kill him because he killed someone they loved? He was kind of screwed. Like, what do you do in that situation? Hell, if Taako had literally anyone he loved, he'd be super upset if a traveling chef killed them and then ran away.

Taako shifted and turned over, his eyes still closed. The voices stopped abruptly. He had to play it cool. He had to get out of this stupid sleeping sack before they decided to kill him because then he'd at least have a chance. Going slowly, he started curling up so his hands were near the top of the sack, ready to get himself free at any moment.

"Taako...?" the second voice said. He didn't remember anyone at Glamour Springs sounding like that, but it must have been. Right? Right. Someone near the back, who hadn't gotten a chance to eat. "You awake, bud?"

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying not to give himself away.

"You don't have to pretend to be asleep, babe," the second voice continued. "I'm not- we're not gonna hurt you. I promise."

Okay, familiar voice or not, that was so obviously a lie. Of course, they wanted to hurt him. He killed their- their family member, or their friend, or whatever the fuck. Honestly, if Taako could come across anyone in the next few months who didn't want to hurt him, he'd be amazed. It was going to take some getting used to. Celebrity chef directly into mass murder probably wasn't going to be an easy career change.

"Taako," the second voice pleaded, "please open your eyes."

It wasn't a spell, or a command, or anything, but Taako followed through before he could help himself. He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to the darkness and letting his Dark Vision do its thing. There was no one in front of him. No shadows, no legs, or feet, nothing.

And then, slowly, something circled around from the back of him. Two sometimes, actually. Taako's breath caught in his throat. They weren't exactly... living. Their red robes were torn and tattered at the edges, dissolving into what looked like pure magic being used as a flesh suit. Their fingers were long, curved, and horrifying. And, when he tilted his head up just slightly, just to see if he recognized the face if it was going to be some lost soul he had killed come back for revenge, the swooping hood gave way to a skull. It shimmered with the same memorizing magic pattern.

Taako was terrified. And stunned. And maybe, in the back of his head, just a little bit impressed.

"Taako," said the Red Robe on the right, the one with the familiar voice. "Do you... know who I am?"

Taako slowly, slowly sat up, getting his arms out of his sack and unzipping it. They didn't seem ready to fight him. Well, okay, they looked like they could kill him with a single spell, but he was trying not to think about that.

"Ghost of Candlenights future?" Taako said with a little, totally normal, totally not nervous laugh. The Red Robe on the right sparked slightly and the one on the left put a hand on her arm.

"No," the Red Robe said, voice sounding a little watery. "I'm- Taako, I'm ###. Your ######? You- you know me Taako."

Taako had his hand tight around his wand now, hidden under the sack. He glanced past the Robes and into the trees. He could make it if he booked it. Or- or-

"You're, uh, you're cuttin' out a little bit there, Casper," Taako said. The Red Robe sparked again, a little more violently this time, and the one of the left pulled her back a few inches, whispering reassurances. "Look, uh, it's been nice to meet you but if you're not planning on killing me or like, permanently handicapping me-"

"Why would I do that?" the right Red Robe asked. Taako dodged a bit of electricity as it came flying off the Red Robe's form, leaving a singe in the ground next to him. "Why- Taako, it's me! It's ###!"

"Babe-" the left Red Robe said. "He can't-"

Taako cast Blink, vanishing into the Ethereal Plane. There were fuzzy shapes of dark red where the Red Robes should be standing, but Taako didn't have the time to focus on whatever the fuck they were. He scrambled the rest of the way out of his sleeping sack and booked it to the line of trees behind them, appearing a second later back in the Prime Material Plane, ten feet away from where he had started. The Red Robes didn't even seem to notice. Taako ran before they could.

He only stopped when his lungs were burning so much he could hardly breathe, and even then, he hid himself in a patch of bushes, crouched down so his head wouldn't peek out over the top. His mouth was so, so dry and he still felt the anxiety seizing at his heart, relentless. He was far enough away that he couldn't even begin to guess where his camping site had been anymore.

After a few minutes of no one showing up after him, Taako let himself sink to the ground, still out of breath. The tree next to him had a paper nailed to it. It read:

Wanted Alive: Taako (from TV) for the murder of thirty lives in Glamour Springs. Reward: fifteen thousand gold. Contact Glamour Springs Sheriff's Department with any leads. Caution: Considered armed and dangerous.

His face was below, taken from one of his promotional posters. Suddenly, Taako was out of breath for some very different reasons.

This week would not give him a fucking rest.