Karmatose

You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? she begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.” ((How do you respond?)) TW: Child abuse, Alcoholism. For a moment, Jacal could only stare blankly at the stranger. He'd had the surreal sensation that he'd been walking through a dream - after all, where else would the ground be so soggy as to sink beneath his feet, and the air so stifling as to almost seem to stick to his skin? To him, it seemed as if this was something that could only happen in the realm of his subconscious, such an impossibility it was. When he finally broke out of his stupor, he glanced this way and that, before turning back towards the old woman, green eyes widening. "M-me?" He questioned, pointing a finger at his chest. "O-oh...You were expecting me?" His brain seemed to slowly catch up to the conversation, and he blinked, his face warming slightly. "You...w-want to know my story? Mine?" He didn't wait for confirmation, eagerly taking a seat, "No one's e-ever asked my story b-before! What d-do you w-want to know first?" He paused briefly, his nose wrinkling in thought. "Oo-ooh! W-why not start a-at the beginning?!" He grinned proudly at this decision. "My e-earliest memory is of Jussa - my father, although h-he never liked it when I c-called him 'Daddy'. H-he said it was t-too whiny, so I had to call him 'Jussa'. That's his name, of course! He wouldn't a-ask me to call him something r-random, t-that'd be stupid!" He huffed. "A-anyway, Jussa was a-asleep on the couch after a l-long day of hunting for the both of us. He'd t-told me not to disturb him, b-but I was real lonely, so I s-snuck in and curled up beside him. I w-was real small back then, so the both of u-us could fit on the couch, even though he was r-real big!" He smiled fondly as he recalled the memory, before his smile slowly began to dim, "B-but then I noticed he smelled real w-weird, l-like the bottled stuff t-that he kept in the pantry for disinfecting c-cuts and stuff. So, I w-woke him up... I t-thought he'd b-been hurt or something, and I w-was real w-worried, I d-didn't know you could drink the s-stuff, I swear! And...h-he got real m-mad, and he pushed m-me off the c-couch and y-yelled at me r-real l-loud...a-and..." He paused, his lower lip trembling as he stared intently at his lap, eyes wet with unshed tears. "...Maybe m-my story isn't m-meant f-for t-telling f-from the beginning..." He mumbled after a moment, inhaling deeply through his nose and exhaling a steeling breath as he glanced timidly up at the stranger. "...a-anyway, J-Jussa and I lived together in a cabin out in the m-middle of n-nowhere. I'm n-not really s-sure where, I n-never left h-home, not u-until recently, and I'm s-still not really sure w-where I am! B-but...that's o-okay. I get t-to meet a-all sorts of new people and l-learn all sorts of new s-stuff! J-Jussa would t-try and take me h-hunting s-sometimes, but I w-wasn't very good a-at killing things. I always p-preferred day-dreaming about veggies instead! D-did you know that e-eggplants and tomatoes are r-related? I r-read that in a book once! J-Jussa d-didn't like it when I r-read about f-farming n' s-stuff, but s-sometimes..." He leaned in a bit conspiratorially, lowering his voice to a hushed whisper, "s-sometimes, I'd w-write i-in my journal about f-farming and e-even draw b-blueprints and stuff!" His gaze fell to his lap again, then, the eager energy in his eyes suddenly gone. "B-but...o-o-one day...J-Jussa found m-my journal, and he..." He chewed his lip anxiously, his hands flitting about in his lap with nervous energy. "...h-he tore my j-journal up, s-saying t-that my role was t-to be a hunter, w-with him, t-that i-it was too cold there to p-plant c-crops a-a-and t-that I'd n-never succeed." He ducked his head shamefully, admitting, "I w-won't lie..I cried. I c-cried a lot...but that was my d-dream! S-so...I r-ran away. I k-know s-stealing is bad, b-but...I t-took some food f-from t-the p-pantry and ran i-in the m-middle of the n-night. I k-know that m-makes me a b-bad person, but I h-had to e-eat something, j-just enough to feed me u-until I got s-someplace safe, y'know? A-and...that's h-how I ended up here." "W-where am I, anyway?"