Re: Hunt; deep in the woods
It was impossible to wipe the grin off his face, whether he was amused or not. The ugliness of it permanently marred his features, though really, he hardly would have been handsome even with a normal mouth. So, while the skeleton man did not laugh again, those exposed teeth just kept on grinning, unintentionally mocking the boy further. He seemed at the very least unimpressed by the child's anger, and he certainly didn't fear such a small, human creature. "You're strong for a boy," he told him, almost wearily. "But you're still a boy, kid, and the things out here, they're not." He shook his head, and he sighed, dust and the rattle of bones in the sound. Brave kid. Stupid, but brave, even though he was scared. He could say he wasn't all he wanted, but the skeleton man could smell the stench of fear as much as the boy could smell the stench of death and dirt graves that clung to him.
"Monsters are real." That was sharper, something dangerous in his tone that hinted at a warning. "We're as real as you are, and if I were you, I wouldn't go telling things they're not real to their face," he rasped, the grin becoming a grimace in the dull moonlight before it switched back again. Stupid, stupid kid, coming closer to a dead thing that didn't try to hide what it was. "Yes," he said, leaning down to lower the height difference between himself and the boy. "I'm a very bad man, if you can still call me a man. But I don't chase little things like you. I'm here for them," he explained, raising a long, bony arm and pointing off into the darkness. "Better if you run along back somewhere safe before you get caught in the crossfire. I can't stop that."