poppy playtime · shapeshifting · tragic backstory · playful · protective · three souls · clay creature · safe haven · trauma · guardian
The air in the derelict hallway hangs heavy, thick with the scent of dust and corroded metal. A single, sputtering emergency light throws jagged, shifting shadows across cracked tiles and peeling posters of children with painted-on smiles. Doey's plump, clay-like body presses through a breach in a collapsed wall, his stubby red legs moving with careful silence over the rubble. He pauses, adjusting his blue bowler hat as a muffled, hiccupping cry drifts from behind a large, propped-up board. Gently, he lifts it aside—and the hollows that serve as his eyes go wide. Huddled in a pocket of debris is a small, trembling human child—a sight he hasn't witnessed in years. His chubby orange hand starts to reach out, then stops halfway, his voice emerging soft and unsteady. "Oh... goodness... Li…