Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was the beginning of a new moon cycle, after waiting two extra days for the waning moon to be fully shrouded. Val was beginning to notice that there was something a little off with Halloween Town. Almost a week ago, when he first came to this world, he would've known what was off, but now... it was like waking up from a dream and forgetting it a minute latter. In his journals he had jotted down dates, locations, and even personal moments from decades ago, but now when he read the entries he had no memories of these events. He really needed Mr. M right now, he would've known what was going on. Val had managed to take a sliver of Mr. M when he was confiscated and kept it under his tie. The sliver however, could only mumble and Val had no idea what the part of Mr. M was saying. Val looked up and hoped that for this moon cycle the full moon wouldn't last 3 nights straight.

"Please stop day-dreaming and bury me, I miss the dirt." The hand in his bag wailed.

"Quiet. we have all night for this" whispered Val "and for your information, I'm not burying you, I am planting you." Val chided. If all went well, tonight's experiment was going to be far more rewarding than last week's; he would need to find a better way to ground the Laboratory before he played with lightning again.

Val wondered how long it had been since he left the clearly marked pathway. He was heading towards a clump of trees that he had spotted yesterday while installing the dorm's new lightning rod. The forest was close to the Reapers' dorm and technically within school grounds. Before he reached the forest, Val stopped, after looking for trap and making sure he wasn't being followed, Val rushed the final few yards to the edge of the small forest. After he crossed through a thick corpse of evergreens, he came upon a clearing with at least a 20 meter radius. He had heard that there had been a landfill/mass-grave where the cafeteria's waste was dumped. The rumor at school, explaining the horrendous smell of the lunch, was that the old landfill had been filled, covered, and then sealed with soil; while a new one had not yet been completed, so the waste was being made into the mystery meatloaf. Val knew that he had found the covered remains of the old landfill. Even better, a newly tilled layer of dirt blanketed the clearing. Carefully and quietly, as to not alert any eavesdroppers Val quietly opened his bag and took out a small shovel and instantly regretted it.

Sally, the shovel, started shrieking at Val the minute she was out of the bag,"I must have been waiting for hours in that filthy bag, For hours! I was starting to think you had forgotten me and gone for a midnight stroll!" Val hated when Sally was like this. "Did you have a nice walk?" Sally continued in the shill voice she knew he hated. "Go sight-seeing later! Tonight's planting is going to take forever and at rate we're going, we'll barely be six feet under by sunrise! You know how I hate dew!"

Sally was never pleased with Val's progress, but tonight was different, he wasn't going to let her talk to him like that. "Every dark night you nag, and you nag, and you nag! For once I would appreciate it if you showed me the respect I deserve." Val's voice was turning from a whisper into yell, "or so help me, I will donate you to the the groundskeeper who picks up monster poo." Val knew that would shut her up, however, she needed to be reminded that he was in charge.

"Now I want you to apologize to me by the time I count to three" Val held up his fist and lifted his pointer finger. "One..."

"Two..."

Val began to smile, victory was at hand. Humbling Sally had been on his to-do list since he arrived at the school. Savoring the moment took a deep breath and exhaled the last number. He knew Sally would apologize at the last second, but he would allow her that little consolation prize.

"Thr-"

A shrill cry suddenly broke Val concentration. The cry was far too close to have originated from the pathway. Val realized that someone was in the corpse of trees, most likely spying on him.

"you should really get a move-on." Sally started, "I knew you were going to get caught. At your rate we won't even escap-"

"This isn't over between us, now stay silent or I'll leave you here." Val snapped. Picking up his bag, he hastily shoved Sally back in. It would take him 6 seconds to reach the cover of the treeline, from there he could run until he reached the dorm. With the severed arm in his bag, he could bribe a hungry zombie to support his alibi. Nobody would be the wiser.

"I don't like your plan" The arm muttered, "especially the me getting eaten part."

"I'll immortalize you and your noble sacrifice in my journal" Val reassured the arm. As he turned to speak however, he stepped on something furry, it was a tail and apparently belonged to a cat.

Val's ears were ringing, that kitty had some powerful lungs. Earlier this evening, Valen had compiled a list of the likely scenarios he could encounter tonight. Encountering a small kitten with a pink bow was not on any of the lists. The chances of something so meek surviving in these woods for more than a day were astronomical. Valen wondered how it had gotten so far into the woods.

"You should step off his tail" Benny the Saw suggested. Benny hadn't been on speaking terms with Valen for a long time, longer than Valen could remember. Benny was still mad about never being sharpened. Valen suddenly realized that the kitty had been continuing to cry out. If he was going to stop the kitty from alerting the whole school, he'd better do it quick. Lifting his foot, he simultaneously reached into his bag.

"Hey kitty, if you stop screaming, I'll give you a tasty treat, do you like tasty treats??" Val calmly said to the kitty, at the same time he was searching for the Scrag mouse he had caught in a mousetrap yesterday.

"You should really stop daydreaming, have you noticed that Girl is about to attack you? She's been yelling at you for awhile now." Sally smugly stated to Valen from the bag, "You are hopeless, you should've put your foot down a long time ago, you're now surprised and off-balance. I just wish she would've kicked you instead of that flying tackle. At least that tree trunk will stop you two from flying too far."

Valen only had enough time to look up in surprise, a blur of black lace and pink ribbons tackled Valen. Sally's cackles were interrupted as Valen lost his grip on the bag. All of the contents flew out and scattered over the forest floor.

Sally was right, the tree did stop their flight. It wasn't too gentle about it though. Valen heard a few cracks and pops along his ribs, the wheezing sounds coming from within his chest suggested that a lung was pierced as well. Overall it wasn't as bad as he had thought, that was until he noticed that his neck was feeling a little crooked.

Sally resumed her taunting in earnest, "Wow, you are really good at getting hurt. Now I wonder, do you think that your attacker is going to leave you for the animals, or try and finish you off herself?" It wasn't fair, why was Sally the only tool that landed near to Valen?

After the hit, Valen's whole head was spinning. Both the tackle, and the subsequent impact with the tree, had probably scrambled something in his head. His vision was blurry, so he couldn't properly see his attacker just yet, but his other senses were sending him some very conflicting reports. By gauging the force of the impact, Valen could only assume that his attacker was a linebacker on the football team, but his attacker also was wearing perfume and spoke in a high pitch feminine voice. Valen had seen plenty of monsters at this school,and it didn't require very much imagination to suspect that he must have been tackled by a female troll.

"Maybe you should consider listening to her, I don't think that she appreciates being ignored by you. She asked you a question." Sally was whispering this to Valen, so quietly that he almost didn't her. It was as if she didn't want to be overheard.

"Don't worry I know how to deal with this." Valen whispered back. He knew that to gain control of the situation, he had to convince his attacker that she had severely injured him beyond her intention. However, to act convincingly, he couldn't just look the part, he had to feel it too. Bringing up his saddest memory he had, Mr. M being confiscated, Valen allowed for the sense of loss he had been repressing to be released.To Valen, Mr. M had been more than a tool, he'd been his only friend and companion for as long as Valen could remember. With those sad thoughts inhabiting his mind, he turned to his attacker, clutched his already healing broken neck, and let out a soft whimper, "well, what are you waiting for? You already crippled me. Isn't this the part when monsters like you eat your victims?"

"That was your plan? Acting? I'm better at acting like a unicorn than you are at pretending to be injured." Sally was berating Valen once more, even worse, she was right. Valen just wished that people weren't so smart, it made things so much more complicated. If only his attacker was a bit more stupid, Valen knew he could have fooled her then.

"would you prefer if I was honest with her?" Valen whispered back. Sally didn't need to reply, Valen knew the answer the minute the question left his mouth. With a sigh of exasperation, Valen accepted his defeat.

"Too bad she is such a cute little thing" Sally remarked, "I can't wait until everyone else in the lab hears about her"

Valen gave Sally an inquisitive look, what was she talking about? his vision was starting to clear and he gave his attacker another look. Valen was shocked to see that his attacker wasn't the huge monster he had envisioned, in front of him was a young reaper (it helped helped explain why his attacker had a pleasant smell and voice). She wasn't even very big, and certainly not even remotely intimidating. However her

"Fine you are not a monster, you just smell and sound like one" Valen muttered, getting up, he was lying of course, but she didn't need to know that. "and, Yes I am fine, no thanks to you, so if you don't mind leaving me alone, you've already ruined my whole night," Valen grumbled as he picked up his Sally.

Sally must have been feeling very happy with herself, she wouldn't shut up. "oh did you hear that? The witch said you were 'touched in the head!' I like that girl, she knows how to state the obvious"

Valen had heard the Witch ask him about his plans. Why did she even care? Normally Valen would have just continued with what he was doing, picking up every single part of his collection, not giving the witch a second thought. But everything about her was frustrating him. The whole night was already a waste, why shouldn't he get a chance to vent his frustration at his tormentor? Valen stopped looking around for Benny (he could hear his faint wheezing not too far away), Valen would pick him up after he told the witch off. "What was I doing when you ruined my night? Well I was planning on seeing how rich this soil was for planting" Valen's mumble was getting dangerously close to shouting. "I had spent all yesterday planning for tonight! The soil was full of nutrients, the rich leftovers had filled this topsoil with nitrogen, and everything would have been perfect for planting under the new moon, but now my objectives have changed and I'll spend tonight preforming a search-and-rescue mission for all of my supplies." Valen took a deep breath, in preparation of the second half of his rant. Valen hoped that he was making a very scary impression, he hadn't ever had the chance to make a proper rant before.

"I believe the objective of your rant, was to discourage her from helping..." Sally snidely interjected during the 3rd part of Valentino's rant. Valen stopped mid sentience at her remark. he hadn't really been paying attention, but when he turned to look at the witch, she was smiling hopefully at him. That reaction was not what he had been expecting from her. He had imagined that she would've been in tears at the moment. He was at a loss for word, to this witch, he must have been as intimidating as her kitty.

"you want to help me?" he slowly asked her. This whole night was becoming a little too confusing for him. First he was out all alone, then he was discovered, assaulted, and harangued by this witch, who now wanted to help him.

"You are going crazy" Sally theorized, "but before anyone takes you away to the asylum, you might as well answer her questions"

Valen had forgotten the Witch's question until now. Now that he knew she was watching him, he felt very self-conscious, he wasn't used to people paying attention to him while his tools were talking back.

"You want to help me? well I was going to plant some Wolfsbane, Black Nightshade, Monkshood, Cicuta, and some Black Snakeroot." Valentino gave a slight smile, he wondered how many of those names she recognized, he was sure that most of the denizens of Halloween Town were cultivators of the poisonous plants. Most poisons were used to add flavor to a monster's dinner.

"It's really no bother at all finding my stuff, they're all yelling at me to pick them up anyways." Valen stated as he picked up his doctor's bag. "What did you do you need to find?" Valen had never seen anyone practice magic before, in fact he hadn't seen too much of this world since he entrance and subsequent enrollment at school.

Valentino knew that by Sally's silent omission, she approved of the situation. This meant that if he wanted continued peace and quiet from her, Valentino would have be on his best behavior with Belladonna from now on. However, he was being slightly blinded by the Belladonna's smile, did she polish her teeth?

Eyes slightly averted from the glare, Valentino smiled back, although not with nearly the same intensity, "Belladonna? Anywhere else I would've assumed that your namesake came from the Amaryllis Belladonna, not the Atropa Belladonna. In this land however, your proper namesake seems appropriate." Valentino suddenly wondered if she had ever been teased about her other namesake. Before he could continue talking about plants and namesakes, Sally gave a small grunt, hinting that she thought Valentino was being incredibly impolite. He had yet to properly introduce himself, she would nag his ear off if he didn't imminently rectify the situation. Sally knew that he had been trained to display proper etiquette. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't forget those lessons.

Valentino took a deep breath, glad he could remember a simple variation of his name. Still, a full formal introduction with an apology attached required many words and few breaths. Making a small bow Valentino began his introduction, "It is a pleasure to finally meet another student at this school. I apologize for my immature musings about the origin of your namesake my part. Additionally, I hope you will forgive me for leaving you at a loss as to my name. May I have the honor of introducing myself? I am Valentino Johann Toscanai von Österreich-Frankenstein. For your ease, I also have a myriad of nicknames, but I would humbly suggest Valentino, Val, or Valen. Also, I humbly beg your forgiveness for my crass manor earlier; unfortunately, I am unacquainted with much of this world's rules and customs. I-"

Valentino then stopped his little introduction, he had heard something muffled try to interrupt him, it was Mr. M. "I will get to you in a moment." Valentino hissed to Mr. M.

With some trepidation, Valentino lifted the string around he his neck until the metal sliver that remained of Mr. M. appeared from under Valentino's coat. "Miss Belladonna, May I present the remains of Micheal, who currently goes by Mr. M., I also wish to present Ms. Sally." Valentino motioned to the shovel in his left hand.

Hopefully that would be enough of an introduction for Belladonna, Valentino then asked "If it wouldn't be too much of a bother, I am still missing some scissors, syringes, a bone saw, and some other medical equipment." Valentino said as he picked up his stethoscope. "But they can wait, what was it that you dropped?"