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 Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 8:28 pm
The night was young and Kasumi took to wandering the grounds like a lonely soul. While everyone else was busy mucking about in their intense class or social schedules, Kasumi was mucking about in... well, muck. She hadn't been out by the pond in some time and her little one-eyed flying friend Squiggle seemed to like it here. It churripped at her happily (where it got a mouth, she'd never know) and fluttered about in front of her playfully. Kasumi followed him around campus, like he was giving her a grand tour. He was always by her side since being taken in after a storm, poor thing. Its leathery wings lent themselves well to flight, and the ghost was happy to follow at a distance, exploring the school at a leisurely pace.
Coming to a stop at the ponds, Kasumi looked around. Bugs of all shapes and sizes called this place home, and while they would have creeped her out when she was living, Kasumi frequently forgot she was dead. Leaping up in terror when a spider decided to say hello, she looked around to see if anyone saw.
GOOD. Nobody around.
How embarrassing.
Shaking her head, Kasumi sat down on a log, Squiggle perched on her shoulder. She patted him on the head lovingly. "So little one, what's over here?" she asked, leaning her head to the side. The pond smelled murky but she supposed it went with the atmosphere.
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 9:21 pm
Though most denizens of Amityville seemed to enjoy creepy crawlies, a good number of them probably didn't think they were a tasty treat. G, however, was hardly so discriminating. Occasionally in the swamp, students might have heard loud thrashing within the murky, oozy depths, and the tips of transparent fins slicing through the water's surface. The bugs that wandered haphazardly around this place were so crunchy and juicy--a very tasty treat for a growing swamp beast!
Munching contentedly on a particularly fat, formerly slobbering beetle of some sorts, the monster's broad skull broke the surface so he could exhale noisily. Being outdoors was his favorite place in all of Halloween Town so far, especially these swamps! Much nicer than wells... Shuddering a little at the memory, it didn't take Gargantuan too long to realize he wasn't alone. In fact, there was someone very close by, sitting on a long petting something that looked delicious. But even more importantly, that someone-sitting-on-the-log-over-there was someone he recognized!
"Suuuuumiiiiiiiii." It wasn't quite a bellow, but the waters might have rippled from the force of his voice. Gargantuan was much bigger than he'd been since meeting the ghostly girl in the classroom, and much more reptilian looking as well. Fanning his fins out broadly to express his happiness at being reunited with an old friend, the monster lifted his head up and out of the water to better peer at the girl and her tasty-looking snack. "Sumi likes to swim?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:37 am
DSJNHKSJDKJSHJHHFFFFFFFFFFFFFF eek
Kasumi was sent reeling backwards, tripping over the log (which really, she could have just phased through but who would be thinking about something like that when Menacing Green Death was upon you?) and landing on her rump. She stared up at the green thing, not recognizing it. It must've been Death itself! Come for her immortal soul in this hellish form! Well Jack-be-Nimble, she wasn't going to give up her last days in Halloweentown without a fight, no sir! Standing her ground, she stood up again and decided to use the gift that all onryo possessed in spades.
Creepy Glare!
Her stare, while held, would paralyze her foes and keep them still while under normal circumstances, she would wander towards them with only one eye showing, ready to... do something ghastly to them. Of course, Kasumi didn't think that far ahead when her ghostly form was in danger. As long as she kept the Green Thing still...
Wait, Green Thing?
"Amjee?" she asked, quickly breaking the glare. He was so much bigger and meaner looking that he was while in the classroom! What happened? "Did someone give you growth hormone laced with steroids?" Scratching her head, she couldn't help but bow in apology to the poor guy. While he was male, he was so sweet and nice and didn't seem harmful in the slightest. Just big and ghastly sometimes. That was admirable.
She walked into the water to help him. "Sorry about that, Amjee. You scared me and, well... you're a lot bigger out here!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 3:41 pm
Gargantuan winced a little when Sumi fell over in surprise, but couldn't help but feel... well, proud of himself. He scared someone! He'd told Chuppi he could do it if he was hiding! It was just the follow-up that never went over well. After a moment though, there was nothing but concern that the ghost had hurt herself, and the swamp beast did his best to plant his big hands on the spongy surface of the ground to lift himself up and peek.
Then, of course, he found himself staring Sumi right in the eye, and couldn't move a muscle. And she looked so creepy all of a sudden, forcing G to feel both unnerved and a little frightened all at the same time. But without warning, he could move again, and Sumi looked like regular old Sumi again, though the monster had to shake himself fiercely for a moment, he didn't seem too inclined to dwell on what just happened.
"Hiiiii Suuuummmmiiiii." Came the cheerful greeting, though he did have to pause with obvious confusion at her questions. "Steeerrrrrroiiddididdds?" That was a big word, and Gargantuan probably would have just blinked at her had he the eyes to do so. Instead, he let his mouth gape open wide, giving Kasumi a good glimpse at the eerie, glowing lights somewhere in the back of his throat. Not unlike an angler fish, really.
Bigger was a word he understood, and his face brightened instantly. "G too big to be in school, so G shrinks inside. Dunno how. Sumi looks the same..." Still, he had to peer at her more closely now, searching for any differences.
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Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 8:04 am
Shrinking? Well, she supposed that made sense in a roundabout way, even though Amjee didn't know how he did this. At least he was okay, though! Kasumi felt quite bad about paralyzing him there for a few moments and plucked some seaweed (was it seaweed) from atop his head. "I don't change while I'm in school, but you look so impressive out here, Amjee!" she beamed, even in spite of herself. He was such a nice guy, so how could she hate him? Okay, so maybe there was one boy here who wasn't terrible.
Go Amjee!
"Very big and mean and scary-looking. I bet you do your family proud, Amjee." While she stood in the water, her little one-eyed mini golem friend flitted about behind her, landing on a overturned log. "Are they all big like you, or are you a smaller version because you're younger?" She now stood in the water with him, but it didn't affect her, being as ghostly as she was. Still, she bet it felt nice, especially to a beast such as Amjee. She figured his skin got dry while inside and that must be uncomfortable.
Gesturing to the mini golem behind her, Kasumi introduced him. "That's Squiggle. He's my little friend. Do you have any little friends, Amjee?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:09 am
When the seaweed was pulled from the top of his head, the delicate webbed fins stretched up with it. In fact, they all did, rippling up and down his back even as the swamp beast lifted his head up to follow the flight of the seaweed. Her compliments were enough to make the sea monster open his jaws happily, practically beaming. "Think so? Think G look scary?" Why, she might as well have called him Jack's Shadow, by the way he was acting!
G liked being praised. It was a rare thing, where he came from, so he took it where he could get it.
The mention of family made him wilt a little, and the beast pulled a sad face for a moment. "No. G not very scary. Don't wanna stay close." But that would change, he'd try to make it change.
He paused for a moment, eying the little golem for a moment while licking his jaws absently. It looked very good, very tasty... Oh, but it was Sumi's friend, and he'd learned a long time ago not to eat friends of friends. "Big." G nodded for emphasis. "Very big. Can eat boats!" That was something impressive, right? He had to pause to stare as the ghost girl lowered herself into the water as well, clearly quite curious. Her hair wasn't getting wet at all!
He gave a start as she named her friend as Squiggle, and straightened. "G has Squiggles! Squiggles is nice." And there was the little leech, peering over one of his shoulders after hearing his name. "See? Squiggles!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:43 am
Aww, he had a leech named Squiggles! Clearly great minds thought alike, and Amjee was now a Great Mind. Kasumi giggled and patted the little leech on the head. "I think Squiggle and Squiggles need to be friends, don't you think?" At the sound of his name, the little golem creature flitted up to the swamp beast and landed on his head to inspect the Other One With Similar Name. Blinking its big eye at the leech, tittering his approval while flapping its tiny wings. Kasumi motioned for the little thing to not sit on someone's head, as it was rude!
At the mention of Amjee's family not wanting to keep him around, Kasumi frowned. "Well, they are missing out. I thought you were quite scary there, Amjee. Clearly they don't understand the element of surprise." she offered, lifting a finger in professional emphasis. "I don't even remember my family! I'm not sure what to do after I graduate since I don't have anywhere to go..." Kasumi shook her head. No, now was not the time to dwell on such things. She would focus on something else, yes, so she wouldn't have time to ponder these things.
"You can eat whole boats, Amjee? What does a boat taste like?" Plucking more seaweed from an arm, Kasumi bit her lip. "I can't eat boats like you can, but I can make people not-move when I try very hard, like I accidentally did with you. At least it doesn't hurt though!"
Amjee was pleasant to talk to. He was simply, sweet and polite, which gave him major points in her book. No drama, no boyish thuggery.
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:01 am
!!
Gargantuan did his best to hold still as the little pet fluttered and landed on his head, a big, slow smile beginning to spread across his face. Thankfully, Squiggle was rapidly pulling itself out of the 'food' category, and G found himself already liking the golem. Squiggles was fairly indifferent as to having a new friend or not, blinking slowly at the winged pet before it offered a squelchy little churr and wiggled closer to investigate.
"Sumi nice." The beast mumbled, perhaps little embarrassed but thoroughly pleased by her words. If she hadn't been already, Sumi was now automatically a friend. Nice guys were nice! "Sumi scary. Can go to Human Land 'n scare Humans." He involuntarily shuddered a little. Humans were scary, too! They just looked so funny...
"Boat tastes good!" He gushed enthusiastically, his tail sloshing around in the water for emphasis. "Splinters, splinters not so good..." There was a rumble in his throat when she mentioned the not-movey. That had been strange! "Makes Sumi scary." The swamp beast nodded firmly, as though he would believe nothing else.
A pause. "Bet... Bet Sumi could be Oogie Boogie one day." The beast finally offered, slinking a bit more into the water as though embarrassed by his own boldness.
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:11 am
The ghost was thoroughly pleased with their conversation and wandered back to the fallen tree where she sat before. She placed an elbow on her knee and rested her head on an upturned palm, watching as Squiggle carefully flitted all over G's wide shoulders. G was a nice guy in both of their books, and Kasumi was impressed by his manners and friendliness. If only all men were as nice as G was. The world would be a much swampier, but overall nicer, place to be. Apparently, the swamp beast seemed to think the same with her! If Kasumi could manage a blush, she would have. "Aww Amjee, you're too nice. I don't think I can handle such compliments. With an attitude like that, I'm surprised you haven't snagged a lady swamp beast for yourself!"
Indeed, the ghost girl concocted a mental image of one who looked just like G, identical in all ways save for a pink bow on her head and tail. Honestly, she had no idea what a female of Gargantuan's kind would look like, so her mental approximation would have to do for now. She giggled to herself. "Would you mind telling me about your home, G? What did you do all day in a swamp besides eat boats? I'm sure humans might have noticed if their toys were eaten like that." Perhaps newspapers were abuzz with missing boat and tourist stories or something of that kind. She pictured a front page story with a happy-looking G and the carcass of a first-class motor boat.
Kasumi didn't have much to offer in the way of memories of her previous life, except that she came from a hospital. Maybe she was sick? She didn't know, but listening to G was both fun and interesting. "Who is Oogie Boogie, G? Is he a nice guy like you?"
Thankfully, G wasn't the kind to judge her based on Kasumi's lack of knowledge of Halloween! She was working on it, though.
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:12 am
A lady swamp beast... Gargantuan looked almost perplexed at the suggestion, bobbing up and down in the water before he put his thick jaws on the muddy earth, peering at Sumi. He'd forgotten about the pets he was supporting, and hastily pulled himself up a little when Squiggles squeaked at protest at the feel of the water. "Prolly get smacked." He concluded thoughtfully. They wouldn't like compliments very much, not unless they were about how much they could eat. And no swamp beast wanted to be inferior when it came to eating, so compliments were far and few in between.
Kasumi's image was more accurate than she could ever realize, and there was a low, thoughtful rumble for the question. G didn't mind sharing. "Hot 'n wet. Lots 'n lots of good stuff for G to eat." Really, that was all they did mostly, was eat! The beast shook his head a little. "No humans, G just heard stories from bigger swamp beasts. G eated lots! Was lonely, though..."
...Sumi.. Sumi didn't know who Oogie Boogie was? The beast gaped a little, like he was completely shocked. And he was. "Oogie Boogie scariest in Halloween Town!" He said, enthused. "G never met 'im... but wants to be like 'im!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:42 am
"Really? Lady swamp beasts aren't very nice, Amjee?" Since G was such a friendly guy, Kasumi assumed those traits applied to the entire race as a whole. She furrowed her brow since talking about it seemed like something that would upset the poor guy. That was the last thing the ghost wanted for her friend. Yes, he definitely was a friend. He was so sweet and thoughtful! She only wanted the best for him. The mini golem fluttered about above G's head when he moved, not minding at all because it could fly very easily. It lit on his shoulder again when she steadied, rubbing its head against the monster's chin in affection.
G was lonely? Even though there were lots of things to eat and bigger swamp beasts too? How horrible! Kasumi knew all too much about being lonely. She couldn't even remember her home. She frowned in thought and despair. "It's good that you remember you home, Amjee. I don't remember anything about mine except... I was in a hospital and I was very, very scared." Her voice grew low and she took a deep breath. Ghosts had the problem of slipping easily into an intense emotion and being stuck there for long periods of time. This was why their dorms were plastered with motivational posters and kept warmer than other dorms.
She tilted her head when the beast explained that Oogie Boogie was the scariest in all of Halloween. "Really? Mr. Boogie was super scary? Was he the leader or something? I should probably go find a book about it... I bet it's embarrassing not to know!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 1:20 pm
"Want strong mens." The swamp beast explained sagely, even nodding a little as though he saw nothing wrong with the fact that he wasn't the most desirable swamp beast in the pond. "Can catch them lots of food 'n be good daddies." The courting of a swamp monster was fairly straight forward and simple. An odd, grating purr was pulled from him at the golem's affection, and G hesitated before he gave the thing a thorough lick with his blunt, wet tongue. Friends!
"Hospital...?" He queried, and his fins wilted when Sumi mentioned that she'd been scared. There was a grunt, and the beast did his best to haul himself up and out of the swamp, inchworming forward until he could nose at Kasumi's hand with his snout. He was here! She didn't have to be scared or sad anymore! "G won't let you go back to hospital." He told her simply with a twitch of his tail. "Don't have to be scared no more, okay?"
He let himself flop back in the water a little, ignoring how muddy he'd gotten himself. Mud was nice and kept his skin cool! "Was a bad guy. Lossa books, G thinks. 'bout Jack 'n Sally 'n Sandy Claws." He nodded again, and it was clear that as a young swamp beast, these were the sort of stories he'd thrived on.
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:11 pm
If G was alright with his position in the swamp beast food chain, so to speak, then Kasumi wouldn't dwell on it. So long as the monster was happy, that was all that mattered, really. Squiggle liked him well enough too! It happily sat on his shoulder and trilled its own tiny song. It rocked back and forth to the rhythm of its own invention. "I bet baby swamp beasts are cute. I bet you were adorable too, Amjee!" The ghost laughed, especially when the monster boy moved to make her feel better. She truly did appreciate all the effort he went to.
"A hospital is a place where sick humans go. I remember that... I guess I was very sick and sometimes I see things and hear things that aren't there. Maybe that's why I was in the hospital." She shook her head. "Thank you, Amjee. I'm glad I don't have to be scared anymore. You don't have to be scared either!" She reached out and wrapped her arms around him in a warm (if she could manage the warm part) embrace.
"You're such a nice guy, Amjee. Don't ever lose that part of yourself, okay?"
She sat back down and nodded to Gargantuan's explanation of Halloween history. The names were unfamiliar, but she resolved to read about them in the library. "He was a bad guy? I'm assuming he's very scary. Or he was very scary. I guess that's what people here aspire to, huh?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:22 pm
Baby swamp beasts... Bubbles floated in a constant, thoughtful stream from his maw as he tried to remember that far back, but to no avail. "Was round." He finally concluded in a satisfied sort of way. "Toothy 'n round." And he'd probably devoured anything in his war path. Still, Sumi was about to tell him more about the human world, so he hushed and listened closely.
Sumi... had been sick? He was quietly thinking that over; whenever a swamp beast got sick, they didn't last for very long. He didn't ever want to be sick. Shuddering slightly to himself, he huffed a breath through his nose, and was completely and entirely distracted when she wrapped her arms around him. A low, thrum of a rumble purred in his throat, and Gargantuan nuzzled at her affectionately. "G won't. 'n G keep Sumi safe too, kay? No more hospitals."
Bleck.
"Ya. Scariest person is best person, see? Oogie Boogie was bad, but scary! Jack was scarier." The Pumpkin King always prevailed, after all!
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 9:13 am
The ghost giggled at Amjee's description of himself when he was younger. Toothy and round, huh? Sounded absolutely adorable and the ghost wished she had pictures to prove it! When she was nuzzled, she gently scratched the underside of his chin. "I'm glad I have you as a friend, Amjee. It's not so easy to be sad when you have a friend around." Kasumi felt truly blessed then, to have someone who would always have her back, so to speak, despite anything that happened in her past or would happen in her future. She couldn't remember a time when she felt this safe.
Leaning back, she tilted her head at the swamp beast's explanation of the one known as Jack. She felt very uneducated then, not having any idea who the big and the bad were in Halloween Town. Heck, she couldn't even remember what it was like in the human world!
"Who was Jack, Amjee? Was he like... a president or something?"
Good thing Helma wasn't around, or the ghost would have gotten an earful!
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