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 Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:16 am
(( My procrastination does wonders for the time line gonk Should occur after the current events at school ))
Edel waited on the platform, her fingers absent-mindedly fiddling with the train ticket in her hand. It was a strange feeling, to have nothing crossing her mind at that point. She had imagined that she would have decided to change her mind, turn back and just write them a letter convincing them that she was alright.
But strangely, no. It would take a little time for her to phantom why, but the frost demon was not in the mood for some soul searching. Not now at least.
The ghoul watched on mildly as the crowd began to gather on the platform, just ... pondering. Her eyes glanced down to a very docile Dingo which waited, curled up at the foot of the suitcase. He might have noticed that her attention was on him for there was a slight perk of the ears. Or maybe not, it seems; the train began to appear as a dot in the distance and it eased to a halt, letting off steam as it pulled into the station. The small thought that screamed NOW IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! was swiftly drowned out by the chatter and the crowd moving in to board the train. The ghoul stood up, picked up her luggage and entered the cabin with the Runic Inugami to follow.
- - -
The train ride home was a long one. It would take about two days to reach the northern main station where she would transit onto a smaller local line that would traverse the mountainous terrain home.
There was a lot of time to spare, that afternoon. The ghoul was looking out of the window, hand tucked away in her hair, watching the scenery of dead trees go by. It occurred to her that if anything, now was the best time to give some thought to an issue that she had been side-lining for quite some time because the of dour circumstances. Her fingers ran through her hair as she let out a sigh, turning her attention back to the half-filled cup of bergamot tea in front of her.
It was safe to say that she had some feelings for Moure. Edel however, wasn't sure of the extent of those feelings. The more she thought about it, it became clearer and clearer that what she had felt when she had seen Danny and Moure together was quite simply, jealousy. It wasn't just the fact that the frost demon wasn't particularly fond of the flame demon, or that the patchwork boil was one of the few people she could call a friend. It hadn't disturbed her so much then at the FMC meeting when Danny had practically carried him off, but now ...
It was a bit difficult to swallow, the thought that the two of them could be together.
Also the fact that Danny was all over his room. On his door. In his bed. Edel pulled a face, bringing her hand up to rub the side of her head, promptly quashing the annoying little voice in her head.
Also, the fact that he's an undead-?
The frost demon quite nearly lost it with herself. She wasn't that kind of person, so why on Halloween would she be thinking about these things. Sure, her parents would have probably preferred it if she had taken to a demon instead but that .... shouldn't matter should it? Ridiculous, really. Still, the ghoul couldn't help but fret over what her parents might say if she brought Moure back and introduced him as her boilfriend.
Which he is not, by the way came the snide reminder in her head. There was no arguing with that.
Edel was resigned to staring out of the window again, her head propped up on her hand which was supported by the table. The scenery of dead trees were fading but the thoughts in her head weren't. The ghoul wondered how he was doing back in school, amongst all her ghouly, ghouly thoughts. It was all very perplexing, really.
Her fingers had found their way to the handle of the delicate tea cup and Edel turned away from the window, bringing the cup up to her lips to take a long sip from it. The aromatic smell of the citrus did serve to brighten her mood a little.
Dear Passengers, we will be arriving at Little HangingTown in an hour. There will be a 30 minute stopover at the station. Passengers headed to the Eastern Region including Darkman Alley and Mora's Cove are kindly reminded to alight at the next station and transit to the Eastern Express. Thank you and have a nice day.
Edel's eyes perked up to watch the loudspeaker as the announcement was made. An hour's time huh? The frost demon set the tea cup back down on the table and reclined into the velvet cushioned seat, pondering over what to do till then. Well, she did promise to write to Moure ... Her face reddened at the thought of that – it was a little embarrassing to do so, especially after what she had been thinking of just moments ago.
Ah, but if she didn't write now, the next stopover would be tomorrow. The letter would have to travel a greater distance too...
Draining the tea cup with a final sip of the tea, the frost demon opened her satchel to retrieve a pen and writing paper. There was a moment of uninspired tapping on the table with the back of the pen but then she began to write ...
924 words
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:17 am
Day Two.
Perhaps the hardest part about overnight train rides was getting some sleep. The constant rattling and chugging noises of the train had kept the ghoul awake the first time she sat on it but this being her third trip to and fro from home and school, the frost demon had somewhat gotten used to it. Bleary eyes peeked through the window of the cabin, noticing that it was still the early hours of the morning. A drawing of the curtains shut and a flopping back into bed, the ghoul awoke a little while later to have breakfast at 8 in the train's dining cabin.
Breakfast of scones and tea. Edel tore off a small bit of the pastry and chewed slowly, thoughtfully, sleepily. It became obvious enough that our poor, delicate young lady did not have enough sleep when she stared at the waiter with such a blank expression he apologised for greeting her Good Morning at all. She may or may not have dozed off sitting with her eyes open. Thank Jack for the caffeine in the tea.
And when that was done, the frost demon dragged herself off groggily to the next cabin, stumbling and tossed around along the way. Day Two. It was always about the train ride.
- - -
BAM.
The head of blue hair hit the glass window. The ghoul took in a staggered gasp as she rubbed her head where she had hit it. Well, damn. At least that got her awake. Blame the rocky terrain, but for what its worth, it meant that she was nearing home. The ghoul gazed out of the window, recognising the steppe region and the rugged highlands. Sliding open the window, she stretched her hand out and felt the cold wind go by.
There were colder winds of course, back home, where gusts were accompanied with the blinding snow. Back home in the formidable fortress, a safe haven for the winter land dwellers. Back home perched high up in the mountains, isolated from the threats that plagued the outside world. Edel had to wonder – what if she never had left? Home was the safest place in Halloween. Her life would just go by as usual – dull, boring, but safe. That option did not sound too bad now, in face of the threat that could take their freedom, their sovereignty, their life away.
Day Two on the train ride home. A time for reflection, a time for resolutions, a time to find the right words to say.
- - -
It had crossed her mind that when she arrived back home she would tell her parents about everything. Perhaps they could rally support, band together and fight back with greater numbers. The ghoul didn't care for fair fights, honorable fights – she'd much rather crush a single hunter with tens, hundreds than go one on one and face capture. The hunters were stronger than them, but they would be even stronger with the numbers.
But one would be blind, deaf, utterly foolish if one did not recognise the situation at hand. The cover up about their Professors death, if only to save the school's reputation, would be understandable. Not pardonable, but understandable.
Students were then encouraged to blame their teacher's own lack of responsibility and restraint on the reappearance if the mythical 'Hunters', despite lack of any substantial evidence.
Lack of substantial evidence? The pendant the horsemen showed them was evidence enough. Did what the students say account for anything? It wasn't a mere hallucination if half the cohort had seen or been in those cages. The little rendezvous at the co-ed washroom left her feeling sick. It wasn't so much the sudden influx of information that scared her, rather, it was how sorely unprepared they were. Was it simply just complacency? No. What puzzled her most was how intent their homeland security force was on keeping the incident hushed up. There were no fliers, warning posters or the use of media to broadcast the threat they faced. A threat they had not recognised or faced for the past hundreds of years. How funny, how laughable that it would be the student body who would lead the fight. That they would be under the tutelage and instruction of the horsemen to become high school warriors.
What were the boogeymen doing?
What would her parents know?
She was desperate for answers.
Edel had come to the conclusion that she would not disclose everything to her parents. That would, at the very least, guarantee her the chance of returning to school. She would have to prod for answers carefully. Until she met her parents and asked them some questions, she would never find out the scale of this silence conspiracy. She would also have to get stronger.
It confused her, how she felt relief and disappointment that she didn't finish that hunter off. It made her madder that she had been mocked and somehow, somehow spared from being converted into a weapon. She would not be returning the favour, she could not. A war is a war. And she was so sure that she had no qualms about killing...
Did she?
There were so many questions left unanswered.
Dear Passengers, we will be arriving at North Rockies Station in an hour. There will be a 30 minute stopover at the station. Passengers headed into the mountains' terrain are kindly reminded to alight at the next station and transit to the local Light Rapid Transit provided. Thank you and have a nice day.
The sky was growing dark. Yes. Day Two was nearly over.
937 words
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:27 am
A small passenger train pulled in into a rickety old station, the sound of metal clanking and wheels stopping echoing into the mountains. A pair of feet stepped onto the wooden boards of the old station, then a pair of wheels, then two pairs of padded feet. There old man sitting on the bench within the station drew a glance at the latest arrival, though it was hard to tell with the heavy bundle of clothing he was wrapped in.
“Young lady like that shouldn't be wanderin' around these dangerous terrains. Dem yetis are out there hehehe” he chuckled. Dingo turned around to snarl at the man. That perverted little -
“I'll be sure to take care, thank you for your concern sir”
The ghoul whistled for the Runic Inugami to follow. Tugging the luggage along, she turned around to look at the old man with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes before disappearing into the gust of snow that just happened to blow by.
- - -
“She's back! The young mistress is back!”
Edel's arrival had not gone unnoticed, even though she was barely halfway up the hill that led to the residence. A few minutes later she was greeted with a ghost dog drawn sled and very excited house servants who immediately snatched up her luggage bag and gently shoved her into the sled. “Welcome back! Welcome back!” The ghoul couldn't phantom why dear Strauss, Clyde and Nome were so excited ... it had only been 6 months -
Right, it had been 6 months since she had last returned. It never occurred to her how long it had been. Which was why she never wrote back ... oh dear. And to think that the first piece of news that her parents would have gotten since then was that blasphemous newspaper article? The young lady was going to have a lot of explaining to do.
The frost demon alighted the sled and faced the behemoth of the entrance door to the estate. Ah yes, she was back home alright. The doors creaked open, revealing a long passageway and another door at the end. The trio and Dingo would enter from the other entrance. Edel began making her way down the hall, receiving bows and greetings from the house servants and maids who had gathered to escort their young mistress through. The ghoul turned around once she reached the other end, dipping her head into a bow – wait, she was to curtsy at home. Folding her hands in front of her, Edel quickly amended the motion and spun around again. The two butlers at the door bowed and the second set of doors parted, revealing the hall where a large chandelier hung over. The ghoul often felt it was a pity that the hall which was large enough to serve as a ballroom never hosted a party or a dance before – at least not in the recent years. Sweeping across the expanse of the floor, the ghoul began to ascend the steps of the left branch of the stairway. Brace yourself she thought.
The last set of doors were opened and a long table came into sight. Two figures sat at the farther end, waiting. This time, the ghoul remembered and dropped into a curtsy.
“Father, Mother, I am home.”
- - -
There was a lot of tea-stirring going on that day. Both father and daughter were paying most acute attention to the process of sugar dissolving into the tea. Kind mother glanced back and forth the duo, smiling helpfully but not saying a thing. The stirring in one of the cups stopped, the teaspoon pulled out and tapped twice on the lip of the porcelain cup before it was placed down gently on the side of the saucer. The daughter soon followed suit but her eyes were still averted, staring down at the swirling tea.
“H-How was school?”
“It's alright.”
“And classes?”
“Quite challenging, I have a lot to learn.”
Silence.
“And that field trip was quite a challenge too was it not?” Steam stopped rising from the teacup and a layer of frost began to form on the tea. The older lady shifted in her seat defensively.
“Yes.” Just a slight bit of defiance laced her tone.
...
“Did you know?”
“That my daughter is being subjected to danger in school and that retirement is a euphemism for is dead then yes my dear, I do.”
A pair of blue eyes looked up and met with the ones belonging to the man.
“I was not referring to that. The hunters, I mean-”
“No I do not-”
“You do, don't you?”
“No.”
“Then why object when I wished to go to school? Why request that I return immediately?”
“Is it wrong that I should care for my daughter's safety? Keep her out of danger?”
“What danger exactly-”
“Stop.” Bright blue eyes were now glaring at the ghoul. “I warn you that you are treading on thin ice. These hunters must go unmentioned.”
“Why?” The response was indignant. Yes, WHY? These hunters if given a chance would wipe out every single one of them. Why were they not doing anything about it? First the boogeymen, now even her parents?!
“That I do not know.”
The ghoul's eyes widened in disbelief. She knew that had been an honest reply. Now she was at a loss for words.
The solemn gentleman slowly rose from his seat and left, not looking back, not saying anything. His wife would soon follow.
The young lady took a moment to stare into the distance emptily. She too would soon leave the table.
Three tea cups sat forlornly on their saucers.
Nobody was in the mood for tea that day.
983 words
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:08 am
Edel had spent the entire night coming to terms that her parents knew nothing about the hunters, or Halloween's impending doom. The ghoul was becoming increasingly frustrated with along with the sequence of events. Just how many times should they take a beating from those humans? The ones who were once their prey for FEAR? Well, of course it was natural for them to retaliate but for what mattered, this was now a full fledged war.
For half of them at least. Not with the adults still kicking back into their seats and watching the days go by without a care in the world. Oh, but that's because they were completely oblivious.
That was that then. It was all a conspiracy. The only thing left to do was to get stronger and fight back. Students versus Hunters.
There was a knock on the door and a voice behind it called out, “Mistress? It's time for breakfast.” Edel tossed in her bed, still feeling bitter about the wasted trip. She also hadn't thought of a way to convince her parents to let her go back to school yet.
Nonetheless, the ghoul washed up and got dressed before heading downstairs to the dining table, the same one she and her father had their little confrontation at. From the looks of it she was late, her mother was no longer at the table and her father was sitting there comfortably, poring over the newspapers while sipping his tea. The ghoul greeted her father nervously and took a seat. She was soon back to stirring her tea again.
Edel didn't catch when exactly did her father look up from the papers, but kept silent when she noticed he did. Was he going to say something? About not letting her go back?
“How long are you staying for?”
The question came both as a shock and a relief. After all, it was asked with the expectation that she would leave for school ... eventually. Though frankly on her father's part, he had been worried their fruitless conversation the day before might have effectively taken away his daughter's reason for a visit home. It would be a shame if she didn't stay for a while ... he really did miss her. A part of him always wondered why he had agreed to let her go to school – he had always been the over-protective type.
The ghoul was stumped for a response, her eyes darted up and down from her father to her tea.
“A few days or so?” The answer was suitably vague. The man didn't probe any further, not wanting to push his luck. So much for worrying about not going back to school.
The pair didn't exchange any more words until Edel was done with her breakfast and left with finishing up her tea. The ghoul did suspect that her father was simply waiting for her to finish, who could have taken so long to finish reading those two pages of the paper? Meanwhile she had taken the time to think of what she could do now that she was back home. With her initial motivation gone, there was only one thing left to do. But. The ghoul knew her father would most likely object. Still, she had to try her luck no?
“Could you ... teach me ... a few ways to deal with an enemy? If I ever happen to get into a situation...” the ghoul had taken the effort to choose her words carefully.
“You mean to teach you how to fight? Wage war? If so, no.” There it was, a flat out rejection. Argh, she shouldn't have asked.
The ghoul returned to her room for another change of clothes to head outside. She would concede that her father would never teach her the barbaric art of fighting, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything about it by herself. This was her home ground. If she wanted to train and become stronger this would be where she should do it.
Edel exited the manor from the back door, heading out to the sparse forest of trees nearby. Alright, now what?. The frost demon simply stood around, admiring the sight around her. How she missed this place, the quiet and the snow... She shook her head, getting herself to focus. There were more urgent things to do.
It took a while for her to realise she was not doing anything productive by building snow sculptures of the various minipets she had seen at Halloween town. Edel took a step back to admire her work. The words Target Practice immediately popped up.
But on minipets? Nooooo. Those hunters would do a fine job instead. The ghoul then remembered what she did during the field trip and changed her mind. She regretted it, stooping so low. She would just have to settle for snow dummies then.
1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
Dummies in place, the ghoul took a step back and positioned herself. Thus far, she had been quite capable of hitting her targets but the damage inflicted was never too great. Was she a sadist that sought to bring more pain to others? No. But yes. She would be lying if said she didn't mean to hurt. Yes, she wanted to hurt, she wanted to kill and rid of the enemy.
How is it that I've become so cold? she thought. The field trip which caused the paradigm shift had taken away her aspirations to lead a fun-filled and carefree life. How trivial her thoughts were in retrospect!
Arms outreached, Edel concentrated her fear into six blades of ice. For them to really hurt she would have to drive them into her target deeper. These had to be different from those ice daggers she had been relying on. Spreading out the fingers in each of her hands further, the frost demon channelled more FEAR, more will and more resolve into elongating and sharpening each blade. Would it do? How would that fare? There was only one way to find out. With a sweep of her hands, the ghoul cast the ice blades out, targeting the six stationary dummies. As for the results? Save for one that missed the target completely, each blade sat comfortably at 3 inches deep within the snow dummies. A FEAR being or a human would have provided more resistance no doubt, but that was a start.
It all came down to practice and more practice, the frost demon spent the next few hours trying to work on her accuracy and driving each blade into the intended target. She was slowly getting used to the motion, but Edel knew better than to think she was actually improving. Landing hits on a stationary target did not say much, she would need someone to spar with. Flicking the last blade into the head of the nearest dummy (a crumpling and very tortured dummy), the ghoul dropped to her knees, sat back and paused. The frost demon was heavy hearted that she felt tired after such a short workout. She wanted to be strong enough to pull her own weight, and help the others with their battle. There was so much work to do, she couldn't just stop now.
The ghoul willed herself to get back on her feet. Up till now, she had been weak on the offense and not any better on the defense. The ice barrier she created did nothing to protect Lattice back then; other times she had been too slow to do so. Edel bit down on her lip, wondering why was that. Was she not good at channelling out the burst of FEAR required? The frost demon crouched down and attempted to create a quick, makeshift barrier that could withstand a hit or so for the purpose of buying time. But she was doing it far too slowly, the barrier growing at a creeping rate of an inch every half a minute. Maybe it was because she was tired? Or -
“Not quite, my dear”
Edel spun around, eyes widened at the visitor. How long had he been watching?
“The architecture of ice – it shouldn't be something that you should force in such a situation.” The man began to move forward, stopping once he was beside her.
Silently, he stretched out his arms and within a minute or two, the pair was standing behind a barrier that flowered from the ground. Not a straight wall or a consistent block of ice, but something far more beautiful.
“Consider the structure of ice, work with it and not against it.” He grinned and blew a snowflake onto her cheek. “Don't you know that snowflakes are hexagons?”
Edel stood there speechless, bringing her fingers up to her face where the snowflake had kissed her. How was it that he always knew so much, and she so little? The ghoul was slow to react and the man had already begun to take his leave.
“Wait,” her call was inaudible. The ghoul rushed to his side, causing him to stop and turn to look at her. Nothing else was said between them, only smiles were exchanged. The man turned away, offering out his arm for the ghoul to take, which she did.
How long has it been since father and daughter walked along together like this?
1573 words
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