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The lake called to her. WarQueen couldn't help but approach, like so many others had done. There were memories here to be had.

Happiness

It had only been a small gesture, really. The thing was, for her, small gestures were nearly non-existent. Not of kindness, at least. Her entire life had been made up of criticism, brutality and abuse. Encouragement is what they would have called it, however, and nothing more.

So yes, a small gesture. She had become a mentor to this girl, had taught her, and guided her. Shaheen's methods were not quite so harsh as her parents had been. She liked to think of herself as a strict teacher, but not certainly not an unkind one!

Maybe that is why the girl made the offering to begin with. Appreciation. Thankfulness. Maybe it was even a friendship. Shaheen did not know friendship, or at least, not in the way it probably should have been known. Rivalries were more her thing. Proving herself to be better then her peers. Pushing herself to get to where they all wanted to be first.

It was just a bracelet. Simple in style, teal beds stringed together and presented with the barest hints of a smile. A gift. It had been accepted eagerly enough, though with surprise, and a look of wonder in honey brown eyes.

"Thank you." Shaheen had whispered then, sincere, grateful, and for once, genuinely happy.

[3/3] - Normalcy

The last vision that came to ShadowStalker was actually one she didn't wish to see. After she took on the role as a Guardian, while for her became a normal routine of training. It seem that all she wanted to do, just so she didn't have to think.

So she could put aside those who were a distraction for her.

Not a bad one, but still a distraction.

So she was training with another guardian, putting her all into it. Same thing every day.

It made ShadowStalker think as she stood. Why did she allow that to become all she needed? Shaking the thought out of her head, she arches a brow as she see a chest appear before her. Moving towards it, she push it up to reveal a card.

Picking it up, she glance up as she saw the number appear over her head.

The rush was nice, it meant she was growing stronger.

With card in hand, she steps away from the lake and continues on the path through the woods.

[ 17 - Empty ]

To her, the cup would always be half empty and never half full. It was a question that so many people loved to pose for reasons she could never fathom. It had been intriguing the first time, but then it grew into three, four, twenty times, and her patience began to wear thin. She knew that people had the tendency to follow others, to be the same as others, but there were times when the similarities grew too much. Sometimes it felt like people were parroting phrases verbatim to her, and the world expected her to react as if it was okay and as if it didn’t bother her at all.

Of course it bothered her.

The world was so stupid, so horrible, so empty. It had its redeeming qualities, but she also knew that utopia could never exist. People would always be dissatisfied. People would always manage to screw things up. It was human nature. It was hers too.

The entire world was flawed and the thought made her empty inside.

ENTERING
Wisdom [1/3]

Bennett, feeling rather accomplished for having obtained two fragments already, found her way to the lake where she was drawn to the water. It mesmerized her. When she touched it, it felt like she was swallowed up by the water and the images that floated in it.

She was a little vampire again. An old family friend, practically family himself, had held her on his knee and placed a small little locket in her hand. It was her birthday, and he had saved his present for last. Initially, she had been let down by the little trinket. Her bright red eyes looked up at him with curiosity, clearly wanting an explanation.

"Benny, I know. It doesn't seem so special, but it's a reminder for you, as you're getting bigger and bigger and moving on to bigger things. Just remember the things you can carry with you are the most important. I want you to wear this, always, and remember that. If you can't carry it with you, then it can't be the most important."

A smile crossed her pale lips and she offered it back to him. He placed it around her neck and adjusted her hair.

"There. It looks beautiful on you, just as I knew it would."

((1/3: Empty))

Taima had never been prone to daydreaming, even as a scareling. Her imagination and creativity were geared more towards problem-solving than anything artistic. Where other fledglings saw the shapes of animals and objects in the aimless meandering of clouds, Taima only considered how to go about filling the empty spaces in between them.

((3/3: Endings))

"You're not going," Kohana told his daughter, putting an abrupt end to the excitement that had ensued when Taima had learned that she had been accepted to Amityville Academy.

Huyana and Chumani cooed their disappointment, the latter lowering her head to rub her cheek against Taima's, seeking to offer comfort, but Taima was having none of that. She broke away from her sister and mother, hopping to stand before her father. "What do you mean, I'm not going? Do you know how hard I worked to get in there?"

If Kohana was at all perturbed by Taima's reaction, he didn't show it. "That was time and energy you should have put towards learning what we have to teach you," he replied calmly.

"You?" Taima scoffed. "You wouldn't have even taught me how to fly if I hadn't jumped off of a cliff!"

"Enough," Kohana said, a hint of thunder in his voice. "I have made my decision: you're not going."

"You can't keep me here!" Taima shouted, her wings flaring in anger, the air displaced by them grumbling with their passing. "I'm strong enough to make the trip out of the mountains by myself, and I'm old enough to make my own decisions! I've lived by your rules long enough--it's time I lived by my own for a while." Taima glared at her father, who hadn't budged an inch, and realized that they were nearly the same size now. It wouldn't be long before she was bigger than him.

It dawned on father and daughter at the same time; she wasn't his little ghoul anymore.

[ Grey ]

The rain was getting a tad bit depressing. Oh sure, he could whip up a simple flurry if he breathed into the rain, but that was amusing for only so long. He leaned further against the cool glass of the window. The grey sky above was faintly lit by the backdrop of the pumpkin sun behind it. A large part of him was tempted to break outside, and start huffing and puffing till as much of the rain was ice and snow as he could make.

But was he willing to put so much effort into it? For a fun time, yes, yes he was. He pondered that a while. Maybe he could get a certain ice demon to lend a hand~? A wide grin slowly spread across his face, leaping up from the windowsill in his dorm to snatch up his phone. Bringing up the messenger, he began pinging off random emotes and words to the other boil. Until he finally got a response back. A rather annoyed looking one. The reaper laughed, flopping back down on the sill, his back to the grey sky. He had a plan for some fun.

Or, worse case, maybe he could get the other to do something else to occupy their time. Maybe see a movie or play some video games?

He had worked on it for years: a way to amplify the power of human fear so that the amount needed to keep Halloween thriving was negligible. Their silent war would come to an end. His people would be free. Only he was not the one called up to the podium. Instead, the demon who had once been his assistant was taking all the credit. Brenley sat and watched his future circle the drain. He could do nothing to stop it.