Jiang peered at the festival with a cynical eye. He wasn't one for anything where there were a lot of Nightmares, but his brother wanted to come and Jiang didn't want him to go alone. "Well...where do you want to start, KaiKai?" he asked, trying not to sound as sullen as he felt. At least the cauldrons were in his favorite color, and there were lanterns to light their way.
Kaito tapped his lip in thought as he surveyed the festival, bucket and lantern in hand. "Why don't we start with lollipops?" he asked and almost got a smile from his twin so he thought that lollipops were definitely the way to go. Making his way to the first table he saw that sold them, he bought them each one.
When Xanti chose a bucket and a lantern, he could hear something rattling around in there already. He looked inside only find some candy that looked like it might have been left over from last Haunted Hallows. "Ew. I could make better candy than that and I can't even be in the kitchens by myself..."
Darrah was once again stuck with Nasrin as a festival buddy. He sighed heavily and prepared to be bored as he gathered his bucket and a lantern. Before he knew what was happening, something was scrambling up his sleeve and he screamed. Like a girl. And would vehemently deny ever making such a sound should anyone bring it up. When he heard a chittering in his ear, he realized what it was and calmed down. The little double-winged flitterat on his shoulder held out a box of raising for him. 'Raisins? Really? You couldn't have brought me chocolate?" He patted the creature anyway.
Nasrin chuckled at Darrah's new friend. "Raisins aren't so bad," he said airily, munching on raisins from his own box. "But look what came in my bucket!" he beamed and held up a plush nezubat.
Darrah's Prizes
10/11: 5, Trick! And a Familiar! 10/12: 10/13: 10/14: 10/15: 10/16: 10/17: 10/18: 10/19: 10/20:
Nasrin's Prizes
10/11: 19, Trick! And a Plushie! 10/12: 10/13: 10/14: 10/15: 10/16: 10/17: 10/18: 10/19: 10/20:
Hadrian was eager to see what wonders the Haunted Hallows festival held and he barely looked at the bucket and lantern he picked up in his rush to get inside. He stopped at the first trick or treat booth and got an awesome sugar skull! "Whoo hoo! Just what I needed to start this off right," he said and grinned.
Ylli was a little nervous about this festival, but it looked interesting. He had even moisturized extra before he left home to make sure he wouldn't dry out before he was ready to go home. He did have a bottle of water for emergencies, but still. Better to be prepared. He chose his bucket carefully and picked up a lantern on the way. His first stop at a trick or treat booth earned him a sugar skull! It looked delicious, and was as he took a small bite. So sweet!
Aurelia was in shock, just staring at the wisp as its glow fluctuated as though it were....laughing? She was about to reach up and touch it when it suddenly flew up off of her face....just in time to dodge the smack from the plushie that Meadow was wielding, the soft toy hitting her face instead. "Mmf!" Was the sound she made when the toy hit her. She blinked in surprise, looking up at Meadow as he looked like he was about to freak out. It hadn't hurt at all; it was just a surprise. The wisp hovered above them making little figure-8 motions and Aurelia just suddenly burst out laughing. The entire situation was ridiculous; they had been pranked by this naughty wisp, who seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. She couldn't stop laughing for a bit, the wisp eventually settling down on top of her head as she started to settle down. "Hahaha....that....hehe...that was funny.." She looked up at Meadow and smiled, pushing herself up slowly. "I'm ok, don't worry." She looked up at the wisp that perched on her head, just sitting there now as though it belonged there, a grin on her face. "You're tricky." The game attendant still felt bad that she basically got cheated out of her win and dropped a box of raisins into her bucket. It wasn't much but it was what they had.
Lural
Iolanthe was walking around the festival, just relaxing as she enjoyed the colors and lights and hearing others around her laugh. It was nice to have fun and just let loose once in a while, something she forgot to do sometimes. She saw a house of illusions attraction and was curious, following a small group of freshlings into it. It was actually quite fun! Winding through the mirror room, climbing up the net and sliding down the other side through a wall of hanging things that looked kind of like ghosts, landing on an inflatable bouncy pad and finally trying to make it out through the revolving tunnel; it was such a strange and crazy ride that left the fey laughing and slightly dizzy as she had tripped in the tunnel and rolled a little. When she came out she was wobbly as she walked for a bit, a game attendant on the other side handing each of the kids a cute little paper ghost when they game out. Hers was especially adorable.
Kohaku saw the group of freshlings going into the house of illusions attraction and wondered for a moment before deciding to take the plunge themselves. They started winding through the mirror room and felt Seeker starting to resist out of confusion, pausing to pick her up as they made their way through. "Don't worry, you'll be ok. We're just going through a place with a lot of twists and turns." They spoke comfortingly to the fennekit as they found their way to the net, climbing up rather easily despite only having one hand to do it with. Raisin stayed in the bucket the entire time but was peeking his head out to watch as they went through this confusing but fun-looking place. Sliding down to the bouncy pad they tread carefully to the revolving tunnel, keeping themselves sure-footed so that they didn't fall and startle their familiars. When they came out Kohaku set down Seeker on solid ground again and the attendant on that side smiled at them. "You're a good caretaker for them, aren't you?" They complimented Kohaku and handed them a paper ghost with a serene face on it. Rather fitting.
Chidori was slightly confused about the trick-or-treating tradition at first until she had observed the other freshlings for a while, seeing that the purpose was to ask for treats or receive some kind of dummy gift (which she supposed was the trick.) The caretaker leading them explained to her the meaning behind the traditions and suddenly it all made sense; the costumes, the decorations, the festival and even the trick-or-treating. She found it charming and smiled, thinking that it could be pretty fun. She went ahead with a couple of other freshlings from the group to the next house and when the others yelled the catchphrase of the evening, she raised her arms and spoke in a ghostly voice. "OoooOooooh! Triiiiick-or-trEEEeeeaaat!" The chimera at the door laughed at her display and gave her a hefty bag of caramel eyeballs, the kumiho giggling a bit as she rejoined the group. Curious of what they tasted like she opened one and put it in her mouth; oh! Chocolate shell that gave way to a caramel goo inside. It was delicious! They didn't have anything like this back at the village. She had a feeling she was going to really like it here in Below.
Evelyn took the lead on the next house, a promising-looking one with glowing lights around it. Sadly, Evey's treat was a handful of gross hard candies--the kind that taste of regret more than anything else. But as they set off down the street, something softly-colored was following her. She reached out towards it and... failed to touch it. Depth perception was something that happened to other people. But it came closer to her and brushed against her fingertips, sending a shiver down her spine. A wisp! She smiled at it. "Come along, you pretty thing," she said to it. It bobbed as if in agreement and followed along behind her.
Darryl felt like he should be jealous of his sister's new pet, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be. It was just so...well, wisps were sort of boring, weren't they? He was much more satisfied with his bag of delicious candy corn than he could ever be with a wisp.
Talya smiled at her friend. "That's a very pretty wisp," she said. She herself had gotten a doll that seemed slightly creepy. She wasn't entirely convinced that she wanted this at all.
Xenophon's prize had been a scream bar. He planned to split it in half with Ruka when they got home--everyone should experience a scream bar at least once in their life. "What are you going to name it, Evey?"
Ruka watched her brother and his friends get followed by a bright light, and felt a momentary pang that she wasn't there with them. Dad seemed to notice this, because he squeezed her hand reassuringly. She smiled at him. She didn't need to feel alone--she had Dad, and that was all she needed. She led the way to the next house, where she got a large lollipop in a pleasing red and black pattern. "I hope it's licorice," she whispered to Dad.
Dad stared at her, startled. "You like licorice?" he asked.
Ruka nodded. "Yeah. Other kids hate it, but I really like it."
Ustule took the next turn at the guessing game, which was successful--she earned a stuffed skeleton and a handful of disgusting candy. Okay, the skeleton was definitely good--certainly enough to make up for the gross candy!
Histeol was not quite as successful as Ustule was. He didn't win a stuffed skeleton, but he did win a handful of that gross hard candy. Oh well, not every try could be successful!
Okay, so his friends were doing pretty well. Perigor tried his hand. It was tricky, but in the end, he guessed correctly, which earned him a glowing bottle of green glow. Awwww yeah. He put it around his neck and stepped aside for another friend to take a go.
nepsah
In the end, Deni volunteered to go first. The door opened onto a space beyond that was filled with an unnatural darkness. Deni looked down. Okay, there was a floor, that was good. He cautiously stepped into the room, holding the skull candle in front of him. The flame flickered, but held. Before he could say or do anything, though, the inner wardrobe door closed behind him with a loud snap. Deni rushed back to the door and tried to pry it open, to no avail--it was locked. Oh, no. He looked down at the key to the door in his left hand. Oops.
Something moved at the corner of his eye and he whirled around to see it. There was nothing there. He took a deep breath and held the candle out in front of himself to inspect the room. It appeared to be some sort of torture chamber with a bloodied chair in it and hooks on the ceiling. Urgh...
And right behind him, there was a loud moan. He whirled around to see what it was, but...there was nothing there.
The door snapped open and his siblings came tumbling out. Deni blinked in surprise. "But--the key--"
"It opened on its own," Sara gasped. She handed her candle to Niol and rushed forward to lock her little brother in a tight embrace. "Ah was so worried about yah," she said.
Deni returned the hug awkwardly with one hand. "Me too," he said. Finally, they released each other. Sara went straight to the treats, while Deni put the key back in the other room. It seemed like the proper thing to do. Meanwhile, treats were being distributed, and Deni took a lollipop.
Sara was still shaking with shock. She'd almost lost her little brother... She shook herself. "Maybe Ah should go first," she said, taking a ghost.
Sound Lee's paws were starting to hurt, but he kept moving on like a trooper. He wanted to hang out with his friends, and if his friends were going to keep moving forward, then so was he! The next house was disappointing, though--they all got turnips, which were apparently "good luck" or something.
Aurabelle was just not pleased about the turnips. Gross! Oh well. Maybe it would, in fact, bring them good luck?
Okay, sure, he'd gotten a turnip, same as the rest of his friends--but he'd also gotten a plushie! People just seemed to really like his costume or something, although he was vaguely getting suspicious as he put his skeleton plush away.
This would probably be their last go on the matching game, which was fine by Zalir--it was sort of time to move on by now. Zalir's prize this last time was a fetching pumpkin bracelet, which zey slid on next to zeir first bracelet.
Anchriesel's last turn flipping over cards earned him the same prize as Zalir had won. He put it on and held his wrist next to his friend's. "We match again!"
Someone threw a small stuffed animal at him, which he caught easily. He smiled--a fine pink and yellow bat plush. So cute!
With an unholy shriek, the Litch snatched up its club and ran towards them. Though its gait was slow and lolloping, the five teenagers panicked. Ori chanted "Hurry, hurry, hurry!!" under her breath as Wyrdda struggled to put the eyeball in the socket. The cats hissed and the fennekit started to yip. But the door finally opened and the five of them poured into the room beyond in a big tangled not. Ori leaped to her feet, hurriedly counted her friends, then slammed the door shut behind them. It shuddered as the Litch on the other side swung the club at it. Ori laughed feebly. "Just in the knick of time, huh?"
This room was full of cages--fully animated puppets and dolls (er, actors in makeup) stood in the cages, watching them, reaching out to them with claws and fingers outstretched. They groaned, moaned, and wailed; some of them snarled ferociously. Ori helped her friends to their feet and snatched up a bag of candy in the center of the floor. A siren went off and the gates to the cages started to open. Ori pointed at the door on the far side of the room, at the top of some stairs. "Come on, hurry!" she shouted, a touch of hysteria in her voice.
Wyrdda nearly dropped the eyeball several times while fitting it in the slot; how she was able to put it in she had no idea. Her original intention had been to stay behind and help everyone through, but when the necromancer had noticed them... Well, needless to say, their plans went out the window. Wyrdda had to juggle the lanterns, candles, buckets, and wailing kit in her arms to grab a striped chocolate bat before hurrying up the steps to join Ori.
Jie squeaked as someone stepped on her tail, but there was no time to worry about that. Her new cat was watching her from the top steps, nervously twitching their tail. Jie picked up a glowing necklace and joined her friends at the top. She turned to the boys, screaming, "Come on, hurry!!"
Kuni needed no second bidding. He took a bag of candy skulls from the pile, reached out a hand to help Nai to his feet, and dragged his Litch to the door. "Come on, ve don't have time!"
What, no time to dust himself off?! Oh well. Nai squeezed the Dryad's hand and snatched up a crystal ball as they passed it. By the time his feet touched the bottom stair, the puppets and dolls were almost upon them, waving their arms and swinging knives, bats, and sickles at the intruders.
Niol shook his head. "Uh uh. If any one of us siblings is expendable, it's me. So if we're gonna send one of us in t' be cannonfodder, it'll be me."
As one might expect, his assertion was quickly and emphatically shot down by his siblings. Chastised, he picked up his chocolate skulls and looked around the room.
Cal could feel Eidil's eyes starting to pop out from the relentless barrage of trivia. She slipped an arm around the Demon's waist, thanked the vendor for the game, and pulled Eidil along to the next booth. "Thanks for humoring me," she murmured.
Their next spot was a very simple game, one intended probably for freshlings, but hey, there was no one there, and the vendor was asking them if they wanted to play, so...why not? They had to stick their arms into a hole and they got whatever prize they picked up. Sounded simple, right? Well, the hole in the board led into a tube that felt cold and slimy... "Urgh!" Cal said. She laughed--or at least, Cal would have described it as a laugh--and pulled a candy apple out. "Okay, then! Your turn, Eidil!"
"It's not humoring you, not really," Eidil said. "I wanted you to be happy is more what it was.
When they got to the monster mouth game and Cal dipped her hand in, Eidil had to hide her face. Cal was giggling! Had Cal ever done that before? Note to self, this was a really successful date! Eidil's turn was debatably less lucky. She got a plushie, which was very nice! And some candy that looked...well, not so good. "I'm sorry," she said to the vendor, handing it back to them. "I feel bad taking two prizes."
"Understandable," the vendor murmured. They put the candy back into whatever netherrealm the prizes were in.
They probably made a strange sight walking down the street--two miniature scientists, a cat, a monster with a backpack with three kittens in it, a rat... well, they were quite a parade by that point. The next house was giving out plushies, so Fena got a stuffed bat as a prize. He hid a yawn as they made their way back to the sidewalk.
Frankie, too, was yawning. He had gotten a stuffed bat as well, albeit a smaller one, but hey, he'd gotten a lollipop, too, which was more than Fena had gotten! N-not that that mattered, of course...
Oh yeah, that was right. While Tempo was catching on to technology pretty well, it was all very new to her still and obviously she hadn’t yet had time to experience the wonders of some of the technology Below had.
“Well it’s like this portable Cylinder thing that you stuff things in and…. I actually own one from when I was a kid. I’ll just show you sometime, but it’s something that allows you to propel plushies and other objects on unsuspecting people”
“Well ours probably can’t compare, but hopefully you enjoy them?” Yami asked. He frowned as he could have sworn something caught his eye in the crowd, but it wasn’t important. He was off duty. This was neutral ground since it was sooo close to the school.
Layren knew that look. He hated that look with a passion, that look never bode well for him. Sure enough Thayne took off at practically full speed through the crowd. “Thayne… stop… stop. Thayne. Stop.” Layren tried to no avail. Luckily grimm were physically fit if nothing else and he somehow kept his footing with his best friend body slamming him. Why the hell hadn’t Thayne’s family taught him not to tackle people as hugs… or was it just something reserved fully for him? “I haven’t had my fluff for a few months now. I… I grew out of it” Layren replied. He still wasn’t used to it either as evidence that he kept picking out the wrong shirts. Nasai’s eyebrow had practically gone into her hairline when she saw what he had been wearing. Ah well he wasn’t changing. Suddenly he was knocked out of his thoughts by Thayne screaming and clutched at his shirt… Thayne was going to kill him.
Oh yay one of those type of people. Great this night was just going to be awesome…. Not. Why was he out here again? Oh yeah, making sure people didn’t get suspicious and call the social worker… again. Ah well this promised to not be boring… although he had a feeling tempers were going to flare. He knew his faults and with that attitude. Oh yes… that attitude. “Ah well in my opinion they both have people and therefore they both... have less desirable qualities” Acheron stated. “Besides if you didn’t like the candy or the festival why are you wandering around then? Why come here of all places. “ He trailed off. Changed his demeanor to something much less grouchy, smiled politely at the passing attendant and snagged a plushie.
“Why am I not surprise, but sure just remind me and I’ll give the full story” vanna replied and then frowned. What where those kids doing. They weren’t…. they weren’t actually. Yes they were. Vanna stepped back and used his wings to propel him forward quickly sliding over to where a bunch of kids where picking on a poor nezubat. The kids scattered the second that Vanna swooped in and instantly he was scooping up the poor thing and holding it to his chest.
Nothing looked torn or overly hurt but he’d run the poor little guy past his vet in the morning. It was the one bad part about Haunted Hallows. The kids tended to pick on nezubats.
“Haha and you are quite the charmer Mr. Kingston.” Mai teased. “but still thank you for the lovely… lovely… compliment…..”
Mai blinked. She didn’t think she had ever seen her brother move that fast. It was a bit scary actually. Sure she knew what he did and… and where they… they weren’t actually. Oh… oh. They didn’t. Mai lightly pushed Kingston and Ren to the side, handing her familiars to one of them and launching herself airborne…. As the Lead bully was getting away she landed in front of him and decked him hard in the face. Any one that needed proof that the Arel siblings were related could see it now by the identical looks of anger on their face. Unfortunately before she could punch him again the brat ran away. seriously...seriously nightmares today. Suddenly she was kicked out of her angry funk when the courtyard suddenly erupted into applause?
“Yeah although I am a bit cold, but I’ll survive" Ren stated until he realized he was feeling a lot warmer. Looking over he realized Vanna was using a bit of magic to warm him up. Ren blushed not wanting to have been any trouble.
"Well considering how big of a lead that Vanna currently has. I would have to say that he’s pretty sure to win the competition. No, I was just ambushed as I walked out of the bathroom. I wonder if Miss Ava bought too many again and she just told people to make sure they got rid of their plushie stash.” Ren stated. After all some of these plushie people where quite aggressive in making sure you took a plushie. It was then he noticed the purple bracelet someone was using as a choker on the plushie. Taking it off he realized it looked like Kingston’s and Mai’s. However he didnt ponder long as suddenly Mai was handing him her familiars and appearing across the little courtyard thingy they were in.
"I don’t think we have a pumpka” Salem stated. He hadn’t realized that Samhain was as close to the surface as he was and the control slipped if only marginally. “No we don’t. We don’t have a skyfish either. We have three flitterats. A wisp, a salamander and a Nezubat” a softer voice replied before the body blinked and Salem was back in the driver’s seat and they had gotten to the stall. “Yeah sure I’ll try” he relied. Salem looked at the couple. If it seemed like they weren’t generally honest or nice or hell even if he saw the typical piece of paper that kept you from reaching the top he was winning the top prize, but they were nice and they generally seemed sorry for Nashira when she didn’t get very far. So he took the mallet, let out a concentrating breath and held back his strength. It went up to about half a foot from the top. Salem picked the pumpka bracelet. Huh looks like they might me pumpka bells considering how they jingled.
Nashira blinked. Oh. It seemed Samhain was trying to regain control, but Salem remained in charge. "Pumpka can be quite a handful." She said, stepping aside as the rules were explained to Salem, and he took the swing. "Hm. I'm not surprised you did better then me." She looked at the pumpkin bracelet that he won. "It jingles? How cute." She wondered if hers jingled too. She would have to inspect it later. "So, would you like to try and catch skyfish next?" She waved her hand down the way towards the game. But before she could take a step, a colorful blob of light darted in front of her face then zipped round Salem, back to Nashira and tried to upend her basket. She lifted it up and looked at the glowing orb.
"Excuse me. That's being quite rude." She scolded the wisp. Her new vespercat hissed at it and the wisp whirled around it, distracting the cat. "...I think I may have a new wisp..." She took a couple steps and the wisp had one more trick to play, rolling a glass eye unto her path. She stepped on it and slipped, faceplanting the grass. "OOOMPH!"
Kingston:
"Alright. I'll remind you-" He stopped when Vanna took off after some kids. And then Mai handed off her familiars to Ren. What even...? He looked between Ren, Vanna, and Mai. "Vanna, is the bat ok?" He asked, less concerned for the child that Mai just decked. "And... Mai?" he walked over towards her. "Are your hand ok? That looked like it hurt."
He attempted to inspect her hand as people applauded Mai for decking the guy, and... were people throwing things at them? What did they think, that these were roses? He looked up in time to catch a jackalope plush. It was missing an eye, and held a little cellophane bag with a piece of gummy poo candy.
Vega:
He was having a good time. He was running around to another game. There was a game where you had to throw a ball through a hoop to wine a prize. This looked like fun. He gave it a shot. He missed, but he got a consolation prize... a really REALLY creepy looking ... was this a turnip? His face fell and he put it into his basket. He must have looked really disappointed because the next thing he knew, he was being handed a little plush bat as well.
Meadow:
Meadow was a little pale as he looked at Aurelia... but then she started to laugh. He started laughing a little too. She was ok. That was good! "I didn't mean to hit you. But that thing was attacking you." He said, looking at the wisp as it sat on her head. "Trixie would be a good name for that wisp..." He offered his hand to Aurelia. "Do you want to see what they're offering for dinner?"
"Hey kid, you should eat something good." Someone said and dropped raisins into his bucket before he could protest it.
Charon:
Mmm, Charon was really enjoying his time with these classmates he didn't know. He'd like to get to know them a little better. He leaned in to kiss one of the girls, but instead ended up locking lips with... what the hell, was this a rock? Her friends giggled. "You want to kiss this too?" one of the other girls handed him a plush and made kissy faces at him.
Keahi:
There was a strange rumbling in Keahi's tummy. They didn't feel very good. Maybe it was all the sweets. They walked around and looked at the games. Someone looked at them and thought they looked a little down, so they handed Keahi a glove full of popcorn.
Parfait:
THIS WAS SO GREAT! Parfait let out a little shriek of glee as an older student jumped at her and shouted "BOO!" at her. She laughed and ran around, then pupped her head around a corner and shrieked "BOO!" at one of the caretakers. They screamed in surprised and dropped a handful of candy. Hooray! Candy! She scooped it up and dumped it into her bucket. She was starting to skip around when she spotted someone handing out plushies. She ran over "TRICK OR TREAT!" the man laughed and handed her a vespercat plush. "THANK YOU!"
Fiona:
She wasn't so sure about this. It seemed weird that people would give you things and not give them anything in return. As Fiona was pondering this, someone handed her a little box. Inside was a skull shaped candle holder and a red candle.
man! this place was gold for getting plushies! something Kitty's big sister seemed pretty jealous of! with a giggle, the little lady offered up a pink and blue plushie to an every so happy Hailey.
kismet grinned excitedly as she dominated the ball throwing game! "HA!" she said out loud. "Wonder what that cocky jerk would say to this!"
though she was a hoarder, Pawsa gave her little baby girl, Cookie, a poor little plush. If anyone could make it feel loved, it would be Cookie
as the family joined forces to play games, the older siblings were able to get some plushies for younger ones that weren't able to... though a couple of the younger kids were able to kick game butt!
Zzy grinned a cocky little grin as his game victory lead him to having won the pinkest toy he'd ever seen!
Callie smiled slightly as she saw a cute little bat plushie, just laying on the ground. Surely someone had lost it, but when she picked it up and looked around for the owner, it seemed nobody else was looking for it.... "Poor thing" she said softly, cuddling it close. Ghester was all grins as he grabbed up a won prize. It was the first thing he went to unconsciously. Bright, vivid, eye-blinding pink. It would make an awesome gift for Bibi!
Karma was all too happy to pick up a cute little bat plushie, snuggling it before she tucked it away in the safety of her pumpkin pail!.... but then she was given two others! Luckily they were from adults she knew and it was okay'd by her caretaker! The more the merrier!
Katinka
Karma
gift from diggs gifts from crux and sythe gift from setsi gift from diggs
Oh yay one of those type of people. Great this night was just going to be awesome…. Not. Why was he out here again? Oh yeah, making sure people didn’t get suspicious and call the social worker… again. Ah well this promised to not be boring… although he had a feeling tempers were going to flare. He knew his faults and with that attitude. Oh yes… that attitude.
