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 Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:19 pm
Two hours later, when the stench the oozing slime monster had created wasn't as potent as it had been, Tess finally came to. And found she was still in the Other Bathroom. Alone. Worse still, she was stuck on the walls, and it seemed no amount of struggling was going to free her.
The others seemed to have either crawled out on their own or were saved by someone else. Either way, she was left to deal with her situation with no help. At first, she considered the possibility of freeing herself since she had "rested" (if you could call fainting from olfactory overload resting) and should have enough strength.
Unfortunately, the slime proved far craftier as it wound tighter and tighter around her wings the more she struggled against them.
"Noooooooo!!!!!" she wailed pitifully, clawing at the slime webbings that were entangled around her wings. "Someone help me, pleeeeeeease?" she called out. Cursing to every jacking thing she knew for help. Maybe an Other student would come along and be kind enough to help her? Or at least someone would hear her if she kept yelling.
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 8:45 am
Kasumi wandered the halls, having lost the little bound-in-duct-tape gnome who was assisting her. He seemed to have disappeared shortly after she found her dorm room in the mausoleum on campus. Kasumi frowned, but she wasn't upset. At least someone had punished the little nuisance by tying him up like that. He couldn't talk back either, which was a plus. Her bare feet slapped against the floor as she looked up and down the hallways. She suddenly felt very grateful that she couldn't use the restroom anymore, and had heard whisperings, even in her short stay here, about one particular bathroom that held horrors even Hell couldn't contain. Unfortunately, she didn't know where this particular bathroom was and, since she was a ghost, she couldn't smell it anyway. Kasumi shrugged.
Still, her Desperate Search For More Articles of Clothing proved fruitless at this current juncture. Perhaps there was a lost-and-found box somewhere...
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the wailing of something, someone, deep within the hallways. Kasumi raised and eyebrow and wandered in that direction. It sounded like a girl! A girl needed her help! Rushing down and through the threshold, the ghost stopped and beheld a rather unusual sight - a girl with wings and no legs, stuck on the wall with a layer of what looked like Hellish Snot. Oh dear! Kasumi ran up to her and stood directly beneath her, gauging the situation.
"Are you alright? You poor thing! I'll see if I can get you down!"
The ghost searched the Hellish Abyss for something useful - maybe a broom or a mop to push the slime away? There was so much slime everywhere... maybe she could pull at the poor girl and bring her down that way?
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:24 am
Tess' first reaction to the other ghoul's question was to stare pointedly. She was stuck to a wall covered in slime (whether that was all there was to it Tess would rather not know), of course she wasn't alright. But relief at finally being freed from her sticky prison held her tongue and instead prompted Tess to point towards the buckets and the remaining slivers of soap from the battle.
She would save the introductions for later. Right now, the winged vampire simply wanted to get off the wall and while she wasn't certain whether or not the slime could actually have any effect on ghosts, she would rather not take that chance.
"Don't touch the slime! You might get caught yourself," she cautioned, "The soap should make it easier to untangle me from here."
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:59 am
"Soap? Oh, I see!" Kasumi wandered out of the bathroom stall where she thought she saw a broom (it turned out to be some sort of hissing creature that would rather have been left alone) and spotted the buckets the winged woman was gesturing to. She studied the contents - sliver of soap, some sort of spongelike thing and chunks of something she dare not identify. Picking up what she thought was a sponge, Kasumi rubbed what little soap was left on it and walked up to the wall. Thankfully, the young lady wasn't stuck out of arm's reach. Still, the ghost had to stand on her tip-toes to reach the midsection of a wing.
Scrubba scrubba scubba...
"Do you think this will work?" the ghost asked, never having dealt with slime in the past (at least, that she could remember). Being stuck on the wall without assistance was truly terrible.
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:20 am
"I hope to Jack it will," Tess sighed, trying not to think of how many layers of gunk was covering the walls, focusing instead on the sensation of soap spreading over her wings. Slowly but surely, the cleanser did the trick, and the webs of slime gradually dissolved. Not completely, but just enough that would allow Tess to pull herself free.
With maybe a little leverage from the ghost girl.
"Thank you so much for your help," she smiled apologetically, "And I really wouldn't ask if I could do this on my own but, um, could you also give me a pull?" she reached outwards with her arms, not wanting to flap her wings just yet. The movement might entangle her again and it would make the other student's efforts go to waste.
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 6:34 am
Kasumi went about scrubbing as hard as she could (especially with a sponge-creature that looked to be quite unhappy with being used as intended), watching as the slime dissolved under her care. It wasn't all gone, but enough so that the poor young woman with no legs could be freed. Tossing the sponge back in the bucket with a splash!, Kasumi took up the other girl's wrists to give her a tug. How unusual, this meeting! Kasumi smiled and pulled backwards. It was like a spider web, the slime entangling one the more they struggled to pull free. What sort of odd bathroom is this?
Digging in her heels, Kasumi pulled with what she thought was enough force to break the girl free, but not enough to dislocate an arm. That would be Very Bad. "I would ask how you came to be a wall decoration but... perhaps that's best left unsaid!" The ghost giggled, hoping that a man wasn't responsible for this. Perhaps it was a freak accident. But if a man did this to the poor legless woman and she knew who it was, Kasumi could... deal with the problem for her.
"I'm Kasumi, by the way. I just arrived and while it's a strange circumstance, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:47 am
With a grunt and a sharp yank from the other student, Tess was finally freed from her sticky prison. She massaged her poor, stiff wings as they flapped, muttering things beneath her breath about slime monsters and soap dragons.
"Oh you're more than free to ask what happened to me, it's the least I can do for you Kasumi!" Tess insisted, "And I'm Maritess, but you can call me Tess if you want. Thank you so much for your help. I don't know how long I've been up on that wall. But I'm sure it's longer than what detention is supposed to last."
She then proceeded to briefly narrate the turn of events, starting with her posting an ad on the Singles Board (which was never answered, much to her embarrassment), then being given detention for taking part in the Board, then the brawl between the students and the gnomes, finally ending with the Slime beast releasing a powerful gas that sent her reeling right into the walls.
"And then I came to, and then you showed up to help!" She finished, out of breath.
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:24 pm
Kasumi wiped her brow, though no sweat would ever appear there again. She was very pleased with herself now! She managed to rescue the poor young woman from the fate of a splattered bug on a windshield, which she guessed would be mighty painful indeed! Brushing herself off, Kasumi tried to pick away at the last bits of slime still stuck to the other student. Some of it had gotten into her tangled mass of hair and would have to be cleaned out later. Or heck, she could just phases it off...
She was still getting used to be being a ghost.
"You got detention for posting on a singles board?" the ghost asked, tilting her head to the side. Wasn't the point of a singles board... posting on it? "Seems odd to me. But I'm glad you're alright now! Did your posting ever receive an answer?" Kasumi loved to gossip, as poor Tess would find out. She wanted to know what This Was All About, and had heard something about a large social gathering somewhere, but didn't know the details.
"Walk with me? Err... I mean... flutter, of course. I'd like to know more about the school and you seem rather knowledgeable. In truth, I could use some friends."
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Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:45 am
Maritess nodded, a little embarrassed about how she ended up in detention. "I thought it was a school-sanctioned thing for the Moonlight Masquerade. I mean, why else would a board be put up in the first place? Unless it was another student who did it?" Tess mused, deciding that if that was the case, it was certainly a good prank.
At Kasumi's question Tess would have blushed if vampires were capable of blushing. She absently fiddled with her fingers, not certain if she could look the ghost girl in the eye when she admitted "Oh, um, no one answered my ad. I had to go to the Moonlight Masquerade on my own. But that's alright, a lot of students attended and they didn't have dates."
Hastily, she nodded at Kasumi's request, "I'm not that knowledgeable but whatever I know, I'll share with you. And I'd be more than happy to be your friend!" she exclaimed, perhaps a little more enthusiastically than she intended, because she cleared her throat and did her best to look dignified. Which, admittedly, she managed to succeed in, if only slightly.
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Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:03 am
Kasumi placed a friendly hand on the vampire's shoulder. Poor thing didn't have a date, but at least she went and had a good time! The ghost wanted to find out what all was happening around the school since she was so new. At least she found the dorms, though, and wasn't stuck to the wall in the bathrooms. "I'm glad you had a good time! It seems like the school is very lively in a sense, and I like that. I was hoping there would be a lot for a ghost like me to do, you know? I don't want to be cooped up somewhere and get bored." Kasumi shook her head. Boredom led to undesirable thoughts, she found, and whenever she sat around with nothing to do, she would dwell on the past and get angry.
The ghost smiled and gave her new friend a hug. "I'm so happy you'll be my friend! In truth, I was worried that I'd be too... weird for some people. But this makes my day. It truly does! I really appreciate this, Tess." After introductions were done and over with, Kasumi pondered posting fliers about for Tess' missing legs, if they were indeed missing at all. As they stalked the halls, Kasumi looked to see if there were any posters already.
"Tess, this is probably a stupid question, but... what happened to your legs?" She didn't want to be rude but if they were missing, the least Kasumi could do would be to help!
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:49 am
Maritess gave the ghost girl a rather awkward smile at the question that everyone seemed to inevitably ask her. Namely the state of her legs, or lack thereof. It shouldn't have been a sensitive topic, not really. Every manananggal could sever themselves from the waist up. It was one of their most defining traits, after all.
Except.
Except Tess' legs had acted independent of her will and had run from her. And she didn't doubt that if they had the means to speak, they would probably have been screaming something along the lines of: Freeeeeeeeedom! Which reflected very, very poorly of Tess, much to her and her family's dismay.
"Oh, they're somewhere," she supplied lamely, before adding, "I'm a manananggal." as if Kasumi would have any idea what that meant. Someday, Tess was going to have to admit that she had no jacking clue where her legs were exactly. But not right now. She still wanted to make a good impression and didn't want to embarrass herself. "Um, s-since we're on the subject of asking, are you a poltergeist?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 11:21 am
"A manana...nana...gaul? Manana..." Kasumi tried her best. She really did. She repeated her attempt at what Tess was over and over for a few good minutes before scrunching up her face in defeat. Sounded too much like manger and banana and a lot of other things. Plus, Kasumi didn't want to be rude! Each attempt got worse and worse after the second. The ghost scratched her head and let the subject drop lest she embarrass herself and her new friend further.
It must have been odd to be separate from one's legs, but Tess was a manananananananananananaggal and that was common for them! She guessed. They probably store them somewhere convenient. A mananananalocker or something, yes. Kasumi decided this clearly was how things for Tess worked. Manananabag. Man-purse?
Yeah.
"A poltergeist? Oh no, actually, not at all! Though I could see where the confusion would be." Kasumi pointed her to hair, which really was the defining feature of what she was. It was one of the most important things she shared with her kind, like Tess and her legs. "I'm an onryo. We're... well... spirits, basically. Long hair, creepy stare and whatnot. I overheard one of us figured out how to travel through a skelevision, but I'm not that good yet."
Waving a hand, Kasumi continued down the hall with her new friend. "I bet it's really nice not to have to worry about your legs! You don't have to buy shoes or pants or anything like that. Plus your wings get a nice workout, I bet!" Ah, Tess was leaving her legs somewhere as a workout routine!
GENIUS.
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 6:45 pm
Tess had been visibly trying to suppress the giggles that threatened to spill from her mouth with each attempt Kasumi made to pronounce the word. It was a mouthful, and it wasn't as if her kind was prevalent so she didn't find it offensive. Instead she gave the ghost girl a reassuring pat on her shoulder, "I don't mind if you just stick with Tess."
When it was Kasumi's turn to clarify things, the winged vampire managed to pronounce the word. While she had never heard of them before it was still so much easier to say than manananggal. "An on-ri-yo," yep. Definitely easier to say. "My parents believe that the skelevision makes your brain fresh so we're not allowed to watch a whole lot of it when they're not there to supervise."
Poor Tess has been deprived of so much quality entertainment in her strict household. "And I don't think we're allowed any in our dorm rooms except for maybe in the commons area? I'm not too sure about that either." She tilted her head in thought, "What does an onryo do? I mean, do you possess humans? Do you take over their houses?"
She was clearly not addressing the issue of her legs, and was not-too-subtly hoping that Kasumi would drop the subject in favor of talking about herself. It had worked on Calder, maybe it would work on Kasumi too?
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:48 am
Kasumi scratched her head in embarrassment. She usually was fairly good with pronunciations but this one really slapped her around. At least Tess wasn't mad! Kasumi was very grateful for that and gave her an apologetic bow. "I'm very glad you don't mind, Tess. You're very kind. I'm sure you have lots of friends here and are the pride of your family!" Really, Kasumi imagined a bunch of human-looking people with wings, all sticking their legs in a locker somewhere and enjoying a meal together, chatting and laughing like a 'normal' family. At least, what semblance of normal that Kasumi was familiar with. Not being anything particularly exciting, she lacked familiarity with monsters and other creature's familial habits.
At the mention of possessing humans or taking their houses, Kasumi shook her head. "No, we umm... well, we're born out of a need for revenge, I guess. That's what I understand, anyway. But the problem is... The ghost tapped her chin, knowing full well that admitting this was embarrassing, but she trusted Tess. "I honestly don't remember what I'm supposed to be getting vengeance for. I mean, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. All I remember is coming here to Halloweentown."
Scratching the back of her head, Kasumi sighed. "That's pretty embarrassing, I think but... I mean, we're not perfect, you know? Stuff like this happens to others all the time, I bet, but they're just scared and don't want to admit it for fear of ridicule." Kasumi gently touched Tess' shoulder, smiling. "But I trust you. Besides, we're all here to learn, right? We have to make mistakes sometimes."
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:29 am
Maritess resisted the urge to twitch, not wanting to indicate to Kasumi that she was not the pride of her family. Not since her legs fled for their unlives. As for friends, well, Tess hadn't been the sociable sort since she arrived, still too busy fretting over the state of her appearance and whether or not the other vampires would poke fun at her because she was a back-water breed. Thankfully, she managed to simply smile and nod, pretending it was modesty that kept her from adding to the ghost girl's impression.
But at her explanation of not remembering, Tess felt an odd kinship with the ghoul. Things they were supposed to know or do or be because of what they were, but somehow failing to meet these expectations. She was certainly in the same boat as Kasumi. "Th-thank you for trusting me," she began quietly, feeling very much like she was undeserving of that trust. "Making mistakes is part of growing up, my parents tell me. But they also tell me it's best to learn from the mistake of others." she tilted her head in thought, "Though I don't see how not being able to remember things is a mistake. Maybe it's something you gradually get to be able to do?"
It was a theory for Tess, not quite knowing how to put herself in Kasumi's shoes? She glanced down at both their lower halves (well, Kasumi's at least) and omitted that mental typo. Situation was a more appropriate word, she decided.
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