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After everything that had happened. Everything that the Jiang Shi had seen. She still tried to pick up the pieces and go on with day to day life.

Mei couldn't, no, she shouldn't dwell on her experiences. They would likely tear her apart. The ghoul had pushed most of it to the back of her mind but something still gnawed relentlessly at her stomach. She brushed it off to bad food.

Today was the first day since she had come back to the school that she actually dared to venture outside her dorm room for a long period of time. Merely wandering around campus, trying to find some solace in the fact that she was no longer living that nightmare and was home. Her feet had lead her from one end of Amityville to another until finally she found herself sitting on a bench beneath a large tree. Her short legs barely touched the ground as she sat there in quiet contemplation. Offering a greeting to other students who happened by.

She pushed all the bad thoughts from her mind as she gazed out at the lawn before her. Dark brown eyes wandering from one interest to another. The ghoul wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself at the moment.

Letting out a small sigh, she lifted her arms over her head and stretched. "Mmmm..." Sometimes a good stretch was wonderful. Her limbs and joints would sometimes feel so stiff and that wasn't a good thing for someone who enjoyed dancing and gymnastics like she did. She'd noticed as she got older that she seemed to feel a lot more stiff than she had before.

Out of the corner of her eye Mei spotted something rolling down a nearby hill towards the pond. She didn't catch exactly what it was that was rolling by but not soon after someone appeared at the top of the hill. Seemingly searching for the thing.

It took the small ghoul a second to realize that the person had no head! It was...just a body wandering about aimlessly. Taking a moment to put two and two together she realized that what must have rolled down the hill was this body's head!

And it had rolled right towards the pond.

Pushing herself up from the bench, her own thoughts banished for the time being she walked towards the body. Cautious at first as she had never dealt with a body without it's head before. It nearly tumbled down the hill before she quickly reached out and grasped it by the arm. Trying to prevent it from going down the hill as well.

"Whoa there!" She chuckled lightly. "You need some help?"

Mei blinked as she was essentially 'felt up'. But in the current situation of this head less body she didn't take any offence to it. If she were headless she'd want to know who or what was around her too. And the only way anyone without a head could do that would be through touch.

Her attention was drawn back to the water. She quirked an eyebrow slightly as the body pulled out a piece of paper and began to scribble upon it. The ghoul looked the paper over, making an o shape with her lips. "Not a problem! You stay here. I don't think I would be strong enough to pull a body out of the water, ok?"

Making sure that the body was well away from the edge of the hill, she scurried down the slope stopping at the water's edge to assess the situation. Noting something moving about in the water, but that was nothing new. There were many things in many of the various bodies of water around Halloween town. But she figured it would be best to hurry just in case whatever it was decided it wanted a nice little snack.

Quickly she took off her boots, wiggling her toes in the dirt and grass for a moment before rolling up her long sleeves and hiking her kimono up just a bit. Although it seemed a bit fruitless since the water still got onto her clothes. Oh well, they would wash.

She waded out into the water carefully. Making sure she had some kind of footing. "Hold on a sec. Allllllmost got you." The ghoul reached out a hand carefully, trying to find a good way of grasping Darcy's head. She didn't figure the other ghoul would appreciate being picked up by the hair so as she drew closer Mei scooped Darcy's head up into the crook of her arm before carefully making her way out of the water.

As she stepped onto the shore, the water trickled down her lower body. It was an odd sensation but no time to ponder on that now. "Are you ok? That was a close one huh?" She giggled, glancing down at the head in her arm as she grabbed her boots with her free hand and began to make her way back up the hill. Barefoot and wet.

She had to resist the urge to look up to where Darcy's head should have been. The ghoul had never met a Dullahan before, nor did she really know exactly what a Dullahan was in that sense. Were they all headless like her?

Mei wiggled her feet slightly to remove more of the water that clung to her legs. Now that she had a moment to actually look at Darcy she ooed and awed in her head over her clothes. And a cape?! Mei wanted a cape. To listen to it flutter and flap as she bounded from roof top to roof top. Perhaps she would go to the Maul later and look for one.

Slipping on her boots once more, the ghoul grinned widely as she unrolled her sleeves. "You are very welcome. I am Meixiang the damp Jiang Shi. But most people call me Mei." She giggled before straightening out the bottom of her kimono. "Ah! A new person! I'm fairly new myself. Been here about...two months." She rocked on her heels slightly. "Your in the Undead dorms, yes?"

"Yeaaaa..." She rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her short hair. "I wasn't here very long before we were all whisked off on a school trip. It was interesting to say the least but I'm glad to be back at the school."

"If you would like I could show you around? There are still a few places that I have left to explore as well." The ghoul laced her fingers behind her back as she rocked on her heels again. "But since you are pretty new here its pretty easy to get lost and turned around if you don't know where you are going." She grinned teasingly. "And I wouldn't want you to end up with your head in the pond again. Or somewhere else as equally unpleasant."

Mei could only imagine how unpleasant it would be to be living outside instead of inside the dorms. Being rained on or having to deal with any of the wild critters that were scurrying about. While she didn't mind the outdoors she did enjoy having a nice warm bed to sleep in.

Curiosity got the better of her though. Darcy was an interesting character. "I don't mean to be rude but are all Dullahan headless like you? I've never met one of your kind before....or any creature that had their head detached from their body in all honesty."

"It was nice up until the end....but I don't really like talking about that part all too much. Like I said, just nice to be home and in my own bed." Mei was still internally struggling with what had gone on those few weeks they were on the Horsemen islands. And accepting the fact that eventually she'd probably come face to face with Ylara again since the Horsemen were now here in Halloween town.

But now was not the time to dwell on such things.

The ghoul tilted her head slightly as Darcy's voice seemed to go out and she whipped out that pad of paper again. "Yea I'll give you a tour. Its not problem at all." Mei grinned. "Have you ever thought of learning sign language? While perhaps it might still be hard to communicate with those who don't know it, it might save you if you loose your notepad or run out of paper." It was certainly an interesting idea to Mei anyway. Perhaps she might try and learn it.

"Ok then, lets go!" She pumped a fist into the air with excitement. Now she had someone to explore with. "Oh? You don't come from a family of your own kind then? Well, I suppose I couldn't say I came from my family of Jiang Shi either. I mean....when I came out of the grave they were the ones who found me and took me in." Mei poked her pointer fingers together, she didn't know where she would be right now if her family hadn't found her. "Where would you like to explore first? Lets see. We've got the lake, the swamp, the not-forbidden forest, of course the forbidden forest is kinda forbidden, the caveerrns, I hear the hot springs are nice. Of course, there's more school stuff to see. The Creepateria, the Gym, Library, Auditorium is kinda boring cept when they shuffle us all in there for announcements, there's the staff offices, the creepy groundskeeper shake near the forbidden forest....um...the waste disposal factory?"

She tapped the imbued parchment on her forehead. "OH! There is the new Horsemen area where all the Horsemen are now living in. But thats outside the school. There's other things outside the school too like the Maul and junk. But I guess it just depends on how far you feel like walking."

She grinned. "Well I'm sure it'll be nice to sleep in your own bed inside. Oh you have pets too? I do as well. A Feslime and a Venus Flycat." Mei loved her two pets, perhaps she would get another pet eventually. Maybe once Minsks finally becomes an adult and less of a kitten.

"If you'd like we can look into it together? That way we both would know and we could talk that way when you lose your voice. Plus I like learning new stuff like that." It was certainly something that Mei would be interested in learning. And if Darcy was interested all the better. Always nice to have a ghoul friend along. And even though she'd just met Darcy she felt a strong bond with her. It wasn't like with Reiko, or Mitzi or Alex. Or anyone else she had met. The other ghoul just seemed to draw her in with curiosity and kindess.

Looking at the new piece of paper she nodded vigorously. "Sure! We can go to the hot springs first. Maybe take a dip or something. My joints have been feeling a bit stiff lately and a good soak might be good. Its in a cave behind the Undead dorms so we can stop by our rooms and pick up suits on the way." Another nod. "And then the Maul after sure. We can hit up some of the shops, maybe the Scarecade. Have you ever played DDR? Its a lot of fun."

"I don't know what I would do without Goop and Minsks. I found them both as itty bitty kittens. Well...Minsks is still a kitten at the moment. Goop is full grown but a lazy butt none the less."

She nodded her head. "Oh yea of course! It might not be a big as some..big libraries but I think it would suit our needs for the time being." Mei had spent some days in the library when she felt like she needed a mental exorcise instead of a physical one. The ghoul would just pick a book at random and start reading. Of course, sometimes she'd pick up a book in a language she couldn't read and that would be sort of embarrassing. If anyone knew.

Her grin grew wider at Darcy's cackle. "Well then lets go to the dorm and you can check." She hooked her arm with the other ghoul's arm that wasn't holding her head. "Its pretty private, there are several pools in there at different temperatures and I'm sure we can find a screen or something to put up for more privacy if need be." Mei grinned widely as she began to lead Darcy towards the dorms. "Ohhhh a beginner huh? Guess I'll hafta go easy on you. Well, at least for a few rounds till you get the hang of it. Then its on!"