[PRP] Campfire Stories. Without the Fire. [P. Purl + Rev]

[Luafien]

It was a wonderful start to a perfectly spooky evening with a friend. Their tent was pitched in the quiet lush grass of the quaint little park down the street, the moon was out in full beauty, and Revenant had set up a little lantern to work as a makeshift campfire. They couldn’t cook anything over it, but it would provide comforting light.

Revenant was rather pleased (excited, very very excited) to be out with his friend. He didn’t exactly have many of them and he felt Purl was a perfect companion. Collected, graceful, well-spoken. They were sure to have a very sophisticated but fun night. Swapping stories, telling tales, eating snacks his mothers had prepared, everything an overly serious little colt like Revenant could eat.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Purl was quietly brimming with excitement. They had picked the perfect little spot, the perfect little tent, Rev had even found the perfect little lantern! Gently, she pressed on one of the tents spikes. Yes, driven in exactly as they should be. Rev already sat by the lantern, the warm glow ghosting through him. He was a calm and collected phony. So refreshing. Her horn light up a little, weak and bread, and she moved a blanket next to the lantern. Circling thrice, she sat down, nesting herself in it.

This was her first real camping trip and she was excited, but a little anxious. Before coming, she had read a few books on how to camp, what to do during; Purl felt prepared. "My mother gave us cookies too, Rev." She smiled. It was one of the benefits of a baking family. "I heard that people generally tell scary tales around a campfire." She shivered delicately. "Do you want to try? I've never actually been camping before!" Yes, she had never been, so she was determined to pull it off with a hitch!

An owl hooted hauntingly as the wind rustled the trees nearby. Purl looked up with a tiny frown.

Luafien

I'll be much quicker from here on out, sorry!

 

[Luafien]

Revenant considered the option- campfire stories would be appropriate, even if they didn’t have a fire. As both of their first camping experiences ever, it would certainly be required of them. The colt tugged his own blanket over before lying down, turning over all the stories he knew in his head before he could pick something suitably campfirey.

“A beautiful bride and charming groom throw a wonderful, lavish wedding, even though the house they decided to throw it at had a reputation for runaway brides. No one who ever married there lasted to their wedding night. As the party dwindled down at the reception, and everyone had a good few drinks in them, they all decided to play hide-n-seek.

“Everyone scatters out, hiding in clever places in the great, old building, while the groom assumes the role of ‘it’. One by one he found every single one, except for his pretty new bride. Eventually everyone began to search for her, but alas she is never found. The distraught husband fears something happened to her, but the police do not take his missing person’s report seriously, thinking that she was a classic case of runaway bride yet again.

“Years later and the house is being cleaned out by its new owner, who finds that the attic is locked. After breaking down the door, she walked into the attic, only to find mannequins, each and every one draped in beautiful, exquisite white gowns, and fresh hoofprints tracked in the dusty floor.”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She had listened, enraptured, as Rev spoke. To her, hide and seek at a wedding seemed odd. Wouldn't everyone get dusty? She flipped the edge of her blanket over her flank. Revanant's subtle translucence lent a hint of reality to the story, despite the questions swirling in her mind.

Purl cocked her head. It had all the makings of a scary story: lost brides, locked attics..... and mannequins? It was creepy, to be sure; enough to produce a nice shiver. But... "But why were there mannequins in the attic? Probably not the best place to keep them..." she murmured, staring into their campfire lantern. The wind rustled the tress above as she wanted for the surely delicious big reveal. Purl leaned forward.

Luafien

 

[Luafien]

Revenant would nod along- keeping mannequins in the attic was rather bizarre.

“But that is the point, is it not? Someone, possibly someone monstrous or otherwise supernatural, was obviously snatching those poor brides, and all that remained was their gowns, put on display for the kidnapper's delight. Perhaps even to relive his crimes at the feel of heavy satin and flowing taffeta." The little colt sighed heavily. Yes, that did sound like something a serial kidnapper would do.

"Likely all of those poor, poor brides are dead. Maybe even eaten." Revenant leaned into the lantern light, letting it light his face from below and cast ominous shadows over his features.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"C-c-c-cannibalism?" Purl's voice rose on an undignified squeak. Her eyes slid away from Rev's face and to the trees. The colt had shined a light on his face and it glowed through him eerily. She coughed, an obvious attempt to cover up her reaction to Rev. The flashlight was the oldest trip in the book, so why was she flustered? "Well...." she drew out the word, satisfied that it wavered only slightly. "Luckily, I'm not getting married... My turn next!"

Looking down, she rearranged the blankets briefly, flicking through the stories in her mind. When she looked up, her eyes seemed to glow luminously and her voice deepened a little, taking on an almost smokey tone. "Somewhere in Phonyland, no one knows exactly where... there's a stall. Now normally, this stall would just be somewhere visited after drinking too much lemonade but this one transforms after dark. After the sun goes down, anyphony who enters this stall hears a voice. It's scratchy, almost unintelligible, but.... it only says one thing."

"Which do you like: blue or.... red?"

Purl paused for a moment, then continued. "The poor souls who answered 'blue'... their bodies were found, cold in the morning's light and blue from strangulation. And the ones who answered red? They were found covered in blood, throats slit and faces frozen in a rictus of shock. So, rememeber, never ever enter the third stall from the left after dark. You won't leave alive..." Her horn glowed a reddish color, casting odd shadows across her face as she waited for Rev's reaction. To be honest, that story scared her a little bit too. Would it be too cowardly to scoot a little closer to the other colt?

Luafien

 

[Luafien]

Luckily Revenant wasn’t getting married anytime soon either, his potential beloved therefore not able to imaginary-kidnapped. Or for-realsies kidnapped. He was pretty sure his story wasn’t true, but the darkness creeping in was making him wonder otherwise. Night could do funny things to someone’s state of mind. Like the tell-tale heart, except this was immediately frightening instead of the just-reading creepy sort of way.

Purl’s story was far from a comfort. That fact that he himself could neither be strangled nor slashed didn’t stop the little colt from pressing a hoof to his translucent throat, like he could fend of imaginary tides of blood or invasive, grabbing hands.

It was a great effort to keep from squeaking as the filly was suddenly cast red, his blue eyes going wide and unable to keep from darting to the side, peering into the darkness that had seemed so harmless just a little while ago.

“There is a lot of restrooms in Phonyland,” it was perfectly plausible to assume so, they were first and foremost a themepark after all. Needed plenty of areas for the day visitors to relieve themselves. “The cursed stall could even be a park restroom. A park like the one we’re in this very moment, for the rest of the evening.” He could just barely see the little building that served as the park bathroom, a dark black smear against a dark blue sky.

The Semblance of Unity

Lua: whomp whomp I'm horrible, reminding you to rp then waiting an ice age to reply xD

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She froze in place, the hairs at the base of her mane prickling. Even though it had been Purl's own story, Rev's words cast the light of realism over it. Suddenly, danger was lurking everywhere. Behind each tree, each bush, but mostly... in the park bathroom. Her pupils dilated.

"Rev," she whispered, for it was moments like these that were made for whispers. "D-do you think we should go look?" Her head swiveled towards the building, its silhouette fading into the sky. Her tail flicked nervously around her, the strands of yarn making a faint whishing sound.

Luafien

my turn to be sloww ;_;

 

[Luafien]

Revenant would be forever grateful that there was something about dirt that was difficult to pass through, probably the thing that generated the stories about graveyard dirt keeping bad spirits at bay, because the little colt flinched as a slightly chilly wind passed over them, but only phased though his blanket and the grass. He had to stand to step out of the blanket that had fallen through him, though his eyes never drew away from the ominous smudge of darkness that was he park restroom.

“What if it is there? What if it kills babbens?” Revenant slowly looked back towards Purl, translucent face lit from below, “What if it leaves the stall and goes searching for prey?”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Purl shivered, not from a physical, but the kind of cold that passes through a phony's gut when they are afraid. Rev was ghostly in the night, but a comfortable kind of ghostly, if there was such a thing. She scooted closer towards him - as close as possible without touching. Her pupils were huge in the twilight.

"W-why would it come searching for us? What if... the spirits of the others it's killed are roaming around? Do you think they want revenge?" It had not yet occured to her exactly how silly they were being. Instead, her mind swirled into all the tiny little horrors that could happen to them. Something rustled the bushes nearby and she gasped.

"How do you fight ghosts?"

Luafien

lol so I can either have Purl realize how dumb they are being soon or we can drag it out & idk make them go ghost hunting

 

[Luafien]

“Because it wants something to kill! If no one comes to it’s stall, how does it slake it’s bloodlust?” Obviously, but the much more likely event of distressed phony spirits became a much more immediate threat. Every rustle of the surrounding foliage was amplified- was the grass bending to the soft play of the breeze, or was there something invisible stalking through the park? Was the brush of wind just that, or was it the chill of otherworldly life? Everything was suspect, the clawing hands of bare tree branches and the sinister distant noises of unruly pets.

“I don’t know! I just fall through phonies!” Not that anyone’s tried to fight him before, but it has happened on occasion while playing tag.

Blue eyes slowly cast towards Purl after his exclamation. He had the slowly dawning inkling that they were being very, very silly.

The Semblance of Unity

Lua: How about they realize it at the same time for extra humorous effect?

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Purl gave a little whine and leaned into Revenant. Her tail swished madly behind her. "It p-probably attracts stray people to its stall or something.... " If she had been alone, she would've run home long ago. If she had been alone, there wouldn't have been ghost stories and she wouldn't be frightened now.... She had lost all pretense of nonchalance now; Purl was scared. The night only lent ambiance to that fear. "What do you think ghosts look like?" she whispered softly, staring into the trees.

The wind whistled through the trees and quieted, leaving the two babbens trembling in silence. Minutes passed as she waited to be devoured or worse by ghosts or killers or whatever lurked nearby. Suddenly, a bush rustled violently, twigs snapping. And frankly, Purl screeched! It was high-pitched and short, a wail of surprise and fear. And then... she started laughing. Something was just so... so silly about it all!

Luafen

 

[Luafien]

Well Purl could laugh for no reason, but Revenant had a pretty good one. He was going to have to sit there a moment, leaning afraid into the filly until it abruptly struck him exactly what they were freaking out over. Which was kind of dumb, well, considering…

“Ghosts would look like me,” he craned his head to look down at the laughing breadicorn, his face slowly twisting from a shocked sort of serious to slightly hysterically amused, “I am a ghost. My mama is one, too. They’d look like me and honestly I think most can be reasoned with. Or- or at least -bribed with snacks.” At the last statement he finally broke out into a smile, soft peals of laughter breaking up his words.

They were ridiculous. And in that moment it didn’t matter at all that his serious mask had slipped away, he was a silly little colt laughing at being spooked by, essentially, himself.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"R-rev," Purl giggled out. "Did we really get so worked up? We scared ourselves with stories and silly things! Look!" She pointed to a bunny, innocently hopping out from underneath that bush.

"And you're right! You're a ghost too! If there were a ghost, it would probably just get confused and go away." Purl flopped down. The night seemed a lot more welcoming than before. They had done. The two phonies had managed to manufacture their own fear. It was almost embarrassing, oh goodness. She could feel her face heating a bit and thanked the twilight for shadowing her blush. Somewhere, a frog croaked loudly. She looked up at Rev: his face was transformed by his smile and she blushed more, but for a different reason. Oh, but the night suited him.

Purl looked away and coughed. "So, as long as you're with me, I bet I would never have to fear a ghost!" She looked back at him and smiled widely.

Luafien

 

[Luafien]

They were ridiculous. It was the only thing the colt could think of as he carefully nosed under his blanket, plopping down beside Purl with a huff of a laugh. One little hoof reached out to fiddle with the lantern light before he settled in with a shake of his head.

“We’ll be just fine. Um. Shall we agree to never speak of this to others?” Revenant glanced over at the filly, eyes a little nervous. “No reason why anyone else should know we near spooked ourselves to death over campfire stories.” True there were worse ways for someone to be startled right out of their boots, but this was pretty bad considering its self-inflicted nature. Purl was a lot like him, though, she’d want to keep up a good appearance. Dignified and well-controlled.

“Yeah, I’ll counter-spook any ghosts away, no problem. I know the lingo. OoooOOOooooo~” The colt smiled after the silly impression, never mind him and his siblings used to run ‘playing ghost’ like that.

The Semblance of Unity