Drooping Willows Treats are nice, tricks are not...

Ooc: Trick or treat RE: "You discover an unguarded cache and feast to your heart’s content!" / Ghost Stories prompt @Tobius


It was getting dark, and sort of creepy, the autumn winds blowing willow branches wildly and faces seeming to come out of the shadows. They had been traveling for hours since morning. Laurel felt an increased urge to simply stop and rest, but Jaime was insistent that the two of them press on. Even though it wore out her feet, she understood that they were on a deadline of urgent sorts- she had detoured them to the Falls and now they had to double time it to find the meadow caverns and it's leader Ash. So she didn't complain.

She couldn't, for Jaime's sake- this was obviously an important matter, and even if he didn't say it out loud, Laurel could sense that he didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. So she didn't complain or suggest they stop. It was kind of hard, walking continuously, but she didn't want Jaime to know. If he thought that she was getting tired, he'd most definitely stop. Laurel couldn't let than happen- another delay on her account- so she held her head alert and tried to walk without stumbling. Of course that was sort of hard, in the dark, as her eyes were still adjusting, but she didn't complain about that either. Nothing would stop her.

Except for a hole topped off with loose dirt. "Ack!" Laurel's cry was accompanied by a thump as she tripped and landed on her jaw. Eyes scrunched up in slight pain, the Boughinn tried to quickly yank her paw out and get back on track. Her sudden movement dislodged some dirt and her eyes caught...it couldn't be...the miraculous sight of food! There were hares and pheasants, prairie dogs and even the hind leg of a deer. By some odd and fortunate turn of events, Laurel had discovered an unguarded cache.

Peering around to make sure no one was coming for the find, she called out to her friend- "Jaime! Come look!"

(This post was last modified: Oct 13, 2014, 03:52 AM by Laurel.)

Finally they were moving on towards the right direction this time. It took a little while to finally get closer to where he intentionally needed to be in order to help Athena, but things happened along the way and he hoped it wasn’t too late. He partly cursed himself for taking so long especially when a life hung in the balance, but he would never reject the things that happen, especially the things that happened between him and Laurel. Their friendship has bloomed and they were no longer just traveling partners. They have bonded and Tobius hoped for something more, even if it wasn’t there for her. He would try, once his business with this Ash was done with. Though part of him wanted to go and save Athena for himself, he knew it would be a death trap for him alone to do, so he wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen to Athena, but he hoped she was able to save herself.

As they pushed on, he didn’t notice Laurel’s tiredness as he was too focused on getting to the meadow caverns by the next day or so. But, that was when he heard Laurel fall and he whipped around quickly to see what happened. He’d damn himself if she got hurt because of his insistent pushing forward. He needed to take her into consideration, not just him. But as went to her aid, he was surprised by what she had actually fallen into. He had completely traveled past it without a blink of an eye, but Laurel had fallen into a perfectly good cache full of food that would sustain them for days.

No matter how much he would have wanted to keep going, he couldn't pass this up nor could he push Laurel anymore. She needed rest and surprisingly he did too. Smiling up at Laurel, “Time to feast!” He said before digging into a fresh deer leg.

Laurel smiled back at him, eager to eat. "Yeah!" Stuffing her snout into the goods, she yanked out nicely sized rabbit and began to dig in. For a while, all there was to hear was the crunches and slurps of two very hungry wolves. As she pulled out the intestines of her meal like spaghetti, Laurel chanced a look at Jaime. The blood from his chosen treat had picked up deer hairs and clustered them underneath his nose, giving him what looked to be a mustache- she couldn't help but snort in laughter.

It didn't last long, as a gusty mistral came and blew across her back, raising her skin and fur in shivers. Laurel didn't shiver from the cold, however. No, she shivered from their blackened surroundings, dark and creepy even with her eyes adjusted. Trees seem to whisper haunted lyrics as a song of fear seemed to rise out of the wind's workings. It was spooky.

And it sort of reminded her of a tradition back home- her elder siblings always claimed that every year, they would go to an especially spooky area outside of pack territory in the fall, and try to scare each other with stories of horror. They had never let her come- you're too young, they had said, even when they let Willow, Dragon, and Oak attend. In a somewhat silly move of defiance- her family wasn't even here- she whispered to Jaime as she took out a pheasant: "Do you know of any really spooky stories?"

(This post was last modified: Oct 14, 2014, 12:02 AM by Laurel.)

As they dug into their surprise of a feast, his blue eyes flickered over to Laurel from time to time out of habit. He always seemed to have an eye on her, either to make sure she was okay or to simply just gaze at her. She held a beauty that he couldn’t deny and that he was actually starting to grow on with their travels. The more time he spent with her, the more he grew to like her. He knew his feelings were going on her, but he still wasn’t sure if she felt the same and he felt that she may not feel the same way, so he kept his feelings to himself. He had never found another woman like her anywhere and he doubted he ever would, he just needed to make her his and he wouldn’t have to find another. He was too much of a chicken though.

She snickered at him for some reason and he looked up to see what was up. However, it soon disappeared as her face contorted into fright and discontentment. He licked his jowls and rose his head away from the devoured deer leg to see what was wrong now. Sensing nothing around them, he looked back to her, wondering what was wrong. That was when she spoke. Spooky stories? His uncle had told him some when he was younger to scare him and keep him in the den, but nothing too big. Just of the ghosts of lost souls wandering around the lands in unrest, searching for an unsuspecting victim to possess as their own.

Grinning mischievously, he looked at her with a fake evil in his eye. ”There’s this story that I was told when I was a kid. One night out of the year, the ghosts of lost souls are able to come into our universe for one night. This is the only night that we can actually see them and they are able to touch us and talk to us. They roam around, groaning and moaning for all to hear. Their voices echoed through the wind and trees and even those hiding in dens aren't save from them. They have only one thing on their mind. These lost souls search for unsuspecting bodies to take over and possess as their own, so they can enter into our world for good.” He got up from his sitting position and approached Laurel with a mischievous look in his eyes. Slowly he rounded behind her and whisper in her ear, ”And they like pretty girls.”

Ooc: I see what you did there....



He did it again. He whispered in her ear again, and sent shivers down her spine. Shivers of all sorts. She mostly paid attention to the shivers of fear- Laurel didn't know how to classify shivers that felt strangely...enticing.

It was a short story, but a good and spooky one at that. Clever enough to let one's mind elope with it's imagination. For a split second, her mind did elope, taking her imagination all sorts of places. Scary places. And it raised her hackles at the thought. With a disgusted grimace, she turned toward Jaime- "They posses the living? You mean, just any wolf, whether a pup or a crazed killer, could just come back to life?" It was terrible to think that some crazy maniac might take over her body and set forth destruction on others. The winds moaned through the trees and Laurel stiffened at the sound.

"Pfft!" Letting her fear out in a nervous laugh, Laurel challenged the teller of the tale in a rather juvenescent way,"Nice story. If you wanted to scare rabbits..."They were right! I'm too young! No more, please!"it-it's just a story, right?" She looked him square in his eyes, as they twinkled with mischievousness. She liked those eyes. And the face that went with them. And the mind within that face. They were all very charming, and together gave an air of deep gallantry. But she didn't like it when they tried to scare her out of her wits.

Before she even knew what she was saying, Laurel blurted out: "I bet I can tell a better spooky story than you!"

As his sinister words lingered within the dark air around them, his grin grew as a grimace from on her face as she took in his story. Of course it wasn’t true, but she did ask for a spooky story and that’s exactly what he gave her. “They possess the living? You mean, just any wolf, whether a pup or a crazed killer, could just come back to life?” His face grew serious as she faced him. He needed to keep his story going, but inside he was dying of laughter. “Oh, yes. They can claim anyone and you better watch out cause you could be next!” He joked, his eyes growing wide in horror at the thought. However, he couldn’t hide the grin that quickly formed on his ebony lips.

"Pfft!" Her nervous laugh was hardly believable, as he looked upon her with dark, mischievous blue eyes. "Nice story. If you wanted to scare rabbits… it-it's just a story, right?” She asked nervously, her stare squarely on his. His facade as about to break and he was about to admit that it all was just a story, but she stopped him before he could with a playful challenge. "I bet I can tell a better spooky story than you!" A toothy smile formed on his lips as his eyes twinkled with joy. ”Ooh, yeahh? Lemme hear it! He said, his eyes and ears waiting for her counter story. He doubted she couldn’t top his obviously spooky story, but she could surely try to.

Why'd she say that? She didn't even know of any stories to top the one Jaime had told. She didn't even have reference or experience to draw upon. She couldn't let that stop her though- Laurel was determined not to lose face with such a braggadocios claim. She'd be so ashamed if she did- not only would it prove that she had a mouth too big for her own good, it would also prove that she really wasn't as mature as she wished she was.

So with a façade of brazen confidence, Laurel began her story; "Once upon a time-" she tried not to cringe at that, a typical story starter for fairytales. "-there was a grand kingdom, with kind rulers that had firm but wise leadership. They had many children, who-" whom Nightshade would automatically correct- "-were as kind as their parents. Their subjects were happy and loyal, and the kingdom flourished. All the children were good and obedient, and therefore had but one rule- to guard their hearts against the stranger unknown." It was a nice beginning, but it needed something to turn it into a story. It was time to add the villain.

"But unbeknownst-" a word she had gained from listening to Foxglove- "to the Leaders, there was a terrible monster that lived within the realm. A beast that took form of a wolf, he had many eyes and many ears, all ripped and stolen from unsuspecting victims. He wanted the kingdom for himself. He liked having power, and he wanted more of it- the power that the eyes of a Leader could give." Alright, she had set up the enemy- going over her story structure checklist, Laurel then added the conflict. "So, forming a plan, he sent a pair of eyes and ears to the youngest princess." She almost choked then- what was she doing? This sounded almost like- Laurel ignored the feeling and continued on.

"Please help me, he made the puppet wail, and the youngest princess- who's heart was the largest out of all- agreed, not knowing of the monster's baleful intentions. Together, they furthered the monster's influence, the youngest princess soon falling completely under the sway of her captor's voice, as he mercilessly stole the ears and eyes of her people." Laurel turned her voice to a harsher tone, emulating Foxglove in his story-telling enthusiasm. Though it wasn't hard to act as if the story was affecting her telling. She knew exactly which story it was, and to her slight embarrassment, she was going to have to twist some things to live up to her claim.

"The ruse didn't last for long. The Leaders and their children were horrified to learn of what happened to their youngest, and did everything in their power to gain her back. At this moment, when they were at their weakest, the beast struck. He mowed them down in a bloody battle, taking what parts he favored best as he dangled their precious daughter in front of their eyes. Victorious at last, he ripped the eyes and ears from the Leaders, leaving them to die in writhing agony." The pain and terror in Laurel's voice rose with the story's action, her limbs tensed up in preparation- for what exactly? For the end.

"He did the same to their children, and then forced them out from the home which they loved. They all died cold and fallen, knowing they had failed to defend their people and failed to retrieve the member of their family they had loved the most. The monster used his newfound power to make the subjects do his every capricious whim, though to this day, no one knows who is real flesh and blood, and who is mere puppet." Now time for the clincher- the twisted end that made the whole thing more memorable, and would send shivers down the spines of pups and adults alike for ages to come.

"In a final moment of triumph, the monster released the youngest from his sway in order that she may gaze upon the destruction and despair she had helped to create. And then, he ate her soul." Laurel could've ended it there, but determination drove her further. Breaking her heart and ending her life for eternity. However, her body remained, and that he set forth to wander the ruins of her homeland, a wraith which served no purpose but to serve him. He set it forth upon rebels and enemies alike, the empty vessel sucking up their souls to make up for the one it had lost. Those curious enough to approach it said that they could hear the whispers and moans of the deceased coming from it's open maw. And wailing above the rest is the voice of the youngest princess, her last words remaining on lips that were hers no longer-" Laurel adopted a vacant stare and whispered harshly- "I should have guarded my heart!"

Focusing now to look at Jaime, Laurel didn't feel nearly as triumphant as she should've been. The Boughinn could've blamed it on the cold, or perhaps the spooky atmosphere, but the truth was, she had just twisted the very story that had brought her to Relic Lore. She didn't know whether to be upset or morbidly glad that she could so callously bear her burdens in such a way- a tale meant to scare and disturb.

Unsure, she looked to Jaime, waiting for his reaction- would he realize there was truth in the fiction?

I sat on this so long, my muse was about to bust me open...

His eyes watched her as she began her story, of course with a ”once upon a time.” He thought to himself that this was definitely not going to top his if she started it out like this. Her story began with a happy beginning, a peaceful kingdom, and loyal subjects. Then, she introduced the villain, the beast of her spooky story. His ears perked with interest as she described him in detail and then she introduced the other main character, the youngest princess. Then her voice jumped and choked unexpectedly and his eyes flickered slightly as he studied her face. Was part of this true or did she just need to clear her though? Pushing his thoughts away as just a mistake and nothing serious, he listened intently again as she continued on with her spooky tale.

Her voice rose and fell with emotion as her story rolled on. Passion was evident at the climax, but the most emotion that he could detect was when she ended her story. He was so tied into her story and her ending words echoed in his head. “I should have guarded my heart!" His blue eyes looked to her vacant stare, but deep down he could see the emotions whirling inside her. Something was off. He just knew it, but he couldn’t find the courage to outright ask her. It was obviously a touchy topic and she probably didn’t want him prying into her past as he was afraid to show her his. Instead, he put on a smile and applauded her because she definitely topped his story. “That was good, but hmmmm I don’t know, I think mine was better,” he joked, a mischievous grin forming on his lips as he tried to lift her mood. However, perhaps he could hint and maybe she could give him some insight, a sneak peak to her past. “Where’d you hear that story? You had to have stolen it from someone!” He joked lightly, his eyes curious as he looked to her. Would she tell him or would she hid it from him?

Cracking a grin at his jest, Laurel shot back- "Really? After all that?" Jaime's lighthearted smile brightened her mood, and she was glad she could enjoy this moment with him.

She used that joy to sweep over feelings of trepidation and hesitancy when he asked- naturally of course- where she had gotten the story from. She couldn't lie to him- she couldn't lie to anybody really, but Laurel felt as if to lie to him would be especially... unacceptable. And she wondered why.

"No, I didn't steal it!" She laughed to make her eyes squint, concealing the fact that she didn't look directly into Jaime's eyes, but at the crest of his head instead. "I made it up! I did take a little bit of things from experience, but mostly it's made up. I have my brother Foxglove to thank for that. He's a wonderful historian." There, that was the truth. A lot of the words and structure of the story did come from watching Foxglove tell tales. She didn't steal it, and admittedly a little bit was based on experience- but she didn't have to say which bits.

Why not? Because, she told herself, it's too- personal, is the word that she was looking for. If Jaime didn't ask about it, it was unlikely she was going to share. And at this point in time, the Boughinn didn't believe it would be right to share either- they were still on a mission, and if Jaime was distracted by her troubles and wants, they would fall behind even further. The only reason she had even told Kato outright was because it would be wrong to keep the truth from someone offering her a home. Correction- someone offering her their home.

That wasn't to say he didn't deserve to know- just, not right now.

Finishing her meal in quick mouthfuls, Laurel stood up and shook loose dirt and leaves off her coat- still a mite tired, but ready to move on. "Shall we continue? We have a bit of ground to cover." Her voice inviting, Laurel tried her best to show that she was good to go.

He watched her carefully as she began to answer his inquiry. She didn't give him any obvious clues that she was lying to him, however, he did notice that she avoided his eye contact for a moment, but she seemed to be telling him the truth. Though, he still felt there was something more. There was more to her story and sooner or later he was going to find out somehow. But, he had other things that he needed to get done before he tried to pry into someone's past. First, he had to find Ash and tell him the message that Athena wants him to. Then, he needs to tell Laurel the truth before he has any room to try to pry into her life. She needed to know somethings about him and if she choose to stay with him, then he would ask. He just hoped that his lies wouldn't scare her off.

Their conversation ended with a smile from Tobius and they both ate their last bites of their free meal. Then Laurel broke the silence once again. "Shall we continue? We have a bit of ground to cover." Nodding in her direction, he swallowed his last bite and looked up to her with a smile. "Yes, we should if we want to make it there by winter," he joked lightly, but in truth, the air was beginning to get colder and colder. He was beginning to believe that winter was coming a lot faster than it had last year.