Post by Gelquie on Oct 29, 2016 22:20:37 GMT -5
You're walking down the street, minding your own business as you sort through your bag for the goodies you've already acquired. You're taking a bit of a break to take in the sights, see others' costumes, see how people have decorated their houses, and get some fresh air. It's proving to be a productive walk.
You then hear a scream, and someone barrels out towards you, nearly bumping into you. They gasp for breath as they realized what they've almost done.
“Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just...” They grit their teeth, shaking. “Don't go down that way!”
You're bewildered, and ask why not.
“Because! There's voices there! Coming from dark places, and when I look where they're from, they're just... just...” they cringe. “Just stay away! You do what you want, I'm gone!”
With that, the scared pedestrian runs off. You think to follow for a moment, but decide to leave them be; they'll run to safety and calm down eventually. Perhaps you should keep walking and not go down that path, but well... Perhaps they were scared for reasons that don't have to do with personal safety? And you can't deny your curiosity. Against your better judgment, you go down the path, keeping your eye out for anything unusual.
The place doesn't appear all too different from any other place at first. The buildings here actually look quite nice; proper stonemasonry with some artistic touches. You begin to wonder what that person was so afraid of.
And then you hear it. ”Human...”
You jump, looking around, but you can't find the source of the noise.
”I see you, human. Come here...”
You pause. Why should you do what people tell you do all the time, especially when they're strangers who you can't even see? You begin to wonder if you should've taken your personal safety classes more seriously.
”Human, please... Feed us...”
Your eyes grow wide and you begin to run as well when you hear another voice, this time from the other direction.
”Woah woah, you can't just send off a disembodied voice chanting 'feed us' and not give context! This is exactly why the last one ran away!”
”I thought I'd keep it simple and to the point...”
”You have to give context! At least tell them that you're not going to eat the human!”
”Wait, eat the human? Is that really what it sounded like. ...Oh no, no no no! I... should I say 'give us offerings' instead? I mean, it doesn't have to be food...”
”That would be a thousand times better than what you just said,” the other said with a disembodied sigh.
You stand there, confused if mildly comforted throughout the exchange. But as they go back and forth, you begin to pinpoint the direction of the sounds. They seem to be coming from opposite ends of the path. One voice seems to be calling from a garden, with vines growing over little brick walls. The other seems to be coming from a stylish small building with its door to the side, which appears to be abandoned, and yet the walls are impeccably carved with art. Both places have a nondescript bowl in front of them that you don't think much of. But you don't see anyone.
”Alright, I'll try again... Humaaaan, give us offeriiiiiings...”
You look around, perplexed.
”...Humaaaaan...?”
You continued to stand there confused.
”...I don't get it... They're not moving...”
”Are they a statue? ...No, they were moving. ...Although that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't move, but that's just-- Oh! I get it! They don't know where we're coming from, do they?”
”I can't blame them, it's not like we can see them either...”
”Hey, human! You can see us just fine, can't you? We possessed big objects, so no one should be able to overlook us this time!”
...Big... Objects...?
You begin moving towards the source of the straightforward voice.
”Ah ha! So you aren't a statue! ...Or maybe you are. You know, it can be odd sometimes. But I think I can sense your breathing, so I'm going to assume you're not. Statues don't normally breathe.”
You blink, finally stopping at the artistic wall. The voice seems to be coming... From it? You begin to go around to look inside the building--
”Hey, too far! You were right in front of me! There's nothing inside, trust me.”
You blink, confused. You inquire if it's coming from the wall in front of you.
”A wall? Is that what I possessed? ...No wonder you're so confused. But that would make sense. Yes, I'm the wall to this little building, I guess. Dang, I wanted to go for big, but I went really big this time.”
”What am I, then...?”
You ask the trailing voice to keep talking as you head in its direction, and they take a moment to moan about their life until you approach one of the walls, from which the vines hang. You manage to conclude that that wall with vines is the source of the trailing voice.
”Oh... That explains why this form feels so weird...”
”Well, anyway, now that you know where we're coming from, I suppose we should explain,” started the straightforward voice. ”See, we're not actually walls. We're spirits, of sorts. Big ones. We're a big deal in the spirit world. But occasionally, we have to... get stuff from the mortal world. It can be literally anything, but we need it so we can imbue objects from the spirit world. It's very important, trust me.”
”Yes, we need vessels...”
”Well, nevermind the why. Anyway, it would really help us out if you leave something—well, maybe not a rock or a clump of dirt, we got lots of those already in front of us—that we can take back with us. And you can always give us more candy; we can do lots of things with those so we can have fun with mortals later with enchanted candy. Some nice people have already left us some in our bowls.”
You look down in the bowl near the vine wall to find that, indeed, though not filled to brim (or you might've noticed earlier), it is filled with candy. You assume the other bowl is as well.
”Anyway, you can leave whatever you want. Just leave them in front of our walls; doesn't even have to be set in the bowl. It'll come back with us when our work is done here.”
”And in return, we can give you... something special... An ability... That you can use for a few hours...”
”Yeah, and you can do what you want with it. We're not going to give you big ones, though; we can only interfere so much in the mortal world. But we'll try to give you something you'll have fun with.”
”Just... don't steal from us... Or else... You will regret it...”
”...Oh come now, you make it sound terrible. ...But really, you shouldn't steal from us. Or else, we might give you an ability that might not be so much of a treat... So much as it is a trick.”
You can hear both walls laughing, and you nervously walk to the center of the path.
”Really though, human... Just leave us anything...”
”Yes, please. We'll wait; we have all night.”
You stand there in the center of the path, wondering what you should give them, which one to offer to or if you should offer to both. If you choose, your choice is between the Straightforward Wall and the Trailing Wall.
You also wonder what kind of abilities they'll give you. They made them sound temporary, but given that they're spirits, it could also be fun? You're curious to see. ...Or perhaps you're too curious to know just what kind of tricks they have up their sleeve. In which case... All the candy is right there...
Or perhaps you don't want to take part in any abilities, and you just have a sweet tooth and you have somewhere to be. Maybe if you trade one thing for a piece of candy, they'll let you go, albeit without an ability? Or perhaps you could just try to take some of the candy and run before they can hex you. They're walls, after all, how far can their range extend?
So, what do you do? The choice is yours...
You then hear a scream, and someone barrels out towards you, nearly bumping into you. They gasp for breath as they realized what they've almost done.
“Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just...” They grit their teeth, shaking. “Don't go down that way!”
You're bewildered, and ask why not.
“Because! There's voices there! Coming from dark places, and when I look where they're from, they're just... just...” they cringe. “Just stay away! You do what you want, I'm gone!”
With that, the scared pedestrian runs off. You think to follow for a moment, but decide to leave them be; they'll run to safety and calm down eventually. Perhaps you should keep walking and not go down that path, but well... Perhaps they were scared for reasons that don't have to do with personal safety? And you can't deny your curiosity. Against your better judgment, you go down the path, keeping your eye out for anything unusual.
The place doesn't appear all too different from any other place at first. The buildings here actually look quite nice; proper stonemasonry with some artistic touches. You begin to wonder what that person was so afraid of.
And then you hear it. ”Human...”
You jump, looking around, but you can't find the source of the noise.
”I see you, human. Come here...”
You pause. Why should you do what people tell you do all the time, especially when they're strangers who you can't even see? You begin to wonder if you should've taken your personal safety classes more seriously.
”Human, please... Feed us...”
Your eyes grow wide and you begin to run as well when you hear another voice, this time from the other direction.
”Woah woah, you can't just send off a disembodied voice chanting 'feed us' and not give context! This is exactly why the last one ran away!”
”I thought I'd keep it simple and to the point...”
”You have to give context! At least tell them that you're not going to eat the human!”
”Wait, eat the human? Is that really what it sounded like. ...Oh no, no no no! I... should I say 'give us offerings' instead? I mean, it doesn't have to be food...”
”That would be a thousand times better than what you just said,” the other said with a disembodied sigh.
You stand there, confused if mildly comforted throughout the exchange. But as they go back and forth, you begin to pinpoint the direction of the sounds. They seem to be coming from opposite ends of the path. One voice seems to be calling from a garden, with vines growing over little brick walls. The other seems to be coming from a stylish small building with its door to the side, which appears to be abandoned, and yet the walls are impeccably carved with art. Both places have a nondescript bowl in front of them that you don't think much of. But you don't see anyone.
”Alright, I'll try again... Humaaaan, give us offeriiiiiings...”
You look around, perplexed.
”...Humaaaaan...?”
You continued to stand there confused.
”...I don't get it... They're not moving...”
”Are they a statue? ...No, they were moving. ...Although that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't move, but that's just-- Oh! I get it! They don't know where we're coming from, do they?”
”I can't blame them, it's not like we can see them either...”
”Hey, human! You can see us just fine, can't you? We possessed big objects, so no one should be able to overlook us this time!”
...Big... Objects...?
You begin moving towards the source of the straightforward voice.
”Ah ha! So you aren't a statue! ...Or maybe you are. You know, it can be odd sometimes. But I think I can sense your breathing, so I'm going to assume you're not. Statues don't normally breathe.”
You blink, finally stopping at the artistic wall. The voice seems to be coming... From it? You begin to go around to look inside the building--
”Hey, too far! You were right in front of me! There's nothing inside, trust me.”
You blink, confused. You inquire if it's coming from the wall in front of you.
”A wall? Is that what I possessed? ...No wonder you're so confused. But that would make sense. Yes, I'm the wall to this little building, I guess. Dang, I wanted to go for big, but I went really big this time.”
”What am I, then...?”
You ask the trailing voice to keep talking as you head in its direction, and they take a moment to moan about their life until you approach one of the walls, from which the vines hang. You manage to conclude that that wall with vines is the source of the trailing voice.
”Oh... That explains why this form feels so weird...”
”Well, anyway, now that you know where we're coming from, I suppose we should explain,” started the straightforward voice. ”See, we're not actually walls. We're spirits, of sorts. Big ones. We're a big deal in the spirit world. But occasionally, we have to... get stuff from the mortal world. It can be literally anything, but we need it so we can imbue objects from the spirit world. It's very important, trust me.”
”Yes, we need vessels...”
”Well, nevermind the why. Anyway, it would really help us out if you leave something—well, maybe not a rock or a clump of dirt, we got lots of those already in front of us—that we can take back with us. And you can always give us more candy; we can do lots of things with those so we can have fun with mortals later with enchanted candy. Some nice people have already left us some in our bowls.”
You look down in the bowl near the vine wall to find that, indeed, though not filled to brim (or you might've noticed earlier), it is filled with candy. You assume the other bowl is as well.
”Anyway, you can leave whatever you want. Just leave them in front of our walls; doesn't even have to be set in the bowl. It'll come back with us when our work is done here.”
”And in return, we can give you... something special... An ability... That you can use for a few hours...”
”Yeah, and you can do what you want with it. We're not going to give you big ones, though; we can only interfere so much in the mortal world. But we'll try to give you something you'll have fun with.”
”Just... don't steal from us... Or else... You will regret it...”
”...Oh come now, you make it sound terrible. ...But really, you shouldn't steal from us. Or else, we might give you an ability that might not be so much of a treat... So much as it is a trick.”
You can hear both walls laughing, and you nervously walk to the center of the path.
”Really though, human... Just leave us anything...”
”Yes, please. We'll wait; we have all night.”
You stand there in the center of the path, wondering what you should give them, which one to offer to or if you should offer to both. If you choose, your choice is between the Straightforward Wall and the Trailing Wall.
You also wonder what kind of abilities they'll give you. They made them sound temporary, but given that they're spirits, it could also be fun? You're curious to see. ...Or perhaps you're too curious to know just what kind of tricks they have up their sleeve. In which case... All the candy is right there...
Or perhaps you don't want to take part in any abilities, and you just have a sweet tooth and you have somewhere to be. Maybe if you trade one thing for a piece of candy, they'll let you go, albeit without an ability? Or perhaps you could just try to take some of the candy and run before they can hex you. They're walls, after all, how far can their range extend?
So, what do you do? The choice is yours...
)
