To the Forest of Death (Kouri, Celeste)

[Celeste Arumen]

Oh, that was Kouri all right. Celeste had a keen memory and there was no mistaking that tiny voice. Once she saw Wanda however, she veered toward her instead, remembering the mission she was charged with. While she was fond of the little ghost girl, her primary focus was gaining the favor of Mistress Wanda, so as to make a name for herself in the days to pass.

Of course, the fact that there was a second ghost clinging to Kouri struck her as a little unnerving, especially given that it was very same one to scare the living shyke out of the her the first time they met. The initiate really couldn’t fathom just what had changed between the two, so she kept her mouth shut and turned back to the spiritist, who began to explain just what exactly they'd have to do.

”Consider it done, Mistress.” She replied, smiling in kind. The woman’s ragged appearance didn’t bother her in the least. She’d met similar people on the streets of Alvadas and liked them just the same. And at the warning, she nodded, trying to keep that in mind. While Kouri would be fine wandering the Glannoch forever, she would die in a matter of days, provided there was nothing to eat.

”Are you ready?” She turned to the little ghost girl. ”It’s good to see you again Fubuki. Who is your friend?” She peered at Mia with a neutral gaze. ”Wasn’t she the one that scared you before?”

It then occurred to her that there might be a specific way to collect the snails. If Wanda didn’t mention it though, perhaps it wouldn’t be too difficult. She wondered if Kouri could pick them up too, since the woman had warned her not to eat them. And what was soulmist, anyway? There was a good question.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Kouri watched as Wanda directed her attention at her human friend, a tug on her small arm by an even smaller hand made her head turn, long alabaster locks following the motion, Mia's questions was expected, but it strangely horrified her, mainly because the subject of her question was Celeste, if it had been some other person she had no knowledge about, the Vantha ghost would be smiling and nodded, even urging them to make a 'toy' out of that person; but this was Celeste, her friend who saved Kouri's (un)life back in the Prairie, "No, Mia," The older-looking girl shook her head, hugging the white-eyed ghost, "She's my friend, Celeste! She can be your friend too, but remember, she's a very good girl and we can't uhm... 'play' with her like a toy," Kouri made sure to hush her voice, hoping Celeste wouldn't hear it.

Kouri abruptly turned her head back to Wanda, determined to take in every words spoken by the Master spiritist, the ghost girl knew Wanda didn't like questions, especially stupid ones. "Okay, Soul Snails! Got it!" The thought of the 'tasty' snail soulmists worried her, she might be fine now, but later, she feared of succumbing to her hunger, especially if the snails had similar quality to Wanda's soulmist, unlikely, but one could never know. The ghost girl assumed Celeste's master was the leader of her group, what was it again? Ah, the Wardens. So, this was a dangerous job, Wanda sending two young girls, one who was still in her pre-teens, to a treacherous forest, she was truly unfit to be a mother. Would Mia be coming with them though? "Uhm, Mistress Wanda, Mia will be coming, right? I mean... i-it's dangerous a-and, she's strong, the three of us can keep each other safe," dangerous monsters and risks of eternal entrapment, Kouri thought to herself, What a wonderful forest....

Finally, Celeste turned her attention to the ghost duo, asking her if she was ready and the identity of Mia, "I'm ready... somewhat," She wasn't so sure, but she would take the Glannoch anytime instead of disobeying Wanda. Kouri gulped, trying to form her words regarding Mia, but then... the dreaded question came, she just knew it would come, "Aha... ahahahaha!" The Vantha quickly giggled, obviously coated in nervousness, trying to drown out Celeste's last question in vain, "S-she's Mia! My little sister, yes! Uhm... a-about that, I think I'm just spooked out, you know, y-you would be too if you saw a face out of nowhere, right, right?" Kouri hugged Mia tightly, "It's okay, it's just a misunderstanding, big sis isn't scared of you, I love you," Ironically, one of the reasons for her reaction was her fear in Mia. "A-anyways! Let's go, let's go now! I promise I won't eat those snails!" She dodged the subject, materializing herself so she could grab Celeste's right hand with her left, she would pull Mia as well if Wanda allowed her to come, then she floated off the Courtyard, heading to the Prairie.

[Mirage]

Mia looked up at Fubuki with big eyes, her lip trembling slightly while she hugged her doll fiercely, "Big sister was scared of Mia...?" The little girl did not seem at all comforted by Fubuki's words, though she did stare at Celeste for a few ticks longer than necessary. She absently ringed her doll's neck with her little fingers, her brow creasing in distress and worry, and with a hint of anger.

Wanda looked between the three of them, raising an eyebrow before raising a hand dismissively, "Do what you like, but keep an eye on Mia. She knows why she hasn't been allowed near the Glannoch, and I expect this time she will be on her best behavior." The Spiritist leveled a gaze at the little ghost girl, but Mia was already happily skipping with Kouri, a smile on her lips as she dragged her doll behind her, apparently having forgotten the situation before.

As Celeste past Wanda would reach out a clawed hand to stop her, waving to the other two, "Go on, I have something I must speak with Celeste with. She will meet you outside the Vestibule." Once the two ghosts were gone Wanda would reach into the folds of her robes, producing 10 ordinary looking needles like those one would use for sewing. These she would wrap in string and tie off before handing the bundle to Celeste,, "Keep these on you at all times. They are soul darts I created personally. Where you go the dead rule over the living, but you have much more to worry about from your present company." She looked after the ghosts, "Mia is dangerous. I keep her close to control her, and to keep others safe from her 'games'. Be on your guard with her. I doubt Fubuki would be able to resist the temptation if Mia urged her to play." And with that Wanda turned and wandered off deeper into the Courtyard, the ethereal fog wrapping around her form until she disappeared.

OOCOK head to the Testing Grounds!

[Celeste Arumen]

Ionu above. Celeste noted how Mia stared, her ghostly brow furrowed in disdain. Why did things always have to end up being more complicated than they first appeared? Luckily for her, she at least had Kouri on her side… For the time being. And on cue, Wanda pulled her aside for a moment, explaining just what challenges they were to face. ”I had a feeling that was the way of things,” she responded with a sigh. Fubuki didn’t seem the most stable… Though what else could she expect of a spirit that refused to pass on?

She tucked the darts into the lining of her robes, so they would stay hidden for the duration of this little trip. It didn’t take long to catch up with the pair of them, either. Together, the three of them traveled out of the Citadel and onward toward the Testing Grounds.

”Our best bet is to go through the Bloodhills,” she explained softly. ”We’ll want to be quick about it, though. Kouri, you should explain to Mia the monsters that live there, so she knows what to do if one happens to appear. I don’t want you two to get hurt.” She always felt so redundant, saying things like that. How could they get hurt if they were dead?

But perhaps in being dead, their hurt would be a lot worse than hers. It was just a theory, but what happened to the dead if they died? Seeing as they were nothing more than the soul incarnate, then with no vessel to shield them, their actual existence could potentially be no more. That sounded far more traumatic to Celeste than say, taking a sword to the gut. What if they never reincarnated? What if they couldn’t return to the web?

She suddenly felt sorry for them, irrational as it might have seemed.

The walk would take a full day and that was just getting to the Testing Grounds. Under normal circumstances, Celeste would transform and run the whole way, but she knew the two of them couldn’t keep that pace. Likewise, she could have carried them, were they to have materialized, but she didn’t know how long that could last and it was important that her companions try to conserve their strength. So as soon as they hit the Prairie, she mopped her brow and turned to the other two.

”So, have you ever seen a soul snail before?” She asked, eyes peering off into the distance. ”The Bloodhills are that way,” she said, gesturing.

[Fubuki Kouri]

"No, I'm not..." Kouri's voice trailed off, she was always bad at lying, the little girl was genuinely freaked out when she saw Mia's face floating on the Prairie back then, she was already paranoid about the smaller ghost girl following her. Though smaller, Mia was clearly stronger than herself, she could create serrated tendrils that could easily cut through steel, flew as fast as a galloping horse, possessed someone with barely any effort, and a grip stronger than an alpha wolf's bite, in a straight-up fight, Kouri would lose even if she used her dagger-chakrams.

"Please believe me, Mia, Big sis won't lie," She felt horrible, deceiving a younger-looking girl, what a terrible older sister she was, hopefully Celeste wouldn't take Mia's side on this. The ghost girl noticed Mia was staring at Celeste, her white eyes fixed on the human girl like a hungry rabid wolf to a wounded rabbit, the ghost girl kept pulling Mia with her, trying to fix ease the situation, "Mia has to get along with Celeste, okay? She's a good girl and fun to play with!" The ghost girl realized her slip-up, Mia would take it the wrong way, "I mean... play as in, tea time, hide and seek, normal games, u-understand? Aha... ahahaha," Her laugh was so awkward, even a crow could make a better cackle.

Fortunately, Wanda allowed Mia to come so Kouri could keep an eye on her, the ghost girl looked back to the Master Spiritist, nodding, "I'll take care of her, don't worry!" Kouri became curious though, what happened to Mia in the past? "Mia," Kouri affectionately rubbed Mia's hair, "Can you tell me what happened in the Glannoch? Since we are going there, uhm... any information will be nice". If the little talk could take Mia's mind off Celeste, it would be much appreciated.

"Eh?" The ghost girl paused when Wanda stopped Celeste, apparently the ancient grandma wanted to speak with her friend, Kouri's brow furrowed for a tick, before she gave the both of them a cheerful smile, "Okay, see us there," That didn't come out as expected, Kouri wanted her voice to sound happy, but her suspicion still slip though. She floated off with Mia, her gaze looking down at the clinging little sister, "Mia, I'm wondering... what did Mistress Wanda want with Celeste? She would be fine, right?" Her tone was cautious, Wanda still had a firm hold over the ghost girl, Rena was being held hostage. Don't worry, Rena, I'll free you and then we can all leave this island. No more, she had enough of this place, Why would I want to leave though... it's fun her- no... no! I... I don't know... Or so she thought, her mind was torn between two opposites, leaving or staying, both had equal strength in convincing her. Kouri decided to put it off for now, getting Rena back was her top priority.

They rendezvoused soon enough, Kouri noted Celeste's explanation, gulping at her task, she didn't want to recall the soulmist-hungry giant scorpion-snake thing that almost consumed her, but Mia had to know, "Mia, there's a big bad scorpion that almost ate me, but Celeste and uhm... what was his name again? Brock, killed it, I hope there's only one of them, but let's be careful okay?" It wasn't on purpose she misspelled Brom's name though. Kouri appreciated Celete's concern, but she needed to take care of herself, she was still very much alive and required more bodily maintenance compared to the ghosts.

As they walked, Kouri idly wondered on why Celeste didn't transform to her hound form to travel faster, both she and Mia could keep up by flying fast, Mia might even outrun her, she flew faster than a warhorse in full gallop. An alternative solution by them riding her while materialized was also feasible, they were both weightless and being powerful ghosts, could keep up their materialized state permanently. She kept her silence, assuming Celeste knew the Testing Grounds best, there must be a reason for her decisions.

The trio arrived at the Prairie, Celeste wiped her brow, a sign of tiredness, Kouri was still fine as ever, if there was a way she could share Celeste some of her ghostly stamina, she would do so. A question, Kouri had never seen one of them, but their name sounded obvious, "Not yet, but I bet they look like snails made out of soulmist, you know, glowy, jelly, and... delicious, we can sense soulmist so it should be easy to find them right, Mia?"

Kouri's crimson eyes followed Celeste's gesture, the 'Bloodhills' looked far away, she decided to speak her thoughts regarding their way of travel, "Celeste, why don't you transform to your uhm... doggy form? You can run faster that way, don't worry about me and Mia, we can follow you, Mia is very fast. Also, if you want, we can ride on your back! Hehe, it would be fun, don't worry, we can materialize just fine! Let me show you," In an instant, Kouri's form became utterly solid, not a sign of ghost-like quality such as translucence or echoing voice, the wispy puffs of soulmist surrounding her also disappeared, "See? Don't worry about us!"

[Mirage]

e
Whether Mia was consoled or not it was not very clear. The girl simply remained silent, eyes darting to Celelste from time to time as she hugged her doll, pouting as any child might. Her gaze lingered on Celeste as Wanda pulled her aside, narrowing ever so slightly before she turned to follow Fubuki out. At the bigger girl's question Mia simply whispered, "Cause she doesn't trust me..." The way she said it, however, might not lead someone to believe the opposite.

When Celeste returned to join them Mia made every effort to completely ignore the girl's presence. She would not even look at the Initiate, keeping on Fubuki's opposite side as they walked. At the mention of the scorpion creatures Mia simply sniffed, "Big sister would have been fine if stupid wardies didn't keep getting in the way..." Beyond this one phrase, however, Mia walked in silence, holding fiercely to Fubuki's hand as if she did not ever wish to let it go. Even when they reached the Testing Grounds Mia would only nod at the question asked to her.

At the mention of riding Celeste, however, Mia would snatch her hand away, a pouty expression on her features, "No! Mia doesn't want to ride her. She smells!" She crossed her arms, stamping her foot and turning her back on them both. This would last for only a tick though, as she suddenly grew still. When she turned around though the scowl was replaced by a cheerful smile and she tilted her head, "Ohh Mia knows the perfect way to go! Mia has been hunting Snalies bunches and BUNCHES of times! I know just the way, right here!" She pointed off in the direction of the bloodhills, "Mia can show you, it will be fun! We can play and have lots and lots of fun." She looked at Celeste then, her smile not wavering. She giggled, floating around to Fubuki's other side, tugging on her arm, "Follow Mia, come on!" Then Mia took the lead, though to do so she made certain to pass right through Celeste. The Initiate would feel a bone chilling cold, and something close to electricity shoot through her body, numbing the tips of her fingers and toes for a moment before it began to fade. Mia however was already bobbing happily up and down, waving at both of them to follower her before setting off into the Testing Grounds, not looking back to see if they were coming.
e

[Fubuki Kouri]

"Huh, I see..." Kouri nodded absently when Mia suddenly turned cheerful, in a dilemma whether to condone to Mia's request or stay with Celeste, the older girl seemed to know her way around here after all, but Mia... by Morwen, the girl was persistent. The smaller ghost's reassurance certainly wasn't helping Celeste's case as Kouri felt compelled to follow Mia, after all, Mia was a fellow ghost, and she had been hunting those snails. "Mmmh..." The taller ghost let herself be pulled by Mia, not giving any resistance, but not actually eager to go either. She merely let herself be influenced by the flow.

Kouri didn't give a visible reaction when Mia passed through Celeste, she did that often, the older ghost then moved herself to catch up, having made a decision, "Alright, Mia, let's go." She said simply, giving a glance back at Celeste, fortunately, the teen was following them, good. "Be careful of that scorpion, okay, Mia?" Kouri warned the smaller ghost, no matter how strong she was, Kouri doubted Mia could withstand that spine thing that the creature launched, it incapacitated her in a single strike.

As the floated off to the Testing Grounds, Kouri took the time to self-contemplate, why was she doing this? Oh yes, for Rena's freedom, to atone for her sins, and of course... one or two snack sails couldn't be so bad, she couldn't consume anything other than those substance anyway.

[Mirage]

Mia frowned over her shoulder as they began traveling, a bit disappointed at how quickly Celeste had managed to keep up. The little girl looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled, tightening her grip on Fubuki's hand as she suddenly dipped down into the ground, passing them both into the earth without warning. Then, just as quickly as it had happened Mia's grip on Fubuki released and she was gone.

When Fubuki rose out of the ground again she would find herself alone, however, it would not be long until Mia rose once more and gripped Fubuki's hand, "Sister! Oh, I'm sorry I think we accidentally lost the other one..." The look on her face was not exactly one that would suggest she was sorry for it, "But I think she will meet us there! So, why don't we keep going? It will be more fun this way anyway." She giggled and began skipping, taking a much more leisurely pace now as they made their way to the Glannoch.

As they passed over the boundary of the bloodhills Mia would take a sharp turn, obviously well aware of where she was going. They would run across a creature or two, including one hound like creature that snapped at the ghost girl's hears and then snarled in confusion when his teeth came away with nothing. Eventually their journey would lead them to a very ominous grouping of trees. A pale mist spilled from between the trunks, and here is where Mia halted and turned, waving her hands in the air, "Here we are!"

She giggled, wandering to the edge of the woods and poking her head between the trees, "Now we just gotta find the snailies right? How many do you think we should get?" She looked back at Fubuki, wiggling her hind quarters like an over eager puppy.

OOCI apologize for the really quick traveling post! I hope its OK, but I wanted to go ahead and get us here for our plots . Feel free to go ahead and start hunting and finding some snails (maybe taste one!) I already know the direction this thread is going and I can roll with whatever direction you start to take it . Will she try exploring deeper you think?

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCI think I'll make her encounter one stray soul snail.

It looked like to be a mundane and boring trek into the Woods, with a fellow powerful specter beside her and a warden following closely behind, Kouri wasn't that worried they couldn't handle anything that would attack them, not any sensible creatures would so so anyway... maybe except that particularly giant cobra-scorpion thing. "Hm?" Kouri quirked an eyebrow when Mia suddenly grabbed her ethereal hand tighter. "Wha-?" Before she could finish her exclamation of confusion, Mia suddenly pulled both of them down into the ground below, their ethereal soulmist passing through the solid ground as if it was air.

"M-mia?! What are you doing?" Kouri couldn't see anything in the solid underground, she felt the the smaller ghost's grip releasing from her and the older little girl - appearance-wise - was left alone as she dashed forward in slight panic, desperately trying to find Mia. After about ten ticks, common sense got to the former Vantha as Kouri opted to just flew upwards, resurfacing from the ground. "Huh?" Her crimson eyes searched left and right, she was alone, did Mia leave her? How naughty of her, Kouri clenched her hands into fists as she planned to report this to Wanda, let the master spiritist literally spank the girl's naughty butt.

"Eh?!" Truly like a ghost being spooked by another ghost, Kouri abruptly turned around as she found her hand being grabbed by the familiar white-eyed girl. "..." Even the tweleve year old knew that Mia was deliberately separating themselves from Celeste, not that Kouri really minded... she would rather be with Mia, a fact that Kouri wasn't so fond of. The taller ghost simply looked away as she absently followed the other ghostly child.

Because Kouri had no idea on where they were currently, she had not much choice but to follow Mia as she made sharp turns, "?" The naughty hound that tried to snap at them earned itself a fatal pet on the head as Kouri materialized her right hand then brushed its forehead, sick sounds of dry ice touching with warm flesh echoed as the ghost girl literally froze the creature's life to a stand still and replenished some of her soulmist in the process, these failed experiments deserved to die anyway and she got some snack, win-win. Without even giving the dead abomination of a canine another glance, Kouri kept following Mia.

"Ah..." The Vantha ghost's mouth formed into an awed "o" shape when they arrived in the mist-coated group of trees. So tranced by the beautiful eerie sight, by the time Kouri broke out of her trance, Mia was already wiggling her butt, truly like an excited young child which prompted the sense of being the elder sibling in Kouri, the taller ghost approached the little girl as Kouri hugged Mia from behind, "Ehehehe~ We'll find lots of course! Come on, we should hurry, right? Don't want to keep Mistress Wanda waiting." Taking Mia's right hand with her left, Kouri took the lead this time as she ventured into the misty woods.

At the edge, the ghost girl felt a prickle as she sensed a small presence of... soulmist, yes, it couldn't be mistaken. Her crimson eyes looked to the right and right next to her, crawling on a tree bark, was a small peculiar snail, with white translucent colorization, "Is this..." Kouri examined it closer, it was small, very small, no bigger than Mia's thumb most likely, driven by insatiable hunger, Kouri leaned in then her ethereal tongue peeked out as she licked the cute-looking snail, "M... mmm~" She could feel it, the delicious, delicious, soulmist, but... it was not enough, barely enough for a simple snack. This snail was too small to provide anything edible, "M-mia... I want more... more!" She slightly shook the girl's body, her eyes obviously radiating greed.

[Mirage]

e
Mia giggled, "Then take some more! But remember, Miss Wanda wants us to collect some for her too so don't be greedy!" She tried to make her face look stern, but it was a comedic failure as she wagged her finger like a stern adult would. The little girl then extended a tendril of her own into the mist, stayign just outside the treeline to snatch up another snail as it crawled up the side of a nearby tree. She brought it too her mouth and sucked on it a bit, though really she did not have to use her mouth but it was more of a force of habit than anything, "Ipf ew swuk on em ew geth morph." She said with her mouth fool of snail. After a couple ticks of sucking she spat it out and the little creature, while a little traumatized, slinked away more or less unharmed.

Mia skipped along the edge of the tree line, but she did not actually pass it as she began collecting snails, creating a little pouch with soulmist projection with which to carry the little creatures in, "One time, Mia was playing here and I found the snails and they were sooooo good!" She giggled as she licked another, eyeing it curiously before tossing it aside once more, "I couldn't stop eating them, and I accidentally went into the woods and got lost for days and days and days. Wanda had to come and look for me. She wasn't happy, and ever since she NEVER let me go back here." She giggled and sat on the ground, already beginning on the snails she had collected to take back to the Spiritist. Mid lick with one she looked up at Fubuki, "How many should we take to Miss Wanda?" The expression on her face clearly said the fewer the better.
e