To the Forest of Death (Kouri, Celeste)

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCTo make Kouri enter the forest logically IC, I opted to play the threat of that ghost-hunting cobra-scorpion looming, Mirage.

Just tell me if it's not feasible or something needs altering.

"Eh... I know, I know..." Kouri sighed like a girl who was being reminded of her duties instead of having fun, being scolded by Mia, how odd it must look. However, her answer did satisfy the taller ghost, she could take some more, just not be greedy... the term 'greedy' was flexible indeed in the minds of these ghost girls. The phantom Vantha watched as Mia extended a tendril then pulled it to her, "For... m-..." Kouri half-expected Mia would give her, but her hungry eyes soon showed disappointment when the shorter ghost consumed the snail for herself.

"No fair... Big Sis wants more too!" Teased by the prospect of high-quality soulmist, the ghost girl's 'mature' facade broke as she regressed back into the child she was, Mia's mumbling words went over her head as Kouri was already looking for more snails, but she did note that sucking on them would get her more delicious snacks. The ghostly children duo went to the edge as they began collecting the diminutive snails, Kouri even put three snails into her mouth all at once, "O... ooooh~" She sighed in pleasure as her eyes went slightly gazed, but unlike Mia, the Vantha ghost was taught how to act with decorum by her mother, so gently released the snails by using her hand to put them on a nearby tree bark, the traumatized creatures began crawling away from the greedy children.

"Mmm... I see..." Kouri idly answered Mia as she extended a sweeping tendril to grab five of those creatures at once, then gathered them in the sphere-shaped soulmist tendrils she had floating just beside her shoulder, mimicking Mia's technique, she didn't count, but she gathered quite a number of them. "Eeeeh... sooo good~" Kouri slurred her words like a drunken girl as she consumed two snails at the same time, she couldn't provide Mia with a sensible reply, in truth, she wasn't listening to Mia anyway, due to her midn being occupied by these snails. Obviously, she didn't hear about the 'being lost for days' part. A fact Kouri would soon regret....

"Hey, Mia, I think this is eno-" *WHOOZ, THUD* Kouri's eyes widened and her remark stopped midway as a fast... dart thing blazed past Kouri's eyes, just a few inches from actually hitting her. "A...ah..." She trembled with fear, the less-than-a-tick event already brought numerous bad memories to her, Please, please don't let it be it, please don't let it be it... The ghost girl prayed in her mind as she looked to her left and, of course, to her horror, that very same ghost-hunting giant scorpion thing with cobra tail was charging straight at them!

"A-aaaaaaaaah!!!" The ghost girl screamed with all her might, her high-pitched wail echoed in the area as she dropped all of the collected snails then blinked to Mia, "M-mia, mia, c-come on! We have to run, run run!" She was clearly panicking, that monster incapacitated her with just a few darts shot from its tail, and to make matters worse, Celeste or Brom wasn't around to help them. Mia? She was a fellow ghost. "C-come on! Let's go! Let's gooooo!" Not bothering for an answer, Kouri took the lead this time as she gripped the smaller ghost's hand tight then pulled her into the most 'safe' location she could think of, the misty forest, that large monster shouldn't be able to follow into the dense treeline unless it could destroy everything in its path.

[Mirage]

"Wab womg?" Mia asked, the urgency clearly not getting to her as she tried to speak through a mouth full of snail. She did not even have time to notice the creature coming after them before she was pulled into the trees, a faint protest on her lips but quickly lost as the mist enveloped them both.

The first thing to notice about the forest was that it seemed to stretch on and on. There was a worn dirt path that lead deeper into woods, and another path that lead back the way they came. mist curled at what would be knee height for Fubuki, nearly at the waist for Mia, and it seemed to cling to both of the ghosts. It felt suspiciously like soulmist, however, it could not be consumed and only slowed their movements slightly when they began wading their way though it. There were faint echos, whispered voices around, but nothing which could be accurately pointed in one direction or another.

"W-what did you do..." Mia whispered, already clinging to Fubuki's dress, looking around, "You w-went into the trees. N-now we are lost." It would seem absurd of course, because they had only stepped into the trees a couple of yards, just enough to get away from the creatures. When they looked back, however, there was no treeline in sight. If they tried to go back in the other direction as well the path would be endless. Trees stretched no matter how far the distance they traveled, or how long. Mist curling around them, the faint whispers the only thing that broke the remote silence now.

"We are going to be lost here forever." Mia sniffed, wiping her eyes though of course no tears fell. Time did not seem to work the same in this place. The light did not dim or change, the scenery was identical no matter where they went. The only odd thing was that from time to time they would run across a knobbly looking tree, maybe even the same knobbly tree which was, ultimately, unremarkable. The two were trapped, trapped in the Glannoch where the spirits of the Testingrounds found their final resting place.Surely there was a way out. Both powerful spirits, both creative and ingenuity. Surely THEY of all spirits could figure out a way to free themselves from this prison... right? There was at least one onlooker who was wondering that very same thing.

[Fubuki Kouri]

"Ha... ha... ha...." Kouri's ethereal chest heaved up and down as she held Mia tight to her chest, in a combined gesture of a panicking girl and a concerned older sister for her younger sibling's safety. The phantom Vantha's crimson eyes looked back as the thick mists enveloped the horizon, separating them from the charging scorpion creature. The monster seemed confused by the sudden disappearance, searched around for a few ticks, then ultimately gave up as it turned away, of course, by the time it did that, Kouri and Mia were already inside the misty forest.

"A-alright, l-let's go... it's gone, I think, let's go, ba-uuungh!" Her stammered sentence was cut off as Kouri tried to move her ethereal body, but found hard to do so, like something was pulling her down. Looking to her feet, Kouri could now see it as the mist's doing, it somehow clung to her form, but... she couldn't do anything about it, the texture felt similar to soulmist, but there was no allure, and it could not be consumed. "W-what is this?" She asked in disbelief, she forced her legs to move, fortunately, she could with some added effort.

"W-what did you say?" Kouri abruptly turned her head at clinging smaller ghost, "L-lost?" No, it couldn't be, Mia was just panicking and didn't know what she was saying, they couldn't get lost, they just went in for a couple of yards at most. However, Mia's dooming words rang truer with each passing tick, the previously clear treeline was gone, somehow, it was gone. "N-no... no, ahaha..." Kouri made an empty scared giggle, one that was fitting for a stereotypical ghost girl.

"Come on, let's go, we'll go back, trust Big Sis, okay?" Kouri tried to reassure Mia, but her own words were slightly unsure herself, holding the other ghost close to her, the taller one began leading them towards the path where they came from. By now, Kouri wasn't perturbed or surprised by faint whispers in the distance, it seemed to be common in Sahova, in the Courtyard, in the crypts, and now, in this misty forest, the undead island sure loved whispers. The thing that worried her most was the seemingly endless row of trees around them, it was ridiculous and made no sense at all.

After... she didn't know how long had time passed, a chime? a bell? a day? Time seemed standing still here, "Mia..." Mia's sniffle flared the motherly sense in Kouri's heart, she hugged the girl even tighter then patted her head. "N-no, don't say that," Kouri held back her oncoming sob and crimson tears, she must be the strong one, she was the big sister after all. She couldn't stay here forever, Rena, Kriemhild, Anna, and Wanda, they were all waiting for her. Steeling herself, Kouri continued the endless wandering with Mia.

After Morwen knew how long, she began to get tired out of despair, it was the same scenery over and over again, she didn't know what to do anymore. Kouri simply stood still as her crimson eyes went glazed and blank, "I..." she clenched her hands into fists, tilting her head down as she looked at the ground, she felt so ashamed, she wanted both of them to be safe, surely if she didn't do this, they would both be eaten by that creature. Leaning her body on the strange knobbly tree, Kouri's body slid down until she was sitting on the ground, "I'm sorry..." She simply shut off then went still for about five chimes, before a high-pitched snarl echoed from her lips then slamming her right fist on the ground, causing a loud thud.

"THAT'S IT!" Kouri suddenly screamed, she had enough of this, how could she be so weak? That tiger who killed her and those three spirits in Darren must be cackling at her right now, no... she was not an ordinary little girl, she was a phantom who could strike her in the hearts of most men, who could drive thousands year old spirit to scram away for his life, who could drive a military organization to place a bounty on her head, she was 'Chilly', Kuma named her that, and she would chill everyone who got in her way, be their human, undead, ghosts, or even this forest.

"Come on, Mia," The Vantha became resolute as she gripped the other ghost's hands then looked up, "We will fly out of here." She didn't know it would work or not, but Morwen be damned if she didn't try. If nothing stopped her, Kouri would began floating upwards, up, up, and up until she passed the treetops.

[Mirage]

"Huh? Where are we--" Mia gasped as she was tugged from her position, floating higher into the trees, up and up, and up... and up. The trees stretched with them, the mist curling around to surround them so they could no longer see the ground, but neither could they see the treeline above them. It just... kept going, and going. It was endless, it was hopeless. Finally when Fubuki realized this and paused there would be a new sound, one that made Mia cock her head to the side, "D-id... you here a bell?"

Indeed, the sound of a single bell, light and crisp in the silence around them. It jingles invitingly and Mia pointed, "Down there! It's from down there!" She pulled on Fubuki's hand, urging her to go down, and when they began their decent they would find the ground quickly came up to meet them. Mia looked around in the mist, squinting her eyes until she jumped up and down in excitement, pointing into the mist, "Look, look!"

Deep in the mist, so far that one had to squint to make out his outline against the misty backdrop, there was a figure. A figure in a gray cloak, and in his hand was what looked like a wooden staff with a lantern swinging from its tip. A soft blue light came from this lantern, and when the figure tapped his staff the sound of tiny bells tolled once again. It then turned and began walking into the mist, pausing periodically and looking back toward them like it wanted them to follow.

Mia looked up at Fubuki, hugging her arm, "Maybe he will lead us out...?"

[Fubuki Kouri]

"Kih..." The ghost girl spat when the mist seemed to act sentient and enveloped them both, covering everything around them, "Aaaaaaagh!" Kouri's crimson eyes narrowed into reptilian slits at about eight serrated tendrils launched from her back, lashing all around her like a rabid octopus, however, they accomplished nothing but whisking the mists slightly before it 'fixed' itself to cover them. "Petch..." She muttered a rare curse in Vani, the ghost girl didn't like nor accustomed to curses so her saying that meant she was incredibly annoyed but couldn't do anything about it.

Seeing that doing this would only waste precious soulmist energy, Kouri retracted her tendrils then stopped, her head hunched down as her right hand gripped her chin in contemplation, the look on her face clearly showed that it would only take one or two prod to send the ghost girl into a maddening rage. "What?" She answered Mia sharply, turning her head to the direction Mia pointed her to, she also heard it... that distinct bell sound on the ground.

"Wai- *Sigh*" By this time, Kouri was not a stranger to Mia's sudden pulling, the taller ghost simply let Mia pulled her into the ground. "..." That was unexpected, either Mia was pulling her very, very, fast or the ground seemed to rise in tandem to their fall. Shrugging it off as one of the forest's odd quirks, Kouri focused to search for the bell sound's source.

"Where?" The Vantha ghost squinted her eyes to find any inconspicuous signs among the thick mists and there they found it, the silhouetted outline of a figure. Something that looked like an overgrown stick on its hand and a shining thing, must be a lantern of some sort, so they were indeed not alone within this misty forest. The blue light comforted Kouri though, it reminded her of Avanthal for some reason, must be because her mother's default eye color. The bell echoed again, "Hey! Heeeey!" Kouri waved her right arm to gain the figure's attention, but it seemed to just turn around and walk away.

She felt her left arm being tugged and Kouri looked down to find Mia asking an unsure half-statement, half-question. Kouri frowned as she looked between Mia, the figure, Mia, back and forth, finally, the taller ghost held Mia closer to her, "Come on, let's go." She floated forward, following the figure, now not bothering to call it since it would ignore them anyway.

[Mirage]

The figure lead the two ghost girls through the mist, his lantern shining dimly to light their path and clear away the shadows. No matter how fast the girl's went they were never able to catch up with the figure, but he never seemed to go faster than a walk. The lantern waved back and forth, bells jingling with every step that gave the entire venture a near lighthearted feel. Then, suddenly in the distance the mist began to part and the two could see the treeline and beyond that the testing grounds. Pausing at the edge the figure looked back at them, extending his staff and lantern toward the opening, pointing the way free of this ghostly prison.

"Look! Look the way out!" Mia tugged excitedly, pointing at the obvious, "Big sister! He lead out out!" She giggled and rushed forward, as fast as she could with the mist. Once she was past the boundary she would jump and spin around, waving her arms about as she ran in circles, laughing all the while.

The figure stood to the side, still pointing his staff toward the exit. When Fubuki got close she would see that beneath the hood there was no face. The fingers that wrapped around the staff looked skeletal, made completely of mist like the rest of his body. He, or perhaps it was a she, looked very much like they were a part of the mist.

As Fubuki past it would nod slowly at her, but would not speak. Gesturing with a free hand for her to come closer. It would lean forward then, and a soft voice would flicker past her senses, waving and billowing like the mist, "Tell the Spiritist Wanda the Mist Man sends his regards..." Then the figure would collapse, becoming nothing more than mist that slowly spread out and dispersed completely.

"Big Sis!" Mia ran up, jumping up and down and smiling, "Hurry, lets get back to Miss Wanda. Maybe she will give us a treat for finishing so fast!" She seemed to have forgotten all about the figure that had lead them out, and like the naughty girl she was she popped a snail in her mouth and began skipping away back toward the Citadel. Hopefully she didn't consume all the little creatures before they returned.

OOCAlright head on back toward the citadel. I will take over as Wanda there and we can wrap this up

[Fubuki Kouri]

OOCAlright! Thank you for honoring me with an awesome thread!

Of course, the journey was filled with the constant jingling of the figure's bells and the ever-present whispers of the forest. Kouri was perfectly silent during it though, keeping her blood-red eyes firmly locked on the figure and her arms hugging Mia tight to her herself, keeping the smaller ghost safe. It was rather unnecessary since Mia was a fellow powerful phantom, but as her 'Big Sister', she felt obliged to do so, it was technically her fault that they got into this misty mess in the first place anyway... but well, it was a much better fate than being eaten by a giant scorpion.

Kouri idly tried to catch up to him, being the curious girl she was, she wanted to ask the figure about its identity, but of course... another one of Sahova's mind-boggling quirks, no matter how much speed she added to their floating, they never seemed to close the distance, not even an inch, but the figure looked casually walking with its walking stick.

At last, it stopped at the - miraculous - treeline, the exit, an actual exit. Kouri took a sharp needless inhale of breath as her eyes opened wide, but her lips stayed shut in anticipation mixed with anxiety, was it really true? Was it really this easy? A mysterious figure literally showing up out of nowhere and leading them out? It seemed too good to be true, but the ecstatic look on Mia's face erased the Vantha ghost's worry. She smiled at her little sister then patted her head, brushing her hand on Mia's very long dark hair, "Y-yes, Mia, the exit." She couldn't keep her excitement from showing up in the form of a stutter.

Kouri let Mia unlatched herself from her embrace as the smaller ghost blitzed through the mist and escaped the mist, Kouri huffed as she began following Mia, albeit taking it slower than the excited dark-haired ghost, she still held a lingering belief that this was a trap. Her ethereal heart beat louder and louder when she approached the exit, and inadvertently, the hooded figure, the ghost girl closed her eyes for a tick before she opened it then dared to look at its face. "Hi-..." Her breath hitched when she could see nothing beneath the hood, just pitch-black darkness, her eyes turned away, finding its inhumanly thin misty fingers, so white and thin, they looked like bones.

The Vantha ghost made an audible gulp when it nodded at her, Kouri assumed it was its form of greeting her, it would be impolite to ignore it, who knows what it could do to her? "H... hello..." She stammered a reply, of course, she just had to do that, Kouri groaned mentally when he gestured her to come hither. Kouri was sure she had no choice in the matter so there she went, floating towards the hooded figure, "Y-yes?" She asked, then it answered her with a soft voice, like the mists themselves, "M-mist ma-? Hey, wait!" Before she could finish, it - or he, since he referred to himself as a man - literally dispersed into mist. Trembling and sighing, Kouri quickly made her way out of the forest.

"..." Kouri was silent for about five ticks, absently picking up soul snails with her multiple tendrils then putting them on Mia's soulmist pouch, not really caring whether Mia consumed them all or not. "Yeah, let's go." She finally answered and gripped Mia's hand tight, then suddenly flying away with all her might, because of two very important factors. One, the scorpion might come back soon, two, she had a message to deliver.

Once they arrived back at the Courtyard, Kouri would call for the master spiritist, then when Wanda greeted them, the ghost girl would look down on the ground, fidgeting with her hair, then stuttered, "U-uhm... T-the 'Mist Man' s-send his regards..." She would let Mia handle the package delivery.

[Mirage]

Wanda looked up from the grave she was tending, raising an eyebrow as she slowly stood, using the headstone for support, "What did you say?" She shuffled closer, scratching her head, "The... Mist Man?"

"Look!" Mia pushed up to show the collected soul snails. Now there were only about 20 in all left, but still the little girl smiled brightly, "We did it! We got the snails just like you asked! Can we have a treat now?"

"A treat?" The Spiritist shook her head, turning her attention back to Fubuki, "You saw the Mist Man? Did I not tell you to stay out of the Glannock?" She stared at Fubuki a tick then sighed, looking back at the snails and began collecting them into a pouch at her side, "He probably lured you in himself. The bastard thinks he is amusing, but one day I shall catch him and put him in a jar for good." Though her words were harsh, her tone was not overly annoyed. In fact she DID sound rather amused, "In any case you did what I asked... but where is the Initiate?"

"She got lost." Mia said simply, already creeping around the Spiritist and reaching into the pouch after the snails. Wanda smacked her hand and the little ghost girl drew back, a pout on her lips, "She's probably gone back home now. It's not our fault she couldn't keep up."

Wanda stroked her chin, "Yes... Well, in any case Fubuki you have done well, and as promised I shall return this to you." From her robes she produced a jar of ashes, the remains of the dusted Rena, "Take her to your servant. Just a small amount of Soulmist is required to restore her. Behave yourself in the Citadel, now begone. Go and play elsewhere." With that Wanda waved off both of the girls, shuffling away while counting the snails in her pouch.

Mia's pout grew more pronounced as she sat on the ground, "I thought she was gonna give us a treat..."

OOCAlright I think this is my last post. Go ahead and post one last time and I will get your grade up. Good job!

[Fubuki Kouri]

It seemed the so-called 'Mist Man' was not jesting, from Wanda's words and tone, Kouri could deduce that they knew each other, but as what? Friends? Maybe, rivals? A possibility, enemies? Rather unlikely since the man had been nothing but helpful... and mysterious. Kouri just settled that they had some kind of complicated relationship that she should not delve upon or risk incurring the wrath of Wanda and the Mist Man. The Vantha ghost answered Wanda's questions with a simple slow polite nod.

Idly examining the soulmist pouch held by Mia, Kouri mentally sighed when there were only a few - compared to what they had initially - left, but that was to be expected when one entrusted candies to a candy addict who couldn't keep her addiction in check. Still, it was a good thing Wanda didn't take offense and dusted them both. The ghost girl instinctively took a step back in worry when Mia dared herself to ask for a treat, they were late and done a rather poor job, and yet she requested a treat? If Wanda decided to trap them here forever, Kouri wouldn't be surprised.

Fortunately, the master spiritist simply waved off Mia's spoiled request, but the worse was not over yet for Wanda turned her attention at Kouri. "Uh..." The ghost girl kept fidgeting with her hair while her crimson eyes shifted from left to right, "W-well... Uh... I-it's, I... I have a good explanation f-for it, I promise, please just let me explain..." By Morwen, she was awful when pressed under pressure from a old maternal figure. Wanda seemed to drop off the topic though, assuming the Mist Man drew them in, Kouri didn't feel the need nor have the bravery to correct Wanda. She simply stayed silent while contemplating about their relationship, the slightly lighthearted tone from Wanda indicated they were vitriolic buddies at worst.

Kouri let Mia explained about Celeste, the smaller ghost was telling the truth... kind of, she deliberately pulled her to shake off Celeste after all, and though childish, Kouri couldn't help to shake off the feeling that Mia was indeed a very mischievous trickster under the guise of a little girl. The Vantha ghost gave a toothy awkward grin, non-verbally saying 'What Mia said' to Wanda.

Her awkwardness was gone in an instant when Wanda returned Rena's dusted form to her, Kouri was left speechless as she took the offered jar, hugging it very close to her heart, even going as far as to hunch her head down so Rena was completely protected. Stricken by joy and relief, Kouri's tongue was frozen and she could only whisper a "Thank you..." before Wanda went away.

Kouri turned her head at Mia then slowly approached the ghost, using two tendrils spawning from her back to grab hold of the girl's torso then pulled her close, "Come on, Mia, I want to introduce you to my little sister... ehehe~ I have two sisters!" Without waiting for Mia's permission, Kouri would begin pulling the girl with her, blitzing towards the Citadel, "We are going to find Kriemhild! Kriemhild can bring Rena back! And we will all play together~ All four of us! Isn't that fun? Fun! It's fun of course!" A haunting giggle echoing in the distance was all that remained of Kouri's presence in the Courtyard.