"Hey! Old Wolf's gonna tell us another story!" Giggle, giggle. The kids gather 'round the old wolf, who enjoys the company as much as the stories. Never enough time for anyone to listen when he was young, but now...
"Whacha gonna tell us about today?" 'Tell us about how Longtail lost his tail!' "No, he told us that last week." 'Wanna hear it again!' "Shush."
Twofeather holds up a hand for silence. "Today, children, we'll hear a ghost story..."
"oooooo." 'Ghosts are scary. I don' wanna hear about ghosts.' Twofeather chuckles. "These are ghosts of the past, and they won't hurt you a bit.."
Meditation is the easiest way to get away from the troubled mind, they say. So as not to think thoughts of mayhem, of jealousy, or how unfair the world is to him.
Pathwalker sits by the stream, the trickling water the only sound prevalent in his thoughts. 'Clear your thoughts, like the water. Still the sounds of the brook, and your mind will clear with it.' And unlike last time, Mackerel Notchear isn't fishing in the river, having gone off to investigate the shaking hills with Longtail and Sunrises Ringtail.
Pathwalker sighs to himself, the incessant babbling of the brook not the most calming sound in the world right now. Even with no others to disturb him, his mind conjures up enough of its own troubles.
"But Pathwalker was not to find peace this day, which brought its own share of troubles.", Twofeather says. "Dreamer Windwalker's magic guided her feet yet again, down the road into the unknown places where only she could find."
Dreamer quietly shuffles along the stream, so carefully watching the flow of the water and the little rocks along its shore that she doesn't notice Pathwalker...
If the splashing of Dreamer stepping into the stream wasn't enough to break Pathwalker's attempts at concentration, stepping on his tail definitely does it.
Pathwalker yeolllps, yanking his tail back from under Dreamer's foot as he stands up rapidly.
Dreamer continues on her way, showing no signs of having noticed Pathwalker's tail beneath her feet. She continues along the bank, her gaze focusing upon the flowing water.
Pathwalker brushes off his tail, glaring at Dreamer. Then, after a brief battle between his curiousity and his sense of duty to his meditation, he follows her to see where she's going now.
Dreamer walks along as though posessed. Which, to be fair, isn't much different from how she usually walks. She follows the path of the flowing water, sometimes stepping into the brook, sometimes along its side, heedless of the exact placement of her feet.
Looking bored, sauntering over the hill, the young wolf Twofeather spies his good friends standing by the riverbank. "Hey! Fishing? Can I join?" he calls out. More like share. Twofeather was never good at fishing.
Pathwalker waves over to Twofeather. "We're not fishing. I'm just trying to keep Dreamer out of too much trouble."
Twofeather shrugs, and makes his way slowly down to the rocky slope. "Water's not that deep here, even if this is Mackerel's favorite fishing spot."
Dreamer splashes through the water, much too absorbed in whatever it is that she's following to notice the two who are now trailing after her.
Several fish scurry away downstream as Dreamer splashes towards them.
Pathwalker sighs. "Trust me, I know. I've had to listen to her about it often enough."
Twofeathers licks his muzzle. "Hmm. Well, if we can get Dreamer out of the river, maybe we can catch some easy lunch, eh? Erm, I've lost my knife, though... it's an interesting story..."
Dreamer abruptly freezes in place for several seconds. Then, hesitantly, she carefully takes another step, very carefully placing her foot amidst the water in front of her.
Pathwalker chuckles. "I'm sure it is. As for getting Dreamer out of the river, have you ever tried to move her away from the path she's walking on?"
Twofeather gestures at the tall cougar standing in the water. "She's like a rock. Heavy, and pointy sharp edges. She clawed me last time I tried that."
Pathwalker nods. "Exactly."
Twofeather grins. "Hey, but she's your girlfriend. She won't claw you." Twofeather teases.
Dreamer pauses again, then takes another step, the placement of her feet becoming very directed, instead of random, as before. She continues on her way, splashing through the river with increasing speed.
Pathwalker shakes his head, groaning as he restrains himself from backhanding Twofeather back across the river. "She's not my girlfriend."
Dreamer takes a turn, a skip to the left, another turn, a hop to the right...
Pathwalker shivers, and turns to Twofeather. "Did you feel that?"
Dreamer hurries along through the river, probably assuring that the fish don't return for several days. Her eyes are half-lidded as she stares down at the river immediately before her.
Twofeather's jaw drops, looking past Pathwalker. "No, but look!" The cougar's form shimmers in the afternoon sun, a glowing aura visible around her...
Pathwalker gasps, and quickly starts running down the river after Dreamer again, keeping himself to the banks where the footing is surer.
Dreamer, somehow, strangely enough, starts -fading- before your eyes, fur and form flickering out like a desert mirage, first solid, then not, then solid again...
Pathwalker looks at Dreamer, just _knowing_ that touching her is a bad idea. Then he considers what would happen if he went back to face the rest of his family after just watching Dreamer fade away into nothingness... and pounces at Dreamer.
Dreamer takes no notice of Pathwalker, not swerving from her course...
Twofeather starts moving, finally, but he's far, far too late as Pathwalker pounces Dreamer, and both abruptly flicker out with the sound of an invisible harp and a flash of white light.
Muldoon looks disparagingly at the rain outside the barn. "Yick. The snow was wonderful, but now it's all slush, and this rain's freezing. Hey Scilly, you up to picking gooseberries? You don't mind the rain as much as I do..."
Scilly says, "I can go get 'em, Muldy... I know you don't like rain." He grins a bit then looks out the doorway, a drop falling onto his nose. "Besides, foxes smell *terrible* when wet."
Muldoon shakes his head with a wry grin. "Hey, at least I take a bath now and again, Scilly."
Muldoon says, "..didna used ta when I was younger."
Scilly pulls on his hat and covers his ears with it. "Yah.. otherwise they'd smell ya when you went snooping around town, and kick you out. Remember the mayor last month?"
Muldoon shrugs and rolls his eyes. "Scil, that was six months ago, afore winter set in. Now shoo!"
Scilly sticks his tongue out. "Y've no time sense..." and scoots out into the pouring rain.
Time sense or not, Scilly hasn't been out more than a minute when a bloodcurdling scream comes from the old barn.
Scilly sprawls face first into the mud of the yard then has all four limbs a scurrying to get back up. With that, and a very friend protective sense, he goes barrelling into the barn again. "MULLLLDOOOOON!"
Muldoon screams again. "Aaaaiaiaiaiaaiai!!!!" The fox squinches his eyes shut again; he was alone in the barn, and next thing he knows he's got people popping out of nowhere. One of them he can still see through.
Muldoon opens his eyes again. "Aaaagh!" To Pathwalker, the fox screaming his head off on the other end of the barn can't be more than fifteen. The -thing- coming into the barn.. got to be a demon. And Dreamer's out cold.
Pathwalker tries to calm the fox down, covering his mouth and making what he hopes are reassuring gestures with his hand. Then the other comes in... the cougar snarls, and drops into a fighting crouch, stepping forward so he's between Dreamer and that thing.
Muldoon opens his right eye, ascertaining yet again that the 'ghosts' are between him and his pack with the holy water in it. He catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and turns to spy Scilly-the-mud-covered-ferretoid-- and faints dead away.
Dreamer remains still as she lies on the ground, dead to the world.
Scilly-the-mud-covered-ferretoid stops cold as he nears his ol' fainted buddy. Mud dripping to the ground and smearing through his fur he gurgles a moment then looks up. He rips his hat off and yells, "Whatayedontahim!"
"Hey, but they aren't ghosts.. " a child protests. "Shh." 'Ghosts of the past don't have to be dead...'
Pathwalker sees this thing about to attack the poor defenseless fox, and rushes over to protect him. He stands just on the other side of the fox, growling again at the strange words. "Keep away from him!"
Dreamer's eyelids flutter open and she slowly looks around.
Scilly rumples up his face in a grimace. Can't understand a word of these things. Must be Ailins.. they look funny too. Can understand the universal use of the growl, though. He finally just lets out a loud very high pitched ferret scream with that last realization.
Pathwalker winces at the scream, backing up a step or two, then roars back at the creature.
Dreamer's gaze slowly moves about the room, passing over the other three as though they were of no importance. Or not there at all. She slowly gets to her feet, frowning softly in thought, despite the noise.
Scilly's eyes fly open and he nearly falls flat on his rear after that jump. Makes for a very odd expression on such a creature. He crabwalks back through the hay.... gathering it with him in his fur.
Muldoon stirs slightly at the roar, ears twitching. "No, momma, I doan' want no more oatmeal..' he mumbles..
Pathwalker seems puzzled now; he obviously didn't expect that to work as well as it did.
Dreamer's eyes finally alight upon the pack, and she pads over to it, kneeling by its side.
Scilly's wet sodden behayed and muddied ears perk up among all that ruffled fur and his short legs find their way beneath him once more. Adrenaline, does wonderful things. He starts screeching again, "Leave him be! I'll... I'll.. I'll get the UFO's atche!" He looks down at his friend, "Muldoooooon!" he wails.
Muldoon sits up, groggily, his back to Pathwalker. "Wha?"
Dreamer opens the pack, and begins to sift through its contents, her gaze intense.
Pathwalker stands up, and rubs his chin. Odd, this thing sounds like an Easterner as well. He tilts his head, trying one of the few words that he knows from that language. "Hello?"
Muldoon sees Scilly, and his eyes go wide. "Gah!" He throws himself backwards, -through- Pathwalker.
Pathwalker looks rather shocked at this, and starts patting himself to make sure he's all there.
Scilly takes his turn and seeing how Muldy is safe... his eyes roll back into his head and he sinks to the ground.
Muldoon stutters. "M-m-monsters.. an' ghosts... ghosts who say hello... eeer... I don'wanna die.."
Dreamer spends quite some time sifting through the pack before pulling a gun from it. She studies it intently, as though it were a piece of fruit she wanted to eat, but which she suspected might have a worm living inside it.
Pathwalker smiles, nodding to Muldoon. "Hello." He then spots Dreamer, and reaches over to touch her, making sure that _she's_ all there, as little else seems to.
Recognition dawns as Muldoon stares at Dreamer Windwalker, through Pathwalker. "I remem-remember you. Y-youre the ghost we k-killed the other month!"
Muldoon backs up a step or two as he sees the more solid of the two ghosts retrieve his pistol.
Pathwalker tries shaking Dreamer's shoulders. "Dreamer, what are you doing?"
Scilly rolls over, "No more spinach... I'm hungry."
Muldoon aacks as the one ghost attacks the other. He decides survival is the better part of valor, or something like that, and turns on one heel to run for it!
Pathwalker twitches an ear as Muldoon runs away, then shakes his head. He never could understand the way these Easterners acted.
Dreamer looks up quickly, then looks about. Someone touched her. But who?
Pathwalker waves his hand in front of Dreamer's face.
Muldoon runs past the unconscious other monster (thank gods!) and races out into the rain (ick), but skids to a halt before reaching the road. Can't leave his partner behind! "SCILLY!!!" he yells, hoping he's within earshot.
Dreamer shows no sign of seeing either Pathwalker or his hands. Her gaze is focused behind him, on the barn wall.
Scilly groans and pushes himself onto his elbows. Bruises... that's gonna hurt. "oooooooohhhhhhh..." he moans. "Who landed on me?"
Pathwalker ignores the strange fox for now, his attention focussed on Dreamer, and her attention focussed on wherever it was when she got like this.
Scilly's eyes dart wide open and he, his muddybestrawed and bruised form.. looking like a rat out of water... er.. mud, freezes in place. He stares at the ghost and partner, silent now.
Dreamer abruptly sits down and curls up protectively about the pack, gun tucked in the crook of one elbow, and closes her eyes.
Pathwalker groans, and sits down, watching Dreamer. He realizes that he needs her to get back home, from wherever this is.
Scilly opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens it again and finally stutters, "don' shoot... I ain't done nothin bad. I don' wanna go to outta space."
From outside, Muldoon's voice calls again, faintly, "Scil--" before a rumble of thunder drowns him out.
Pathwalker tilts his head again as he looks at Scilly, confused. "Eh?"
Scilly says, "R'r'rr... really Mister .. are you a ghost or an ailins?"
Pathwalker shakes his head. Crazy Easterners can't learn a _real_ language. "Hello." He points to himself. "Pathwalker."
Scilly raises up one eyebrow.. then the other. "You're ... an ailin?"
Muldoon feeling absolutely soaked and chilled, decides to double back -- cautiously -- and see if the ghosts mebbe are gone.
Pathwalker points to himself again. "Pathwalker."
Scilly scrunches up one eye then tries *that* sound... it sounds terrible.
Muldoon creeps up, aided by another rumble of thunder, and peers around the edge of the partially open door. Oh Lord, the monsters are consortin' with the ghosts!
Pathwalker winces at the noise.
Pathwalker tries again, saying his name slower and more clearly.
Scilly says it slowly.. and just as badly. He doesn't notice the wet smelly fox comign in the door.
Muldoon thinks . o O { All we need is some alienz to show up and join the party. } He blinks, looking through Pathwalker to spy Dreamer clutching his pack.
Pathwalker sighs, then points to the creature, tilting his head curiously.
"An' then, force beams came out of its eyes! Saw it on th' Sci Fi channel!" 'Shush!'
Scilly blinks for a moment then points back, simply.
Pathwalker points to himself again. "Pathwalker." Then points to the creature.
Scilly says, "Oh..."
Scilly points to himself and says, "Scilly."
Pathwalker nods, then turns to look at Dreamer, and points to her. "Dreamer."
Dreamer frowns, peering at the creature and the voice that is Pathwalker's. She remains still until she hears her name, at which point her ears perk up.
Scilly tries to repeat that sound too.. if badly as well. Never was a furringer.
Muldoon blinks. "Scilly?" he says, forgetting that he's observing clandestinely.
Scilly doesn't bother looking over his shoulder. "Ya know my name, Muldy."
Scilly says, "This there thing said he's an ailins."
Muldoon blinkblinkblinks at the straw-and-mud-cover'd thing that sounds like Scilly, but doesn't look at all like his partner. "My god... you.. what have you done with Scilly, you Alienz?"
Pathwalker turns and waves to the fox in the way he saw the Easterners did. Then blinks as he thinks of what the fox said. "God?" He shakes his head.
Muldoon's ears flatten. "Uh... no, I doan believe in God..."
Muldoon peers at the ghost from a distance, monster Alienz forgotten for a brief moment, checking the 'ghost' for wings.
Muldoon finding none, checks it for horns.
Scilly starts drying out. He really starts drying out. Ugh, wet ferret smell, and that mud's getting a might itchy. With that thought he lends that itchy a great big scratchy... and mud and straw go flying.
Pathwalker points to himself again. "Hello. Pathwalker."
Muldoon shields his face, completely missing Pathwalker's attempt at introduction.
Pathwalker shields his face, too, useless though the action is.
Muldoon looks again, "Hey! You can't fool me. What have you done with the real Scilly?"
Scilly stops scritching, looking a little less muddy and a bit more tuft and dirty. "Whatcha mean.. can't ya see me, Muldy?"
Muldoon hitches up his britches. "You can't fool me. You was a stick an' glop monster a few minutes ago, an' Scilly was out gettin' mulberries. Now stop tryin' ta pretend."
Muldoon gestures at Pathwalker. "An' I saw yas talkin' to the ghost."
Scilly shakes his head, "he ain't no ghost, he's an ailins. An I heard ya scream and came in.. but I didn't come in b'cause I fell in the mud. Then I fell in the straw. I'm hungry, too."
Muldoon looks skeptical up until 'I'm hungry.' He grudgingly accepts, for the moment; 'That one's th' same one we kilt two months ago, near Michael the Mage's place."
Muldoon indicates Dreamer.
Dreamer watches quietly from her seat at the pack, the view of Scilly and the strange voices only attracting her attention by virtue of how normal they are, compared to what she's usually subjected to..
Muldoon squints at Pathwalker. "Saaay. You look like an Injun, an' so does she..."
Scilly's jaw drops and he stares at that thing. "G'g'g'gg.. ghost? Whys one show up when I'm hungry?"
Muldoon furrows his brow, and holds up his left hand, palm up. "Hello." he says, in heavily accented Indian. (To Scilly: Muldoon just went, 'How.')
Pathwalker rubs Dreamer's shoulder almost idly, not noticing she's awake now. Ah, another word he recognizes! He nods. "Injun."
Muldoon whispers quietly to Scilly, "..I gots some holy water still in my pack, but the other ghost-- the one we kilt-- has my pack."
Muldoon says, "..you got any left, still?"
Scilly grumbles, "You always ask that. 'How are ya so hungry, Scilly, we jus et.' 'How you fit that in you Scilly, you's small.' 'How do you eat *that*, it's disgustin.' Always a how."
Dreamer looks up in the direction of Pathwalker's touch, and reaches a probing hand that way, pressing at the apparently empty air.
Muldoon chuckles. "All right, all right, I believe it's you."
Scilly says, "Uhh... holy water? Uh.. no. Not anymore, annaway."
Scilly almost whispers, "I drunk it."
Muldoon looks up at the ghost-ghost, as opposed to the not-ghost-ghost. "Okay. Why you haunting me, Injun ghost?" Muldoon apparently doesn't comprehend the fact thy don't understand him.
To Scilly, Muldoon starts jabbering in that language he sometimes uses when he talks in his sleep.
Pathwalker's attention is suddenly on Dreamer again, as he grasps at her arm.
Scilly suddenly finds his buddy more interesting than the ghosts.
Pathwalker shakes his head, and replies in some other form of gibberish, "I don't understand anything you're saying."
Dreamer freezes as Pathwalker grasps her arm. But her attention is already distracted by Muldoon. She carefully gets to her feet and begins to walk towards the fox, apparently forgetting that her arm is being held..
Muldoon flicks his ears. "Ich. Speaking Injun.. and I don't know any of it."
Muldoon hmms. Tries speaking very slowly and carefully. "I... " He places his palm on his chest. 'Muldoon.'
Pathwalker can handle this much, at least. He points to himself. "Pathwalker."
Pathwalker keeps a grip on Dreamer's arm.
Scilly notices the movement and starts moving the exact opposite direction. Nope, no way.. no how. He's being weird. "An you said *I* was an ailins."
Muldoon looks at Scilly. "Don't go-- I think these are ghosts from my home!"
Pathwalker hmmmms, frowning as he thinks of something. "Muldoon?"
Muldoon nodnods. "Yeah. That's me."
Scilly holds still, his eyes staying pretty wide and pretty terrified.
Dreamer frowns, being kept from approaching Muldoon. She peers at him intently.
Muldoon looks at Dreamer. "Uh, look, I'm sorry we killed you..."
Muldoon whispers, "Scilly. Sneak around, and get my pack."
Pathwalker stands up again, still holding Dreamer, and watching the gun she's carrying. He's had enough experience with them.
Pathwalker looks back at the pack, seeing if there's anything that looks like the equipment he recalls from the miners a couple of years ago.
Scilly stares at Muldy for a moment... then gets the idea. He shuffles to the side, eyes on terrifying two.
Dreamer tugs her arm in the way that usually frees it when thin air grabs it and won't let go. Which admittedly isn't a frequent occurance, but has happened at least once or twice before.
Muldoon eyes Dreamer a bit nervously. "Hey, yer eyes are glowin'.."
Dreamer frowns, frusterated, looking back at the air that's keeping her from reaching the fox that's So Very Important.
Scilly sneakasneaks around, still watching the two. He nearly trips over a hay bail.
Muldoon takes a hesitant step back. "Uh... no, I don't think I want you to touch me.."
Scilly scoops up what he can of the pack's contents hurridly.. one handedly, and unobservantly. Lots of hay goes into the pack as well.
Dreamer tugs her arm with increasing desperation, reaching towards Muldoon with the other..
Scilly pulls the pack back with him and starts heading towards Muldy again. Aaaaround, and over that hay bail. Oh.. through the pile of jumping hay.
Pathwalker isn't terribly happy right now, trying to hold Dreamer in place with one arm. He smiles at Muldoon, then mimes using a pick to jab down at the ground in front of him, then uses a shovel to pick up the dirt.
Dreamer's fur starts shimmering a little, glowing softly in the darkened barn.
Pathwalker does it again. "Muldoon!" he says, nodding as he tries to mime out the mining the Easterners were doing again.
Scilly hollars, "Muldy! Catch!
Scilly tosses the pack his direction with that yell, winging it with a side arm.
Muldoon raises one eyebrow at the motion, trying to figure out what you're doing with that fist of yours. "Oh! I get it... rock scissor paper!"
Muldoon takes a step to the left, catching the flying pack. "Got it!"
Pathwalker groans, and relaxes his grip on Dreamer's arm for a split second as he thinks.
Dreamer jerks her arm from Pathwalker's grasp, and quickly moves towards Muldoon, her gaze fixed upon him.
Scilly says, "it's a *moanin* ailins ghosty!"
Muldoon backpedals, popping the side pouch and fumbling with a small ceramic vial.
Muldoon flings the vial at the oncoming cougar. Unlike last time, it doesn't go right through, shattering against Dreamer's necklace.
Pathwalker crouches, bunching up for a pounce at Dreamer again.
With a bright flash, Dreamer vanishes into nothingness...
Muldoon grins toothily. "Gots one more, with your name on it, 'Pathwalker..'"
Pathwalker leaps for Dreamer, passing through the space where she was and landing with a sprawl.
Scilly says, "PotSmoker?"
Muldoon yips, leaping involuntarily backwards, dropping the vial, which smashes on the ground-- and Pathwalker lands on it. -pop-
Muldoon scowls at Scilly, both ghosts vanquished. "I can't believe you -drank- the holy water!"
Scilly says, "majuckle incanntation. Potsmoker."
Next thing Pathwalker senses is water. Lots of it.
Twofeathers drags Pathwalker out of the river. "C'mon, you big lug, you're -heavy- when you're dry!
Dreamer blithely wanders back to the bank, and sits down. "Are we going fishing?"
Pathwalker shakes his head, trying to regain his balance. "Where's Dreamer?"
Twofeather grins. "
"..bout time you woke up..c'mon, the water's only a foot deep. Dreamer's fine. You vanished for a second."
Twofeather says, "..and then you did a face plant in the water and Dreamer walked away."
Pathwalker stands up, slowly. "It was a lot more than a second."
Dreamer peers at the other two, smiling softly.
Twofeathers shakes his head. "I may have no sense of time or direction, but it was only a second, I swear. Well, maybe a minute."
Pathwalker sits back down on the bank. "Muldoon."
Twofeather blinks. "Mal-what?"
Pathwalker says, "Muldoon. Remember those miners that were by here two years ago?"
Twofeather hmms. "Vaguely. I remember Longtail boasting about it."
Dreamer pauses, then reaches into her tunic to investigate a peculiar something that seems to be sharing it with her..
Pathwalker nods. "They were missing one when they left. A fox named Muldoon. I think we just saw him."
Twofeather chuckles. "Wow. Talk about old ghosts..."
Pathwalker shakes his head, then turns to look at Dreamer. "And why were you there, anyway? Looking for him?"
Dreamer pulls a few shards of pottery from her tunic, peering at them for a few moments. Then she looks back up at Pathwalker, her eyes clear and sharp. "Why was I where?" She would pick this moment to be lucid.
Pathwalker sighs. "You..." He stops and shakes his head. "Never mind."
'Old ghosts... is a metaphor for things past coming back to haunt you, when you least expect it. A phrase I picked up from you Easterners... I like the sound of that.' the elder Twofeathers says. "And that's my story for today..."