The Holiday Warriors

Jinx cast a sideways glance at Arby. "If it was friendly, don't you think it would've tried to contact one of us by now? Eve doesn't seem to be too fond of it. And that's saying a lot, considering..." She shivered slightly, "Halos..."

"I'm sure it won't be too much of a problema. Holidays are very quick to action when need be. Now is a perfect example."' The truth was, Bone Jangles wasn't so sure. He thought he'd known pretty much every holiday and entity still around, or recently come around, yet this darkness was something entirely new to him. It was something even he couldn't entirely make out. Not that he would put these thoughts in the open. The last thing everyone needed was an old holiday spouting dark tales and thoughts. That was Halos job after all.

Bone Jangles allowed himself a whispery laugh at that.

edited 26th Oct '12 6:57:46 AM by Alleydodger

Summer shudders. "Darkness? All the time? B-but... my holiday is about the balance between light and darkness! If darkness takes over, there'll be no equinox! I won't have a holiday anymore!"

She hops from one foot to the other, anxious.

Sighing, Eve rubbed the spot between her eyes and the top of her nose, shaking her head before changing into that of an elderly lady. "I understand the...fear, of the current situation."

"Bit of an understatement, dear." Fourth pipped up. "Thing is, people don't know we're anthropomorphic representations of the holidays, so...they MAY freak out if we get into a big grand battle. However, now that I say it aloud, it sounds like FUN."

Eve ignored him and gestured to one of the gears, the surface rippling as if liquid before revealing a small town, barely lit by its own street lamps. "I know not of this creature or it's past, present and future. All I can gather is it's this area, but the signal I gathered from its arrival is faint." She turned, now in the guide of a middle aged woman.

"I want a few of you to go down there and see if you can find anything. A simple search mission and that is all."

"Oh! Does the town have trees? Because if it does, I can help!" Arby said, jumping up and down, extremely excited. "The trees talk to me, you know? They'll tell me anything that happens there! We'll finish this mission in a few minutes!"

"I have frequent experience with mortal areas, it is easy for me to go around unnoticed. I shall go investigate if you want."

"But, Bone..." Arby began, but ended up looking down, a frown on her face. "Aren't you a little... scary? Won't the humans be scared if they see you? I mean, I don't think you're scary. And I walk with you all the time. But they're not me, and I'm not them, so..."

"Who cares, if they get scared! It wouldn't be fun without scaring anyone!", Halos argued.

"I don't know if either of the pair of ye noticed but he tends to do his roaming unnoticed where mortals thread," Paddy said with a shrug, "There hasn't been a great many reports on living dead in Mexico and God in heaven knows that the Yanks would love another reason to keep the catholics out."

edited 4th Nov '12 1:45:45 PM by Fauxlosophe

Bone Jangles laughed a good-natured laugh. "You all need not worry. Paddy is correct, I have my ways of going unnoticed to mortals. And when they do see me, I am nothing more than a strange looking man wearing some strange clothes."

Then it is settled. We go in, find out what we can, and slaughter all who would oppose us!

"NO. SLAUGHTERING." Boomed Eve, turning around and facing them all with an intensity in her eyes. "Recon only. If I find out you hurt any mortals, so help me-"

"We get it, dear, we get it." Fourth said with a sigh, waving it off. "I can go down there if ya'll want...fire works may give me away though.' He said, flicking his index finger up and shooting a little roman candle style firework into the air.

"Do you really have to do the firework thing, Fourth?" Arby asked, scratching the back of her neck. "It gets very loud... I remember the last time you visited me, the trees wanted to yell at you for interrupting their peace... anyway! Let's go, right?"

-Grumbling under his breath, Hébus enters the portal. Clearly these people, with their silly beliefs that things can be improved without the mass execution of those previously responsible, will be harder to work with than he thought.-

"Right! Let's go...save the world! I guess." Fourth said, pointing onward. "...Weird job and life I live that's for sure."

...

Those going down to the mortal plane found themselves in the same little silence town that the dark one had risen to and done the first dark deed. It was still silent, as if no one knew what had gone down mere hours ago, and that may have been true. Fourth looked out into the darkness, hearing the wind blow gently and a few wind chimes the houses on the block had tinkle and chime.

"Okay, ladies and gents, let's do some recon." Fourth said, gesturing. "Ar, go talk to the trees. Everyone else, try not to be too conspicuous. See anything, let us know. Any clue is a good clue."

The moment Bone Jangles stepped through the portal, he felt something amiss. "El Muerte has been here. Yet it should not have been. Something is wrong." He hissed. He began to walk, seemingly searching for something. Then he found it.

To everyone else, save those who can see spirits, it would look as if he stopped in mid-step and sighed at nothing. In truth, he had found the spirit of the young man standing and looking lost.

He walked towards the spirit, his body expressing sadness. "Come child. Tell me what happened. Then I will send you beyond."

"I-I don't know." Murmured the spirit to Jangles, his arms wrapped around himself. He felt cold. He felt very, very cold. Cold and lost and very confused. "I-He looked hurt and-looked really scared and confused and I just-just wanted to see if he was okay. Just see if he could stand."

A hard shiver ran up his body. "Just looked at me. Just looked at me and-I couldn't feel anything. Couldn't feel anything and now I'm here. I don't know what-what's going on..."

"Right-o!" Arby said, saluting Fourth as she stepped through the portal. The girl happily skipped towards the nearest tree, oblivious to whatever was going on around her, before expertly climbing the tree without any help. She sat on a branch, and began to caress the leaves. "... what's the matter, girl?" She asked, leaning closer. "Your leaves are... weird. They're shaking. What happened?"

"Shh, it'll be fine. Come, sit." Bone Jangles sat down on the road and patted the ground near him. "Do you like music? Let me play something for you. Maybe it'll help."

Bone jangles brought his cane up, shifting it into a guitar. He started to play a simple, peaceful tune. Yet, it had something... ethereal about it.

edited 22nd Nov '12 3:54:39 PM by Alleydodger

"Bloody insightful the lot of this," Paddy shrugged, "Seems a smaller group oughtta have been put together for what little the lot of this is worth."

The Spirit gave a short, quick, worried nod of his head and sat down on the road beside him, shaking and letting the music soothe his worries and his fears. He closed his eyes, his arms wrapping around his legs, staring down at the ground in front of him before his eyes finally shut.

"...Darkness..." Whispered the tree to Arby, a slow, stuttering kind of speech. Almost like it was scared. "Such darkness in one place...it was so cold and I didn't like it..."

"Well at least it looks like they're doing...something...' Fourth cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head. "Guess you and I could go about and see if the son of a bitch is still around here, eh Paddy?"

"Oh, of course you're not going to like the cold." Arby said, petting the tree. "I can feel you love warm weather. You love the feeling of sunlight hitting your leaves... but this darkness. Did it have a shape? A form? A voice?"

While waiting for the tree's answer, Arby poked her head out of the tree. "Hey, Summer! Come hereeee~!"

"S'ppose there isn't a great deal else ta do," Paddy shrugged.

Summer looks around a little nervously at the dark streets, then hears Arby's voice.

"Huh?" She looks over, then hurries over to the other holiday. "Did you find something? What is it? Something exciting?"

Bone Jangles kept playing, but began to talk in a low, caring voice. "Take your time. Do you remember anything else? No need to rush. If not, tell me you are ready and I will send you on your way child."