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The short of it was that while all parties involved survived the taming of Jericho (barring one dissipation), not all of them made it out unscathed. Red had kept herself in seclusion the weeks following, locking herself away from the rest of Amityville while she recovered.

The moon has since changed by then, and so too did Red. The teacher grit her teeth as she concentrated on climbing, carefully gripping the thick woven rope with her taloned hands. The last thing she wanted to do was to tear into it and cut herself down. Talon over talon the teacher climbed, adapting and learning how her body moved and reacted to each position and movement. Her red cloak fluttered behind her with its telltale holes and ragged edges save for a new addition.

"Ha!" Red reached up and touched the beam of the roof that the rope was fastened to, her talons drumming against it in victory. She did it! She made it to the top of the rope. Climbing the rope was easy enough when she was a student; it pleased her to find that even now with her changes she could still do it. With a shameless grin Red flexed her talons and began to carve her name into the beam. Perhaps later she would be able to send a gnome up there to try and sand it out, but in the meantime...

Bits of saw dust fluttered around her as she diligently carved her name into the wood, risking the dulling of her talon tips in the name of removing the obscene drawing a student drew there in her absence. Personally, Red suspected they were overcompensating as she finished carving her name over it.

When Sammy spoke, the teacher glanced down at the ghoul. "Oh yeah?" She replied, "I'm half-surprised you bought it. Burning flesh is a scent that tends to linger." Red looked up, then considered one very important fact. Two, really. The first was that Sammy had addressed her. The second and far more important was Red still didn't know how to climb down. She was wary of repeating the process she used to climb up, not wishing to risk the chance of the rope being cut and leaving her stranded.

Dropping down was certainly an option, however given that the floor also doubled as the pool there was the chance a fall from where she was could break it. With Red's logic, there was only one viable (if even more potentially dangerous) solution.

While gripping the rope Red began to swing back and forth. She didn't go too far or build up too much momentum. When the werewolf let go of the rope she had built up enough momentum to propel herself forward. Red leaned backwards, performing a slow backwards flip as her red cloak began to wiggle unnaturally.

The bright color of her cloak seemed to drain away as it stretched and lengthened, twisting and crackling as bone formed where cloth was there before. In the matter of moments Red's cloak had turned into a pair of dark draconic wings.

The teacher dived, bringing herself up sharply to land near Sammy on the gym floor. As soon as her feet touched the ground the dark Insanity wings seemed to crumple, red rushing back to reclaim its hue as her cloak returned to its former cloth glory.

Red crossed her arms, standing before Sammy in what looked to be new armor. "And to what end do I owe this visit, ghoul?"

"Hm, how touching." Red replied dryly. "It is nice to know that you are thinking of my well being now." She tilted her head to one side, looking at Sammy critically. "Whispers in the halls hint that I was not the only one that vanished, that some students and Horsemen fell asleep and had to have their friends chase them into their dreams. Even those who did not have to hunt were pulled in, sought out by their dream-shadows. One wonders if there is a hint of truth to these whispers, or if they hiss honeyed lies."

"And what of it?"

"Interesting." Red tapped a talon on a glowing, blue runic-like marking on her arm. "So yourself and Malodore worked alongside the Hunters and experienced what it was like to have a beating heart, to be alive. I do not know whether to consider you lucky to have experienced life, or to pity you."

Red shrugged openly. "I do not know what to make of what you spoke of. Perhaps it was a dream, perhaps it was not. Do you have proof that what you dreamed was not a dream?"

"Wise," Red said with a nod. "While I may claim the image I see in the mirror as mine and being me, just because I can see her does not necessarily mean she can see me or that I am her or she is me."

The werewolf fell silent, listening as the ghoul spoke. "And now?" She prompted, "What do you think of them now, given what you have seen and experienced?"

"Hm. Perhaps there is some hope in you regaining my respect yet, ghoul." Red said curtly, "You state that all of us are messed up, indicating both Halloween and Hunters. You state that not all Hunters are blood thirsty psychos. And yet despite this you still see them as a threat."

The teach began to pace, walking in a slow circle around Sammy as she spoke. "You want to trust them. Now that you've seen them in another light. In another time, another place. You got to see them when they are off the field. Perhaps there are similarities between them and us. And yet, there still lies a lingering doubt. You can't quite extend a hand in friendship towards them yet. A small chance that they will turn and bite when you least expect it." Red stopped. "I cannot help but to see the similarities between them and you. A time when good is intended, only to result in ill deeds and suffering."

"What do you seek to do now?"