|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 5:25 pm
Amrita had been working up the nerve to visit for days. Recent events had brought into sharp focus just how different her life had become, and how her earlier wants of becoming nothing more than a Crypt Keeper became fairly irrelevant. Her life would never be that easy, or that simple, and it was time she rolled with the punches. Life changes were under way now, starting, of course, with the end of her Mentorship with Malcolm. While she loved minipets, she had to be realistic; she wasn't allowed that life any more. The next step would be to contact Red, the only creature who seemed to be able to understand her lot in life, or at least help her into something that felt remotely useful.
That was where the problems came in, of course.
Her history with Red wasn't the best, both before and after her death, and she had stayed as far away from the she-beast as she possibly could out of pure embarrassment. After all, she had been one of the students to openly attack Red, though her motives had been simply to defend her friends by removing the threat. Sadly, now, all signs pointed towards the Teacher, and she simply couldn't avoid it any longer. She needed Red, and that's all there was to it. Nobody else could really help her, and she was sure of it.
But it still took her a while to get to this point, standing in front of Red's office with a little parcel in hand. Even longer were the seconds it took her to raise her backwards knuckles to even knock, before peeking in through the door.
"Err - Professor Red? Sorry to interrupt, do you have a moment?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 5:47 pm
From behind the door, silence answered Amrita. A loud scraping could be heard as something large and heavy was moved, followed by footsteps. A loud series of clicks and clatters could be heard immediately on the other side of the door before it opened. Red filled the doorway in her werewolf form, black fur bristling and wings barely contained in the room.
Her cold, glowing blue eyes stared Amrita down. "W̵h̸̀͠ąt̴͘ ̴̀͞d̶́o ͏́y̵̷o̴u ẁ̕a҉͠nt̸҉.͟͡"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 6:00 pm
Silence. Okay. Good. That meant she could just turn around and leave, and forget about this whole thi---
The door opened, and there was suddenly a wolf there. The silence was definitely gone, as did all of the feelings of relief she had seconds prior. Now she was face-to-face with a giant winged wolf. Her resolve started to dwindle very, very quickly after that.
"I...I um..." She stammered at first, holding the little package close to her stitched chest. Wait, why was she so scared? She had taken down Hunters, and fought countless battles, and went face-to-face in a snark off with Caelius! Granted, that last one lasted a whole two seconds, but it counted. Why was she so scared of Red?
Oh, right, the attacking thing.
"I heard you had another spot open for mentorship? I was hoping I could fill that spot." Yes, okay, straight and to the point.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:59 pm
"HA!" Red barked, openly sneering down at the student. "Y͞o͢u̶ ͞a̛r̸e͘ th̛ę ̕ţḩi͟r̨d͠ ̧und͢ead̷ to͢ ̢inq̡uir̶è.͡ Wh̵a̧t͘ i̴s ҉it w̸įt͞h̴ ́yo̧u͡r͜ ҉ki̶n̢d a̧ńd yo̴ur ͞te͟ǹacity͢,͡ ҉and y͟o͢ur ͏h̛abi̵ts̴ of ̵atte͠mptin̛g̕ ̡to k̴il͠ĺ ̕me?"
The werewolf snapped her jaws towards Amrita's half-face. "You must be jo͏king,̴ ͠litt̕l͝e g̡h̨o̧u̴l. Why in all the moons would I even consider taking you on as an apprent̨i̵ce to͜ ̵my̨ ̴m̕adne͝ss̴?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 1:35 pm
Amrita openly flinched at the bark, but that was the extent of it. She didn't run, or back up, or make any other move to betray how scared she was, or how futile she imagined this was. It didn’t matter what she imagined though. She still had to try though, again and again, until she had exhausted all of her options. Only then could she consider this to be futile in all good conscience.
Red threw the attempted murder in her face, and Amrita’s expression pinched. That was not a very nice memory for anyone involved, though obviously it would be worse for Red than anyone. “I’I'm…really sorry about that.” The sincerity in her voice was thick. She really did hate that moment in her life. “I had no choice.” She knew better than to point out that her involvement wasn't a habit, since it happened only the once. That would never work in her favour. Red’s jaws snapped at her face, but again the Undead did not move. She was stubborn, and would forever be that way.
“I don’t joke, Professor.” But she had no immediate answer as to why she should be considered; Amrita was harder on herself than any Professor could hope to be. “I think you’re the only one who can help me.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:02 pm
"No choice." Red snarled. "You claimed to have no choice. Would you care to stretch what ̸l̸i̵tt͡l͡e gray̴ m͜a͜ttéŗ ͢re̕ma̶i͜ns ͏in ̨y͘ou͢r sk͞ull to imagine what it is like when your own power turns against you and d͡͠è͟vo̵̷ư̢r̴ş̀ you? To hear it scream its apologies as it can't stop? To look up and see the d͘ȩspa҉ir on͡ th̕é f̸a͞ćes o̴f ̶t͝h̶oşé y̛óu ͞fa͘iled̡ ̀to s̕a͟ve a͟n͡d r̷e̴a͡li͡ze͡ ̀how͝ h͠el̵pl͟es͞s t͏h͏ey ̧are̴ to ̧he̶l̡p͞ you? To cry out for someone to save you and realize that n̕obody͝ is com͢inģ and͡ ͘no͟ ̨one ҉n̨e҉vȩr ͡wi̡ll?"
As she spoke her claws tug into the doorway, the wood peeling back by the strength of her grip. She leaned forward, nearly becoming nose-to-nose with the ghoul. "I highly doubt you have experienced anything similar, Former Queen of a Ruined Shadow Kingdom. However you are lucky to have piqued my curiosity. What could one who willingly attacked and killed me, sentencing me to too many moons within the realms of Insanity, have need of one such as I?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:25 pm
The memory of Red's description was very familiar, but in a fly-on-the-wall way. It also mirrored a personal memory of hers, one that she knew for fact was her. The ghoul sucked in a breath.
“But - Can you imagine how it felt to us? To watch a Professor, someone you trusted to save and protect you, suddenly go mad and turn on you? On everyone? To ignore every ounce of reason we tried to give, all the attempts to try and pull you back?” Amrita replied, her voice trembling. “We didn’t know what to do! Something in you turned on us, and you became threat number one. I had to protect myself and my friends, and I thought…if we could bring you down, you wouldn’t have to suffer any more. What else was I supposed to do? Let you dissipate us in a strange place?” The memories were terrible, and her backward hands clutched into fists, still held to her chest with the parcel. “I hated every moment of it, I wish I didn’t do it...and when it was over, when you crumbled, I felt your loss. I put my pin on your bones, and I attended your funeral.”
Her gaze broke from Red's only for a moment, just enough to see the way the wood peeled and groaned under those terrible claws. When she looked back, they were nearly nose to nose, and it became harder for her to focus. A condition that was not helped by the title Red had uttered. It made her eye widen and her chest hurt, though her heart had never before beat.
"...How did you...?" How did Red know that title? For a moment she pressed her lips together, a part of her wanting so badly to say that there was nothing former about it; so long as she lived, so would the Kingdom. But that part of her was much quieter now than it had been in months. It remained nothing more than a thought. "Never mind. Doesn't matter~" She said, mostly to herself.
"I have experienced something similar. Not on your scale, but I'm afraid that'll change one day. The fear is crippling...I can't exist like this." The ghoul paused, her expression pinching in pain. Her memories had been returning to her piece by piece, and she was just as worn thin as she was before she had lost them. "I need your guidance. Please, please consider me." It was hard for her to admit it. She had spent most of her life refusing to accept defeat, or to admit when she was afraid...and yet here she was. To a Professor that hated her, no less.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:12 pm
The werewolf was silent. "So the little undead has a spine after all," The thoughtful murmur made her blue eyes dim to a cool chill. "Picture a crowded Maul. Picture it packed from front to back. Imagine suddenly being thrown into a crowd like that during a sale. The one who shouts the loudest, the one who can overpower the store's mouthspeaker system can direct them. Imagine trying to take over something like that. You have to fight your way through the crowd. You have to find the security office. You have to break into it, all while fighting security and the crowd. You have to then override the controls and secure it so that no one else can do it. Do you think you could do such a thing, little ghoul?"
Red shook her head slowly, the bristle in her fur slowly lowering. "Not even I knew what to expect or what to do. However, the course of action you and some of your friends took resulted in me dying and dissipating in such a strange place and reforming as this." Red lifted a paw off the doorway, thumping the paw across her chest. "You hate the moment. I hate my existence."
Red fell silent. She remembered the pins. She remembered the agony that crept across her flesh as Fear and Insanity fought to put her together again dependent on its wishes. She remembered crawling into her skull and huddling there, waiting hours that stretched into days until the pain lessened enough to move forward and out. She remembered running the pins through her fingers, closing her eyes and clutching the pins tight as if the small bits of Fear that made up each could soothe the pain that became her existence.
The chill returned to Professor Red as her fur bristled once again. "Guidance on what? Speak, ghoul."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:36 pm
"I can't say if I could succeed, Professor." She wasn't sure why she was being asked this particular question, but she was going to answer it nonetheless. "But I sure as hell wouldn't ever give up. I'd fight on through until the end, one way or another." On this she was certain; she had a long running, particularly nasty habit of going into things head on and claws out. The more stress was involved the more resolve she had to win, and the stronger her blinders were.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Nobody did, but she was the only one standing in front of Red right now, and she couldn't speak for everyone. "But I was one of the ones who tried to find out what happened to you. I found these~" She shifted the parcel in her arms, indicating that it did in fact have a purpose here. "~ And I brought them so I could return them to you, finally. And, um...For what it's worth, I was glad to see you again, when you came back." Though that feeling was laced with guilt and more than a little suspicion, it was still there. She flinched as the cold came back, and for the second time this whole talk she looked away, glancing at the hallway she was still standing in. She bit down on what was left of her bottom lip, holding the package tighter to her chest.
"May I come in? I'd rather not talk about this in the hallway."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:43 pm
The request was met with a glare. Red stared down at Amrita, leaning forward to come nearly nose to nose with the ghoul again. She sniffed, shook her head and stepped back far enough to allow Amrita in. "Close the door behind you," she growled as she turned and disappeared into the darkness of her office.
A moment later the light clicked on. As she made her way back to her desk the lupine form melted away, leaving the Amityville-hallway approved humanoid form behind. Red sat down at her desk and stared expectantly at Amrita, waiting for the ghoul to come in before she indicated the empty spot on her desk. "Show me what you have."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:00 pm
Amrita stepped into Red's Office for the second time in her life and closed the door behind her, as instructed. When she turned to face the Professor again, she was pleased to note that the intimidating bat-wolf was gone, leaving behind a much more familiar face. It was a small relief, but it was a relief nonetheless.
"I'm going to be very honest with you, even if it nets me trouble." She started, albeit hesitantly. "Myself and some others came in here one day, shortly after, well, you know. Like I said, we wanted to find some answers, and this seemed like the best place to start looking." The parcel was laid carefully onto the empty spot and just as carefully untied. "We didn't really find anything, but these were the things that I found." She peeled back the old brown paper of wrapping, showing a few photographs (five, if attention was paid) and a well worn envelope. The first photograph was one of Red, a Male, and a Scareling dressed in pink.
"I'm not sure why I took these with me, but they seemed important somehow. I guess I didn't want them to get purged with the rest of your things." It had been a rumour that it was going to happen, and that tugged on her heart strings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 8:57 pm
As Amrita spoke and told the truth, the professor's jaw clenched tighter and tighter. Her red eyes were replaced by blue as the anger rose in her. Red had half-risen from her seat when she caught sight of the contents.
With a gasp of surprise Red snatched the photos and stared at them, her hands shaking. She carefully set them down, her face pale as she caught sight of the envelope. "N-no," she whispered, reaching out to pick it up. "...I thought I sent this. This... This can't..."
The professor looked up at Amrita with clear red eyes, her shock fading into anger as she stood up and slammed her hands down on the desk. "You?! You and others came into MY office and were responsible for digging through MY things? For trespassing and breaking MY things?! Do you have any idea how much I lost because of you and your careless actions?! You --! You are a Vice President and Queen! You should have known better! You..."
The professor sighed as she dropped back into her chair. "I suppose," she began begrudgingly, "I should be thankful you and your friends broke my most prized possession and froze the entire thing over, followed by Arel. I might not have been able to recover some things if that were the case."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:18 pm
She kept talking to explain the situation, though she saw the rising anger clear as day. You should have known better. The comment stung like a slap, and sadly it was one she fully deserved.
"This was before I was any of those things!" Amrita rose to her own defence, her backward hands raised in innocence. "Way before! I was just a stupid kid then, barely out of first year." Of course, she'd probably still do the same things now, but yeah, Red didn't need to know that. "These were the only things I touched in the room, and I tried to keep them safe all this time." For silly reasons, apparently. She couldn't apologize any more, it would be useless anyway; a stupid kid did a lot of stupid things, and it was biting her in the a** now. Still it was something she felt she had to do, and so she was doing it to the best of her ability.
Though, something Red said still unnerved her.
"...Also that's the second time you've called me a Queen. How do you know that?" It wasn't like she was public with it. In fact, she didn't really like the Black Queen; everything about Moon was exactly what she wanted out of life, magnified. It scared her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 3:55 pm
Red leaned forward in her chair, elbows propped upon the desk over her photographs. "Tried. You tried. Were you not successful? Or -" She narrowed her eyes, "Are you admitting that something else of mine was broken? Taken? All that I have are the pieces that remain. Still more things of mine are missing, and I want them back."
The second question brought a smirk to the professor's face. "I have my reasons. You have been honest so far, however the fact that you joined in my defeat AND stole from me makes me disinclined to answer your question, Your Highness."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:11 pm
"Tried, yes." Amrita repeated apologetically, before nodding to the photos. "One in the middle has a bite taken out of it from when something tried to eat my room." It tried to eat most of campus, of course...but her room was one of them. "As for anything else in the room when we were there...I don't know. I can't speak for everyone else, just for me."
Red wasn't going to answer, but that was fine. She expected that, even though the curiousity was eating away at her. The title made her flinch. She hated it as much as she loved it. "Please don't call me that. I don't deserve it." She had mixed feelings about saying that, but that was all due to the lock on her chest, hidden under several layers of clothing.
"But...I understand, I guess, if you don't want to tell me. As for the stealing...I thought you were dead, I didn't want to let all of you get destroyed." Red would have lived on in memories with this photos, right? That was how it worked?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
