Having written a rather *cough*grimdark*cough* piece and what could could be described as a rather darker look to the Halloween celebration - someone who sees it as a target rich environment - I felt compelled to write the other side of the coin, someone actually doing it properly. And toss in a bit of humor and comdey at the same time.
Disclaimer: Although these are all my characters, and they all run around in my head, given that at least one of them is on another server, the following could never happen. Be Grateful!
After hiking all over Striga Isle in the pounding rain and fog trying to track down traces of the Council, you get grass, twigs and rocks stuck in the most amazing places. You also get grubby, tired and very sore, regardless of your constitution, and when you finally track down said Council at the far end of the Striga chain, is it any wonder you put them down slightly harder then normal? And you do this with a smile despite knowing that they'll probably be out before you get back to base, knowing the rotating door system that is the Zig.
If ever Raven Bolt wanted to enjoy certain luxuries of the base: a nice warm soak in a bath followed by a session on the massage chair then curling up in bed and sleeping for a week, it was now, after above said experience.
However what she saw when she stepped into the base was so far out of the ordinary that it stopped her in her tracks. In the Main Hall, Daisy was stacking barrels and boxes up to the ceiling and ticking them off a clipboard. She was being watched by Kitty who had rather large bright eyes and Plasma who had a calculating look about her. These two, in turn were watched like a hawk by Sable who was leaning against the wall, And then there was Jelidan, at the back of the hall, who seemed to be in a deep meditative trance virtually hovering off the floor.
"16 barrels of sugar puffs... 9 buckets of Caramel Chews... 10 buckets of CatNip Creams... 4 crates of candy canes..." muttered Daisy as she went down the check list.
"And what precisely are you doing?" asked Raven Bolt coming to a stop.
Daisy jumped. She had not been expecting anyone else to be coming in just quite at the moment. Spinning round she saw a rather bedraggled Raven Bolt standing there with her hands on her hips. In response, Daisy shot her a glare. "Don't do that! You made me lose my place!"
"Well?"
"I'm getting in candy for Halloween before the stores run out - getting the good stuff." grinned Daisy waving her clipboard. "And because I'm getting it now and in bulk I'm getting it at bargain rates."
"My Blade says that Daisy's ability to spot a bargain is almost preternatural." muttered Jelidan from the back of the hall in an undertone. Daisy huffed but Jelidan had submerged back into her meditation again.
"She's just jealous she can't make the bargains I can on the markets."
"I'll admit that buying early is a good idea," said Raven acknowledging the wisdom in Daisy's actions. "The thing is, have you got enough?"
"Oh no, no, no, no! This is just the second load. Two of Twelve." Grinned Daisy as all the eyes swiveled to her. "Remember what happened last year when we ran out due to someone raiding the supplies earlier?" At this she shot a glare at Kitty and Plasma who blushed and tried to put on a 'who-us-wasn't-me-I'm-innocent-wasn't-thinking-about-doing-it' look which fooled no one. However the damage was done. Merely by mentioning the said incident, she had managed to shock Jelidan out of her meditation and caused Sable to grimace and pale.
"Ugh," winced Raven. "If that happens I am not cleaning it up! And on that note, I'm going for a nice long soak." Raven started to make her way over to her room on the other side of the hall, not noticing the look that passed over Daisy's face.
"You *not* dare be touchin' my chocolate or chips." growled Sable, her eyes glowing. "Dey be Punishment if you do."
"Hopefully Sable, we'll have enough in," reassured Daisy.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY ROOM!" stormed Raven an instant later pounding back into the hall with her fists glowing and murder in her eyes.
"Now, Now, its only temporary..." began a pale Daisy. Jelidan had flashed over the Hall and had placed a hand against Raven's chest, stopping her charge. That and the pointy end of her blade at Raven's neck stopped her short. Kitty and Plasma meanwhile were giggling and laughing their heads off. They hadn't had this much entertainment since Kat "accidentally" left Danny's 'sensitive electronics' out in the rain.
"No fighting in the Hall, Raven." Jelidan stated. "Daisy made the mess. Daisy will explain and fix it."
"It's not like you ever use your room often."
"Well I'm using it now! Put it in Hugh's room. He hasn't used his room since forever."
"That's were the rest of the stuff is going."
"All I wanted was a bath and massage. Is that too much to ask? So where's my stuff now?"
"Where the Boss won't find it. Cupboard across the hall."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Raven, moving off to grab a fresh outfit.
"So who are you going as?" asked Daisy as Raven moved off.
"What? Bit earlier isn't it? It's still weeks away."
"Nah, I'm making my own costume. Save on tailor fees."
"...thrift...." muttered Plasma.
"So," pressed Daisy ignoring the whispered comments, "Who are you going as?"
"I don't know... Liberty?!"
"Lame!" "What!" "*gasp*" "Its come as you aren't. Just... no."
"Ok, how about a female Statesman?" Proposed Raven, pulling a fresh bundle of purple clothes out from the cupboard "I got a spare mask from last year."
"Sure... and join one of the other four gazillion other imitations wannabes out there. Your not even trying." sneered Daisy.
"What about you, Jel?" asked Raven. Looking across and noticing her expression which was as close to a sad smile as Jelidan got, Raven quickly continued " Oh yeah, Right. Sorry I forgot."
Sketching a short bow, Jelidan softly stated, her voice piecing the awkward silence that had fallen and shattering it like a plane of glass, "This one can not be anything other than Jelidan. Not even for an instant. My blade will not allow it. Tis the cost of wielding it. Do not fret. This one long ago made peace with that fact. However in keeping with the season instead of my normal hunting outfit we will be wearing my ancient traditional hunting uniform."
"That'll work," grinned Daisy marking something off her clipboard. "So Raven any ideas?"
"And if de next words dat you say," growled Sable, "Be dat you be goin' as de Boss or me: You be dead den I kill you. Den I tell de Boss."
"I don't know!" grumbled Raven. "I honestly hadn't thought about it! If you have so many ideas care to share?"
"Well I just so happened to find these neat action toy down at the store." grinned Daisy rummaging around in one of the boxes. Moments later she pulled out a boxed set of three action figures under the blazing title of 'Hero Sandwich' then underneath it was the titles Emerald Blast, Terrence Knight and Gamma Emission. There was a rather thick male, and two females. One had a shoulder pet and a bow in her hand, the other seemed to glow faintly green. "They were part of a set. Some sort of fictional characters. No one would ever think of going as these. Here... you can go as the tank."
So saying, Daisy ripped out the muscular tank and pressed it into Raven's hand. Raven examined the toy closer. She was sure she had seen someone like this somewhere before. A tinny voice issued from it: "Terrance - CHOP!" She looked up and saw how Daisy was trying to convince Kitty to go as Mr Whiskers (there was a faint "Go for the eyes Mr Whiskers!" coming from where Daisy was, and as a bonus stuffed toy don't talk!) and that she was going to con Danny into whipping something up to make her glow green.
"Someone somewhere is laughing at me," groaned Raven. "I only wanted a bath!"
Disclaimer: Although these are all my characters, and they all run around in my head, given that at least one of them is on another server, the following could never happen. Be Grateful!
After hiking all over Striga Isle in the pounding rain and fog trying to track down traces of the Council, you get grass, twigs and rocks stuck in the most amazing places. You also get grubby, tired and very sore, regardless of your constitution, and when you finally track down said Council at the far end of the Striga chain, is it any wonder you put them down slightly harder then normal? And you do this with a smile despite knowing that they'll probably be out before you get back to base, knowing the rotating door system that is the Zig.
If ever Raven Bolt wanted to enjoy certain luxuries of the base: a nice warm soak in a bath followed by a session on the massage chair then curling up in bed and sleeping for a week, it was now, after above said experience.
However what she saw when she stepped into the base was so far out of the ordinary that it stopped her in her tracks. In the Main Hall, Daisy was stacking barrels and boxes up to the ceiling and ticking them off a clipboard. She was being watched by Kitty who had rather large bright eyes and Plasma who had a calculating look about her. These two, in turn were watched like a hawk by Sable who was leaning against the wall, And then there was Jelidan, at the back of the hall, who seemed to be in a deep meditative trance virtually hovering off the floor.
"16 barrels of sugar puffs... 9 buckets of Caramel Chews... 10 buckets of CatNip Creams... 4 crates of candy canes..." muttered Daisy as she went down the check list.
"And what precisely are you doing?" asked Raven Bolt coming to a stop.
Daisy jumped. She had not been expecting anyone else to be coming in just quite at the moment. Spinning round she saw a rather bedraggled Raven Bolt standing there with her hands on her hips. In response, Daisy shot her a glare. "Don't do that! You made me lose my place!"
"Well?"
"I'm getting in candy for Halloween before the stores run out - getting the good stuff." grinned Daisy waving her clipboard. "And because I'm getting it now and in bulk I'm getting it at bargain rates."
"My Blade says that Daisy's ability to spot a bargain is almost preternatural." muttered Jelidan from the back of the hall in an undertone. Daisy huffed but Jelidan had submerged back into her meditation again.
"She's just jealous she can't make the bargains I can on the markets."
"I'll admit that buying early is a good idea," said Raven acknowledging the wisdom in Daisy's actions. "The thing is, have you got enough?"
"Oh no, no, no, no! This is just the second load. Two of Twelve." Grinned Daisy as all the eyes swiveled to her. "Remember what happened last year when we ran out due to someone raiding the supplies earlier?" At this she shot a glare at Kitty and Plasma who blushed and tried to put on a 'who-us-wasn't-me-I'm-innocent-wasn't-thinking-about-doing-it' look which fooled no one. However the damage was done. Merely by mentioning the said incident, she had managed to shock Jelidan out of her meditation and caused Sable to grimace and pale.
"Ugh," winced Raven. "If that happens I am not cleaning it up! And on that note, I'm going for a nice long soak." Raven started to make her way over to her room on the other side of the hall, not noticing the look that passed over Daisy's face.
"You *not* dare be touchin' my chocolate or chips." growled Sable, her eyes glowing. "Dey be Punishment if you do."
"Hopefully Sable, we'll have enough in," reassured Daisy.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY ROOM!" stormed Raven an instant later pounding back into the hall with her fists glowing and murder in her eyes.
"Now, Now, its only temporary..." began a pale Daisy. Jelidan had flashed over the Hall and had placed a hand against Raven's chest, stopping her charge. That and the pointy end of her blade at Raven's neck stopped her short. Kitty and Plasma meanwhile were giggling and laughing their heads off. They hadn't had this much entertainment since Kat "accidentally" left Danny's 'sensitive electronics' out in the rain.
"No fighting in the Hall, Raven." Jelidan stated. "Daisy made the mess. Daisy will explain and fix it."
"It's not like you ever use your room often."
"Well I'm using it now! Put it in Hugh's room. He hasn't used his room since forever."
"That's were the rest of the stuff is going."
"All I wanted was a bath and massage. Is that too much to ask? So where's my stuff now?"
"Where the Boss won't find it. Cupboard across the hall."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Raven, moving off to grab a fresh outfit.
"So who are you going as?" asked Daisy as Raven moved off.
"What? Bit earlier isn't it? It's still weeks away."
"Nah, I'm making my own costume. Save on tailor fees."
"...thrift...." muttered Plasma.
"So," pressed Daisy ignoring the whispered comments, "Who are you going as?"
"I don't know... Liberty?!"
"Lame!" "What!" "*gasp*" "Its come as you aren't. Just... no."
"Ok, how about a female Statesman?" Proposed Raven, pulling a fresh bundle of purple clothes out from the cupboard "I got a spare mask from last year."
"Sure... and join one of the other four gazillion other imitations wannabes out there. Your not even trying." sneered Daisy.
"What about you, Jel?" asked Raven. Looking across and noticing her expression which was as close to a sad smile as Jelidan got, Raven quickly continued " Oh yeah, Right. Sorry I forgot."
Sketching a short bow, Jelidan softly stated, her voice piecing the awkward silence that had fallen and shattering it like a plane of glass, "This one can not be anything other than Jelidan. Not even for an instant. My blade will not allow it. Tis the cost of wielding it. Do not fret. This one long ago made peace with that fact. However in keeping with the season instead of my normal hunting outfit we will be wearing my ancient traditional hunting uniform."
"That'll work," grinned Daisy marking something off her clipboard. "So Raven any ideas?"
"And if de next words dat you say," growled Sable, "Be dat you be goin' as de Boss or me: You be dead den I kill you. Den I tell de Boss."
"I don't know!" grumbled Raven. "I honestly hadn't thought about it! If you have so many ideas care to share?"
"Well I just so happened to find these neat action toy down at the store." grinned Daisy rummaging around in one of the boxes. Moments later she pulled out a boxed set of three action figures under the blazing title of 'Hero Sandwich' then underneath it was the titles Emerald Blast, Terrence Knight and Gamma Emission. There was a rather thick male, and two females. One had a shoulder pet and a bow in her hand, the other seemed to glow faintly green. "They were part of a set. Some sort of fictional characters. No one would ever think of going as these. Here... you can go as the tank."
So saying, Daisy ripped out the muscular tank and pressed it into Raven's hand. Raven examined the toy closer. She was sure she had seen someone like this somewhere before. A tinny voice issued from it: "Terrance - CHOP!" She looked up and saw how Daisy was trying to convince Kitty to go as Mr Whiskers (there was a faint "Go for the eyes Mr Whiskers!" coming from where Daisy was, and as a bonus stuffed toy don't talk!) and that she was going to con Danny into whipping something up to make her glow green.
"Someone somewhere is laughing at me," groaned Raven. "I only wanted a bath!"