The Corpse Maiden

Chapter 4

Jaune ran out of the Nikos' house and through the town before he eventually came to a stop at the edge of the woods.

He stopped to catch his breath before pulling the wedding ring from his pocket and looking down at it, "I just don't understand why I'm having such a hard time with my vows. It's just a few simple words it should be easy."

Jaune sighed and walked further into the woods, his shoes crunching on the fallen leaves.

"With this hand I will take your wine...no that's not it." He tried again, "with this hand I will cup your-yeah that's one hundred percent not it." 

Jaune slowly sat down on a tree stump and ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. Above him a couple birds settled into the tree branches.

"I wish I could talk to Pyrrha as easily as I can to myself," the blonde admitted aloud.

Suddenly, an idea struck him and he sat up a little straighter. "Mom, Dad, how do I look?" he asked the trees behind him. He waited a moment before pretending to look flattered, "aw thank you."

Next, he stood up and walked to another tree, "I'm really glad to have you and the others here Saphron. What's that? Oh yes I agree Pyrrha looks lovely but remember she's my beautiful bride," he said in a teasing tone.

Gaining confidence, he approached a tree stump and a bush, "Mr and Mrs Nikos, good evening, you know I never got a chance to tell you how honored I am to be joining your family."

Finally, Jaune walked over to a willow tree that had long branches growing over a small patch of twigs poking slightly out of the dirt and he once again pulled the wedding ring from his pocket. 

"Ready for our wedding vows Pyrrha? With this hand I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine. With this candle I will light your way in darkness. With this ring I ask you to be mine." 

He slid the ring onto one of the twigs in the ground and then smiled widely, "Hey I did it!" 

Jaune pumped his fist in the air triumphantly before kneeling down to retrieve the ring. But as he did so he couldn't help but notice that the small stick the ring was around was moving, all on its own. Now, the young man thought that was strange but figured it was nothing more then the wind, so he reached for the ring once more.

However, as soon as the tips of his fingers touched the small wedding band, the wind stopped and the forest went silent. The bundle of twigs then reached up and wrapped themselves around Jaune's wrist.

The young man let out a scream and tried to dislodge the sticks from his arm but they were stuck tight. As he was doing this the ground around the base of the small patch of sticks began cracking open and Jaune was horrified to see that what was stuck around his wrist was not twigs but rather finger bones attached to an entire skeletal arm that was slowly emerging from the rapidly growing hole in the ground. 

He fell backward in fright, pulling the entire arm out of the dirt in the process. With a statled yelp, Jaune flailed his wrist around, dislodging the skeletal arm and sending it flying into a tree trunk.

The young man was stunned and found himself frozen with fear as the ground cracked open even more and a blue fleshy arm reached out of the hole and began clawing at the dirt. What followed was a veiled head and then a body wearing what appeared to be a wedding dress. As the figure stood Jaune couldn't help but notice that the dress was dirty and torn in several places. Most notably at the figure's right side where their rib cage could be plainly seen. It was obvious whoever, whatever, this was had been in the ground for quite some time. 

Slowly the newcomer lifted their one remaining arm and pulled back their veil revealing a partially decayed, blue, woman's face.

She then looked down and locked her one singular amber eye on the trembling Jaune.

"I do."