From the Vast

Interlude I: Interlopers

"~Lee, I really think we should turn back...~"

The punk's voice wavered as she spoke, eyes sweeping from side to side. Her concern was apparent on her pale face, framed by a couple of visible strands of pink-dyed hair. The cold today was milder than the last few days, but the weather was by far the smallest of worries this dumb trip of theirs would have them run headfirst into.

Especially if they ended up running into the actual target of their search.

As much as her boyfriend thought she was overly scaredy in general, he wanted to comfort her in the moment. Searching for that ghost was exciting, but a large part of the excitement was finally cracking this mystery they'd both been speculating about for months now. It was no fun if he was the only one into it.

And that's on top of the more usual reason of: "I like this chick, and I want her to feel alright, thank you very much."

"~C'mon Iz, we're gonna be fine. We've got Chucky! Right Chucky?~"

caw!

The Murkrow occupying Lee's shoulder was only very vaguely aware of what was happening. Still, as long as this human kept providing him with treats, he wasn't complaining one bit. On cue, the human's dark-skinned hand reached into a pocket of his jacket; a single piece of sugary cereal getting pulled out moments later. The sight immediately caught the bird's attention, the treat's alluring glittering only matched by its sweet flavor. And once it was thrown into the air, it was quickly snatched by the large, yellow beak. A couple of content caws left the bird afterward as they huddled closer to their human's head. It was cold out there, much colder than in their town, but the human was friendly, and treats kept coming, so he might as well stick around.

"~Lee, I think you're putting too much faith in them. They're feral, after all...~"

"~Izzyyyy, I know mons spook you a bit, but we're gonna be alright, promise. Chucky's got no reason to go against either of us, not with all the treats. He really likes me.~"

"~He really likes the bag of cereal in your pocket.~"

"~Murkrow are smart. He could've totally yanked it all out and flew off by now if he wanted to.~"

Izzy didn't know enough about mons to argue with that, grumbling for a moment before letting the topic rest. She didn't feel any better about any of this, though, that's for sure.

"~He stuck with us in that standoff earlier, spooked these chumps right outta our turf.~"

"~There's a bit of a difference of scale between a couple of human losers and a Ghost Bride, y'know...~"

These woods were haunted, and everyone knew that. It was about as accepted in the Lillywood area as that of the sky being blue-ish most of the time. That awareness was enough to discourage most from venturing in too deep. Feral mons were already scary; feral Ghosts were something else entirely. To their knowledge, the Mismagius that hung out near the school grounds had harmed no one, but that didn't make them any less creepy.

Or any less a magnet for many a local dumb kid.

Enough for them to become a local attraction, even for trainers. At least, if that chump that sat near them on the bus earlier today was any sign. Gonna catch the famous Lillywood Mismagius. Yeah, sure, pal.

Anyway.

As scary as feral Ghosts were on their own, what they were after was somehow even scarier. The kind of thing that only the most reckless of fools would ever dare to actively search for.