Fable (on hiatsu)

20. Life-or-death Dress-up

As we stalked the empty hallways of our haunted school, I elaborated my plan. First, we had to disguise ourselves as Beings. Then we needed to infiltrate the ball (our gymnasium), find the student that had requested our help, get the hell outta there and survive. To be completely honest, I felt like the last part was going to be the hardest. As in one hundred levels higher and harder to do than the other steps.

Oh, well. We had to try.

Toby an Jo both flinched when we crossed paths with any Being. That included nearly stomping on a mouse-spirit, exchanging a greeting with a male Shade, hiding from a tired fire farie and a naiad and so on. Then a terrifying close call happened.

From behind us we heard the faint sound of hooves clip-clopping on the marble floors. Jo began to walk in a fashion best described as 'robotic' and Toby as 'wet noodle that thought it could walk'. Then the sound sped up as the creature shifted from a walk to a full-blown canter. I began to be a little stressed, a tight knot forming somewhere in my gut. I dragged my now-useless friends against the wall in the hope that whatever was coming would speed on past.

Then, fast as a car on a race track, the creature passed us. My eyes caught fragments of it that I pieced together. A flowing silver mane in the wind. Smooth black hooves. A mystic, knowing eye, dark as black honey. Rippling muscles under a coat of silken snow. A trailing tail like a comet. A sharp horn, as long as my forearm, twisted like a narwhale.

A unicorn.

We all stared in awe. Then I started laughing.

"We were scared to death by a unicorn!" Not that they aren't powerful, but they sure aren't the type that eats people. I snorted and we all began to laugh, more by pure relief than by how funny the moment was, really.

A short while later, we continued our way, into the depths of the school's main building. Turn left, left, right, go strait, left again and then we were in the club section. Endless clubrooms stared colourfully back at us. The shiny signs on their doors winking and inviting us to join the chess club and the light music club and the tennis club. We made our way further and further in, looking for the theatre club. Toby eventually came up with a question.

"Say, Craft? What are we supposed to disguise ourselves as, anyway?"

I'll admit I hadn't given it a single thought.

"Um. Well, I'm going to wear a kimono of some kind with a mask -scary, if possible- but I really don't know what you should wear." I gave it some more thought. "You should choose something that suits your personality, though. I'd see you dress up as a tanuki, Toby." I continued, warming up to my idea.

"A what?" He gave me a blank what-in-the-world-is-he-saying-now look.

"A tanuki. It's a racoon, really. In Japanese mythology, they are pranksters and have the power to transform into humans (though they keep some traces of what they are)." I elaborated as we got to the end of the hallway.

"Hm!" Toby smiled, "I like it! Sound like me, the absolute prankster that I am," He continued, proudly designating himself by pressing his hand against his chest.

"Yeah, I know."

Jo looked at us while pointing at a certain door. "I found it."

We all crowded inside. The room was alarming, in a cool way. The windows were half draped in thick dark red drapes. Along the wall were strewn all sorts of medieval things. A handful of swords, leather armour, feathered helms and royal clothes were all in one corner. In the other, Hallowe'en costumes vied for space. Witch hats, Frankenstein masks, rolls of thin paper ( for the Mummies) and black cloaks were all strewn this and that way. To my utter delight, the corner next to me held an army of cosplay accessories; traditional Japanese kimonos, both for men and women (and formal and casual occasions), obis, demon masks, samurai swords and more general clutter were all there.

I jumped into the pile, picking my favourite outfit an trying it on. Toby was already searching earnestly through the Hallowe'en pile and Jo was checking out the medieval one. We ended up looking pretty cool. I wore a deep red kimono and a demon's mask, Toby had found raccoon ears and tail (I have honestly no idea why that was there in the first place. Thank the Gods and the One Who Decided It was Easier this Way). Jo was hilarious. He wore light, leather armour, a helm with a puffy toxic green feather sticking above his head like a flare and a plastic sword dangling at his hip. Toby and I both said at the same time:

"Lose the sword."

It was going to be fine without it. In fact if he was walking around with one, we would probably laughed at because a knight didn't have a real sword. Well, that's something we could talk ourselves out of, but I just wanted to skip the whole nonsense. It was a matter of life and death. If we lost our cover and were exposed as humans there, we would be killed. As simple as that.

Though, if that were to actually happen, I won't go without dragging quite a handful down with me.

"Well then! Since we are now fully equipped," Toby giggled. I glared at him. "Since we are fully equipped, it's time to do what we came here for!"

And then a voice behind me asked:

"Oh? And what are you here for, boy?" It's cool sound, deep as a cold mountain well. I froze in fear.

Damn.