A little outing on Labyrinth Gardens

Chastity (ghost)

April 27, 2011 3:45 PM

A little outing by Chastity (ghost)

Chastity smiled as strolled through the gardens. It had been a while since she had frequented them in the daylight hours and even though every text book on ghosts said she couldn't feel the warm sunshine, she begged to differ. Perhaps it was just memory and wishful thinking but she could swear there was a hint of a difference. It certainly beat rain washing through her at any rate, though that was thankfully a rare occurrence around here. She had been keeping to herself because, as usual, some plumped up prim and proper so-and-so had made their feelings about her clearer than... well, clearer than her own fair skin, and she had retired in a huff to one of the dustier, lesser used attic rooms. It was funny how the people who objected to her presence as “improper” and “an unsuitable example to be around children” never failed to use the most appalling language. Lazy, cursing hypocrites. She never understood their arguments either. Some of the ghosts had met with much more violent and bloody ends than her own discreet stabbing, yet they were deemed harmless fun. No doubt they'd met with their demises in fine and noble circumstances though. They were stalwart examples of walking history, whereas she was the part that people preferred to sweep under the rug.

However, brooding got boring quickly. She was by nature an incredibly social creature. As she strolled through the gardens, her hands automatically patted her ringlets, although they always stayed put as they'd been when she'd died (lucky, as she didn't have the ghost of a curling paper on her!). She had always been pleased that, for all the other damage he'd done, her killer hadn't been the type to hit a lady, nor had anyone she'd seen in the weeks preceding her death. Her face had often been bruised but she had died perfect, on the outside at least, and so remained that way.

Rounding the corner, she saw a student. She inclined her head as she tried to decide whether she'd seen them before. They were all so funny looking with their hair cut any which way – you couldn't even tell with some of the younger ones whether they were boys or girls because they cut it so short. Terribly unladylike, she thought to herself with the smirk of one enjoying a private joke.

13 Chastity (ghost) A little outing 0 Chastity (ghost) 1 5

Ayita Bly

April 29, 2011 5:12 PM

Silver woman of holiness! (WotW) by Ayita Bly

Ayita had spent a very long time on the Outside. Nothing of much sustenance had happened to her so far. She had not made friends. Perhaps her odd nature had led to the other children thinking her to be strange and standoffish, but that was not truly the case. The Pecari was afraid, to tell the truth, of some of these Outsiders.

For example, she had heard of a particularly frightening older girl named Tawny. The Cherokee had not encountered said girl before, but she was not looking forward to such a meeting. Also, there was a younger girl, Nova, who seemed similar to Tawny in the ways of fear. There was an extremely tall boy--she thought his name was Nic--who was in some of her classes. That was pretty terrifying to her, as well. Back home, her father was just about the largest man, and she was sure he was not as tall as this boy.

So, she had not found anyone she particularly trusted. The adults at the school she supposed were trustworthy, but they were still Outsiders. Also, the librarian was pretty scary with her dress and pale skin. Ayita didn’t understand how anyone could be that pale, her own skin very tan.

Not sure what she was looking for, the grey-eyed first year set off for the Labyrinth Gardens. She had made sure to keep her heritage clear with her purple triangle painted on her face and her hair done up tightly. Not long after entering the Gardens, she saw something shocking.

It was a woman, but not like any Ayita had encountered. She was silver and translucent; the Pecari could see straight through her. Something about her made Ayita, with widened eyes, realize she was dead. She was a spirit. Her culture had always preached that the dead were sacred and that their spirits never truly left, and it said that the dead ought to be praised for making it all the way through the tribulations of life.

And so, without a second of thought, she threw herself on the ground before the feet of the silver woman. On her knees, she began to bow, and she continued to do so submissively for a good few minutes. When she stopped, she stayed on her knees and looked up with her grey eyes at the silver lady, waiting for verbal permission to speak.

0 Ayita Bly Silver woman of holiness! (WotW) 0 Ayita Bly 0 5

Chastity

April 29, 2011 6:35 PM

Erm.... 2/3, I guess by Chastity

Chastity had barely looked at the child when she (she was reasonably sure it was a she) dropped to her knees and... well, it looked a little like the child was bowing. Chastity glanced over her shoulders but they were the only two people that she could see in the vicinity. Perhaps the child was doing some sort of strange exercise regime. You trot along bit, drop and do some... movement things. And it was pure coincidence that this girl had got to her... movement things here and now. And any second, she would stand up and just carry on. Or she would stop and stare with saucer-wide imploring eyes up at Chastity. Chastity stared back. It was clear that the funny girl (who she could now see had something drawn on her face) wanted something from her. Which meant presumably that that display had been for her benefit, though she couldn't possibly conceive of why anyone would bow to her. Unless she was making fun of her. Certainly people had told her they'd been honoured to be in her presence, dripping with sarcasm, before now. But this seemed a little bit of an abstract way to go about it.

"Hello," Chastity tried. It came out verging on the intonation of a question. Uncertainty. A characteristic the ghost never showed to anyone, even supposing she felt it. She couldn't shake the feeling that the child had some great expectation of her to do something and that that probably had been far, far below it. "Are you going to stand up?" she asked. Admittedly, it was not whatever grand proclamation the child's expression suggested she expected. But it was very strange having her sit like a little dog in front of her.

13 Chastity Erm.... 2/3, I guess 0 Chastity 0 5

Ayita

May 01, 2011 2:29 AM

Just lady of holiness, then? by Ayita

“Hello.” Ayita couldn’t help but blink. Just hello? No great philosophical statement? It seemed very unusual for a spirit not to have some form of advice…or even acknowledge her waiting for permission to speak. Perhaps this spirit was… a bit more informal than traditional spirits? That had to be it.

“Are you going to stand up?” asked the floating woman. “Do you wish it to be so?” Ayita inquired politely before scrambling to her feet. “Does this please you more?” It was the responsibility of the people to respect and worship the deceased, and the Pecari could still hardly believe she was encountering one! It was so thrilling, and yet so humbling.

It felt good to see a spirit and take the time to feel her culture. She missed it so very much being on the Outside. She missed her father, as harsh as he could be sometimes. Of course he was respectable and noble, and he always tried to do what was right for the people. He really was a noble man.

In any case, this interaction with a spirit was not as she had expected at all. “O powerful lady,” said the grey-eyed Cherokee respectfully, “Silver being, what is it like to see the other side?”

0 Ayita Just lady of holiness, then? 0 Ayita 0 5

Chastity

May 01, 2011 7:12 AM

Getting colder... by Chastity

Chastity had had some odd reactions to her presence in the past. And now she'd had this. This was going to need a whole new category all of its very own. The child treated her with the deference usually afforded to a fine society lady. But the way a house-elf reacted to one, not another human being. Perhaps she came from a family that was in servitude and the old-fashioned clothes were confusing her. Yes, that had to be it. That happened with little children sometimes. They saw the frills around the edges and the puffy layers of petticoat. The old fashioned clothes were so much more elaborate and detailed than their own that they automatically confused them with being fine clothes. They didn't notice that the neckline was too low or that the arms were exposed or that the cut of the skirt revealed the under layers just a little. Or, if they did, they were so used to seeing much worse things that they didn't understand quite how daring an outfit it was.

"Well, I imagine that's much nicer for you," she said, smiling kindly as the girl enquired whether it pleased her that she'd stood. "And I would prefer for you to be happy and comfortable, so yes - it does please me." She hoped she was doing a good enough job of seeming like a lady. Though usually the children who were dazzled by her clothes saw the same elegance in her speech - by virtue of being of old-fashioned, it sounded refined to them. Not that she wanted to mislead the child. But she maintained that it was this sort of thing that proved she wasn't a bad influence, expect perhaps on their historical accuracy. Unless children already knew about such things then they couldn't see it. So, it was best to pretend to the child that she was what she thought she was. Selfless soul that Chastity was, she had the child's best interests one-hundred percent at heart. She would realise, when she was older, but Chastity wasn't going to be accused of opening her eyes to it. The fact that it was nice not to be spat on for a change may have swayed her slightly towards taking this benevolent view-point. Swanning around as a lady and having her every word hung on did seem like it might be fun. But it was ninety percent that it was in the interest of the child for her to do so, and only ten percent her own enjoyment that pushed her to carry on down this path.

Ayita's next question did nothing to dissuade her of her reading of the situation. After all, the girl addressed her as 'powerful lady.' And it was pretty much everyone's first question when they met a ghost... What's death like? She was about to answer that she didn't know - she'd run away from it, when she realised that that was not a very lady like answer. Ladies were expected to be articulate and interesting. She drew a deep breath and looked into the middle-distance as if she was collecting her thoughts. Which she was. She was desperately racking her brains for an educated sounding answer.

"I suppose it depends on your nature," she answered, wishing she had a fan or some ladylike prop so that she could really get into the roll - she owed it to herself to make the most of this, after her internment. Oh, and of course she had to do a good job for the sake of the child, which was of course still her main motivation. Definitely. At least 80/20, in favour of looking after the child. "Some people see sanctuary and release. Other people see an ending and are frightened" there was no need to mention that she was such a person. "Death is constant. It is people that vary."

13 Chastity Getting colder... 0 Chastity 0 5