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Post by Ashe on Dec 10, 2021 4:49:45 GMT -6
They made slow progress through the tombstones. Ashe didn't remember which way it was that they'd come in. Somehow, he'd gotten turned around and they all looked the same. He tried going by the dates, remembering that he had been in a row with newer dates and had come from a more weathered row before that. So he tried retracing his steps. And he ended up in completely different rows he had never seen before. In the dark, he didn't have much in the way of long distance vision.
About forty minutes in, Ashe was ready to admit he was lost. In the graveyard.
"Do you remember the way in? Because I... can't find it." He felt embarrassed for having to ask this of the baby shadowlings, but he shouldn't have, because they didn't seem to know the way out either!
Nope!
Not I!
Lost!
Oh, woe!
The chorus of voices didn't sound worried about the predicament they were in, in the slightest. They continued to bounce around Ashe and explore the different stones, playing Catch Me with each other. Ashe was reassured by their upbeat attitudes, though it didn't help solve his problem. In the end, he decided that they could explore until morning. And with the light, he'd be able to see the exit. The graveyard hadn't been that big!
16/20
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Post by Ashe on Dec 10, 2021 5:10:19 GMT -6
It was quiet and peaceful in the graveyard. Crickets chirping and night birds calling. Ashe kept moving, but with less purpose now. He gazed around him, taking the time to shine the light on some stones here and there, read some inscriptions. He wasn't thinking much about the task or the waiting or the being lost - he was thinking about 'who was this person?' every time he read a stone. There was a guy named Eugene who lived ninety years before kicking the bucket - and what had killed him finally, Ashe wondered? Old age, just organs deteriorating? Or something else? And then there was a little boy named Timmy, who died at four years old. Ashe could almost see a goofball kid running around the graveyard, jumping off the tombstones, climbing trees. So sad.
Ashe found he had a sort of melancholy cloud settling over him. He was thinking of Nox. He might have been buried here, if he had died here. But he had died out there somewhere, one one of his adventures. Ashe hadn't been with him to save him that day...
Sensing the change in Ashe's mood, the Lings came back to him, bubbling around his legs.
What's new
What happened?
Why sad, be happy!
We're with you!
The lings thought he was upset with being lost, most likely.
17/20
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Post by Ashe on Dec 10, 2021 5:16:06 GMT -6
"It's nothing. Just thinking about someone I knew. Someone who...died." Ashe shook his head, trying to dig himself out of the funk. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to ponder the lives of the dead. He should focus on the afterlife, and what they were doing now. Thinking about the before just led to sadness and how many people that person had left behind and the tears shed and the questions unanswered, words left unsaid... He groaned, unable to get Nox's face out of his mind's eye. And then he was pretty sure he was seeing it reflected back at him, pale and shimmery. Ashe snorted at himself, convinced he was getting a little too obsessed. What, Vix dump him and now he goes crawling back to his dead ex lover? Was he sinking that low?
The shadowlings quieted. They were still nearby to Ashe, he could feel their presence, but he couldn't see them. Mostly because he was still gazing at the apparition before him. Even if he had looked, he might have just seen glowing slits for their eyes.
All three of them were looking at the apparition before them. It was a human male, a little younger than Ashe, gazing so sadly at the man - just as Ashe must surely be staring back at him.
18/20
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Post by Ashe on Dec 10, 2021 5:25:37 GMT -6
"Nox? Is that really you?' Ashe asked, still staring. His eyeballs were glued to this figure, his body tingling, almost numb. How could it be? It was impossible! And yet... He wasn't the only one seeing him. The Shadowlings would have continued bubbling around if they hadn't, but they were quiet and awed. The figure that resembled Ashe's old lover shimmered, fading from the chest downward, into nothing around the knees. And yet, he looked so lifelike. Ashe wanted to reach out and touch him, caress his face again, tug on that hair again. Wake up in a tent next to him, not knowing where they were or when they would make it back home from camping. He reached out - and his hand went right through Nox.
The vision that looked like Nox smiled sadly, gazing back at Ashe with a warm gaze. He didn't move to touch Ashe, knowing the same thing would happen. But his eyes were expressive enough that Ashe knew what was said, felt... The man bowed his head and closed his eyes. The shaowlings drew closer to Ashe's legs as the apparition leaned forward, appearing to kiss Ashe's forehead. Then Nox, too, closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Ashe's.
And all Ashe knew was blackness. Darkness. But warmth, not despair.
19/20
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Post by Ashe on Dec 10, 2021 5:41:11 GMT -6
Ashe awoke in the morning. He was sitting with his back against a sturdy tombstone, the doll sitting next to him. He groaned and cracked open his eyes, looking around. The sun was just rising and everything was still hazy. A morning fog coated everything, but he could still see much better with this light than he had at night, and it would only get more clear. He stood up, dusting himself off, and grabbed up the doll before she could- what, walk away? She hadn't caused him any more trouble that night. He must have fallen asleep soon after that ghostly encounter... And everything was on his person, he still had the treasure, and.. well, the flashlight was dead, but could you blame anyone for that? He pocketed the light and called up his lings. The shadows crept out from behind stones, blinking their eyes at him.
"Let's go find that woman and give her daughter her doll! Then we can go home and sleep some more!"
They seemed to like that idea, and took up a chorus of cheery words. They stayed close to Ashe, trying to hide from the growing light in his shadow. Even though Ashe didn't think the light hurt them... Perhaps they were playing?
He left the graveyard and returned to the woman's place, as left on the note on the quest board.
"I have returned your daughter's doll, ma'am!" He held it out to her.
20/20
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Post by NPC on Dec 19, 2021 11:03:08 GMT -6
Congratulations, you have successfully completed the quest! Your QP will be added to the bank and your prize will be sent out shortly.
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