The Haunt (Abel)(Ended)

[#PI077A "Adia"]

“Why are you in the mountains?” Adia asked the apparent ghost. As she waited for a response to come, she stared into his eyes, for any hint of intelligent life.

The soldier took deep breaths, breaths that did not show against the cold of the mountain like any living being would. He then looked down, shaking his head slightly as if thinking, and then looked back up at her, “In the mountains,” he said, a spark of his memory recalled, “They say that there’s a survivors colony in the mountains. You know,” he said, and then took a breath, swallowing something, or nothing, before continue, “People say they can’t survive in the cold; so in the mountains… we’ll be safe… yes, safe. You should come, before they reach the city…”

Adia then sighed and walked back over towards Abel. The soldier returned to his path, and Adia leaned back against the horse-based new child. “They’re remnants,” she said, “But it’s like they’re half intelligent; I’ve only ever seen completely intelligent or completely feral ones before, with these guys, it’s like they’re… stuck in some horrible ongoing nightmare of the past. It’s not often two remnants mutate the exact same way; my theory: they’re all a part of the same remnant somehow. I think we should find out what’s going on here.”

[PS113C "ABEL"]

He stood up tall and firm, so he would be something she could lean against, and admittedly he enjoyed the warmth of another person.

"You think you can... in your condition?" He felt a bit odd reminding her of the wounds, when he had caused some of them, but he was concerned.

"I am a little interesting in that colony of survivors... I've only begun to explore the mountains... and I guess that is why I'm here," He remembered his purpose.

One of the Remnants wandered close to him, and he wondered if there was some way he could help the wayward soul.

"Maybe, they're victims... of a strange ability a Remnant has. Maybe aside from killing them, it turns them into... these things," He told her his theory, but to think they were all the victims of one Remnant's ability. It was frightening... saddening. It tore at his heart, but what an amazing creature it must be.

Could he win against such a thing? Could he befriend it? With an ally like that... freeing his people wouldn't just be a dream.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

“Maybe,” Adia said, looking at him, “On a side note, you certainly look comfortable there…” she said as she giggled a little at him and then sort of stood back up straight. “Don’t worry about me,” she said, “After all, I did try and kill you.”

She then started walking back up the mountain, towards where they had fought only recently. She was cold, still freezing so much she couldn’t feel the pain in her arm and knee. “I… I think that if we follow them, we’ll learn more,” she said as she trudged wearily through the snow, “Also… I certainly didn’t see these guys coming up the mountain,” she continued explaining her thoughts, “So maybe… this has something to do with our little avalanche from earlier. We’ll see where these guys lead us, and then we’ll search the other side of the ridge to see if we opened anything up.”

[PS113C "ABEL"]

"Eh heh," He said again, under his breath nervously as she teased him.

"Alright, but... Sorry, but I just can't stop myself from feeling the way I want to feel so... I'll worry about you as much as I want," He said as he followed behind her up the mountain, but as he did he began to do something odd.

He quickly began stripping his clothes off and carrying them with him under his arm. First his body armor, and then unbuttoning his uniform and dress shirt under that. He slipped both pants off and took his shoes and socks off. His bear feet took painful steps into the snow.

He Stripped off his shirts, sweater, and jacket in one go as well. Carrying everything in one arm, he reached back and pulled his hair tie off and putting it into one of his pockets. His hair fell from the pony tail it was held in with out it. Last was his boxers. Despite the extreme cold, considering what he was originally bread for, he was too worried if she decided to look back. Still he couldn't stay like that for long. He quickly wrapped his smaller clothes up in the coat and tossed them into the air. He quickly moved to stand on all fours and began to shift.

His body began to change, slowly at first. Then abruptly his bones, muscles, and organs realigned themselves and changed shape. His skin grew thicker into hide and fur began to grow, thankfully so considering the extreme cold. A long thick mane and tail grew in place, the same color of his human hair. He was now a horse, and his clothes fell back down onto his back. He trotted forward, stopping besides Adia.

His clothes slipped off his back, and fell into the snow besides him. He hoped she would pick it up, because he couldn't talk in this form, to ask her.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

As she walked up the mountain, she noticed Abel was not following and turned around to look for him. She saw him just long enough to look completely dumbfounded and say, “Whatthefuckareyoudoing?” She then saw that he was transforming and raised a finger to answer her own question by saying, “Oh… right…”

She then saw his clothes hit the snow, and walked over to the pile, picking them up and putting them back onto his back, “Brilliant,” she said as she unfolded everything. She put is jacket on around her own, and took the larger of his pants, putting them on around hers as well, “It’s cold,” she said, giving an excuse in case there were any hard feelings from it, “I’m hurt, sorry…” After having said that, she sat up on one side of him, and took his shirt to wrap around her split-opened knee; afterwards, she tied his sweater sleeves together and tied the tail of it to where the sleeves were tied in a knot, creating a sling for her arm.

She took his boxers, and bunched them up, putting them in the other pants’ pocket and then tied the legs of those pants around his neck, double knotting, then triple, then quadrouple knotting them to make sure they weren’t coming off easily. She then pulled her good leg over his back, and grabbed hold of the pant leg with her good hand, hunkering down close to him. “Okay,” she said, “I’m ready… but go slowly… please… slowly, I don’t want to fall off and take a tumble down the mountain.”

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel patiently waited for her to get ready. There were no hard feelings, since he hadn't exactly asked nicely for that New Child uniform part of his outfit.

He bent down, when she was ready to get on, making it easier for her to do so. He looked back to her with his large eyes, and nodded his long snout.

He began trotting forward slowly. Truthfully, moving up a mountain wasn't the best thing for a horse and even with all his fur and thick hide, the cold still bit at him. Of course he had the warmth of a woman's thighs around him, so it wasn't all bad.

He shook his head at the taught and then picked up the pace, just a bit. He tried to make sure it was a swift ride, using each stride's momentum to carry his passenger along at a steady flow. He was moving quickly, but carefully and at a steady pace. When he had to stop, he slowed down at small increments, and he accelerated slowly as well. He wanted to hear more about Adia, but he couldn't ask anymore. He wondered what her life was like, was it different from his? It was bearable if she would go back to it. The thought was a bit lonely. He hoped she could find happiness, even like that.

Instead of being deterred by meeting someone like her, he resolved himself to accomplish his goals. So that no one would have to choose between the life of a slave, or fending for themselves in the wastes.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

Once he started moving, wind from the movement began to shear by her and she buried herself as far as she could into his mane; at the same time, she forced all of her fur to shoot from her skin to help keep warm as well. After a while of travelling, she looked up to see how far along they had gone. They were still on the tail of those ghost-like remnants as they topped the ridge, and began climbing back down.

Suddenly, a loud shrieking noise could be heard in the distance. She shot up and pulled back on the leg of Abel’s pants that were tied to him, “Hold up, stop, stop, stop…” she said as she took a deep breath and looked around. She looked around and all of the ghost-like remnants had also stopped, they were looking around, panicked and scared to death; they were reliving what was surely their last moments alive.

“Soldier!” she shouted to the remnant like being she had talked to earlier, “What is it? What’s wrong?” She was somewhat afraid, but more focused on what was happening.

“They’re here,” the soldier said as he drew an automatic weapon, along with about 5 others in the crowd of people. Those unarmed withdrew to the middle of the group, surrounded by the 6 soldiers who carried guns.

“Who’s here?” Adia asked, looking around for whatever made that noise.

“The lanterns in the night,” the soldier replied back to her. His voice still sounded like a whisper into her ear, but he was at least 20 feet away now. “Once we go,” he said, “We can never go back. We will become a part of the city that is dead and so can never die, so that every night, we may live again.”

All around her Adia began to feel an eerie presence, and was extremely unnerved. While they stood still, glowing lights began to shimmer about like something out of an episode of the Twilight Zone. The lights reflected off of ghostly walls, and soon enough what appeared to be an entire city began to become visible. “The sun’s about to set,” Adia said, panicked, “We need to get out of here… Now!” She braced for the ride of her life, and kicked at Abel’s side instinctively.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

He couldn't speak, but he could understand her perfectly well. Still he couldn't voice his complaints and had to just laugh in his head as she pulled on him. Still, with all that was going on around him, he found this humor short lived.

Now did she mean for him to run towards the city or away? From what the man said, he definitely feared the city that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

But still... that was something he had not seen before. Was it an illusion? Actual physical manifestation of some great power? This is what they came up here to find out, the answers, the possibility for power.

He was torn between decision. He stood in place for a few moments, even after she screamed for him to move. He looked at city with longing. The key to save his people could lie in that place. He only needed the courage to find it.

But he couldn't drag her into it. He decided to move the way she was pulling him to. From her body laughter it was clear where she wanted to go. He began galloping, along the mountain, careful to maintain his balance and footing.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

As they bolted away from that place, the lights began to fade, and they soon found themselves somewhere unfamiliar. Adia looked back again and again, to make sure that that place was out of sight before she even thought about stopping. “Okay! Stop… I think we’re far enough away now…” she said as she caught her breath.

She hopped off of him and looked around; along the ground were tracks, from a horse. She looked out in the distance where the tracks were coming from, and looked behind her where they had come from, their own tracks had vanished. “Abel,” she said as she stood nearby, “We’re lost…”

All around them a blizzard began to pick up again, and snow began to fall heavily, blowing and scattering in the gusts of wind. She took off his jacket and his pants that she wore over hers, and took the sweater she had turned into a sling, and untied it, along with the pants she had turned into reigns. “Can you turn back?” she said as she got all of his clothes ready for him, except his shirt which she had used to wrap up her knee wound, “We’ll at least have each other to talk to, maybe… maybe we can figure this out together.”

[PS113C "ABEL"]

Abel nodded to her with his long snout. He too had noticed that they were not where they were anymore, but he was still freezing cold. His body shivered a lot, even in horse form. It might not have been a good idea to take his clothes off.

He reached down and held his clothes with his teeth, and then turned his back to Adia. He looked back to her with a horse for a second, hoping she'd take the hint. He then looked forward again, and regardless of whether or not she got it or not, he began turning back into a human. He could take it or leave it really, after all he was part horse.

Near the end of his transformation, he could barely tell his convulsions from the shift, from his shivering from the cold. He quickly put on his clothes, boxers first and everything else. He rubbed himself to create friction warmth, especially his important part. It was embarrassing to do, but it was important after all.

"Ah... aha... It's really cold..." He pointed out, in case she didn't notice, of course. He pulled his clothes close, as he turned to her. He really should have been paying more attention to what was going on, but... he had faith that things would work out.

Or rather, he just couldn't accept that he had suffered for all those years, just to finally escape and then die in a place like this. He just wouldn't have it, and if that was his fate, then he'd just become strong enough to destroy that kind of destiny.

It was as simple as that. Genuinely believing in himself and his training, he managed to remain his usual self even in this situation.

Hopefully Adia could take some comfort in the smile he showed to her. After a moment of gazing at her, he spread his arms out wide as if he was looking for a hug.

"You look really warm, right now," He said with a wide smile. He was hesitant to touch her with out her expressed permission, considering the fact that he was 'warming' himself just a few moments ago.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia looked at him as he tried to gesture to her; she didn’t get it at first, but then turned her back the second he began to change. While he was busy doing that, she walked up a steep incline to one side of the path, to see if she could get a better look at where they were. When she got high enough to look around, she tried to look for some path out, but it was nearly impossible to see more than about 50 feet in the blizzard.

She slid back down and saw Abel just as he was turning around to open his arms to hug her. She hugged him happily to keep as warm as she could; her fur still covering her body, it helped some, but having already been in the freezing cold for so long took away from it.

“What should we do?” she asked him, “You can’t see anything pretty much, we can’t stop now, in the blizzard, we’ll be buried and frozen to death. But this blizzard may go on for hours.” She thought for a moment and then continued on before giving him the chance to actually respond, “I guess the only question is… which path do we take? The one that we should have come down, but lacks our tracks… or the one that has tracks leading up to where we are, but in a direction we definitely shouldn’t come from.”

[PS113C "ABEL"]

"Pff, you're asking the wrong guy... Up until a few months ago I had lived my whole life in the same bed room, only ever venturing to the the adjacent bathroom," Was what he answered as he pulled his coat around her body and began to button it up, so that they'd both wearing it. Her fur was warm, and he couldn't help but want to snuggle up against her. He resisted of course, them being in some kind of death trap.

His smile faded and he got serious for a second, he knew that she probably need that.

"Well... if I had to guess," He quickly added.

"If we tried to follow our real direction, we could easily get lost with nothing but darkness and snow in all directions. If we follow this trail of foot prints, we at least have a path..." He explained his way of looking at it.

"Besides, we don't know that these are my hoof prints, and they might lead us to something we can smack around until we're where we should be," He said with his smile returning. He was still operating under the idea that they were victims of some kind of Remnant's special ability, and dealing with that Remnant would surely set them free... right?

[#PI077A "Adia"]

She raised a brow at his constant attempts to lighten the mood, and after he finished talking, she said, “We’re kind of in a life and death situation here, so if you don’t mind telling me what’s so funny or enlightening about this situation, that’d be great.” After that remark, Adia thought to herself “Some-one else’s indeed… that’s the part that scares me…”

“I guess then…” she finished, “We’ll follow the tracks.” At the very least, maybe it was the remnant that they were looking for who made those tracks. She pulled herself out of his coat, and began walking down the path with the tracks leading up to them from it. As she went on, she looked everywhere around her, and after about ten minutes of walking, they came across the next eerie life… or death-form.

This one looked much different; it was a man wrapped in cloaks and robes that looked to be centuries old, riding a sickly looking brown mare. As she approached, she heard the whisper of the rider’s voice as he looked down at the horse, “Sshh…” the voice said to the steed, though he was more talking to himself, “They say that this mountain is the home of all sorts of demon possessed spirits; I heard some-one saw a beast that appeared to be half wolf, and half human stalking the land.”

After hearing him, Adia immediately pulled back all of her wolf-like features, so as not to cause the remnant, or ghost, or whatever it was to run or fight. She got closer to the rider, and stepped on a branch in the snow, cracking it loudly. The rider looked up, its face also ghoulishly frozen in fear, “What? Who’s there?” it questioned as it looked at her and Abel, “What are you two doing here? Don’t you know that this place… is haunted?”

“What do you mean haunted?” Adia asked in return. She was beginning to catch on to these… spirits, in that they pretty much only responded to questions; this one did respond to the cracking of the branch though, maybe it was different.

“It was haunted 500 years ago,” the rider said in a soft voice, but not a whisper, “It will be haunted 500 years from now, well past the 21st century. Foul demons have enticed the spirits of the dead to come from their slumber and torture the living until they died and joined them.”

“We’re in the 21st century,” she thought, “But he’s talking about it as if it was the future. 500 years into the future… but that’s… not possible, there were no remnants 500 years ago, so he couldn’t be…” “Why are you here? Where are you trying to go?” she asked.

“I must… I must reach the town in the mountains, and deliver a letter to a long lost love. But the banshee… she haunts this stretch of road. She finds you, and you hear the scream… and then you’re frozen solid… your soul trapped on Earth forever, never to live, never to die. Never to see a loved one again,” the man said as he began to strut forwards.

“You know that you’re already dead… right?” Adia said, “This isn’t a road either, it never was.”

The rider panicked, and looked back and forth between them. It turned around and raced off, but first saying, “Spirits they are… they’re trying to trick me, we must go back, and make haste!” The horse thundered off down the road. Very quickly, the same loud, frightening shriek as before sounded off; and right then, the ground beneath the rider gave way, and the two plummeted down into a frozen and snowed over lake, and disappeared.

[PS113C "ABEL"]

It seems she was on edge, but she had good reason really. She pulled away from and began walking. He followed behind her as they walked.

"Adia, I'm sorry, but..." He apologized, but kept smiling to her.

"No matter what tragedies befall unto me, no matter what horrors I have to face, I still want to smile..." He said to her honestly.

"That's because its my life... I want to be happy, and I won't let anyone decide for me that I can't," He explained himself as he walked with her.

"I know we're in a dire situation, and might have to fight a strong opponent... but even so. I plan to win. So there's no point in worrying about it," He continued explaining, even though she might not want to hear about it. He still hoped his confidence could comfort her and continued to smile at her with that confidence.

He became silent when a mysterious rider became visible in the distance. As they approached it, he let Adia take the initiative as she seemed to like to in her straight forward, bottom line, manner.

He didn't know about all this talk of spirits, but from the stories he had been raised on, he had made some observations about humanity in general.

"Lack of information... Humans fear what they don't understand, and they assume the worse. That's the main cause for panic," He decided to declare.

Some of the words seemed odd to Abel. Particularly, 'She finds you, and you hear the scream… and then you’re frozen solid… your soul trapped on Earth forever, never to live, never to die.'

How did this person know all of that, unless someone had survived an encounter with the Banshee, and perpetuated the myth. Of course it was possible that he learned about all of that, after he became a victim of the Banshee, but then he should realize he was dead. Of course, the human mind was often quite a frail and fragile thing. It sometimes suppressed memories or ideas that were difficult to handle. It was all very perplexing, and really anything could happen next.

But these thoughts were interrupted as a ghastly wail screeched out, and the rider fell into the ground.

"Che," He sucked his teeth making a displeased sound.

"When is this thing gonna show itself?" He said a bit annoyed.

If this was some kind of illusion to frighten or generally disturb him, this Remnant was wasting its time, because Abel was still quite 'turbed. If this really was some kind of afterlife, or even the next world, then there was even less to worry about, since that would mean they were already dead, and if not dead... then that would only be reason to celebrate since not dead was generally good.

That was his general line of thinking anyway. Whatever comes, will come. He turned to look and see how Adia was handling it, but he felt like she was a strong woman despite the fact that she relied on a master.

[#PI077A "Adia"]

Adia looked curiously at where the horse vanished into the ground, and walked over towards it slowly. “I remember,” she said, looking back to Abel, “A story some-one told me once, about how they had found a woman frozen in ice, and were able to successfully revive her by thawing her out slowly. It meant that while frozen solid, she was technically still alive in that ice. If there is a soul… then what if this “Banshee’s” power is to force the living soul out of another’s mortal body… they would become… ghosts, like we’ve been seeing. The souls of each person would be free to some point, but they’d be trapped within the range of this remnant’s ability.”

She then moved forwards towards where the rider fell, and began hastily digging at the snow, as she did she talked “How much do you want to bet, that if we dig deep enough, we’ll find the lake with the rider frozen inside?” she said to him as she dug frantically. She shifted and mutated her arms into rather large, burly half wolf, half human ones; doubling the size of her hands and letting her use them like to shovels to dig through the snow.