[spookies] Swamp Monster?

There were some stories about a monster circling around the swamps, the residents barely seeing more than a shadow and the sound of rustling leaves, followed shortly by the screaming of tourists. No matter how many symprites and aras swarmed, no one could manage to get even a glimpse of it. The stories had been going for a very long time, becoming more and more unhinged as weeks and months and even years went on, and no one could resolve the mystery behind the unknown monster, and that is because there was no monster at all, only a symprite with a lot of time on his hands and a desire for chaos.

It was the Lunisolar festival once again and Aspen was swinging his legs on the bridge above the water, the red and purple sky mesmerizing in a way it rarely ever was. He was reminiscing about the year he had had so far, the various twists and turns of all the experiences this year and he snickered as he remembered a couple of them. He loved his job, he really did. It was a blast being able to fully let himself and his whims go wild even if just to scare away those that came to disturb the peace of the residents of the swamp, symps, aras or fauna alike. He made sure no one bothered them and his time here was mostly rinse and repeat of the same thing, with the occasional unforgettable experiences here and there. He remembered the time he finally got Lucius and it was always a laugh whenever he thought back to that moment.

It was late in the morning and, as he was resting against a tree, Aspen heard the crunching of someone stepping on the fallen branches and twigs around the swamp. He peeked around the thick trunk of wood and glanced around before catching a deep burgundy colored body, leaning towards purple, passing through. He immediately recognized Lucius due to his characteristic coloring and accessories, biote and horns full of thorny vines and icy colored flowers, and found himself quite surprised at his presence in the swamps. Lucius, despite being a swamp symprite himself, very rarely ventured away from his winery, preferring the neat environment and beautiful growing nature he nurtured compared to the chaotic wildness of the swamps that Aspen himself thrived in. As the leafy symprite observed Lucius walking around with care, he came up with an idea, and even though he knew Lucius would never disturb the residents of the swamp, whether it be symps, aras or wild fauna, he still wanted to try and give him the scare of his life.  It was his job after all and, well, it wouldn't do for him to miss out on this one in a lifetime chance right? He was doing it for the peace of the residents and it had nothing to do with his desire to constantly mess with Lucius, of course not. So, when all sound seemed to cease and even the wind seemed to settle, leaving an unsettling silence behind, Aspen moved through the foliage, his normally echoing footsteps void of all noise with the practiced ease of someone who did this regularly for a living. He followed Lucius around, figuring out the possible path he would be taking and making the occasional twig break the silence that seemed to have settled around them. When he saw Lucius crouch down near the edge of the swamp, to closely observe some herbs, well, there was no better opportunity right? So Aspen carefully slipped into the water without a ripple left behind and approached the dark colored symprite from below, observing him with his yellow colored eyes before he lunged, grabbing both of his arms in a swift move and pulling him down into the swamp with him. The gray colored symprite let Lucius go as soon as he felt him move beneath the water, both of them resurfacing when, soon enough, Aspen let out a snicker which turned into a full blown laugh the moment that he noticed Lucius’ usually carefully styled hair looking limp from the water, some plants and twigs stuck in his now tangled mane. Lucius seemed to take a couple of seconds to process everything that had just happened before he moved, getting out of the swamp with a splash and grabbing the plant he had been observing in his fist, taking a deep breath and heading towards the road he used to arrive in the first place. But not before throwing Aspen a dirty look as he left the still snickering symp behind, the gray colored male rejoicing in his successful plan once again.

Still snickering at the memory, Aspen grabbed and took a drink from his water bottle, noticing how the clouds in the sky seemed to be gathering up slowly drifting together while forming some kind of barrier in front of the moon in the most beautiful way, the light of the moon illuminating the edges of the clouds and painting them in a silvery color. He kept reminiscing about some of his memories and thought back to some time later in the year, when he had just been wandering around in search of something to do and ended up in a very confusing situation with one of the residents of the swamp. 

Aspen was bored. He hadn’t seen anyone around in the swamps for the last couple days and he needed someone to scare away before he went crazy. He swore that the next symp or ara he saw, whoever it may be, would not get away from him. He ruffled his leafy overgrowth away from his face with his webbed hands and let out a frustrated sigh. He was just about to give up for the day once again when he saw a teal colored blur dart from one side of the clearing to another. He focused his attention back to his surroundings and noticed a characteristic pink flower on the biote overgrowth on top of their head. It was Salix, one of the residents. He rarely if ever saw her wandering around outside of her home so he was curious about what she could be doing. The gray colored symp decided to follow her around for a bit, wondering if he should go through with his promise to himself or let her be, but what was life without a little fun right? Plus this was the first symp he had seen in the swamps in a week and who knows when his next chance would be. So he kept his pace and noticed she was gathering something from the ground. Some kind of root maybe? He dismissed the thought from his mind and focused on what was important in the moment. He looked around for some dry leaves or some sticks and, upon finding some, intentionally stepped on them. The rustling noise of the leaves and the sharp crack of the sticks breaking an almost afterthought within the noisy swamp. He kept repeating this as he followed Salix, making her look up and around sharply from what she was doing all along the river bank. Until finally he stepped from the shadow of the trees, his leaves muddy and messed up as much as he could manage while his body was covered in old vines and roots. He approached her as creepily as he could, moving unnaturally with an echoing silence to make it as credible as possible and once he was in front of her, he could do nothing but tilt his head confusedly, watching as she stared at him in fascination. Salix lifted her webbed hands and grabbed his head, holding him in place and tilting his head left and right as she seemed to inspect him while murmuring beneath her breath. Aspen held his breath and was about to open his mouth and ask her what she was doing when she seemed to notice his bright yellow eyes beneath the mated mane of his leaves. Aspen watched as realization seemed to dawn in her eyes as she suddenly let go of him, letting out a quiet distressed noise from her throat as she fled away in a teal colored blur, the roots she was digging up from the river bank left scattered all around him as he just stared at the place Salix was standing in not even 5 seconds before. 

Aspen still wasn’t entirely sure about how he had ended up in that situation if he was being entirely honest, the reaction that Salix had at finding out he was a symprite confusing him for a very long time after it happened. Fortunately though, he had later come to know that Salix just seemed to panic and disappear whenever she saw a living being that wasn’t some of the wild fauna found in the swamps. 

There are a lot more stories that could be told, more scares and mysteries to find out about but the swamp monster was not one of them. The monster was not a monster but a symprite trying to live life to its fullest without regrets by just doing what he loved. Scaring others and protecting his beloved swamp and the residents that inhabited it.