[spookies] the mist

Karma was so lucky that Eden adored her. Were it not for love, there is no way that Eden would have decided to trudge through dense swamp lands, deserts, and rivers if they weren’t best friends. The two travelled together often. Usually, at the whim of Karma. Not all of their travels went smoothly. One such day was when they were travelling towards some mystery location Karma had once visited, they were met with a predicament.

 

The two had travelled alone on foot. They had chosen to go through the small forest that separated the snowy biome from the swamp biome. The air was dense with humidity. While the dense foliage allowed them to avoid direct sunlight, it did little to orient them from the heat. It didn’t help that there was a large change between temperature during the day and night. 

 

Now, as the wind swished through the trees causing the leaves to shake and rattle and as the light began to wane, Eden was beginning to question their choices. It wasn’t night fall yet but the temperature had dropped significantly. She glanced at Karma who also seemed to be cold. She was hugging herself and her fur was standing. Neither had been in cold terrain recently, leaving them with no time to adapt to frigid air.

 

“Let’s set up camp here,” Eden said. “It’s best to be ready before we loose all daylight.”

 

“I could keep going but since you so kindly offered, I’ll start setting up the tent,” Karma tried to keep her tone light but her relief was evident. She quickly took her backpack off.

 

Working in tandem, the two were able to get the tent up in quick minutes. The tent was large, like a mini house.

 

“Eden, how were you even able to find and fit this castle in our travel packs?” Karma asks.

 

Eden laughs. “It’s not much. I’m familiar with navigating and traveling so I wanted to help the best I could.”

 

“You’re the best travel buddy I could ask for,” Karma rolls out her sleeping bag and lays down. “Even if you can barely tell west from east.”

 

“Hey!” Eden threw a small pillow at Karma, who easily dodged.

 

She grabs the pillow and lays in her sleeping bag “I’m playing. You’re a beginner. So, it’s only natural that you’d struggle. I did a lot too when I first started.”

The sun had completely gone down but it was still early. Eden lights an oil lamp she had with her. While it illuminates the room, it does little to ease the worry that had seeped itself in to Eden.

 

“Do you think we should head back?” Eden asked. “You’ve travelled here before. Is it worth it?”

 

Karma hummed. “It is.”

 

“How did you even find yourself in a town like that one, anyway?”

 

“I never told you?” Karma propped her upper body up with her elbows.

 

Eden shook her head.

 

“It’s a bit of a spooky story,” Karma said. “But if you really think you can handle it~”

 

>>>>

 

Rumors about apparitions had spread far enough to reach Karma’s ears about for years ago. She had found herself in a small village. One so small it didn’t appear on the map she had been using to orient herself.

 

During the day, the village seemed normal. The symprites were kind and welcoming. Karma was even allowed to stay in a nice spare room that belonged to a symprite that travelled often and was okay with others using it when they weren’t there. They refused to accept money from Karma. So, she decided to lend her labor to an elderly couple.

 

There was where she’d first heard the rumor.

 

“Karma,” the wife said. “You can lay that sack down, right there. Yes, right there. Thank you so much.”

 

“It’s no problem, really,” Karma clapped her hands to get rid of some of the dust that had settled in some of her fur. “Is there anything else I could help with?”

 

‘“Not today,” the wife shook her head. “Best that you come in for a meal and head home. The sun’ll be down soon afterall.”

 

Karma was unsure what that had to do with anything but she nodded.

 

“Follow me, go ahead and sit anywhere,” she gestured for Karma to follow her inside and then towards the empty seats. “I’ll whip you something up really quick. Though, you may want to take it and finish it at home- er, wherever you’re staying I mean.”

 

“Ah, does your restaraunt not allow dine in?” Karma asked.

 

“Of course we do,” she gave Karma a questioning look. Then, she snapped her fingers “ah, you’re not from around here at all, so you probably haven’t heard about it.”

 

“Heard about what?” Karma asked.

 

Before the elder symrpite could respond, a high pitched sound rang out. It seemed like someone was ringing a bell and three rings rang out. The wife shook her head. “Let me fix you something fast. Sit up by the booth. I’ll tell you all about it.”

 

Karma sat in a stool by the booth and watched as the woman brought out some fish and turned on the grill.

 

“This time of the year we have are four warning bells,” she says. “They each ring three times, alerting everyone to sundown.The first rings about an hour before twilight, you just heard it. The next warning will go off thirty minutes before. The last one will be five minutes.”

 

“What happens then?” Karma asks.

 

The grill had begun to heat up and the woman laid the fish on it. As the fish touched the pan. It began to sizzle and bits of oil jumped causing Karma to lean slightly away.

 

“Then the mist rolls in,” she finally responds.

 

Karma waits for her to elaborate but she doesn’t. “The mist? Does it bring something with it?”

 

“The mist brings trouble,” she says. “It brings a strange, large creature. It has horns and makes strange sounds It’s so large that when it moves, echoes follow. Even the animals scatter.”

 

Karma takes a moment to digest the information. “Has anyone seen it?”

 

“No, no,” she says. “Well someone must have, in the past. Now, there are rumors that if you see it, you’ll be cursed with poor luck for the rest of the season and if it sees you, bad luck for the year.”

 

Karma nodded to show she was listening.

 

“Though my husband claims he’s seen it. I’m not sure I believe him.”

 

Karma didn’t have a chance to pry further that night because the fish was finished. The wife asked for Karma to stay as she brought out the containers for the food. While she was away, more bells started to ring. This time the tone was slightly deeper.

 

“Here you go, hun,” she holds out a small cardboard box to Karma. “You should be able to make it before the last warning bells.”

 

Karma took the box. “Thank you.”

 

“It’s no trouble,” she waved. “If you like it, you can come back tomorrow for more.”

 

 

When Karma exited the small dine, it was quieting down. The town that had been so bustling and busy just a few hours ago was mostly quiet. She only came across three other symps as she went to her destination. Two of them were a parent trying to drag their bappie inside and the other was someone cleaning their lawn before quickly entering their home. As Karma made it to where she was staying, the cold started to set in. It was still light out but the sun was clearly starting to set. The box she carried was warm in her hands and she was glad for the warmth.

 

>>>>

“And then-” Karma yawned, interrupting herself. “When I made it to-”

 

This time Eden’s yawn interrupted the story. “Maybe we should wait until tomorrow for the rest of the story.”

 

“Well, if you insist,” Karma’s eyes were already closed.” Only since you’re tired.”

 

Eden chuckled softly. She covered the top of the oil lamp, snuffing the light out. She settled in to her sleeping bag. Tomorrow, they’d make it closer to this mystery place and she’d learn about the rest of what Karma experienced.

 

The morning sun poured in through their tent. With their tent being illuminated, it wasn’t long before both of the symprites awoke. It was clear even without any lamps.

 

“I’ll start breakfast, if you want to wash up first,” Eden stretches. “When we’re done, we can pack up and try to make some headway.”

 

Karma yawned and nodded sleepily. She stood, swaying slightly, and waved to Eden before stepping out of the tent.

 

“Don’t go to far,” Eden calls out. She faintly hears Karma’s ‘Okay’.

 

With Karma ready a few feet away, Eden makes quick work of putting their sleeping bags away and checking the level of the oil left in the lamp. After that, she exited the tent and began to prepare breakfast. Nothing crazy, just a few dried fish and some pink petaline. As Eden was opening the dried fish, she heard some rustling nearby.

 

“Karma?” she called out and was met with silence. She went back to her task, arranging her things so when Karma came back the two would be able to put the tent away. Then, the rustling came back and from the corner of her eye, Eden saw something move.

 

She whipped her head and was met with... nothing. She called out for Karma once again but silence. She sat for a few moments waiting for something, movement, whatever had made the rustling noise, mist, anything. Nothing happened.

 

A few moments later, Karma emerged from the trees, explaining how she’d gotten distracted after finding a small neri and how she wasn’t used to finding them in the wild. She apologized for making Eden wait.

 

“It’s nothing to be sorry about,” Eden waved her hand dismissively. “Let’s eat.”

 

The two were able able to finish breakfast and pack the tent up with no issue. They even made it much further than they originally planned. When they settled in for the night, Eden still had the story and the odd sounds she’d heard that morning stuck in her mind. The two were already sitting in their respective sleeping bags. She stared as Karma wrote in her journal, waiting for her to finish the entry. 

 

“Done,” Karma shut her journal and dried off her pen. “Okay and now to you. WHat’s on your mind?”

 

“You said you’d finish telling me what happened with the town and the mist,” Eden said.

 

“Ah yes,” Karma nodded. “Where did we leave off?”

 

>>>>

The fish was delicious. It’s what Karma remembers best about that night. The place she was staying only had the barest of things, a table, chair, some dishes and silverware, and a bed. The bed didn’t have covers, though luckily she had her own. There were two windows, neither had curtains but had planks of wood covering them. The planks were slopily placed and some of the moonlight was steeping in through the open spaces.

 

The final warning bell sounded when Karma was eating her fish. She’d been so tired from walking and helping that she ate and hit the sack. She fell in to a deep sleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow. She couldn’t remember anything being out of the ordinary that first night.

 

Originally, Karma had intended to leave that second morning, but curiosity gets the best of her. That’s how Karma found herself walking towards the couple’s shop again. When she arrived, it was the husband that was around.

 

“Ah, you’re the one that helped us out yesteday, right?” He waved. 

 

“Yes sir,” Karma nodded.

 

“Weren’t you just stopping by? Is everything alright?”

 

“Yeah, everything’s ok,” Karma assured. “I just had some questions... about the mist?”

 

The man’s eyes lit up. “What about it?”

 

“Well, your wife said you’d seen it before,” Karma said.

 

“Yeah, it was quite a while ago but I remember it clearly, like it had happened yesterday,” he says. “It was a thick fog, but even with in it I could make out the shape. It was large, so large that it blocked the other houses. It also wasn’t quite a definite shape. It would come undone, falling apart, then pulling itself together again. It was quite the sight. I wanted to see more but them my mother came in the room, shut the curtains, and had me sleep in the same room as her. Didn’t let me stay in my room until the mist stopped rolling in.”

 

Karma nodded. “And your luck?”

 

“If you ask me it was normal,” he said. “But everytime some sprt of obstacle or odd strange happened, my mother was convinced it was me. The next mist season, I was too afraid to look at it.”

 

“And now?”

 

“Now, I have too much to loose to figure out what could be behind the mist,” as he finished his sentence his wife came in through the door holding a few boxes. “Oh, hunny I’ll help you.”

 

Karma stayed to help another day. Her head the whole time was stuck on the mist and this mysterious creature that was in it. At the end of the day, when the first bell rang. Karma was given some more food to take to where she was staying. This time she was determined to see the creature of the mist.

 

The fish was as delicious as it’d been the first night. After finishing it, Karma had little to do but wait. She’d documented everything in her travel journal and the light was quickly waning. There weren’t many lights in the home she was staying at. One flickering light bulb was all there was. It hadn’t bothered her before because she’d been so tired but now that she was determined to stay awake, it worried her a smidge. In order to keep herself from ruminating over her fears she began recalling how she’d gotten there, the path she’d taken, the flora and fauna she’d seen. As she mentally retraced her steps, she heard it. The sound of creatures moving.

 

Karma rushed to the window but couldn’t see much, just a thick fog and some vague shadows. She quickly flicked the lights off, hoping to get a better view. From where she was, she could see nearly the whole town during the day. Now, the fog was all she could see. She stared, hoping to see something but her enthusiasm slowly faded. Just when she was about to give up, she spotted it.

 

A pair of eyes. Multiple pairs actually. There were multiple pairs of eyes in that fog, and they were all staring back at her.

 

Satisfied, she took a few steps back and went to bed. Those eyes didn’t belong to monsters. She could rest easy. 

 

>>>>

“And what was it?” Eden asked moving closer.. “What did you come in contact with?”

 

Karma smiled. “Well it wasn’t a monster, that’s for sure.”

 

“Okay, this not monster as what?”

 

“It was a herd of verons,” Karma said.

 

“Verons?” Eden asked. “They were afraid of those gentle creatures?”

 

Karma nodded. “They never saw them directly.”

 

“I understand that,” Eden said. “But larger than a house? Falling apart and coming together?”

 

“Trick of the eye,” Karma laughed. “What he’d been seeing were the shadows of the verons. They’re already large animals so with the mist, it wouldn’t be hard to think they could dwarf houses. The falling apart was caused when the verons would move away from one another and coming together happened when they’d huddle closer.”

 

“Oh,” Eden said. “So there aren’t any scary creatures.”

 

“Well, they can be pretty scary if treated poorly,” Karma said. “But they won’t harm you if you leave them alone. Veron’s are quite sweet you know?”

 

“I know that much,” Eden said. “I just didn’t know they traveled in packs. I was also unaware that they came so consistently. And the mist? What about the mist?”

 

Kara tilted her head, questioningly, “ it was just normal mist. It’s that time of year.”

 

Eden then felt a bit silly for how worried she’d been.

 

“The alarm bells were actually because originally the mist also came with lots of rainfall,” Karma explained. “The rainfall would lead to a nearby river to overflow causing flooding all throughout the village. Some villagers would even be swept aay and end up lost in the woods. That’s why the warning bells were in place.”

 

Eden nodded. “Ah. That explains it.”

 

“Yep, but it sure seemed like some ghost tale at first right?”

 

“A little,” Eden agreed.

 

“Now come on,” Karma puled Eden’s sleeping bag so that she’d be covered. “We’re almost there. We should reach it by tomorrow. Maybe we’ll be able to see the verons migrate and we can have some of those delicious grilled fish. Get some rest. I know I will”

 

Eden laughed and followed Karma’s lead. The two were out in moments. 

 

The next morning, they were out quickly. Karma had suggested skipping breakfast but Eden wasn’t having it. They compromised with eating on the go. They made it the village before the sun had reached the highest point in the sky. The couple that had helped Karma last time still recognized her. Turns out, that not many people stumble upon them so she had left quite an impression simply from being there.

 

After hearing how much she liked the cooking, the wife made them each an extra large portion of the grilled feet she’d made last time. They both appreciated it and Eden can safely say that the fish was as delicious as Karma had made it seem.

 

Later that day, when the warning bells began, Karma and Eden walked to the small home. The two bunkered up and Karma showed Eden where the best spot was to look at them. As the mist rolled in and the house became covered in darkness, Eden wasn’t too worried.

 

It ended up being beautiful. A wind rolled in so Eden was even able to get a good look at the verons with their babies. Then, she thought to herself, she’s pretty lucky Karma was her friend because they got to experience things like this together.