[He clears his throat, his mind going to one of the standard spooky stories his sister loved to pull out when he was a kid... but for whatever reason, that doesn't seem good enough. No, there was something that was urging him to add some real life experience to it instead... although he probably wasn't going to tell Kurogane that much.]
Okay...
Not too long ago, there were a class of fifth graders, who went on a weekend trip to the beach. There was nothing particularly special about the students, or the teachers, and the beach itself was as normal as could be. However... there were rumors about one of the caves that bordered the ocean. Some students thought it was haunted, while others thought it was under some sort of dark spell... but no one could prove anything aside from a few vague feelings.
The second night of the trip, the teachers decided to hold a test of courage for the students within that very cave. All they had to do was set a lit candle on a shrine, deep inside, and turn around and make their way back. Two by two, the students started to make their way in, until all that was left were a girl, a boy, and their friends that they were paired with.
The girl and her friend went in first, followed by the boy and his own partner. However... something was off. With all the students who had entered the cave, they would eventually wind up running into their classmates on their way back. But... no one was around. Not a student, not a teacher... not anyone. The boy, concerned, turned to his friend... only to see that his friend was nowhere to be found. Realizing something was wrong, the boy rushes through the cave-- only to find the girl, who went ahead of him, in tears because her friend had disappeared right in front of her eyes.
After calming the girl down, the two decide to get to the bottom of this mystery, suspecting the rumors about the cave had some supernatural weight to them after all. They explore the cave, until they come across the shrine in the heart of it all, littered with dying candles. It was clear that whatever was responsible for the disappearance of their friends, it was centering itself in that very spot, and therefore had to be sealed away somehow. But despite all of their stealth, and their silence, they couldn't quite sneak up on the spirit to catch it. The boy felt his body quickly begin to erase, and soon, he too became one of the many victims of that night.
But the girl, summoning her courage when she needed it most, managed to seal the spirit away in the nick of time. With the force now bound, all of the students came back into existence... although, unfortunately, none of them could remember a thing about their test as a result. But maybe, in the end, it was better that way-- to be without a mind or body, even for a small amount of time, is a horror no one should wind up experiencing.
The spirit is still bound to this day... though some say the girl who sealed it away has the power to control it at her own whims. Hopefully no one will ever make her angry enough to use it.
[He takes a deep breath, surprised at the story that came out of him, and glances back over to Kurogane, eyes expectant.]
2/2
Okay...
Not too long ago, there were a class of fifth graders, who went on a weekend trip to the beach. There was nothing particularly special about the students, or the teachers, and the beach itself was as normal as could be. However... there were rumors about one of the caves that bordered the ocean. Some students thought it was haunted, while others thought it was under some sort of dark spell... but no one could prove anything aside from a few vague feelings.
The second night of the trip, the teachers decided to hold a test of courage for the students within that very cave. All they had to do was set a lit candle on a shrine, deep inside, and turn around and make their way back. Two by two, the students started to make their way in, until all that was left were a girl, a boy, and their friends that they were paired with.
The girl and her friend went in first, followed by the boy and his own partner. However... something was off. With all the students who had entered the cave, they would eventually wind up running into their classmates on their way back. But... no one was around. Not a student, not a teacher... not anyone. The boy, concerned, turned to his friend... only to see that his friend was nowhere to be found. Realizing something was wrong, the boy rushes through the cave-- only to find the girl, who went ahead of him, in tears because her friend had disappeared right in front of her eyes.
After calming the girl down, the two decide to get to the bottom of this mystery, suspecting the rumors about the cave had some supernatural weight to them after all. They explore the cave, until they come across the shrine in the heart of it all, littered with dying candles. It was clear that whatever was responsible for the disappearance of their friends, it was centering itself in that very spot, and therefore had to be sealed away somehow. But despite all of their stealth, and their silence, they couldn't quite sneak up on the spirit to catch it. The boy felt his body quickly begin to erase, and soon, he too became one of the many victims of that night.
But the girl, summoning her courage when she needed it most, managed to seal the spirit away in the nick of time. With the force now bound, all of the students came back into existence... although, unfortunately, none of them could remember a thing about their test as a result. But maybe, in the end, it was better that way-- to be without a mind or body, even for a small amount of time, is a horror no one should wind up experiencing.
The spirit is still bound to this day... though some say the girl who sealed it away has the power to control it at her own whims. Hopefully no one will ever make her angry enough to use it.
[He takes a deep breath, surprised at the story that came out of him, and glances back over to Kurogane, eyes expectant.]
What did you think?