An night bird cried out somewhere in the distance. The snapping flames cracked and popped, warming Cole's bare chest from the chill of the night.
"What were you doing up here?" He asked. "Isn't it kind of weird for somebody to be wandering around a mountain during a storm by themselves?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing, not to mention your name." She retorted.
"Oh, yeah..." Feeling awkward, he said. "..My name is Cole."
" 'Cole'." She repeated. "Cole...short for 'Coleman', isn't it?"
"It's just...'Cole'. Just Cole." He muttered. He didn't like the name 'Coleman'.
"Well, '"Just Cole", if I were you, I'd try to get some sleep. It's the middle of the night, and unlike you, I haven't been sleeping for nearly twenty four hours." She said.
Cole shifted uneasily. How was he supposed to sleep with a sore arm, a throbbing head, and with a creepy lady who looks like a witch staring at him?
When Matilda saw his hesitation, she snorted impatiently. "Relax kid, if I wanted to get rid of you I would have done it hours ago, or just I could have just left you lying nearly smashed on that cliff."
He bit his lip, but consented to pulling the blanket back over his body and lying down. He forced himself to close his eyes and slow his breathing. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Matilda, careful to shut it if she glanced in his direction.
She ignored him for the most part, and stared distantly into the burning flames, her gaze unreadable. Her long, brown, scraggly hair with streaks of gray spilled from underneath her worn, pointed hat and around her midnight-blue cloak. The hiss of the flames and the rustle of the trees eventually lulled Cole to a peaceful sleep.
So, does that mean his full name is Coleman?
(And people aren't supposed to get streaks of gray until their sixties. )
( Then why is my dad graying in his 40s? Unless... Us kids are giving him gray hair. )
{Runaway Spoilers} I believe NFM meant that this little girl's MOTHER is married to Dog Bone -- and now I'm trying to remember if she's right or not. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
The sun rose steadily, turning the sky into a mix of deep vermilion and purple, and turning the fluffy clouds floating by orange with blue hues. Birds began to sing in the treetops, hidden by the thick boughs. Otherwise the forest was still and silent, save for the two sets of footsteps crunching on the ground littered with pine needles.
Matilda stared off into space, her brown eyes unreadable. At first Cole was uncomfortable with the silence, but then he began to listen to the birds chirping and the trees creaking ever so softly. The thick woods were serene, and he allowed himself to relax and breath into the fresh, cold mountain air.
Time slipped by as they walked uphill, passing looming trees and wide bushes. At one point Matilda suddenly asked. "Do you know why these mountains are called the 'Yokai ranges'?"
He started at the sound of her voice, then shook his head.
"Do you know what a yokai is?"
Again he shook his head.
"Long ago, the villagers who lived nearby these very mountains told haunting tales of angry spirits wandering these woods. A certain class of yokai were obake and bakemono...they were shape-shifters. It was said that while they could transform themselves into humans, their true forms could be a fox, a raccoon dog, a badger....or a cat."
Cole suddenly recalled the peculiar tabby cat who had led him out of the alley. "Do you believe those stories?"
She glanced at him with a wry smile. "Do you?"
He didn't know how to answer.
She locked her gaze at something past him. "Mm! Wait." She brushed past him and waded through tall grass to a tall, dark green bush with leaves similar to pine needles. Bright red berries were adorned on the branches, looking similar to a Christmas tree. From her bag she pulled out a gardener's glove and a small cloth sack. She began to pick the berries delicately off the bush, dropping them one by one into the sack.
"What are those?" Cole asked.
"Yew berries." She muttered, not taking her eyes off her task.
Seven, right, sorry. I hate math. (XD I wonder what it'd mean if he/she weren't. )
I probably hate it more. ( I guess he or she would be the black sheep of the family then. )
Have you made your parents' lives miserable every time they sat down with you to work on your lesson, or have you thrown your textbook across the room? --Ripped the pages up? Spat on them? Set them on fire? Flushed them down the toilet? Cursed the name of all mathematicians? (XD)
After Cole had scarfed down the cake and tea, Matilda began picking up the mats and blankets they had slept on and packing them into a small carpet bag. "So, what exactly did you think you were doing, climbing a mountain in the middle of the storm?" She asked. "If there was a 'Stupid Stunt' contest, I believe you would have won the grand prize."
"Har, har." He muttered. "I was traveling. I thought I could find shelter before the storm hit."
"Traveling, hm? Where to?"
He hesitated. "To..." He tried to remember lessons from Geography class. "...Jumanakai Village. Yeah."
"Hm." She grabbed some bottles filled with colored liquids and stuffed them in the bag. "Why are you heading for Jumanakai?"
He frantically searched for believable lies. "Uhh...to visit my uncle. He's a martial arts teacher."
"Why are you crossing the Yokai Mountains to get there? Surely you could just take a bus to Warbler Town and follow the river from there."
"Uh, I thought this would be quicker."
"Hsst..." She turned and glared at him. "Don't you lie to me, boy. Tell me the truth. Why are you traveling by yourself?"
He sighed. "OK, OK..." He took a deep breath. "...I'm running away. From school."
"Hmph. Thought so." She folded a blanket. "Why are you running away?"
"I just..." He crossed his arms, trying to think. How could he explain how he felt? There were so many mixed emotions. "...I just...couldn't." He paused. "My dad wants to send me to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts...he wants me to follow his footsteps and become a dancer."
Matilda didn't reply.
"He's trained me all my life to dance. It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, it's just that I don't think it's right...for me." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't take it too well when I told him I didn't want to dance. He said I was going to school whether I liked it or not. So..." He shrugged. "I ran away."
There was a moment of silence. Then Matilda murmured.
"So what do you want to do, Cole?"
Everything named after Yokai has a lot more meaning for me now.
{Runaway Spoilers} I believe NFM meant that this little girl's MOTHER is married to Dog Bone -- and now I'm trying to remember if she's right or not. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
The sun rose steadily, turning the sky into a mix of deep vermilion and purple, and turning the fluffy clouds floating by orange with blue hues. Birds began to sing in the treetops, hidden by the thick boughs. Otherwise the forest was still and silent, save for the two sets of footsteps crunching on the ground littered with pine needles.
Matilda stared off into space, her brown eyes unreadable. At first Cole was uncomfortable with the silence, but then he began to listen to the birds chirping and the trees creaking ever so softly. The thick woods were serene, and he allowed himself to relax and breath into the fresh, cold mountain air.
Time slipped by as they walked uphill, passing looming trees and wide bushes. At one point Matilda suddenly asked. "Do you know why these mountains are called the 'Yokai ranges'?"
He started at the sound of her voice, then shook his head.
"Do you know what a yokai is?"
Again he shook his head.
"Long ago, the villagers who lived nearby these very mountains told haunting tales of angry spirits wandering these woods. A certain class of yokai were obake and bakemono...they were shape-shifters. It was said that while they could transform themselves into humans, their true forms could be a fox, a raccoon dog, a badger....or a cat."
Cole suddenly recalled the peculiar tabby cat who had led him out of the alley. "Do you believe those stories?"
She glanced at him with a wry smile. "Do you?"
He didn't know how to answer.
She locked her gaze at something past him. "Mm! Wait." She brushed past him and waded through tall grass to a tall, dark green bush with leaves similar to pine needles. Bright red berries were adorned on the branches, looking similar to a Christmas tree. From her bag she pulled out a gardener's glove and a small cloth sack. She began to pick the berries delicately off the bush, dropping them one by one into the sack.
"What are those?" Cole asked.
"Yew berries." She muttered, not taking her eyes off her task.
{Spoilers} I promise, this is all the original story I copied from the MBs! I think I was playing around with the idea of yōkai at the time, and just added it in here for the sake of conversation.
I have IRL friends here, although I haven't met them before. LordTigress and MockingbirdInc are definitely real friends!
I have lots of "real" friends on here, but I will admit I group my friends, my friends on here, my friends back home, my friends at college, my writing friends, they all have their own category and place in my heart.
You received answers of both three seconds and eight seconds; both are wrong. It was long enough for Laval to ask Craggar who those random pajama men falling from the sky fighting were.
Somebody needs to clock it. I'm with Laval on this.
You received answers of both three seconds and eight seconds; both are wrong. It was long enough for Laval to ask Craggar who those random pajama men falling from the sky fighting were.
Meaning. . .
*looks at scene again and counts*
Ten seconds.
Brick, Mock was closer.
Shall I accept this as a final, undisputed answer?
( And I'm 99% sure the new kid will be too. 
)
All I can do is try. 
why don't I remember this? 
![[fp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/72cJSUMelnneD_GuLdak.png)
