The stairs go down quite a ways, with the mortar between the stones glowing amber the deeper they go. It's also dangerous in the sense that Pamela can't go six steps before starting to dance or jump around, so Alptraum risks getting pulled forward while holding onto her tail (but if he let go, he would most likely just get a face-full of tail all the time).
"Ba-pa-ba-papapapa," the squirrel sings(?) every so often as well. "Hey, you can fly, so do you know how ghosts can do it? Because I can't. I'm pretty sure that's something ghosts should be able to do though, don't you think?" she stops to ask him.
"I have no idea how ghosts do it. I do it 'cause I have wings, they're necessary fer it for us," Alptraum comments. "Why no jus imagine yerself flying?
"Because.. I have a very hard time doing that," Pamela claims, and goes back to descending.. backwards so she's still facing Alptraum. "I don't lose my balance though. But imagination.. eh. That's like dreaming. I once stayed awake for five days, and started having trouble remembering things, so it's a lot like that. Ghosts don't sleep. It's hard to remember stuff after I died, unless it's really memorable. Like meeting you!"
"Only because I threw yer head at someone," Alptraum points out, "And because of dat now you follow an bug me."
"Nah, it's you," Pamela claims, and turns around to face forward again. Now she does a butt-wiggling dance while making her nonsense singing. But the stairs end not far ahead. There's another door waiting.
"Eh, vhy is it me? Some useless orphan in de middle of de woods? I less important dan de slugs dat eat leaves," Alptraum points out. "An oh yaya, annudder door. vhat do I have t' do to get through it? Burp?"
This door opens for them, just to mess with Alptraum. Beyond is a chamber with walls made of skulls. And a desk. Sitting behind the desk is a woman with skin so black she looks like a silhouette. The only non-black parts are her silver eyes and the jawless yellowed skull she's wearing as a mask. It isn't clear what species she's supposed to be, but the lack of fuzziness in her outline probably means she's human.
"Mother of Bones!" Pamela greets exuberantly. "I found one of those.. uh.. whatevers you are always looking for!" She then gestures to Alptraum just in case it isn't obvious.
"Wait a mo'. People lookin' fer me in dis dead place? Er, no thanks, I t'ink I go back up now," Alptraum remarks, spins on his heels and starts back up the stairs!
"Hello, young man," the Mother of Bones says in a hollow, echoing voice, as the door closes before Alptraum. "Do no be rude. And I am not looking for you specifically."
Alptraum stops and then hops back around as he has one leg raised. "Errr," he says slowly. "Den whatcha lookin' for? I'm no worth eatin'."
The woman is suddenly right in front of him. She's taller than Alptraum, probably as tall as Borg the Big. "You quickened Pamela," she says. "Have you encountered spirits before?"
"More den I really vant to," Alptraum admits as he looks up, and his ears splay out. "And I did not do anything to 'er other den throw 'er head!"
"He was in my nest!" Pamela says. "I felt really awake!"
"You have the eyes," the Mother of Bones notes. She hasn't tried to touch Alptraum yet though. Her eyes are very much like Alptraum's own, in fact. "You're an Edgewalker."
"Imma what-now? Sure, I know me style and such can be very er, edgy, but I don' walk on em," Alptraum babbles and takes a step back. "I'm jus' an abandoned bat survivin' on whatever. Das it."
"You walk on the edge between the living and the dead," the Mother of Bones explains. "And you are on your own?"
"Am now. Left those lookin' after me cuz I just cause trouble," Alptraum says. "I kin survive on me own anyway, dey at least taught me how t' do dat."
"So who is protecting them now?" the Mother of Bones asks.
"Dey don' need anyone protectin' dem," Alptraum says. "Dey plenty good at protectin' demselves."
"They got a funny looking black Khatta with a long nose and ears and a floofy tail that attracts monsters and spirits," Pamela claims, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Noticed him before this one flew into my nest."
"Hexen. He a fox, not a khatta. Whatcha mean 'e attracts stuff?" Alptraum has to ask and looks at the dead squirrel. "'is dad is huge an powerful, tho. So no one really mess wit 'im."
"A strange attractor," the Mother of Bones says. "Have you perchance had to extricate him from supernatural peril before?"
"Sure, a few times. But den so haf de others of de tribe. Da mama Radovah is scary in 'er own right," Alptraum comments.
"Can she deal with spirits and monsters then?" the Mother of Bones asks.
"I t'ink so. Never asked her. No like I kin any better," Alptraum comments. "Iffin yer tryin' to convice me t' go back to em, it no workin'."
"Why did you leave?" the Mother asks next. "Were you driven out?"
"Cuz I wanted to. Tired of bein' blamed fer problems," Alptraum comments and sticks out his tongue.
"What were you being blamed for?" the woman asks. "Were you responsible?"
"Fer Hexen gettin' into trouble! And no, I was not! Not entirely!" Alptraum says. "And it wuz 'er head dat scared everyone." He thumbs towards Pamela.
"He likes my boobs!" the ex-Kadie claims, flicking her tail around.
"That's all?" the Mother of Bones asks, looking skeptical. "You are leaving him to his own devices now. Why haven't you done that before then?"
"BEcause before now I wouln' haf been able t' survive on me own as easily," Alptraum says and crosses his arms. "Vhy do you even care?"
"I am trying to come to a decision," the Mother of Bones answers. "Do my questions bother you?"
"What sort of decision?" Alpraum asks, eyes narrowed. "I find em worrying cuz dey nosy about private stuff."
"Oh? So you don't expect to ever be questioned about why you are on your own in a haunted land?" the Mother asks. Her eyebrows are hidden by the mask (if she has any, since there's not other sign of hair) but there's enough expression in her eyes to infer her brows are raised.
"No generally, no. You don' see me askin' why you sitting in a dark hole wit a head on yer head, do ya?" Alptraum points out. "Or even why ya so interested in me, of all t'ings."
"I'm a god whose people have moved on," the woman says. "Edgewalkers are usually witches or reapers. They've been trained from a young age to properly use their gifts."
"I jus know how t' steal stuff. Can' say I feel gifted," Alptraum admits.
"Untrained," the woman says. Then pauses for a long moment. "You cannot survive on your own. You will be hounded by ghosts and worse, and they will be a constant drain on you. I can help you though, if you wish."
"Yeeeaaaah, dat is never offered witout a cost to it. So, wha de cost?" Alptraum asks suspiciously.
"An I kin survive fine," he grumps.
"The cost?" the ex-god asks. "I will remove that which spirits desire from you."
"Wha do dey desire from me?" Alptraum asks, eyes still narrowed.
"Life," the Mother of Bones says.
"Is that what it is?" Pamela asks. She then stairs at her palms in contemplation.
"Oh hell no. Nu-uh, no way. Y'not killin' me. Right' time fer me to go I t'ink. Nice ta meetcha an all, but dis place is no for me," Alptraum says as he backs up to the door, and tries to open it.
The door opens into.. a blur? It's a lot of hazy colors and motion. "Come with me!" Pamela says and runs past Alptraum, grabbing onto his hand to try and lead him through.
Alptraum tries to grab Pamela's hand and follow her through!
The footing is as wobbly as everything else, but then the squirrel zigs to one side, and things become more stable before starting to solidify into a town. There are a lot of Rath'ani out and about, and they're all staring at the pair.
"Vhere in Dagh's bunghole are ve?" Alptraum blurts out as he appears in the middle of some weird town."An why de hell did ya take me to someone vho vould kill me?" he demands of Pamela.
"Cuz she can do stuff," the Kadie claims. "I kinda only remember a little about her though.. oh. this place." Pamela looks different. For one thing, she's wearing rough-looking clothes (well, mostly a long shirt that might have started life holding potatoes) and has another sack of sorts over her shoulder. "Let's hurry!" she says, and tries to move faster while leading the bat. Windows are shuttered as they pass, and parents are hauling children indoors as well. "The crossbows will come out soon!"
"You attacked dis town, didn'y vou?" Alptraum accuses. "Vhy couldn't haf ya just left me alone? Is she gonna come after us too? An help wit de crossbows?"
"What? No, I didn't get twenty paces in before they did this!" Pamela claims. "I dunno what Bone Mom will do, I just thought it would be best to run, since.. these are my memories."
"Great, vhy couln' vou haf memories wit flowers and pretty glades and happy stuff like a sane girl?!" Alptraum squawks at the kadie as he continues to run.
"Don't say that.." Pamela starts to warn, but it's too late. Now they're in a nice park, with a gazebo and lots of festive decorations. And Pamela is a bit younger, and wearing a pretty dress has ribbons in her hair. "You need to behave yourself, Pampam," an older Kadie woman is telling her. "Don't go running off on your own, and stay away from the dock. You can't trust strangers."
Disturbingly, Alptraum is also younger now.
"Vhy de hell am I younger?!" Alptraum squeaks at Pamela in frustration. "At least dis is safer but come on, I hated bein small vhen I vas small. And yer mom seems nice."
"Ew.. get away from that nasty thing, Pammy," the mother says, grabbing onto Pamela's other hand. "They're full of diseases!"
"Yeah, she's really nice," Pamela claims.
"Vha nasty t'ing?" Alptraum asks as he looks around for something awful.
"She means you," Pamela says, and tries to pull away from the woman. But she has a mom-grip.
"'Ey! I not nasty," Alptraum insists and marches over, grabs Pamela's other arm, and pulls!
The tug of war doesn't last long, because Pamela uses her tail to attack her mother's face and escape. "Make for the woods!" she squeaks to Alptraum.
Alptraum runs towards trees! He hopes they're trees, anyway. "Mebbe ya should stay wit yer mom," he calls back to Pamela.
"She's horrible! Always telling me what to do, yelling at me for getting in trouble, making me marry that skeevy old guy with his ground house. I'm better off on my own!" They get to the trees, and Alptraum feels bigger again, and Pamela's clothes become a lot more ragged.
"You would haf been alive, tho, instead of barfed on!" Alptraum points out. "So, how do we git out of yer memories?"
"You call living like that living?" Pamela asks, looking aghast. "I wanted adventure and excitement! Taking life by the nuts and cracking them in my teeth!"
"Ya ended up not livin' anyway!" Alptraum argues and pokes her nose. "But now isn' de time to argue. How do we git out of here?"
"I dunno, maybe.. uh.. this way!" the Kadie claims, and dashes off into a bank of fog.
"Oy," Alptraum grumbles and heads after her.
The forest gets a lot more ominous. By the time Alptraum catches up, Pamela is naked and dirty, and holding a spear that's pretty much a branch with a sharpened tip. The trees look like they have faces demonic faces in their bark. "Come out! I'm ready for you!" the squirrel is shouting into the mist.
"De hell is goin' on now, ya big-boobed weirdo?" Alptraum demands as he looks between the kadie and the trees.
"AAAARGH!" the girl yells and spins to face Alptraum, looking crazed. There isn't any recognition in her eyes at all for a moment. "Is it you, or another trick?" she demands.
"Is it who/what? We jus' left yer mum and ran into de woods," Alptraum growls back. "What do ya mean anudder trick?"
The squirrel leaps at Alptraum.. and sniffs him. "Hmmm.." she muses. "You don't smell like the demon. But it's out there! We're stalking each other! I'm going to kill it for sure this time!"
"Vha demon ya talkin' about?" Alptraum asks, brow arches now. "An vhy are ya messin' wit demons? Dat usually no a good idea."
"It's been messing with ME!" Pamela claims, hopping about to try and cover all directions at once, her tail a twitchy blur. "Howlin' every night, getting closer. Tricking me! Hiding in the trees!"
"Vhy don' ve jus git out of here instead?" Alptraum asks, "I kin try t' fly both of us..."
"That's not how it happened!" the squirrel insists. "I can do it this time! You can help! You'll help me right? That's what you do!"
"Dis is vhen you died?!" Alptraum blurts out. "Y'can't change de past. Vha done is done!" He rubs over his face in frustration, then pulls out his knife. "But fine, I try t' help I guess. I die 'ere or back dere wit de crazy lady. At least dis vay I picked it."
Alptraum also remembers something Hexen said, and closes his eyes. His ears fan and tilt as he maps out the forest through its sound and the sound all around them. If you don't see it, it can't freeze you.
"Yes! You understand now!" Pamela says. There's a familiar wailing sound. It's coming from higher up. In the treetops or above them.
Alptraum /shoves/ Pamela to the side since it can 'attack' from above. Then he's running towards a tree, and he goes up it/vaults off it using his feet, going airborne and tracking that creature now purely through sound.
But now.. it goes quiet. There's rustling, but that's from the night breeze (unless it's mimicking the sound itself). "Why'd you push me?" Pamela demands. "Where is it?"
"It was above us, it would have barfed on your head," Alptraum calls back, but then has to go into a flurry of pings now to look for shapes that do not fit, or that move.
Everything sounds like trees. Can it fool hearing as well as sight? Except something does move, even if it still seems like a tree.
Alptraum moves towards it, sort of, but tryes to not seem like he is; as if he were going to go by it. Only when close he'll grab a nearby branch with his feet and hook himself around to attack the damn thing.
It moves again, making it clearer where it is.
Alptraum goes into more of an aerial dance to keep the creature on its own toes while trying to close the distance enough to stab the damn thing!
It seems to be moving very slowly.. or else is more focused on the Kadie that is cursing and taunting in all directions.
At least he can tell where the kadie is. When he gets the chance, he dives onto whatever it is's back and starts trying to stab it like mad!
It's like a furry tree trunk, and just about as hard. And there's more of it. Those impossibly long limbs are still moving. And there are wings, albeit ones too small to actual fly something so large.
Alptraum digs in his grip with his foot-claws and continues to hack and stab wildly on it. His eyes are still closed, too; he's not about to open them and get frozen.
"Where are you! I'm ready for you!" Pamela shrieks. But the Garglewhomper stops. "It's you," it says. "The waste." It isn't clear if it's addressing Pamela or Alptraum. "This is not a living memory."
"The waste? What do you mean, the waste?" Alptraum demands while still continuing to stab the thing. "Living or not, she asked me t' help, so I'm helping you 'erk," he growls.
"She died," the Garglewhomper says. "A waste. I need living memories."
"Why? You should leave people alone," Alptraum growls. "Quit fukkin' wit people's lives!"
"They remember me," the demon claims. "That gives me life."
"Ah, yer a bastard belief monster t'ing. We don' need ya. So, jus fade away and be done ya prick," Alptraum says.
"What gives you life?" the thing asks Alptraum instead.
"Living. Eating, the usual sort of t'ings," Alptraum counters. "I don't suck on people's minds."
"Not what feeds your flesh," the Garglewhomper clarifies. "Life. Like this noisy one."
"I don't understand de question, it all be one and de same t' me. I'm not a ghost like she is," Alptraum comments while still stabbing whatever it is.
"Are you sure?" the demon asks. "Does nothing make you feel alive? Make you crave more life?"
"Eh, too busy surviving to look for anything more den dat," Alptraum counters. "An I survive t' piss off de world dat tried to git rid of me."
"The world tries to get rid of everyone," the Garglewhomper claims. "And it always succeeds in the end. You are alive yet in a ghost's memory. You are special. Is she your lover?"
"Her? I barely know 'er. She died long before I wuz born," Alptraum points out. "She drug me here, no idea why."
"Ghosts cannot drag the living anywhere," the monster claims.
"Apparently dey can, since I be 'here'. Ve ended up here after we ran from the bone woman," Alptraum says, shrugs, and just keep son stabbing.
"And you are certain that you are alive?" the demon asks, as Pamela begins climbing up one of the ridiculously long limbs.
"Yah, I'm alive. Never died dat I know of," Alptraum claims.
"Why are you talking?" Pamela claims. "This thing is made of giant twigs!"
"I do not need to be here," the Garglewhomper claims.. and then Alptraum is clinging to empty space.
"Waaaah!" goes Alptraum as he plummets down to the ground into a pile.
At least he lands on something mostly soft, since Pamela was closer to the ground already. "Oof! That shouldn't hurt anymore!" she complains. She seems to be all tail.
Alptraum rolls off. "Can we go back to the real world, please?" the bat asks weakly.
"I am unsatisfied," Pamela claims. "The real world? What do you mean?" she asks.
"Back in the cellar where you yanked me from into dis looney bin," Alptraum grumbles.
"Dis is just yer memories," he adds.
"Are you saying my memories aren't real?" the Kadie asks.
"Dey real, but dey memories. Not the world I come from," Alptraum says and sighs. "Look, I no tryin' to insult you or anyt'ing."
"But I remember you being with me all sorts of times," Pamela says. "You're part of my memories.. aren't you?" She's starting to sound a bit confused.
"No, you died long before I was born," Alptraum reminds. "You took me along through your memories, so I guess made me part of them now? I dunno how dis works, sorry."
"Oh.. right, we're in Bone Momma's Garden.." Pamela says, and sits up. "And why did we need to get out again?"
"We were trying to git away from 'er. And why? Because I don' belong here," ALptraum says.
"Right.. you want to get out so we can stay together," Pamela says, striking her fist into her palm.
"Not ... quite," Alptraum says as he rubs his face slowly. "But right now, how do we git out of 'ere?"
"I don't know," the squirrel says and shrugs. "We should ask the Mother of Bones! She'd know how."
"No! She jus' want t' kill me, jeez," Alptraum says and sighs.
"Jus take me back through de door you brought me in through, 'k?" Alptraum asks.
"Why?" Pamela asks. "Does she want to kill me too?"
"Yer already dead. I can't go near here. Come on, just take me back out through de door you brought me in through," Alptraum says, exhasperated.
"Door? In the woods?" Pamela asks. "You mean my nest?"
"You're too close to her death memory," a voice from the shadows notes. A hollow one. "You've confused her," the Mother of Bones explains.
"Great, you've followed us," Alptraum growls and gets slowly to his feet. He flips his knife around in his hand, holding it in reverse and says, "Look iffin yer here to kill me, y' gonna find it hard to do. An I'm tired of runnin' so lets git dis over wit."
The skull-masked figure steps out from behind a tree, carrying a bone torch that.. burns at the top and bottom, but the silver flame jumps from the top to the bottom and back again as if it can't decide where to burn. "Do you truly wish to take your chances out there?" she asks.
"Back out in the real world? Yah, it all I know and haf. Why?" Alptraum asks, eyes narrow. HE starts to slowly circle this self-proclaimed 'god'.
"And you really think you know what it will take to survive there?" the Mother of Bones asks. "Because you do not. I can spare you a bad death."
"Good death, bad death, eh? All perspective," Alptraum says. "All yer offering to do is kill me now instead of it happening later."
"Yes," the god says. "Now, while you healthy, and without guilt or suffering. Or you could haunt your own bones, if you'd rather. What other alternatives are there?"
"I rather just die later, thanks. Whenever that day may come. Just not today. Why are ya so obsessed with killing me? Am I a danger to you?" Alptraum accusses.
"You remind me of myself," the Mother of Bones claims. "Before I understood mercy. But if you wish to leave, the door is behind you. Pamela can show you out, just hold her hand until she knows what is happening."
"Ya still haven't really explained who ya are, or why ya wanted me really to stay with you. Yer lonely, arencha?" ALptraum sks.
"I miss my witches," the Mother of Bones admits. "You abandoned your people, so why shouldn't I claim you as my own?"
"Eh, my people abandoned me. The ones I was with just picked me up," Alptraum points out and shrugs. "An I a guy, I can't be a witch."
"Then the ones who raised you are your people," the Mother of Bones says. "There are male witches. But you are not a witch. You are raw and untempered. And too young to know better. You will perish, and those who took you in will perish. That is your choice. The door is open."
"You don know dat either of dos vill happen," Alptraum points out, "No one know de real future. But, I vill go. Mebbe we meet again some day.""
"We will not," the Mother of Bones says, and walks off with her odd silver-flamed torch. The memory forest darkens until it's just the doorway, Alptraum and Pamela.
"Eh, you don' know dat," Alptraum says as the 'god' walks off. "C'mon, squirrelbutt, time for us ta' go," he says as he takes her hand and heads back through a doorway.
"I feel weird," Pamela notes as they head back up the stairs. "Hey, do you like me?" she asks.
"In what way? Ya seem okay," Alptraum comments, "Fer a ghost."
"So I can stay with you?" the squirrel asks. "What's your name?"
"Eeeeh, you probably can't stay wit me, yer a ghost. I'm Alptraum, not dat it matters," Alptruam says and shrugs some.
"Is that even a real name?" Pamela asks. "Why can't I stay with you? You make me more real. Just go get my skull! I'll let you feel my boobs," she offers. "I don't want to just be a shade again."
"Because you scare peoples, and I don know how long you'd feel real, even around me," Alptraum admits. "And yes, dat is my name. It an awful one, but eh. I also dunno where I end up going from 'ere."
"A vampire farm," the Kadie notes as they reach the door back into the basement. She sounds sad. Hopefully her face isn't going to melt again.
Alptraum hugs an arm around the kadie. "Is dere anyplace I could take yer remains, mebbe? Back home to where ya came from?" he asks.
"Tursdi? That's.. a long way off," Pamela says. "No, don't want my family to know I'm dead. If they're around."
"Dey prolly long dead too," Alptraum admits. "I don' really know what to do."
"Need to stay in the basement anyway," Pamela advises. "Garglewhomper will be out soon, and it knows you."
"Yeh, I know. I kin made due for one night dere, then mebbe figure t'ings out inna morning," Alptraum says and sighs. "But, wuz she right, will those dat took me in rilly die now dat I'm gone?"
"This is a really haunted area," Pamela says, sitting in a corner of the basement. "And.. you know.. got an old god and a monster. Probably zombies and stuff. I think I was trying to hunt some. That could have been awhile back though."
"Eh, what it matter if dey do? No like I kin really do anything to help dem; I cause most of dere problems," Alptraum growls as he sits down on the floor and hugs his legs. "I doubt dey even notice I not dere."
"Well.. you'll never know I guess!" Pamela says and comes over to lean against Alptraum, and wrap her tail around his shoulders.
"Eh, vha time is it righ now?" Alptraum wonders and gets up to go peek out of the cellar door.
The light that was coming through the trap door is dimmer now, so the sun is low enough to shadow the inside of the old building. It's probably late afternoon by now.
"Dagh, if dey actually looking for me, dey could run into dat monster," Alptraum growls. He crawls out of the cellar door and cants his ears about, listening.
There are only a few Eeee and a lot of distance to cover, unless they struck on the idea of following the river as well. There are some very distance screeches, almost lost in the wind. The clouds are starting to cover the sky again as well.
"I gotta make sure dey okay. If dey git hurt cuz oh me I just ... I couldn' live wit dat," Alptraum calls down into the cellar. "Sorry, I gota to make sure dere okay."
"I.. alright," Pamela says, staying to the shadows.
"I sorry, Pamela. I try to come by your old nest again, okay?" Alptraum calls down.
"I'll see you then, Alptraum," she promises.
It's pretty obvious which way to go, since Alptraum can both hear the distant cries and because he knows to just follow the river as well. But he has come a good distance to get here, plus all the activity the night before. Being in the weird ghost-world (or just being around Pamela) has been sapping his strength as well. He needs to be sure he can make it back to the caravan, otherwise he'll have to walk part of the way - unless he can find a bite to drink en route.
Alptraum intends to fly all the way if he can, tired or not. It's not safe to travel on-foot alone, and he's well aware of this. He grits his teeth and pushes onward, reverse-following the river. "Y'kin make it," he mutters.
At least the high-pitched cries seem closer. They've probably fanned out quite a ways already, so he should be able to meet up with them around where he saw the other ruin on the way. At least one of the searching Eeee is following the river.
"Eh, if they even are searching. Could be someone else," Alptraum mutters. There was a town nearish, after all. Still, he pushes his wings harder. Worst case if those Eeee are dangerous, he can just dive. Falling doesn't take much effort!
He can definitely here his name in the closest call. That flyer is following the river for certain. If he hadn't come up out of the cellar, they may have passed right overhead without him ever knowing.
Alptraum sighs. Why are they even looking for him? Now he can't turn away and pretend it was someone else. Well, he could but he's not that big of a jerk. "Oy!" he calls in the direction voice he heard. "Vhat?!"
"Alptraum!" the searcher cries and homes in on him. And doesn't seem about to slow down in their approach either.
"Yeh? Vhat?!" Alptraum calls back as he continues on in that direction too. "Givvim five minutes before yellin' starts," he grumbles.
The searcher is on him quickly, and nearly barrels into him. The advantage 'regular' Eeee have over the Saskanars is that they can hug while still in the air and beating their wings. "Alptraum!" Sabine cries, pulling Alptraum close. "Are you alright? Vhat happened? Do ve need to something nasty to the gorgios from dat awful town?"
"Ack, ey, I canna fly if you keep squeezin!" Alptraum flails in the air. "An no, dey didn' do anythin'. I left on me own cuz y'all better off vitout me. Just dat dagh monster is still in de area and if you out, you in danger, so I had t' come back."
"Dey did somthin' to yer head!" his mother wails. "Make you crazy! I shouldn't of made you wash yer friends, I'm sorry!"
"Nothin' made me crazy, calm down!" Alptraum squawks. "Me head is fine, an ya shouldn' be out 'ere, dere is a monster about, and at least one ghost. And a God. Vell, claimed she vas a god anyway, no idea who it really vas."
"You were kidnapped by a god and a ghost?!" Sabine asks, her eyes wide with surprise.. and some anger. "I fix them both! Where are they?"
"De ghost needs help, de God is ... eh, vho knows?" Alptraum says and rolls his eyes. "And no like you really believe me. Vhy you all out 'ere?"
"You vanished! Ve thought something got you!" Sabine says, switching back to looking concerned.
"I left! Oy! Jus ... it getting late. You should git back t' camp. I gots one thing t still do, den I guess I go back," Alptraum relents.
"Have you eaten?" Sabine asks first, not letting go just yet.
"No, not yet, but I be fine!" Alptraum insists.
"You look tired," Sabine says. "You drink something virst, and promise me you're coming home! I vill call off de search before Hexen get lost again."
"I try, alright. And don vorry so much," Alptraum relents, looking frustrated and embarrassed. "An keep dat ijit out of trouble!"
"I send Kizzy after 'im," Sabine says, and looks for a spot to land. "Down dere," she points, finally releasing Alptraum and heading for the river bank.
Alptraum dives down to land. He's grateful for it, but he's not going to say that. He has to keep some credibility after all this. "Oy, de fools woulda gotten barfed again," he grumbles.
Sabine removes her scarf for Alptraum. "I vill be upset with you later, when ve all safe back at the vagon," she notes.
"Yeh, dat encourages me to come back," Alptraum remarks dryly as he takes scarf, then realizes she's wanting him to bite her. "Errrrr, I don' bite people," he points out.
"I no people, I your mother," Sabine notes. "I nursed you as a baby."
"Yeh, but it still weird and creepy! Vhat if someone sees it?" Alptraum points out.
"Ve far off, and if you come home all worn out, people worry even more," Sabine says. "Or you vant me to go hunt you something? Not much time to spare."
Alptraum sighs, loudly. "Fine!" he relents and shakes his head. He moves in close and awkwardly tilts his head. Wincing about it, he leans in and bites Sabine's neck, lightly. Enough to puncture but not very deeply.
It feels and tastes weird. And can only really manage a tiny bit before it gets to be too hard. But even a little bit can ensure he makes it back without collapsing at least.
Alptraum bites a little deeper to get a small amount more, then lets go. "Ugh, dat so weird," he complains when he releases his jaws. "I don wanna do dat again."
"Den don't run off like dis again!" Sabine scolds, and then hugs Alptraum. "You put me and your da inna early grave. If we not find you.."
"Aaan dere is de guilt," Alptraum sighs and rubs over his face. "Ya vouln' if you veren't out lookin' for me!" he points out. "All I do is git you in trouble."
"Tch, you got no sense o' proportion yet, you still a babby," Sabine says and pinches Alptraum's ear. "You no trouble to your family. Hexen no trouble to his. Ve all look out for each'ther, that the gypsy code."
Alptruam bats the hand away from his ear. "Gah, just ... I be back inna few. Made a promise, gotta keep it," Alptraum adds and goes back airborn before she argues. He promised to check on Pamela, and he does keep his word usually.
It's not a straight flight along the river, but away from it a bit towards Phlegm. There might be other searchers if his mother doesn't get back in time to call off the search. If anyone is looking that area, it might be Kizzy or Hexen, thinking he went to the town.
"Hopefully won't run into anyone, jus need to check on Palema an tell her sorry I can't be ... whatever it is she vants me t' be," Alptraum mutters to himself. "An I don' wanna be barfed or whatever, oy. And if Hexen git it again, gah."
He does hear the squeaking of Kizzy after awhile, apparently trying to scan the ground from above and heading towards the town. Hexen's voice is more distant, but clearly recognizable. "I hate hide-n-seek!" he complains between calling out.
"Oh shut up an go back t' camp before you git in trouble you two ijits," Alptraum calls out as he stays low, looking for the old squirrel nest.
Since he was busy dodging and weaving when he found it the first time, he mainly knows how to backtrack to it from the road. Especially where they left a mess of footprints. From there it isn't too hard to spot the nest, although it's fairly well hidden from the ground.
Alptraum flies up to the nest and tries to shimmy his way inside. "Yo, Pam-bam, ya 'ere?" he calls out inside the cramped confines.
There's no reply to that, but her bones (and skull) are certainly still there.
Alptraum pokes at the skull. "C'mon, ya gotta be 'ere," he says, ears drooping. "I said I'd come back t' de nest. I keep my vord."
"Stop poking my skull," comes a gravely voice, and an apparition that is definitely more corpse-like than the last time he saw Pamela. Her eyes aren't just hollow, but missing altogether with bits of skull visible around the cavities.
"Pamela?" Alptraum asks the spectre. "Don' you remember me?"
"How do you know my name?" the specter growls. She hasn't touched Alptraum yet.
"Ve already met. You an I vent on an adventure? Vou showed me the woman you called Bone Mama?" Alptraum reminds as he reaches out to poke the spectre.
The contact is cold, but that spot looks a bit more alive after the poke. "Mother.. of Bones.." the Kadie mutters. "Open the ghost door to the temple of skulls..." it seems like a mantra, or a rote memory.
Alptraum keeps poking. "I'm Alptraum. Doncha remember me?" he asks the ghost. Though, perhaps it is better if she does not.
"Alp.. traum," the ghost repeats. There's more fur and 'solidity' of sorts where he keeps poking, but it's slower than when he held her hands. And she still sounds like she's talking from the bottom of well that she was also buried in.
Alptraum tries to take her hands again. "Ya really don' remember, do ya?" he asks. "That ... I'm sorry."
The ghost is shocked at having her hands held, but eventually Pamela seems to emerge from the corpse, filling out, floofing out and boobing out. Once her eyes return, she still looks surprised. "Didn't I know you back in Tursdi?" she asks. "You came with me.. I think.."
"No, no. I met you here, long after you died," Alptraum says, "But I guess you don't remember. Dat you ... reset after I left. I ... I sorry. I should let you rest, it cruel of me to bring you back."
"You were my friend, I remember that," Pamela says. "And you always wanted to feel me up for some reason."
"You don' remember de important stuff. I sorry. I should go an let you rest," Alptraum says, sadly. He tries to pull Pamela close and hug her. "I 'ope you find adventure where vou now valk."
"I eat nuts and kick butt," Pamela claims. And pinches Alptraum's butt.
Alptraum even allows that. Then he's letting go. He taps her nose, noting, "I gotta go. You keep kickin' butt, kay?" he asks her as he moves towards the exit.
"Sure thing, ghost of my friend," Pamela calls after Alptraum.
Alptraum squeezes his way back out and feels bummed. Not because he almost had a girlfriend, but because he lost a friend before he ever had her. Still, best to git back before he really becomes a ghost! "Oy, you two dorks, goin' home now. You shoul' too!" he calls out in case Kizzy and Heen are near.
"Alptraum!" Hexen calls down the road, closer to the gypsy camp. "Were you trying to hunt down the Garglewhomper to avenge me?"
Alptraum almost says something else, then just says, "Sure, vhy no?" He shakes his head; he doesn't need even more people mad at him over all of this.
There's a lot of activity in the camp once everyone gets back. It looks like things are being broken down and packed away in preparation to move on. Having a monster in the area has always been a good motivation to keep moving, after all. But it's unlikely they'll move at night. Hexen's mother gives everyone a hug, and says, "Get summat to eat, before all the pots are taken t' the river."
"Vhy are people already packin? Ve can't travel at night," Alptraum points out, confused. Shaking his head, he makes his way back towards his own wagon, slowly though. He doesn't look forward to it.
"Ve head out at dawn, want to get as far as we can before havin' to stop," the black fox woman explains. "And you! Vanishin' wi'out tell no one?! You supposed to be the smarter boy," she tells Alptraum and makes a cluck of disapproval.
"I vas tryin' to spare vou all de problems dat seem t' follow me," Alptraum calls back. "Y' can't tell me dat you be happier t' jus see de back of me."
"Eh? You been drinkin' something' you oughtna?" the vixen asks, shaking her head. "Vas I dat bat as a teenager?" she seems to ask the sky, then heads back towards her family wagon shaking her head.
"Ya made HExen, didn' ya!?" Alptraum retorts in annoyance ater the fox. HE rolls his eyes and resumes heading back to his wagon.
His father is checking that the outside supply trunks are secured firmly, then pauses when Alptraum gets closer. "You alright, son?" Dimitris asks, looking a bit dour. "Your mother needs a little bit o' privacy inside for a moment."
"Eh, feelin' crappy, trapped, and a burden," Alptraum comments and folds his arms together. "Vha she need privacy for?" he asks after a bit, then goes to actually help secure things.
"She need to cry a bit," Dimitris says, and gestures for Alptraum to come closer.
"Eh, vhy?" Alptraum has to ask as he moves closer.
Dimitris puts a hand on Alptraum's shoulder, and explains, "You are our son. Our miracle gift. De only child we will ever have. You are never a burden. You are a reward."
"Don' really feel like it. I seem t' bring all de troubles," Alptraum says and shrugs. "In fact, vas told I bring dem by simply bein'."
"You at that age, where everything feel like de end o' the world, and every mistake or embarrassment is gonna ruin yer life," Dimitris claims. "But that just growin' up, ya? I was like that. Wanted to run away plenty of time. To find somethin' better, to make my parents sorry for treating me like however they did dat set me off. But it passes. You're our son, and that all that matters. We love you. Do you hate us for dat?"
"No. I jus don canna cause problems fer everyone 'ere, yannow?" Alptraum says and shrugs some. "An I did meet a ghost, and some God t'ing out dere. I am some sort of supernatural magnet, an it endangers all of vou."
"No more than just moving 'round Sylvania," Dimitris insists. "Dose that set down roots, they live with fears they know, and it can twist 'em. See ev'ry outsider as a monster, or someone to offer up to their own t' spare themselves. We the only ones that don't do that. We keep movin',take on de danger together, don't sacrifice no one. S'pecially not our own. We safer t'gether. Mebbe 'cause you can see 'em, they respond to you. But you seein' em means we all be aware, can protect each other better."
"Yeh, dats vhat de God person said. Dat vithout me vou all be in serious danger," Alptraum admits and sighs. "S'why I came back, I couln' let any of ya git hurt vhen I vas tryin to protect voi in de first place."
"You hurt us by leavin, Alptraum," Dimitris says. "Dat why you mother need a good cry. Ve go hunting while there still light, dat good w' you?"
"Yeh, dat fine," Alptraum agrees. "Better den night around 'ere, dat vhen de monster is around."
"Eh, we more den a match for any monster," Demitris says with a wink. "We tie 'em up in our ribbons! Let's go."
That makes Alptraum laugh. "All righ, lets go. Before Mom goes from cryin, to warpath, eh? Dat even scarier den the Gargle-whatszit anyvay," he adds as he starts walking away from the wagon so he can go airborn.