little spooktacle special 🎃🍂✨️
Steps of a little girl running around echoed faintly in the cottage. She was wearing a cornflower blue blanket and a headband with two sticks glued onto it.
A simple, homemade costume of a Bowgart.
Blue was in his study, reading a book of some historical context. Golden sunlight shone through the window, curtains drawn back. It gave the room a warm, homey glow.
"Blue!" Lily peeped her head into the room. "Blue!"
"Yes, yes, I know," he finished the sentence he was reading, then bookmarked his place. "I'm getting ready."
"But I'm ready to go now!" Lily whined.
"I'll be just one second!" Blue got up from his desk, setting his glasses down. He walked past Lily, giving her a playful hair ruffle.
Lily stuck our her tongue playfully, and followed.
"Meep!" Dee appeared in the hallway.
"Dee," Blue picked him up.
The three of them, led by Blue, made their way to the front door. Lily already grabbed her candy bucket (in a fun smunkin shape), and Blue grabbed his satchel (containing all important adult things) and Dee's candy bucket (Dee, a Maw, can't hold his bucket by himself, being he is a Maw)
They left the cottage.
"Don't run out of my sight!" Blue called as Lily ran down the dirt path.
Lily stopped and looked back, waiting for Blue to catch up. Luckily, he had a pretty fast walk, so she didn't have to wait long.
The three of them (more or less) went on their way. It was Spooktacle, and they were heading toward the big celebration in town. It was Lilys first, and it was certainly going to be a fun one.
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The town was decorated with carved smunkins, paper lanterns with bats and haunter patterns, and covered in the autumn leaves. It was busy, and the final touches were being made in the Square. It was packed with monsters in costume
Twig, Cozmo, and Jadau were by the drinks table (Twig is mostly responsible for this), talking about some of the more irritating monsters on Plant Island. Blue and Lily walked over to them, Lily following closely by Blue's hip.
"Hiya, Blue," Twig nodded to him.
"Hey," Blue nodded back.
"About time you showed up!" Cozmo chimed. "We're nearly about ready to start!"
Twig wore a simple costume; a plain white serial killer mask and a prop axe. Cozmo wore a bed sheet ghost costume, eye holes cut out and a spooky mouth sewed on. Jadau wore flannel and also had a prop axe; he was a lumberjack. Blue didn't wear a costume, but he did throw on a sweater with leaves embroidered in a pattern.
Lily bounced up and down with excitement, despite being slightly overwhelmed at, well, everything.
Chatter amongst the crowd ensued until the sun setted completely, shrouding the entire town in dark. Luckily it wasn't too much of a problem, being that there were lanterns everywhere.
The party master, as they were called, stood up on a platform looking down at the crowd. They tapped lightly on the mic, giving slight feedback as the microphone crackled softly to life.
Chatter hushed. Silence washed over the crowd, everyone excitedly, intently listening in.
"Hell-looo, fellow monsters!" The party master boomed. They were a small, chubby Drumpler, dressed up in an extravagant vampire costume, fangs and all. "Welcome to the Plant Island Spooktacle Bash!!"
At the words "Spooktacle Bash" the crowd cheered.
"Who's ready to parh-tay?"
The crowd roared. Lily covered her ears at the volume.
The party master laughed, and continued.
"That's what I'm talkin' uh-bout!"
The crowd simmered down. A little bit anyways.
"So," the party master continued, "as many of you may know, we monsters come 'round once a year to celebrate Spooktacle, righ' here in th'Square."
The crowd listened intently. Lily uncovered her ears and listened in.
"Lemme tell you a story," the party master sat down on a stool that was provided on the platform. They spoke in a quiet voice.
"Spooktacle has been celebrated since the Dawn of Fire, though our customs have changed as the times went by. Monsters, back n th'day, would put these lanterns in their windows, as a way to guide stray monsters to safety. Legend says the Punkleton comes out in the dead of night to prey on lost monsters..."
A few gasps and murmurs came from the crowd. The party masters voice got quieter still, more eerie.
"These lanterns, as I said, guided these lost monsters to safety. An' we wore disguises, costumes even, to make our monstrosity less known to the Punkleton. We disguised ourselves to protect ourselves from the Punkleton..."
A few more murmurs from the audience.
"Over time," the party master spoke louder now, reaching the end of their story. They stood up, and continued, "we made Spooktacle more fun. Instead of shutting ourselves in our homes, we gathered around a fire and celebrated. Nowadays, we do these town-wide parties, dressing up and having a good time, like monsters do."
The crowd nodded in approval.
"Now," the party master walked to the edge of the platform, and grabbed hold of a lever just off the edge of the platform. The crowd "ooh" intriguedly.
"Let's get this Spooktacle started, shall we?"
They pulled the lever, and fireworks launched high up into the sky, bursting with bright colors of orange, green, purple, and gold. The crowd cheered.
"Wooo!!" Twig stared in awe at the fireworks. He was a bit of a pyro, if you asked anybody (which is ironic, considering his foliage-covered body).
"Yeah!!!" Cozmo did a little backflip.
The group of the six of them were admiring the fireworks, Lily especially. She was wide-eyed with wonder; these were her first fireworks that she was able to witness (she had heard then before, back at the House, but never once did she ever see them).
The fireworks had marked the start of the bash. And start, it did. For the next couple of hours, there was dancing, singing, candy-giving, even a costume contest. Lily got an honorable mention ribbon for her homemade costume, and got several handfuls of candy. It was a fun time, even for Blue, who (for majority of the time they were there) stood off to the side, looking into the crowd. Large crowds weren't really his thing. Twig, on the other hand, was digging the attention on the dance floor. There was a dance off, and he won that. He didn't receive a prize or such, but he did get bragging rights.
The party wasn't nearly halfway done when the gang decided it was time for then to be getting home.
"You really gonna let her have all that candy?" Twig asked Blue. Lily was going through her candy, unwrapping and eating some.
"Well, she's not gonna eat all of it," he looked at the little girl. "That’s your last piece, okay?"
"Aww," Lily frowned, sadly eating her last piece of candy.
"You can have more tomorrow," Blue promised.
Cozmo floated above Lily. "May I have a piece?" She asked.
Lily nodded happily, offering a handful to the Ghazt. Cozmo accepted the handful.
Dee had also had some candy, but he had reached his limit a while ago. Now he was sleeping in Blue's arms.
"I don't really understand how monsters can do all-nighters," Jadau yawned. "Don't they have work or school the next day?"
"Most of the monsters there are teens," Blue pointed out. "Teenagers and young adults. They're the party-hard folks."
"I mean, you don't really FEEL tired when you're partying," Twig commented. "I can tell you from experience."
"I can attest to that," Cozmo said through a mouthful of candy.
"Well..." Jadau nodded in thought, "yeah, okay. But I think they should at least go home and rest by midnight, if anything."
Twig snorted. "What, you're gonna make that a law? Tell kids to go home and improve their mood by sleeping?"
"I'm not going to make it a law, nor am I saying it SHOULD be a law," Jadau argued. "I'm just saying kids these days are getting less and less responsible and receptive to their body's needs."
Blue stopped. The other three walked on a few more steps before stopping with him.
Blue had a panicked expression on his face, and was looking around frantically.
Something was off.
"Where's Lily?" Blue's voice was high pitched with worry.
That was it. Lily was missing.
The other three monsters' eyes went wide.
The collective thought amongst the four were, and I quote:
O h s h i t.
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Lily was walking off in the woods, following the noise that sounded something like a hiss, but also a growl.
A hiss-growl.
She didn't know why exactly she was following the sound. No one stopped her from wandering off, and she was curious. She followed sounds before, nothing bad had happened. Naturally, a girl her age would be curious about a world of strange beings.
Leaves crunched beneath her feet, her battered, black shoes. Wind bellowed in her blanket-cape-pancho. It looked mystical in the wind.
Lily approached a particularly dark patch of wood, where the noise was increasing in volume and, let's be honest, it was becoming concerning.
She, registering the fact that she has NO idea what she's about to encounter, tiptoed closer to the noise instead of walking. Childhood curiosity is so bold...
"Hello?" She called out, hesitantly.
The noise stopped.
She stopped moving.
There was absolute silence, aside from the nighttime critters chirping.
"Hellooo?" Lily called out again.
There was a rustling of leaves, and an omnious growl. A silhouette could be made out, though Lily couldn't quite figure out what it was. It looked huge though.
Lily stayed where she was, not sure what to do. Scream? Run? Scream AND run? Stay still? Approach?
The figure approached closer, closer still. It was practically on top of Lily, and it's features were now distinctly visible.
Lily had heard stories of the Punkleton, and it's large, imposing figure. It was enough to scare most monsters. On top of its size, it was a skeleton covered in vineage and thorns, with a smunkin for a head. Said head had small, no, TINY glowing pupils. Fangs were said to also be bared. The monsters, anyway, thought the Punkleton to be a terrifying creature.
Tiny yellow pupils stared down at Lily through the shadowy darkness of its eyes.
The Punkleton
Lily stared back in wonder. It was real! The Punkleton was really real!! It didn't seem too bad once you saw it for yourself, actually.
"Little girl..." it spoke. It's voice was raspy and deep. Haunting, one would say. His voice chilled you to your bones. Lily felt the chill run down her spine.
"H-hi," Lily answered.
"Shouldn't you be home?"
The Punkleton crounched, his face closer to Lily's.
"Little girls like you shouldn't be alone in the woods at night."
It smiled, and by the name of every Celestial it was creepy. Lily stared.
"I play alone in the woods all the time!" Lily squeaked. "Well, there's Dee, he plays with me too, in the woods."
"Hmmm..." The Punkleton turned his head.
"We play all sorts of games, actually!" Lily eased into a childish ramble. "There's tag, and hide'n'seek- I like hide'n'seek, but we have to play it inside cuz Blue doesn't want us getting lost- oh! And there's Memory! Blue taught me that one..."
Lily continued on and on about the games she plays with Dee in the woods (mostly), and the Punkleton, surprisingly enough, didn't care to interrupt the girl.
It was more surprised that the girl didn't run away in fear.
It was a pleasant surprise, to he honest. Scaring monsters got lonely.
"Would you like some candy?" Lily asked all of a sudden. She grabbed a handful and offered it up to the beast.
"Candy...?" The Punkleton drew itself back in surprise. No one's ever offered it candy before...
Lily nodded, eyes beaming and grinning the widest grin. She wasn't afraid. The Punkleton wasn't scary. It was just lonely.
"You scare so many monsters, it must be boring and sad being alone," she continued, still holding her hand up in offering. "I have loads of experience with that. Not the scaring, but being alone."
"Oh..." The Punkleton hesitantly grabbed the candy, being careful not to let any of it fall through its fingers (literally).
Lily swayed happily. "You're not so scary. You just need someone to talk to, tha's all."
"Lily!" A voice called. It was Blue's. Twigs followed shortly after; "Lily!"
Lily looked back, and yelled, "Coming!"
She turned back towards the Punkleton, giving it one last look.
"I have to go," she said, a little sad. "I'll see you later!"
She turn to run, giving a little wave. Her silhouette grew darker as she grew more distant from the Spooktacle Seasonal.
It was still holding the candy she gave it.
It stared at the candy, unadapted to such acts of kindness. It couldn't really eat the candy, to its sadness. But maybe it'd give to Hoola or Ffidyll when it went back home.
Truly, it thought, that the little girl (who never really specified her name) was more than what met the eye. There had to be some reason why she didn't run away in fear, why she would even start a conversation with a horrific beast like it.
Or maybe he'd finally found a friend.
Now that was a scary thought. The Punkleton didn't have friends.
Did it?
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"Lily!" Blue gave an exasperated sigh of relief as Lily ran towards the group.
"You can't just run off like that!" Jadau said. "We were really worried!"
"Blue nearly had a panic attack," Twig added. "I knew you'd be fine, but-"
"Okay that is complete and utter bullshit," Cozmo interrupted. "You were just as panicked as any of us."
"Watch your language around the child?!" Jadau said through gritted teeth.
"Sorry I ran off," Lily said to Blue.
"It's alright, Lily," Blue led Lily on. Twig, Cozmo, and Jadau were already walking, bickering along the way. "Just promise me you won't do it again."
"I promise," Lily walked closer to Blue. She meant it too. She wouldn't ever run off again, not unless it was super-uper important. Plus, she was too tired to run off again. There was tomorrow though.
Blue rested his hand on Lilys back, a small and simple gesture to assure Lily was there, for his sake.
The gang all walked on, back home. It was getting late. It was almost definitely late.
It was, in Lilys opinion, also definitely the best Spooktacle ever.
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