(Okay folks, here is a short story for Halloween. It is also a teaser of sorts for my three most beloved OC's, whom will be appearing in many more of my stories.
A Haunting of the ice family – (Halloween short story)
Ganter breathed in the cold, crisp autumn air. It was his favorite time of the year, or at least, one of his favorites. He was sitting down in frost-covered meadow, embracing the cold weather; a sure sign that winter was coming. Ganter then looked back at the cheetah-made cabin where his siblings were currently resting; his older sister Careena and younger brother Nuevo. The three of them were ice dragons; so naturally, this time of the year was perfect for them.
Ganter's scales were the common ice-blue, including his wings, and had an ice-white underbelly. His horns were similar to the famed hero Spyro, although his were a silver color and the same thing for his crest. His eyes were blue, and his tail tip resembled three fan-like horizontal blades with a blue 'orb' in the center.
Nuevo looked like him, despite being four years younger, and the only other difference was that his tail tip was shaped like Spyro's. And Careena looked like a normal ice dragoness, and her tail tip was shaped like an icicle.
Ganter walked back in the cabin just in time to see his siblings stirring, "Hey, you two, the weather's fine outside." He said as Nuevo lifted his head.
"Hey bro, give me some time to wake up." Nuevo said while he yawned.
Careena, on the other paw, was already up, "I suppose we'll be going hunting?" Out of the three of them, she was the most responsible. She had taken over that responsibility after learning about their parent's deaths.
It happened a long time ago, and Ganter was the only one there to witness it. He guessed that some sort of assassin had come to kill them, and left Ganter and Nuevo alone. However, Nuevo was still in his egg at the time, and Ganter had to take care of his brother until they could travel to Warfang, where Careena already moved to. She had taken the news badly at first, but her resolve was quick to become their guardian.
Back to now, the trio walked outside as a chilling wind blew through. Normally, it would feel just like a summer breeze to them, but now, Nuevo shivered slightly.
"You guys felt that right?" Careena asked nervously.
"That was unusual, talk about a freak gust," Ganter looked around. "Anyway, come on." Full of vigor, he ran down the hill they were on.
Nuevo and Careena ran after him, dismissing the gust. The siblings soon got a burrowing rabbit and shared it. "So, what are we going to go do today?" Ganter said in between bites.
"Well, I didn't have anything planned for today, but I'm sure we'll figure something out." Careena replied, licking her paws clean.
"Yeah, the three of us always figure stuff out." Nuevo piped up after finishing his part of the rabbit.
After they finished breakfast, they spent the rest of the day playing tag and other games. Ganter personally liked playing pranks on passing dragon by causing it to snow. Later, during the night, the trio returned home for the night. Once they walked inside, they felt like something was different.
Ganter swished his tail nervously, "Okay, let's go to bed." He hoped to sleep off whatever it was that he was feeling; an aura of something strange about to happen.
It had been difficult for him to sleep that night, but he knew he did eventually, for he woke up to find that the two moons were out at their peaks. Ganter looked over to see his brother and sister fast asleep, dreaming peacefully. Outside, the few trees around their home rustled with the few leaves that remained, giving the air a haunting aura to it. He wondered why things seemed so spooky in their otherwise normal home.
In a matter of seconds, Ganter heard a crashing sound in another room, and his body froze instantly. Tensed up, Ganter's reflexes were wired and ready to attack at the first sign of an intruder. He feared for his siblings, whom while they were nearby, weren't exactly fighters. And if the intruder was the same being that killed his parents, well, Ganter didn't want to think about what would happen next. Silently, he crept over to his brother and sister, whom both had shifted in their sleep. He then put his front paws over their snouts so they would say anything upon being woken up.
"Wake up, I think someone's here." Ganter whispered.
Careena opened her eyes slowly and mumbled something incoherently, but it was something like "Mhet mohf mhy smouf."
"Shh, I think we've an intruder." Ganter whispered into her ear.
Careena's eyes went wide and she looked at Nuevo, whom had been looking at Ganter curiously. She nodded her head as Ganter removed his paws from their snouts. Ganter silently walked over to the doorway and peered into the room. Light from the Celestial Moons entered from a window and gave a small amount of light to see by. Ganter couldn't make out any moving shapes in the room, but he still prepared to use his ice breath. When Ganter was sure no one was in the room, he gestured to his siblings with his tail, still not wanting to make any noise, just in case the person was hiding. The first thing Ganter noticed about the room was that the egg-bed where their parents used to keep their eggs had been tossed over to a wall, almost like someone threw it. Other than that, there wasn't any other notable difference about the room.
"Notice anything?" Nuevo asked suddenly.
Ganter nearly jumped out of his scales at the sudden voice of his brother, "You almost scared me half to death," Ganter scolded softly, "but I don't see anyone in here. The only thing is that the egg-bed has been tossed around."
"I so knew we should have done something about that thing." Careena sighed.
"Hey, we could still have use for it. After all, you might just need it one day." Ganter said, trying to lighten their moods, seeing as how that they were alone after all.
Careena blushed, "Surely you don't think that I could fall for someone, do you?"
Ganter took another look inside the room to make sure it was empty, "It's possible."
Nuevo walked over to the bed and set it back up. Moonlight still shown through the window but clouds were forming outside.
"Well, let's go back to sleep." Ganter said yawning. And so they did so, but Careena wondered what could have happened to the bed since no one was there.
The next day, Ganter awoke to sunlight shining from a window onto him. Sitting up, he looked around the room; everything was normal, except for that Careena and Nuevo were already awake.
"Took you long enough. You do know just how long we were waiting for you to open your eyes, right?" Careena smirked, with the thought of being up before him.
"Nope." Ganter blinked sleepily.
Careena started to count something, "Well, several hours after the usual time. How much sleep did you get last night?"
Ganter yawned, "Not much. Is that a problem?"
"Yeah, if you're having trouble sleeping, you can talk to one of us." Careena replied. Ganter frowned, clearly disapproving of that.
"I think it's because of that bed being tossed around. I wonder how we slept through that." Nuevo said.
Careena sighed, "Well, I do think I have an idea about all of this. Ever hear about All Hallows Eve?"
Ganter looked at his sister curiously, "No, what is it?"
"Well, it's supposed a certain time of the year when the spirits of the dead can walk again for one night." Careena explained.
"Sounds creepy." Nuevo remarked.
"I'm surprised no one ever told us about it sooner. Well, at least that explains why strange things always happen this time of the year." Ganter said, swishing his tail. The orb-like thing in the center glimmered in the sunlight.
"So, when is this "All Hallows Eve" anyway?" Nuevo asked.
"I think it's today." Careena said, hoping that her brothers wouldn't be worried about it.
"Today!? Does this mean that out parents might be able to come talk to us?" Ganter first exclaimed and then wondered.
"Well, I don't actually think that can happen. I'm just saying what I've heard." Careena replied casually.
"But you do realize what this means? We could actually speak to mom and dad." Ganter said excitedly, "I just want to know why we haven't been able to do this before."
"I have no idea, perhaps they just wanted to wait, or something like that." Nuevo thought over. He then noticed that some clouds were forming outside.
"Looks like a storm will be coming, and quickly at that." Ganter remarked, suddenly frowning.
"I guess we better hurry up and get something to eat then." Careena said, walking outside.
Ganter was right about the storm, clouds were coming in quickly starting to block out the sunlight. They guessed that the storm would be severe; most of the usual prey had already gone into hiding.
"I don't remember the last time I was so hungry." Nuevo moaned after a few hours of unsuccessful hunting.
"If only we had been up earlier." Careena said with a hint of annoyance.
"I get it," Ganter grumbled, "should have tried to sleep more."
Careena sighed, "Well, let's get inside, I think the storm has begun." She said as some rain began to patter on her back.
"I'll say, the wind isn't helping." Ganter said as the wind tried to open up his wings and send him flying.
The trio soon made their way back to the cabin, ready to wait out the storm. The rain eventually died down, but not the howling winds. Ganter sulked as the hours passed by, anxious to be doing something. However, there wasn't really much for the siblings to do inside their cabin. Things weren't helped by several odd occurrences that had given the three of them some scares.
"If all of this is what has to happen before we can hopefully meet mom and dad, well I don't know if this is worth it." Nuevo said sadly. Since he had only been an egg at the time, he never truly saw their parents.
"It'll be worth it, I promise." Ganter was still hopeful for seeing their mom and dad again. He still remembered some days from his youth when Careena had been at Warfang and it was just him and his parents.
"You two are really sure about this day, aren't you?" Careena asked, swishing her tail annoyed.
"Yeah, besides you're the one who told us about today." Ganter replied.
"Well don't attack the messenger," Careena huffed, "I'm just telling you what I know."
"Then you shouldn't have told us this if you didn't believe it was true." Ganter retorted teasingly.
"Come on you two, stop fighting." Nuevo said, frowning at his older siblings.
"We are not fighting." Careena and Ganter said at the same time, feeling insulted. They then turned to each other in surprise, wide-eyed, and Ganter started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Careena asked.
"Only that we could talk at the same time right after disagreeing on something." Ganter said after he stopped laughing. Nuevo smiled, feeling proud after defusing the situation. When the two of them got into a debate, it could last for hours, days even.
A sudden creaking sound brought them to attention. Tensed up, Ganter's protective instincts made sure he was ready for whatever happened next.
Seconds ticked on by as more creaking sounds were made, until a voice called out, "Hello?"
Ganter wasn't sure what to make about this; the voice sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure.
"Are you guy's home? It's me, Mistain."
Ganter breathed a sigh of relief, he had come across the earth dragon several times, and now, he could see his brown eyes glowing in the near-nighttime light.
"We're here." Ganter replied, relaxing.
"What brings you here, especially with that storm still out there?" Careena asked.
"Yeah, about that, it may be windy out, and those clouds might be dark, but that's nothing that can't be handled." Mistain replied sheepishly, "In all honesty, I was here to make sure you three were alright."
"That's a rather brave thing for you to do, but I'm sure we were alright." Nuevo said reassuringly.
"Yeah, but for some reason, today is usually a day that I feel normal around others. I guess you could say that today makes me brave." Mistain replied, thinking about something.
"Normal? What makes you not-normal?" Careena tilted her head curiously. Mistain looked like he didn't want to answer.
"Well Mistain, thanks for showing up, but I think we'll be fine. You ought to get back to Warfang." Ganter said to the earth dragon.
"Yeah, bye." Mistain soon walked outside.
"Well, that was interesting." Ganter remarked as soon as they were free of company.
"True, I just wonder when those clouds will lessen, sure feels like nighttime right now, but I think it should just be getting to sunset." Careena looked up at the sky through a window.
"Ahh, I liked sunsets." Nuevo pouted.
"I agree, storms so bite when it comes to blocking sights like that. So, what are we going to do now?" Ganter replied, tapping a claw on the ground.
"Well, we'll just continue to wait. Even if this goes onto tomorrow if need be." Careena said with a resolution.
"I hate it when you say that." Ganter sighed, sitting down.
It was several more hours later when the wind died down; Ganter had proved this by walking outside in complete boredom, frustration, and hunger.
"I think we can hunt in this." Ganter said, sure of himself. A breeze blew through causing the eeriness of their surroundings to strengthen, especially since the clouds had not gone away, blocking even the moonlight. Despite this, he continued to walk through the darkened meadow, of which his siblings grudgingly followed.
They had been walking for about half an hour when they stumbled upon some woods. "I hope we can find some food here." Nuevo said hopefully, though he felt uneasy because of aura of the woods.
Ganter and Careena said nothing as they continued to walk through the small forest, hoping to catch some food. At various times, they got startled from an owl's hoot, or a sudden gust of wind. The trio eventually found themselves near an oak tree; they could tell what kind of tree it was because the clouds had drifted off. The siblings looked up at the tree, its size was startling, and it casted a deeper shadow in the moonlight.
Ganter looked around, "I don't remember a tree like this around here."
"Neither do I, and we've been through this forest before." Careena looked up at the massive tree.
"Say, brother, what did you do with mom and dad's bodies?" Nuevo asked curiously.
Ganter appeared to think it over for a bit, "You know what? I don't remember. I do remember sleeping eventually after they were killed, but when I woke up, they seemed to have vanished."
"Really?" Careena said, startled, "Could they have survived or something?"
"No, I'm sure of that. They were dead," Ganter's voice cracked as he remembered that night, "Besides, if they were alive, they wouldn't have just disappeared."
Just then, a gust of wind whistled through the trees, picked up a few leaves, and blew against the siblings' ice-blue scales. The leaves then swirled around the oak; the wind picked up its speed as the leaves continued to circle the oak tree. The trio couldn't believe their eyes as they saw that the moonlight now casted a dark-purple glow on the oak and a mist rose from the ground.
"Uhh, what's happening?" Nuevo asked, feeling a bit scared.
"I do not know." Ganter said slowly, but he flexed his tail, ready to use it.
"Be ready to run." Careena advised.
The mist soon took a shape, or rather, two shapes, that is. The three of them stood there, now their eyes widened in awe as they could see that the mist was taking the shape of two adult ice dragons, one male, one female; it was their parents.
"Mother, father?" Ganter blinked, unsure if this was really happening.
"It is us, Ganter." Their mother spoke softly; her name was Sarah.
Careena lifted a paw as if to tap Sarah, but it simply passed through the ethereal mist that made up their bodies.
"Don't worry, daughter, this will not be the last time you see of us, we will be able to enter your dreams soon." Their father looked down at them, smiling a bit. His name was Sarow.
Nuevo looked up at the two of them, not even sure about what to do. Sarah spoke again, "Oh how you've grown up. I hope your siblings have treated you well."
Nuevo finally said something, "They have." He smiled at his brother and sister.
"It's so great to see you again." Ganter had the urge to hug his parents, but he would only be hugging mist.
Careena was still speechless, she had been skeptical about this happening, but now, here they all were, the entire family.
"We hope to talk to you more, but we don't think we've got much time right now." Sarow said, glancing up at the moons.
"I just don't get it. Why couldn't you come to us sooner?" Ganter asked, curious about why it had been so long.
"You see, certain things had to align for this to happen. The two moons had to be full, their light had to be seen, and it had to be tonight of all nights. Plus, this oak tree only appears every dozen years; it has to ability to bring certain spirits to it." Sarow explained.
"Yes, we really wish we could have talked to you sooner, but there was never a proper chance for us." Sarah said afterwards.
"I see, so how do you plan to talk to us sooner." Ganter was eager to know when they could meet again.
"Dear children, you aren't the only ones who have been learning things." Sarow said with a chuckle.
"Indeed, we have discovered a way to come to you through your dreams. Apparently, our ancestors want to keep an eye on you three." Sarah said smoothly.
"I miss you much more than I thought I would." Nuevo said, his eyes were tearing up.
"We know. This is the first time you've ever saw us, but it won't be the last." Sarah curled her misty tail around Nuevo.
"Take care, children, we will be meeting again in your dreams." Sarow said, and dipped his snout down to Ganter and his siblings. Then, the mist that formed their parents evaporated, leaving the trio alone once more.
"I told you it would be worth it, Nuevo." Ganter gazed up into the sky, glad that he had been able to see their parents one more time.
Careena broke the silence that followed for a few moments, "Well, come on, let's get home before something scares us silly." And the so three siblings went back to their home; the one night of the year that contained the unusual had brought them a reunion to be remembered, and it was just the beginning.
(Okay, so what are you thoughts on this story, my characters, and such? Oh, as for Sarow and Sarah, I wanted to make their names simple and easy to remember. One more thing, you all may might be wondering about my other stories. Well, I plan to update Wings of Fire The Dark Animus before returning to Spyro's Universal Adventures, Spyro and the Polar Burns, and Spyro and the Spells.)