Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108 or any of its characters.
the little boy stood on both his feet
The Halloween night was serene. After the mandatory celebrations, all of Big Green was asleep. The lights were all off (except for Mighty Ray's night light), and there was barely a sound to be heard other than the occasional snore. Decorations still hung around, limp and ghost-like in the darkness. Around Hidden Kingdom, everyone was also sound asleep in their dimly-lit houses, be it underground or up in the trees.
A cloaked figure walked around; the speed, elegance and way it moved suggesting that it was floating rather than walking.
to try and see both worlds
The defence of Big Green tonight was unusually low tonight. Despite the fact that Halloween was known as the day where ghosts and spirits entered the mortal world, there was only the mandatory and minimal superstitious traditions that barely did anything for protection. A slight open window from a sailor of the Navy allowed the figure to float in, soon followed by several others.
They roamed the corridors before splitting up, each heading to a different area.
One of them walked through a corridor, and gently pushed against a door. Locked. How disappointing. The figure narrowed his eyes at it, before they glowed and it floated straight through the door without hesitation. A figure was sleeping on the bed, blanket draped over him, back faced to the door.
his father fell in
The spirit smirked. This was going to be easy.
However, just as the spirit placed a hand on the sleeping figure, several problems immediately flitted into its mind.
his mother fell in
The sleeping figure was too cold, too still. Then, without warning, a shadow loomed over the spirit and a staff plunged itself into the spirit. The spirit screamed out a soundless cry, before dissipating into mist and returning to the spirit world.
The man straightened, and Lin Chung narrowed his eyes at the mist. He flung aside the blanket and closed his eyes, letting his hand glow purple. The figure who had been previously been 'sleeping' on the bed disappeared in a flash of purple light.
Time to go spirit hunting.
and only he was left
Lin Chung followed a spirit that was heading into Mighty Ray's room, keeping to the shadows while clutching his staff tightly. He followed the spirit silently, feet hardly making a sound. Lin Chung waited only seconds after the spirit entered the unfortunately unlocked door, before he followed after it. The spirit placed a hand above Mighty Ray's body, ready to act.
The leader of First Squad snarled, causing the spirit to turn around in alarm. It received three bamboo shoots to the face. Then, like the previous spirit, it evaporated into mist.
The next group Lin Chung found was moving slowly, causing Lin Chung to frown. Spirits often travelled individually, selfishly gaining whatever souls they could.
Where could there be so many people that they can-? Ah. His eyes widened in realisation. The room of the Navy and the Infantry.
It made sense.
Those sections had the biggest groups in the whole of Big Green. They slept together in bunk beds in the same room, unlike the commanders of Big Green, who got their own rooms.
The spirits continued, splitting up as soon as they got to the common rooms. Each one started to float towards their targets, prepared to suck their souls away. Grinning smirks, with yellowed sharp teeth appeared on the faceless figures, cutting an eerie sight. Lin Chung knew then that he had to attack. He charged at one and struck out with his staff, killing that one off easily, slashing another before stabbing a third.
Death tried to find him
The remaining spirits turned around, smirks disappearing as they charged forward, almost as a whole. Lin Chung swore mentally. The spirits were known for their slow reactions, but they became deadly fighters if their meals were threatened. Which he was doing now.
The first spirit slashed at him, and he leapt back, backing away as the spirits took turns slashing again and again, until he felt the cool metal of the wall behind him.
A jab at a spirit to his right left his left side open, and a spirit's long claws sunk into his left side. He inhaled shakily, watching as the spirits stopped at the smell of blood, before he lunged out and killed the spirit. This snapped the spirits out of their brief reverie, and another one attacked him. The horde converged onto his vulnerable form until he catapulted over them, sprinting out of the room.
The spirits followed him quickly, and Lin Chung's thoughts were that he had to lead the spirits well away from the people.
and so did the spirits
The spirits slashed and hacked violently at where they could reach his back. Lin Chung winced at each blow, but continued to move faster and faster, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
His thoughts wandered. Where could he lead them without any living people?
The thought struck him immediately. The bamboo forest.
but still no one could
The spirits followed him nearly obediently. They moved silently, weaving with practised ease around the bamboos. The bamboo stalks seemed to move and shift tonight, sheltering Lin Chung from the spirit's gazes.
but after his 17th Halloween
Finally, when they were far enough away in a clearing where moonlight spilled into the area, Lin Chung turned and charged them head-on once more.
Heavy panting could be heard from the middle of the bamboo forest. Lin Chung stood, blood covering his skin from the cuts and bruises littering his skin.
He straightened up, leaning heavily on his bamboo staff. The staff had thick misty swirls clinging to it, as well as bloody handprints from where Lin Chung's hands had been covered with blood.
Bamboo shoots lay around, glistening white in the moon. He sighed at the sight, before he tensed on feeling another presence with him in the forest. Turning around, his eyes met another pair.
Black, soulless. The eyes - if it could be called that - seemed to suck your soul in, and they belonged to a face made entirely of bones. A ragged clock was adorned, and the ragged cloak hung low, covering his feet, if he had any.
Many people looking into its face would have screamed.
the Reaper will help him
Lin Chung did not. He had accepted his death tonight, and he sincerely hoped that the Panthers could continue their work. Saving the souls of the many people in Hidden Kingdom every Halloween once he could no longer do so. He didn't doubt it; just because they had claimed neutrality in the war, didn't mean that they would leave the people of Hidden Kingdom defenceless.
The most noticeable thing of the spirit, which differentiated it from the other spirits that had moved to suck souls, was the giant scythe in its hands. The Grim Reaper narrowed its eyes at him, its voice a raspy whisper. "You are ready?"
"I was prepared since I was a child," was his only answer. The Grim Reaper nodded in grudging respect. Other souls had always pleaded for mercy, pleaded for one more day or one more week or one more year to continue living their lives. This one didn't. He was ready to accept it.
Lin Chung looked up at the sky.
Midnight.
With one last look at the human's dark eyes, the scythe slashed through the air and through the solid body.
follow his parents in death
Jumpy's ears were still pricked. He looked around, his eyes worried. Lin Chung had been gone all day, and night was rapidly falling. At first, people had thought that he was simply meditating, but as the afternoon passed, everyone got worried. Mainly, First Squad.
First Squad was currently searching the bamboo forest, and Jumpy hopped on. His nose had detected a coppery smell that turned his stomach unpleasantly, before he paused in a clearing. His eyes grew wide with horror as a small whimper escaped from his lips.
His friend, his best friend, his dead best friend, was lying there. With blood covering everything. Everything.
The others (Jumpy had been slightly glad that he hadn't needed to find them), soon joined him in his horror. Mystique Sonia was the first to speak. "Who would-who would do this?"
Silence answered her question. After what felt like hours, Jumpy hopped forward hesitantly and kneeled beside his friend. He placed a hand on Lin Chung's shoulder and shook. Shook it as if Lin Chung would wake up any moment.
But nothing happened.
Jumpy sucked in a breath, before looking up as night fell. The moon seemed to appeared suddenly, shining brightly down below and bathing the five figures in a near ethereal light.
A single gust of wind blew over them, and a raspy voice floated up to them as Lin Chung's body healed. The blood disappeared, the clothes mended itself and his skin knitted any wound close. But all this didn't do a thing to Lin Chung, leaving his unmoving corpse in the middle of the forest.
"He was a brave one, this soul. This is my last gift to him."
AN: Just a one-shot for Halloween. Didn't want to make it creepy, though, so relatively mild, well, in my mind. I'll maybe do a backstory for the lines later on, don't know if I have the time or motivation. Maybe a little on when I have some inspiration.