Old Ghosts
Main Theme- Harvest Moon by Neil Young
The ghostly vapors rise from the blacken earth and blanket the land in harsh mists. There's volcanic glass mixed into the earth, leftovers from a prehistoric era in Perim's history. Kaz picks a piece up and examines it with his Scanner's light. It's a deep blue that refracts the light into a sapphire beam. He's amused for a moment and then drops the shard. The further he gets into the land the thicker the mists become. He can't even see his own hands after a while. The mists become heavier and heavier, and then he blacks out. Eventually, he blacks out. It takes a splash of Sunshine to wake him. It burns his eyes like any booze would, but it smells of peaches and cream.
"Fuck! You couldn't use wine!?" He gripes as he rubs at his eyes until he can see. He sits right up and finds that he's in a small shack. The walls are scrap metal, and the floor is mostly dirt covered with some rags. There's a purple blanket in the corner that looks stitched together with purple sashes.
"There's not any vineyards around, Kid Chaor." He sits straighter at hearing his screenname and sees Skithia at the shack's entrance. He hasn't seen her since Van Bloot's failed attempt at taking over Ancient Perim. She was wearing armor then that covered most of her body. Her armor is gone, revealing the thorns on her moon-white skin. He's not sure if they're tattoos or scars, but they cover most of her body. Her horns bear intricate carvings like the runes in Runic Grove. She sports several silver piercings on both of her elfin ears. Her black lips rest in a neutral line though her eyes hold such an intensity.
"I-I can't believe you would remember me."
"It did take me a moment to realize it was you. Your hair changed."
"Yeah, it's only the haircut," he replies dryly. His hair is shorter than what he had at seventeen. It's cropped closely to his head and leaves only a few strands of his golden highlights visible. His body has changed too. He's gained a few more inches in height and muscles. When he went away to college, he took his fresh start seriously and made himself almost unrecognizable to the gawky boy of his middle and high school years.
"Fine. You don't look like you would break in two if hit by a Pebble Storm." She then adds, "You also look like a down on his luck Troubadour."
As he's gotten older, he's gotten more interested in the UnderWorld's history. H'earring typically plays the teacher when incentivized, but, sometimes, Chaor will educate him. Chaor was the one that told him of the UnderWorld's Troubadours. Troubadours, like the French troubadours or English bards, were storytellers that typically told their stories in songs.
"I'm supposed to be a scarecrow." He glances around for his Scanner, but he doesn't see it anywhere in the shack.
"Sing me a song, Troubadour. You might earn yourself a copper." She produces his Scanner and dangles it like a treat.
"What makes you think I can sing?"
The intensity in her eyes deepen into twin pools of blue fire.
"You know. How?"
"I stop by at the Inferno Inn from time to time." Once in a while, H'earring would take him out for drinks at the Inferno Inn. After a few cups of wine, he would sing.
"Any requests?"
"A love song."
It takes him a moment to find the song, but then he begins:
"Come a little bit closer,
Hear what I have to say.
Just like children sleepin'
We could dream this night away…"
He sounds nothing like Neil Young nor does he try to. His take is far more somber, lacking the warm acoustics and a duet partner. He watches her face for disapproval, but her eyes are the same intensity as before, so he can't tell her mood. When it's over, she finally responds:
"You sound like him." Her voice comes out papery like she might cry, but her eyes lack the tears. He thinks about asking, but she tosses him his Scanner. "You may leave."
"You're not going to threaten me to keep your hideout a secret?"
"This is all I have now. I have no great lord to serve. I have no allies. I have no goals. I live for that's all I can do." There should be sadness in her words, but her tone is flat as though she's resigned to her lonely fate. It pains him.
"Maybe…I can stop by and sing you a song for a cup of Sunshine."
"If you wish."
Author's Comments: Here are the links-
I tried finding spooky music for inspiration, but Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" caught my mind more than the usual Halloween fare. I used its cover for Kaz's costume: a href=" watch?v=HDzHhqWZMD0"Link/a
Here is an image of the original design for Gothos Spy variant of Skithia by KharyRandolph on DeviantArt. Understandably, it had to be toned down for 4Kids. I recommend checking out his art since he did do card art for Chaotic and still posts on DA: a href=" kharyrandolph/art/Chaotic-Skithia-138947728"Link/a
What would Kaz be like ten years after the show's end? We'll never know, but I can hypothesize while also adding certain things I would want for his character. Originally, I was going to use Gothos Tower as the setting for the story because it's supposed to be a Halloween story and Gothos Tower has a spooky, gothic feel to it. However, I started to think about whether Skithia would there and concluded that she wouldn't. She would know that Chaor wouldn't allow anyone to have Gothos Tower since it's a symbol of rebellion and owned by the traitor Van Bloot. Then, I thought about using UnderWorld City, but that's Chaor's city, and Skithia wouldn't be welcomed there. Finally, I remembered my Skithia one-shot a href=" /works/6946126 " Ethereal/a where she had a home in an unnamed Location when her father was alive. She wouldn't go back unless she had no other options. In a way, this story is a pseudo-sequel to that story.
