Chapter 1
Thriving
Deep in a dark and foggy room, sparse lights flicker to illuminate a crowd sporting glowsticks and neon paint. The white flickers slow and fade to red, backlighting five performers.
Their vocalist and rhythm guitarist stands tall and wide, adjusting his glasses with one hand and loosening his striped tie with the other.
In front of him, the lead guitarist bounces on his feet, large canine ears flopping to the beat in his mind.
The drummer far in the back spins her sticks and brushes her long locks out of her face and behind her ursine ears.
Behind the keyboard, a gator stands stoic, but tall and proud, red lights reflecting off her scales.
And just in front of her, the bassist kneels and hunches, getting into character for the final song of the night as her ears flick about to every cheer and hushed voice in the crowd.
The first few guitar notes are slow, high, and discordant, the speakers rippling some of the fog rolling off the stage and scattering it across the room.
"They travel, hunched and withered
They're tainted to the bone
The gods will shake and shiver
Upon their hollow thrones"
The high notes cut out as the deep, heavy, and rapid rhythm cuts in. Once the rest of the instruments layer on and catch up, the vocals grow just as guttural and grim.
"The forest screams as it's monarch is poisoned
The fratricidal one prevails!
Now trees begin to die, the soil is tainted
And she cares not what that entails!"
The remaining band members take over vocals with a higher, child-like chorus.
"Now all the stars are dying
and autumn colors rot to graaaaa-a-aay
That horrid witch is cackling
Her tainted soul is here to staaaaa-a-aaaaay!"
The lights kick on at full capacity, casting the band's shadows across the crowd along with the logo of Night in the Woods decaled onto the bass drum.
"They travel, hunched and withered
They're tainted to the bone
The gods will shake and shiver
Upon their hollow thrones
It's power courses through her veins
Yet still can't clean those bloody stains
Life after life, deep in the snow
Contempt for deities will grow"
A chaotic, grating two-second solo leads out of the chorus.
"Their body decays as the eras pass by
Each step, their bones will turn to dust
Yet still we fear her name, and children all cry
When gods die, then who can we trust?
Lost souls in eternal strife
The Ghost Star shattered 'cross the skyyyyy-y-y-yyyy
They hand a child their old knife
They're born again when that blade fliiiiieeees!"
The guitarist drops to his knees as he breaks into a vicious solo, frantic and low with sudden, short jumps to stabbing highs. It ends on a long, drawn-out high chord trailing into absolute silence. The drums pick up like a heatbeat, followed by the bass, the rhythm, and lastly the keyboard and lead, building t a bombastic final chorus.
"They travel, hunched and withered
They're tainted to the bone
The gods will shake and shiver
Upon their hollow thrones
Their taint will live forever more
Hundreds of bodies on the floor
Reincarnated with a blade
That dagger carries forth her shade
New face, new life, same withered heart
Another grave, another start
They'll never stop 'til all have known
Even gods wither to the bone."
It ends abruptly, but the crowd breaks into echoing cheers near instantly. As the lights turn up and the red fades out, Mae Borowski steps up to her mic with an ear-to-ear grin. "Thank you, Bright Harbor! We are Night in the Woods, this has been and incredible show, and we can't wait to come back and give you all more! You've been awesome, we've all been awesome, now get out of here and have a fucking awesome night!"
Their cheers double, and the curtain closes as Mae steps around to Bea behind her keyboard. "Holy shit, that new organ filter on your keyboard was amazing, babe!"
Bea hums with a smirk as she shuts her board off to pack it away. "Just seemed the perfect fit for this song. Sorry I sprang it on you all so suddenly."
Angus shakes his head. "It was a good choice. Sounded much better than practice, we'll have to keep it like this."
"Hell yeah we will!" Gregg hops up and gets an arm around Bea's neck, pulling her down into a one-armed hug. "Of course our resident goth turned our darkest song even scarier!"
Bea rolls her eyes and shoves him off, but gently. "And yet, horror isn't really one of my specialties." She pulls Mae into a hug. "Got the inspiration from a horror movie marathon with this little nutcase last week."
Angus chuckles as he cases his guitar. "Should have known." He peeks up and raises an eyebrow in the direction of the drum kit. "Well, I suppose we should hurry up, if you two are so eager."
Jackie breaks away from her spot nearly in Selma's lap. "R-Right, well, as I intended to say before I was… distracted… you all did excellently tonight, and the drinks were flying fast enough to earn you all a significant bonus for tonight's show, as well as deals to play at three more places in the next three weeks."
Bea hums. "Two shows a week now, huh? That's shockingly high demand. Probably not too long before we'll be able to book some bigger venues."
"Oh, you already are." Jackie grins as she pulls out her phone. "Just check out this voicemail."
"Hey, this is Anne Kepler from Witch Dagger. We've got an opening for a new opener at our gig at the Settler Stadium on July 9th, and we really want you kids in! You need your first really huge gig, and we're happy to give it to ya. Give us a call back, I know you've got a show tonight that's keepin ya busy, but I'm sure you're not gonna pass a gig like this up. Later!"
Mae stands frozen and agape, almost disassociating. Bea gets a bit worried and tries to poke her back to consciousness, but she's beaten to it when Mea cheers at the top of her lungs. "LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
The moment they're packed and on the move, the city somehow seems more alive than when they arrived two months ago. The shimmering lights of Blight Harbor surround them. For the whole crew, they find it never gets old. Selma and Jackie head off their own way in Jackie's car, but everyone else heads to the same complex, getting back to their designated parking spots and riding up to their apartments.
These ones are actually a lot better than Gregg and Angus had been looking at before. The livingrooms and kitchens are only separated by a counter and shelf, but they're both spacious, the carpeting is plush, and the appliances are relatively new. The views from the livingroom windows are incredible, but just high and far enough to drown out the worst of the noise. There's only one bedroom each, but that's all either of them needs for now.
Both couples certainly need those bedrooms now. Mae sighs in relief as she stumbles in, but the wide, content smile plastered on her face says everything as she flops onto the couch. It just so happens Bea beat her to it, and she's now laid across her girlfriend, face tucked into her neck. "Mmm… This day can't get much better."
Bea huffs. "It better not. Any more exciting, and you'll have a heart attack. Besides, I'm fucking wiped. Gonna be hard enough just getting off the couch now to get into bed."
"Oh, I don't mind." She smirks. "I could just lay on you like this all night."
"Hmm… tempting. I do need to get out of these clothes though, they smell a bit smoky."
"I'm just glad you're finally seeing that as a bad thing again."
"It brings back the cravings sometimes." She groans as she sits up, jump jumps as her phone goes off. She pulls it from her purse on the coffee table and narrows her eyes at the number. "Jason?" She answers quickly as she scoots back against the armrest with Mae still in her lap. "H-hey, Jason, is everything ok?"
"No, actually. Figured the hour would make that obvious." His voice is shaky, high, and she can hear him pacing across hardwood floors. Bea quickly puts him on speaker. "Law disappeared after school today. Apparently, a bunch of kids were giving him shit for transitioning, and he just… ran! H-he was last seen heading for the tracks, a-and there was a train headed your way coming through town."
Bea sighs shakily. "Ok. He knows where our apartment is. He knows a lot of crusties through Germ, including Germ. Law's a smart kid, he should get here alright and come straight to us. Are they already keeping an eye on the other train stops on that line?"
"Yes, but he's probably most of the way to you already. Just let me know if he arrives to your place, alright? Doesn't matter what time, just call me right away."
"Of course. We've got this, Jason. I'm sure he'll be alright."
"I hope so. Thank you, Bea. You and Mae have a good night."
"T-Thanks, Jason." Bea sighs as she hangs up, tilting her head back. "Damnit… now I'm the one having a heart attack."
Mae wraps her arms around Bea and holds on tight. "I-I'm sure he'll be alright. You said it yourself, Law's a tough kid, and he's smart. I mean, h-he already came up here a few times, he knows how to get to us from the station, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"… Yeah, I guess so. I just…"
"I know, he's like a little brother to all of us. So tomorrow, I'll go out looking for him myself if I have to. But right now, it's too dark, the train probably hasn't arrived yet and won't for a few hours, and we're too tired to be much help."
"… Wow, you know I'm starting to get too emotional when you become the voice of reason."
"Hey, I love you, so I have to be here to pick you up when you slip." Mae kisses her cheek and slowly stands. "Now let's get to bed, babe. In the morning, one of us can go to the station and look arou-"
The girls jump as someone suddenly knocks on their front door. They look to one another, but Mae gets to the door first and peeks out, only to throw the door open.
Law leaps through and into Mae's arms, and she gladly returns that desperate hug and passes him on to Bea. While Bea holds on for dear life and rubs her little brother's back, Mae finds herself staring at whoever seems to have delivered him.
A deer with multiple large notches and scars in their antlers and ears stands before her, with graying fur and amber eyes, sporting a gray overcoat and black sash.
Something about her eyes leaves Mae seeing shapes for a few seconds.
"You must be Mae Borowski. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
.
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A.N: And the sequel finally begins! Expect this one to be shorter, but have a slightly wider scope, and a few new original songs to top it all off! Tryin to wrap up loose threads from Getting Anywhere, and oooohohoho, it's gonna be goo. Expect weekly updates, because it's already finished!