In the Dead of Night, It's time for a Fright!

[skellington]

Where the spooks can be found, adventure is the next hill over in this spiraling whirl of world. Creeping through the forest and past the rusted gates of Halloween Town, horrors of every shape and size were hustling about Guillotine Square. The center fountain sprayed with pride its green fluids that had a restorative quality to the inhabitants of this world. It was here that many of the residents had to go through in order to get to a different district of the town.

Witches returned from the store with bundles of twine with newts and more! Clowns on unicycles practiced their act and the Dead Man's Band made sure the 'dread' filled the alleys of this main square. Though everybody made sure to turn their heads and give a warm greeting to a slender fellow with a pondering look on his face. This person was in fact a skeleton, Jack Skellington to be more precise. He was known as the Pumpkin King and overall head of anything Halloween. Master of scares, role model to all ghouls, and savior to the citizens from not only Oogie Boogie, but the heartless too!

Today though, Jack was feeling a bit restless. He bid his lovely fiancee adieu and set out into town. A few stops were taken here and there, giving friendly tips to his friends on how to improve their scare. It was second nature to him after all, having been the man of the show since Halloween existed! Having that lineage kept his social status high within Halloween Town, sometimes a bit too much so when the Mayor is involved.

Jack however, sunk into a common rut with him. He needed to be an innovator, and in order to do that, there had to be something to spark such innovations! Sora, his keyblade wielding friend, had recently been the subject of his thoughts. Not only as a friend, but where he came from in general. The pumpkin king had promised Santa to not involve himself with the other holiday doors, but he also knew there was far more to see than just what lied beyond the forest. Sora was not like anybody on his world, and Jack could easily guess he wouldn't be the only one of his kind out there.

"If only there were a way to go and see these other places. I'm sure there must be a way!" Jack proclaimed to himself.

He cheered up and ended his subconscious pacing around the square. There was a good feeling in his hollow heart today! And when he got that familiar tingle, that usually meant something interesting would follow suit!

[Deleted]

The Corridor of Darkness opened releasing a man dressed in all white into a forest of some sort. As the young man’s feet touched the brown earth and the portal closed, he looked around the new area he was in. The sun was just beginning to set casting shadows off the bare trees around him. As he looked out at the forest, he took note that there were no birds or animals in this area. Only silence. Curious at this strangeness, he glanced about the trees nearest him taking note they were very odd indeed. A heart, a clover, a bird of some sort, a strange tree with even stranger decorations, and what appeared to be a rocket along with other shapes rested on these wide trunk trees. As he turned to the one with the strange tree on it he noticed that there were strange box like steps before it. Frowning slightly in confusion, he looked at the other trees taking note that the stairs changed according to what was painted on the tree. How strange.

Why would someone go through such lengths to decorate trees that just so happened—he took a quick spin to make sure of this next part. Yep. The trees were definitely resting in a circle formation. What was this place for and why the painted trees and strange steps? He had never seen anything like this before and since he had not ever experience a holiday he could not wrap his head around the strange paintings around him. Curious, he went over to the one with the bird and after carefully examining it, he found there was a knob there. A knob? Tilting his head, he stepped up on the steps and turned the nob, pulling slightly to see if the strange bird was actually a door. Sure enough, the bird shaped door swung open with ease; however, when he looked into the opening, he was disappointed to find nothing, but blackness there. Sighing, he closed the door and checked the other areas with the same result. It wasn’t until he got to a strange pumpkin like door with a angry face on it that Deshi lucked up on something.

As he opened the door and peeked in, a strange wind pulled him in and before he knew it he was tumbling through a strange spiral of orange and black heading downward until he finally tumbled out into a place that was dark. He rolled onto the ground and ended up on his stomach feeling a bit dizzy from the trip. Shaking his head to clear it, he pushed himself to his hands and knees only to feel a strange tingling sensation that made his body double up as if It were in pain.

Following the sensation, his clothing became darkened, blood stained, and torn as his skin took on the pale hue of death itself and his nails became black and brittle looking. His white hair became dusty and stained as his face was altered slightly to give him a ghoulish look. When the sensation had left, Deshi had been shifted from a human into a zombie like creature decked out with revealed bones and everything. Confused and curious about this change, Deshi tested his new body to see if he could stand up. No problem there, so why the change?

He study himself for a bit more before turning his attention to the place he had fallen into. Tombstones and strange lamp post. Old brick walls and whispering winds. There was a strange air to the place that reminded Deshi of the undead that used to visit the arena. He remembered one battle where the undead had taken him to her home for the battle. The underground city had taken its toll on him, but the images there and the way it made him feel never vanished. This place….this place had a similar felling, but just not as hostile. Even more curious, he began to move forward since behind him was a dead end.

At first, he walked without a problem until he neared one of the tombstones that decided to tremble slightly before falling forward. Instinctively, Deshi jumped back to avoid being crushed as the large stone crashed into the ground loudly and cracked. Watching it cautiously for a moment, he turned his eyes to the others he had to go pass. If one was so unstable then surely the others could be the same way. Deciding to stay alert, he continued his walk pass the tombstones avoiding the falling ones as he went. When he finally reached a gate, he heard a strange sound behind and turned to see several sheet like creatures with various faces floating up to the sky, laughing and booing. He could’ve sworn he heard a whisper of disappointment. Something about not getting the scare they wanted.

Scare? Those strange creatures called attempting to kill people a scare? If that be the truth then what other insane logic would he find in this new place? Shaking his head, he faced foward again and moved to open the gate only to find it opening on its own for him. Okay.

He walked out of the area with the falling tombstones and headed into the main square where even stranger things met his eyes. As he looked at the strange residents and even stranger art style of the place, Deshi found himself wandering towards the fountain at the center of the square. Once at the fountain, he stopped and let his eyes observer the place. As he did this, he rested his hand on the well, but immediately drew his hand away as wet and slimy hand attempted to grab him. He heard a chuckle and a splash from within the fountain, but as he examined the green liquid he could not find the source of the sound.

Keeping an eye on the fountain, he went back to observing the place trying to bring some form of logic to the strangeness he was seeing, but also finding himself more and more curious as to what this place actually was. Despite how strange it was, it looked really fun, but where to begin exploring was the question.

[skellington]

The thoughts that rattled in his brain really didn't help, since Jack needed to focus on the issue at hand! There had to be more possibilities on inducing a frightful time for his beloved holiday! Seeing the same old pumpkin and bats for the 100th year just didn't give off that same flair it used to. He knew the townspeople were trying their hardest and most were quite happy! Jack just didn't want them to be disappointed if the children and adults of the human world became immune to their scares.

"What to do...what to do?" Jack mumbled to himself.

He was deep in thought and did not see the being coming right at him. A few steps away and they would collide into each other. Jack was oblivious to his oncomer though, but the spirit wasn't known as the pinnacle gentleman for nothing you know~! His slender body naturally arced in ways that would be inhuman for a mortal to accomplish while in motion. The black fingers of the themed collar just barely grazes the hair of the foreigner while being his 'London's Bridge' overhead. And in a simple fashion did Jack straighten himself back up without a second glance.

His feet stopped shortly after, as the pumpkin king slowly realized what exactly just happened. Turning about and seeing the new person, a tingly feeling welled up inside. It reminded him of the time that Sora, Donald, and Goofy first came to town; invigorating to say the least! The empty sockets where eyes should be widened in delight, if you could call it that? That might be appropriate, as Skellington didn't waste a moment making his way to the newcomer. This could be that sign that he felt earlier! The answer to a halloween prayer? No, that didn't sound right. Jack remembered that those feelings belonged to a different holiday.

"Why hello there friend! You seem to be from outside of here. I am Jack Skellington, one of the inhabitants of Halloween Town. I'd like to personally welcome you here...umm, friend?" he said very politely, with a nice hint of enthusiasm mixed in his words. His bony hand extended out in an offer for a handshake as he spoke.

[Deleted]

Deshi had been standing by the strange well for a few minutes looking this way and that way as he watched each of the strange residents do this or that around the strange town. He watched as some talked and others popped out from a hidden spot startling others...only to laugh once the one startled figured out the person was a friend. He watched as the one scared clapped the one who had scared her on the back congratulating the scarer for doing such a wonderful job.

Congratulating for scaring someone? Now that was new. Usually the response to being startled was a scream followed by anger, agitation and sometimes tears. He knew this because the dead that came to his world to fight in the tournaments used similar tactics…except their techniques were designed to paralyze and kill. It worked on everyone except Deshi. Even those that were said to be “fearless” flinched and became weak in their knees at the sight and sound of the dead, but him? He always found the dead a challenge to beat not because he was afraid— no he was actually quite curious about the creatures and how they worked— but simply because they could not be defeated in the normal fashion. Like him, they didn’t experience pain and there was no way of getting them to submit. You had to defeat them or become one of them. Each time he fought one of the undead, he always felt drained afterwards....because they reminded him all the time of what he did daily. How he added to their ranks and how he could become one of them at any moment. Death…it wasn’t a pleasant thought for Deshi even though the Void enjoyed it seeing it.

For Deshi the event of taking of another’s life was depressing. He didn’t want to kill and yet the Void forced him to do it in the past. The dead…the terrible reminder of his deeds, but this place where the dead and strange roamed so freely? None of those feeling of dread lingered. Instead there was excitement. What was this strange and wondrous place he had been brought to and why were the people here so odd and scared each other for a smile or laugh? Was this another side of the undead that Deshi didn’t get to see in the arena? Questions and more questions.

However, questions could not be answered standing in one spot, so now it was time to explore. Feeling like a little kid at Christmas time, Deshi moved away from the fountain and began to head towards one of the strange houses. As he did this, his eyes wandered this way and that finding curiosity after curiosity. While he drunk it all in visually, the Void sat quietly in the back of his mind shocked into being still for once, leaving Deshi in full control. So absorbed in looking about the young warrior was that he did not notice that someone was heading his way until he was being smacked into by the solid object.

On impact, Deshi was repelled back slightly; however, he caught his balance as he placed one foot behind him and crouched slightly as he leaned back to stop himself from hitting the ground. As he stumbled something arced over him casting a shadow over him while something else brushed against his hair. The incident only lasted a second before the rest of what happened hit Deshi. He didn’t run into a someone. No he had run into something. A something that oddly felt like a thing made of bone. Stunned by confusion, Deshi let the strange being go past him before shaking his head and turning slightly to watch the tall, stick like skeleton walking away. Of all the things he saw, this particular skelrton stuck out the most, but what it was that made the skeleton stick he could not tell. Was this being a threat or something else? Hmmm…why was he….uh-oh!

Deshi’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as said skeleton took notice of him as it turned about to face him with a look of delight? Yeah, those eyeless sockets were widened and the smile on its lipless face suggested delight, so yeah, the skeleton wore an expression of delight on its face as it saw Deshi, but why?

Before Deshi could ponder this delight further, the skeleton had approached once more and began to speak in a polite way that could not hide his excitement. Deshi heard his words and saw the skeleton extend his hand; however, he did not react immediately as his mind went through a few things, trying to understand exactly what was happening here.

This skeleton, Jack, was definitely the dead; however, unlike the dead back home he wasn’t trying to kill him. In fact, he seemed enthusiastic to see the white haired warrior, but for reasons unknown. On top of this, he was polite and if it wasn’t for the fact that the creature was made of bones and could bend in ways not possible by human standard, the skeleton could’ve been classified as human. Also, the words “outside of here” and “friend” did not escape Deshi’s ears, so while he stared up at the skeleton with blank eyes for a second and remained unmoving, he eventually unfroze and placed his pale and decaying hand inside of the skeleton’s and shook it.

“Deshitana or Deshi. Nice to meet you Jack,” he said calmly filling in the "friend" for Jack before he let the skeleton’s hand go. Deshi continued to keep his eyes on the skeleton as he asked his next questions.

“How is it that I am a friend when we just me? And how is it you know of outside worlds and that I am not from around here?” he asked as he shifted his weight to the left and placed his right hand on his hip and looked up at Jack as he tilted his head to the right. This fellow Jack was a strange undead indeed and being in the rare group that actually acknowledged the outside worlds, Deshi was wondering if maybe he too was an outsider instead of a resident.

[skellington]

[atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; background-color: #2D0236; border: 5px ridge #1E0124, bTable][cs=2] [style=font: italic normal bold 26px/18px Helvetica; color: #A4A81E; letter-spacing: -1px]In this town, you will see...[/style][style=font: bold 9px Helvetica; color: #0A0A0A; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.4em #c2a5a0]EVERYBODY DANCES WITH THE PUMPKIN KING[/style]

[style=height: 300px; overflow: auto; font: 11px Tahoma; padding-right: 10px; text-align: justify; color: DBD9DB]It was a good thing right? Deshitana, as he called himself, was quite the warm fellow! A bit on the shaken side it appeared, though that was just fine. Loads of people who were new came in without so much as a clue towards the new macabre style had the jitters. Part of it was maybe the culture shock? The other part might be that one of the residential creepy crawlers got into their clothes. Either way, Jack was pleased Deshi was accepting to the circumstances he was in. "I'm not quite sure Deshi." Jack pondered, stopping to scratch his mandible once again. "I knew you weren't from here because every ghoul and spook is already has a precious place in my cold heart! It would be most rude of me to not have known you if you were a denizen. You also remind me of another friend that came to visit." He walked forth towards a group of undead men, playing to a jazzy tune. Each one gave their proper greetings to the Pumpkin King, seeing that he tossed a few coins into the hat. They had a bit of an unspoken relationship; no doubt from years of trust. Jack had known them since the time where their corpses were plagued with rigor mortis. Like a fine wine he shared with Sally occasionally, their music kept becoming more refined as time passed on. The lead gave a few snaps, and a confirmation to the bone daddy. What better way to introduce a new friend than with a song after all? As the band began, the area began to liven up in a sense of dread. Fearful in a way, but welcoming to the guest. It had that tingle of high pitches with low bass worthy of a shadowy sneak! Eyes began to gaze from every corner and alleyway, as if in a trance of sorts to the Deadman's tribute to the pumpkin song. Ghouls wrapped around Deshi, whispering a cold chill, "Boys and girls of everryy age~ Wouldn't you like to come to see?" It was the beginning, but an invitation to this building concerto. Jack's limber form begun to spin and dance gracefully along the edges. A single leap onto the top of the fountain and down he extends his hand to Deshi to come closer to the festivities. If he took a look around, more and more creatures of every shapes and horrific sizes made their way to the square. They each had a bit of swagger to the beat of the song, and were watching the newcomer. Watching to see if he'd catch the drift and join them in this number. [/style]

[Deleted]

Despite how strange Jack Skellington and this world was, Deshi did not find himself afraid or feeling threatened by the circumstances. Even the Void who stirred around the living was quiet for the moment, seeing no point in paying attention to what was already dead and so Deshi was left in full control of himself for the time being and as such he was more of a curious child than the cautious warrior he usually was. He understood the dangerous of curiosity and what could happen if he let his guard drop too far. Both the Void and this place could be the end of him. Who knew. Maybe under all this strangeness the Grim Reaper herself waited to strike him down and drag him into the darkness for simply pretending to be one of the dead. Not by choice of course, this world had shifted him as soon as he had arrived, but he still had to wonder if this was really for his protection or not. Even if it were to protect him, pretending to be dead was quite hard when your Heart was still beating in your chest.

In any case dead or not, Deshi’s initial thoughts on the curious nature of this world were swept away by Jack and his warm welcome. He found that despite the man being dead, he was intrigued by the skeleton and wanted to learn more about this strange world that seemed to run off of fear and dread. An odd combination that could put most edge, but after a few moments of being here Deshi had simply accepted that the people here were not going to kill him and the world’s oddness was just its way. He couldn’t change that and he was pretty sure that as long as he didn’t do anything to cause the strange folk to see him as a threat, he’d be safe. Thanking the spirits above that the Void had decided to sleep this one out, Deshi’s attention turned to Jack as he spoke answering his questions.

He watched as the skeleton actually considered his words carefully before giving him an explanation. As he listened, he nodded. The explanation made sense. This was Jack’s home and depending on how long he had been truly dead or claimed this place as home, he probably would know the unique characters that roamed here, so someone such as him would stick out quite easily, especially if the skeleton had good memory like himself. On top of this, it would seem that Jack had a friend that was not from around here that had visited before. A friend Deshi reminded him of? Huh, he wonder who that friend was. He would’ve asked, but the skeleton was moving again.

Deshi watched as he went over to a group of dead men that had what appeared to be instruments in their hands although on one instrument he could’ve sworn that he saw a head inside it. As strange as that was, Deshi watched the situation unfolded with a curious expression. What was this strange music the dead men were playing and why were the residents reacting in a strange fashion to it? It seemed like the music was putting them in a trance or something that at first put the calm warrior on edge as a slight frown crossed as he watched as some even began to sway to the music.

Was this an attack or spell? Had he relaxed too soon around the dead? A little concerned, Deshi tensed slightly as ghouls wrapped around him, singing strange words. He half expected the words to be harmful, but they weren’t. Instead they seemed to be inviting him to something, but what? He didn't have time to wonder as Jack began to spin and move about in graceful patterns, something that could’ve been an attack to follow up on the singing and ghouls that could be both a distraction and away of binding…had the dancing been directed to harming him, but it wasn’t. Okay, now he was confused. The dancing and singing was not being used as an attack like the dancers of the arena had used the art. No, these people and things…they danced because they wanted to and they seemed to be having fun at that! What was going on? He glanced about seeing others watching, but getting into the rhythm of the song. They were watching him as if they expected him to do something. Uncertain, he almost summoned Crimson Rose as Jack suddenly went from dancing to leaping. He managed to keep himself from flicking his left hand out and instead balled it into a fist as he watched Jack land and then extend his bony hand out to him.

Not sure what to do, Deshi looked around at the gathering of strange folk in the area and discovered more had come to watch or something. He looked back at Jack wondering if this offer was to save or to doom. He studied him for a second and while the guy did not have eyes, looking into those empty sockets somehow calmed Deshi once more as he cautiously unclenched his balled hand and then reached out and took the skeleton’s hand…..

[Deleted]

A Corridor of Darkness barely disrupted the silence of an alley at the far end of a road. It was a dead end..and a sign marked it as such. Xion stepped out from the black and purple swirling depths of the Corridor, which oddly fit in with the color scheme of the place. She rubbed her head, remembering when she and Roxas had come here on missions for the Organization...it seemed like years ago. How long had it truly been? The things they had seen here had made her uncertain anything was right in this world..in truth, what was right or wrong? Everything was constantly changing, but one thing remained the same..this world was definitely made to be creepy..

As she Dismissed the Corridor, Xion glanced around. Not much seemed to have changed..everything was still as dark, and as creepily accurate (like the Dead End sign surrounded by tombstones?). She walked forward, and suddenly felt odd.. What was happening? She felt furry, and warmer. Reaching up, she felt kitty ears on her head..and a small hat? She turned toward a broken mirror that leaned against the alley wall, and stared. Kitty ears, a small witch hat, and a Keyblade tag on a black collar around her neck. Soft furry fabric, a long tail, and whiskers completed the look. She was a black cat..or more like a cat costume. It fit snugly, keeping her warm, and feeling secure. What was this change? She didn't remember anything like this happening the last time she and Roxas had visited Halloween Town.

She heard music and noise, and decided to head in that direction. She padded along, realizing the costume had paws instead of hands or feet. This was certainly something to get used to. As she neared the source of the commotion, she was amazed at all the variety of beings gathered. Staring around, Xion noticed one particular character..a very lively Skeleton, and someone who looked oddly..if vaguely, familiar. She moved forward, needing to know if it indeed was...

"Deshi?! Is that you?!"

[skellington]

[STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; float: left; border:2px dashed #471F0B;][/style]
[STYLE=width: 445px; text-transform:lowercase; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing:-4px; color: #DE5F1B; text-align:justify; margin-top: 45px;]Pumpkins scream in the dead of night [/style]
[STYLE=width: 360px; height: 12px; text-transform:uppercase; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 2px; color: #ffffff; background-color:#AD3E07; margin-top: -18px;]trick or treat til the break of light[/style][STYLE=width: 360px; color: #727272; font-size :8px; font-family: georgia; letter-spacing: 6px;]credit to star at btn [/style][STYLE=width: 360px; height: 250px; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; overflow:auto; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; border: 3px solid #ffffff;] A warm, but eerily frightful grin spread across the the skeleton's face. He was glad to see that Deshitana was looking to take an active role on stage. With a great pull, he pulled the young man so that he may also dance with him to the uppity tune his town had been known for.

Ghouls with slender eyes slinked out of the broken windowpanes of a rickety house, willowing and fluttering like a wisp around the newest comer to the party. Though they were no more than specters, they managed to grab a hold of the witch kitten and lead her closer to the group. Their expressions looked like that of a scare player, but the words that woo'd out had a far lighter tone to it~

'Come with us and you will seeeee; this, our town of Halloweeeeen' they wailed in a eastern twang, spinning about before spreading out around the slender skeleton man in the center of it all!

The crowd seemed to sway and move on their own. Many pairs of eyes stared at the two newcomers with a mischievous glimmer. Every horror had a unique appearance and did their own interpretation of spiraling around the fountain. Some might find it unnerving to have so many famous icons of horror inch closer and closer to them. An untamed pelt belonging to a werewolf, a pudgy clown strapped to a unicycle, and some who really were too deformed to properly associate. They all stared at Deshitana and the younger female companion; all of them singing what sounded like the continuation or the chorus of this song.

Echoes of the phrase 'This is Halloween' ringed in the Guillotine Square. Each ghastly ghoul becoming louder as they chanted, to where even some of the tombstones shook under their beat~!

The ghouls from before had returned and dazzled themselves into a flurry of white around both Deshitana and his guest, who at the time were taking turns elegantly led into various classical dance maneuvers by Jack Skellington. First up was Deshitana! He was swayed to the left and right masterfully upon the narrow ledge they stood on, slicked by green goo that poured out of the fountain's mouth. Jack's height made it easy to twirl and lift the disguised man with relative ease, before placing him down upon a storm drain.

Just as he was placed, a red flash sparkled between the grills where Deshi stood. He would see a pair of bloody red rubies staring right back at him, growling with an almost gentlemanly voice?

"I am the one hiding within this thread!" it said with glee, with a growing pair of chompers displayed for free! "Peeking 'round your tarp and eyes fulled with dread!"

A little bit of fire mixed with a chill similar to the North wind burst out of the storm drain. Nothing more than a flash of pumpkin shaped embers that meant to startle the man, along with a sudden rise of hot air. Playful snickers from the crowd was heard, though you couldn't dare associate it with that of a bully. These creatures may look the role of fiends to be slayed, but their joy was nothing short of pure bliss.

The ringleader of it all then performed a flip off the fountain, if you could call it that. His thin build kinda made the motion appear almost whip-like and near transparent because of how dark the town was. Illuminated with nothing but the moon and candle lights within the jack-o-lanterns, the king to the orange symbol of Halloween elegantly bowed and brought the second newcomer in for a waltz of sorts.

It was beautiful to see, but there would be no rest for the one who was on the sidelines! A figure that had snakes protruding from his body came closer to Deshitana, stalked closer and closer to the young man. If he tried to move or not, a pair of skeletons came in close and placed their arms over his shoulders like a group of fraternity brothers. This new goliath spoke upon the citizen's echoes of the Halloween chorus,

"I am the one sliding and splundering your hair! Fingers like snakes and spiders to your hair!" it said, getting pretty close to where his creepy crawlies could hop aboard and dance about Deshitana's body too~! A smile could vaguely be seen on the spider's faces under the pale moonlight.

The young girl seemed so tiny when paired with Jack, but the master of fear did not miss a step even with a beginner! He was slow and gently led her...to a trio of vampires that is! They surrounded the two in their descending order of heights, fangs clearly visible and all leaning in. Their voices were alluring like a trance, yet cool to the ear like the opening of a crypt!

"In this town~" one said in a quiet and gentle voice.
"We call home~" the next said, equally as quiet.
"Everybody dances to the pumpkin song~!" the tallest one said, echoed by his brethren!

Their dance came to a halt, as tiny but stout man with a big ol' grin on his face trotted into the dance's path. His singing voice was deep and proud, unlike what the pair had just finished. Maybe a surprise to his dance partner, but Jack smiled as the Mayor of Halloween Town spun his head about once or twice in his joy before saying his part.

"In this town, don't you love it now?" he asked, a question that was proposed to both of the guests. His head spun once more in a full cycle, before waddling to the next part. "Everybody is waiting for your big surprise!"

The invitation was sent, and now it was their turn. Halloween Town's denizens were eager to see Deshitana's and the young catgirl's lines for the song, although some looked more like they were slobbering for a meal. Jack's pupil-less eyes also had a bit of expectation for the both of them, gently hinting that it didn't matter if they weren't good singers. You just had to try and participate! That was the spirit of the holidays after all~

[/style]
[STYLE=width: 360px; height: 12px; text-transform:uppercase; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 7px; color: #ffffff; background-color:#AD3E07; margin-top: -5px;]dance around tonight[/style][STYLE=width: 360px; text-transform:lowercase; font-family: georgia; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -3px; color: #DE5F1B; text-align:right; margin-top: 0px;]This is Halloween, everybody scream![/style]

[Deleted]

”What the hell?!” the Void stirred inside of Deshi as the creature felt him tense up as if the boy was threatened by something; however, upon opening its mental eyes and seeing what was happening, the Void wondered if perhaps he would indeed need to come out and destroy the creatures around the boy. They were the dead and what not, all interestingly fun to rip to shreds and lay to rest forever. As they closed in, swaying and..singing….and dancing…Yeah. Singing, dancing undead. Anyway, as they closed in the first time around, the Void half expect for the boy to give into instinct and attack, give him an opening to come out and make art out of the imperfect dead; however, instead of being somewhat predictable the boy did something unexpected. As the skeleton reached for his hand out to the boy, the boy did not strike out. Oh no, that was too much to ask obviously. Instead, the curious nature and fearlessness of the boy took over and he took the skeleton’s hand and what happened next just left the Void, with its mouth hanging open as it watched.

The skeleton’s smile, creepy as it was, was not hostile towards the boy as he yanked him up on the fountain where he was with ease and then proceeded to dance with the child. A skeleton dance with that the child? This was simply unheard of. He should’ve been the one to be the dance partner and then he could show everyone else here what a truly wonderful dancer was. Stupid body sharing and mental barrier. Thanks to this kid he was missing out on all the fun! Grumbling, the Void went back to the corner of the boy’s mind pouting as it continued to watch the fun go on without it.

While all this took place on a mental level, Deshi’s face did not show anything had changed. If anything, he showed mild shock when he was pulled up onto the thin ledge of the fountain certain he’d fall into the goo thanks to the strange liquid covering the area they were standing on and thinness of the stage; however, the skeleton held him steady as ghouls began to come out of the broken windowpanes, singing away. He could’ve sworn over the singing that he heard a familiar voice call his name and he looked towards the crowd to see who it was, but instead saw a strange cat with a even stranger hat on, a small key on a black collar and deep blue eyes that reminded him of…

“Xion?” he whispered a bit confused as he watched the ghouls carry the strange cat to the front of the crowd, but he had no time to see if he was right as the ghouls began to sing about the town of Halloween. Halloween Town? Halloween? What did that mean? He wondered this briefly as the ghouls sang and fanned out around the skeleton. He didn’t get to ponder his questions or ask them for that matter as his eyes caught the crowd moving closer. While a normal person would probably be on edge at the mischievous smiles on the crowd’s many faces, Deshi was just curious as to what was going through their heads and what they would do when they got closer. They were still dancing and singing, so what would they do? Before his mind could ponder this question, his attention was brought back to Jack as the skeleton swayed him first to the left and then to the right on the slippery and thin surface of the fountain. While the Void had expected the boy to fall face first onto the ground or into the fountain, the creature was shocked to find that the boy was more adaptable than he thought. Using similar steps used in battle, the boy was able to keep his footing and keep up with the dance. Deshi turned out to be actually be an okay dancer. Look the boy even took the twirls and lifts with ease before the skeleton put him down on a storm drain.

A bit disoriented from the dance, the flash of red from the grill beneath him didn’t necessarily scare him, but still caused him to instinctively back up as he looked down and focused on the red eyes and the voice that sung to him from below. He heard it mention it was a thing that lived in the drain that peeked up into his eyes full of dread? No. Dread was not the right word for the look in Deshi’s eyes as he listened to the glowing eyed and sharp fanged thing in the drain. No, curious and intrigued were more like it. In any case, Deshi took another step back and raised his arms slightly as a mixture of fire and the biting North wind came out of the drain. He saw some pumpkin shaped embers also come up and even felt hot air. The display could’ve been taken as threatening, but Deshi was slowly understanding that this town was not trying to harm him. They did this stuff for fun and he guess in a way to welcome people. An odd way, but he couldn’t say anything bad about anyone else culture or ways. In any case, the light snickering and chuckling from the crowd only confirmed that the residents here were having fun doing this, so he went along with the flow.

He watched as Jack performed an odd…what was that? A flip or a dance move? Deshi wasn’t too sure what to call the move and the light of the moon and jack-o-lanterns didn’t help to decipher any of it any better. Anyway, after the skeleton had performed the move, he bowed down and grabbed his next dance partner by the paws? Yeah, by the paws. The cat with the strange hat definitely did not have hands. In any case, he grabbed the cat that Deshi thought may be Xion by the paws and began to do another dance with the cat, making it elegant and beautiful to see despite height difference. Deshi would’ve been content to watch this dance to the end, but he didn’t get to see the whole dance through before his attention was drawn to a few residents that had decided to invade his personal space.

It started with a creature made of what appeared to be snakes coming closer and closer to Deshi as if it were going to attack him. He took a slight step back unsure of the creature, but was stopped as a pair of skeleton’s placed their arms on Deshi’s shoulders as if they were the closest of friends. While the closeness of the skeletons was slightly bothersome (he never liked being close to dead), he was more concerned with the snake person who had now closed the distance now that he was effectively cornered. As it sung its line and got close to Deshi, small spiders jumped off the creature and onto Deshi where they began to dance. In response to this action, a surprising thing happened. Instead of trying to get the spiders off, Deshi actually broke from his usually serious attitude and started laughing. The spiders' dance was actually tickling him! A shocker for both himself and the Void. He never knew he was ticklish, so it was interesting to discover this new trait of his. Besides, the genuine laugh was much needed. It helped him relax and let go of the earlier cautiousness and truly enjoy what he the atmosphere.

Once the spiders were off of him and he could breathe again, he looked over to see Jack dancing with the cat with the strange hat before giving her over to…vampires?!. Deshi’s first instinct was to protect the cat and attack the vampires; however, he calmly reminded himself that despite their appearances, these creatures were not going to harm him or the cat. Slowly, he relaxed once more as he continued to listen to the song. As the vampires sang their part of the song, the dancing came to a stop as a short man with a tall hat and as huge grin came out of the crowd singing, waddling forward a bit before spinning his head. Deshi watched as the happy face went to a pale white one, sad and full of sharp teeth and then back again before the man was waddling even further forward singing an invitation to join?

Uh-oh. He and the catgirl were on the spot now The citizen were all looking at them and even Jack was looking at them, all expecting them to add onto the fun. What to do? He had never sung before in his life, so how was he going to add on? The panic only lasted for a second and then Deshi was pushing it back and taking a breathe inwardly. All he had to do was make something up, right? How hard could that be?

The hesitation lasted only a second before Deshi opened his mouth and let out words that he simply prayed met expectations.

“Round that corner something in the trash can is waiting for it’s chance to pounce on you,” he sang the one line. He had a nice voice and was in tune and kept to the beat, but to be truthful this was just plain awkward. He didn’t know what he was doing and simply went with the flow. After sing the line he looked to the cat to finish it. Maybe she had better words than his own to add………

[skellington]

[STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; float: left; border:2px dashed #471F0B;][/style]
[STYLE=width: 445px; text-transform:lowercase; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing:-4px; color: #DE5F1B; text-align:justify; margin-top: 45px;]Pumpkins scream in the dead of night [/style]
[STYLE=width: 360px; height: 12px; text-transform:uppercase; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 2px; color: #ffffff; background-color:#AD3E07; margin-top: -18px;]trick or treat til the break of light[/style][STYLE=width: 360px; color: #727272; font-size :8px; font-family: georgia; letter-spacing: 6px;]credit to star at btn [/style][STYLE=width: 360px; height: 250px; background-color: #000000; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; overflow:auto; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; color: #DE5F1B; border: 3px solid #DE5F1B;] Snickers of glee came from the ones who stared at the guest's participation. While one was a bit quiet on the take, the male took a stab at the line for the traditional Halloween song. They clapped their slime, paws, and bony fingers in congratulations! Jack couldn't help but laugh to the rhythm of the pumping tuba, giving much praise to his zombified guest's line. He let the kitten pounce along gently towards Deshi, as the pumpking king waltzed on over to an enlarged pumpkin near a hung scarecrow.

More villagers converged around Deshitana to continue this song of joyful fright! One snuck to the Deshi's back, coiling his slimy striped body around and sung to his ear ever so softly, "Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll --"

A pierrot-like monster suddenly leaped above the guest and landed rather close, jolting to a stand at a range where Deshi's nose touched his pale pointy nose, screeching "SCREAM!"

The werewolf hunched out of the crowd, letting his red eyes screen Deshi as he quickly added, "This is Halloween."

Pierrot spoke again, this time quickly shifting to slinging his two-toned clothed arm over the man's shoulders, "RED AND BLACK!"

A slob of melting goo spurted out, "aaNd sLiMy GREeN!", bubbling into splotches of sludge. The werewolf spoke again, coming yet closer to Deshi's leg as if he were to chomp it off at that point. Fangs shining under the moonlight, asking, "Aren't you scared?"

"WELL THAT'S JUST FINE!" said two new female voices!

On cue, two blurred figures whooshed on by past Deshitana with a trail of bat-shaped lighted bursts screeching after. Following that trail would lead to two witches zooming the starlit skies above Halloween Town. Their cackling could be heard clearly from their elevation, as they flew in beautiful formations skillfully. The trail of lighted bats made a pumpkin that smiled down at the denizens below. Each townsfolk waved their arms side to side, in a fervor-like state.

Halloween Town's aerial artists buzzed about some more, letting their magic amplified voices send their verse down to the mass below, "Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of nighttt!"

Off they zoomed after swooping in low once more, making a few of the citizens duck when they passed through. There would be no rest here though, as roots began to unearth from the ground and slowly coil around both Xion and Deshitana's heels. It wasn't too tight of a constriction, but enough so that the owner could drag them a bit closer. The owner being a tree just east of the water pool, with a gruesome face and a bark that just may be worse than any bite!

"Everybody scream," it bellowed, "EVERYBODY SCREAM!"

A soft voice chirped from the tree's branches. Looking to the right would show a hung body, who smiled at the two and said, "In our town of Halloweeeennn~"

The denizens kept on keeping closer, whilst Jack overlooked it all. He wasn't sure if they were going to go through the entire number, but couldn't see why not. This Deshitana and Xion fellows were great sports and perhaps would even take charge and say a line of their own. Halloween Town's song usually went through introductions of its figures, and the next one was the Faceless Clown. While it would be great for the creature to give a scare using his rather surprising speed, the Pumpkin King had a small twinge of creative hope. The hope being that one of the two would try and introduce themselves under the same muse, making them a part of their big, festive family!
[/style]
[STYLE=width: 360px; height: 12px; text-transform:uppercase; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 7px; color: #ffffff; background-color:#AD3E07; margin-top: -5px;]dance around tonight[/style][STYLE=width: 360px; text-transform:lowercase; font-family: georgia; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -3px; color: #DE5F1B; text-align:right; margin-top: 0px;]This is Halloween, everybody scream![/style]

[Deleted]

Well, this was nice. At least the snickers were not mocking ones that came from the crowd much to Deshi’s relief. They seemed to enjoy his stab at singing and even applauded him for his effort. Even Jack’s chuckle was encouraging as the skeletal being seemed to praise him for his efforts. The tension began to flow out of Deshi despite how odd the people were that surrounded him. He saw the kitten coming towards him and smiled slightly, but if anyone was expecting the pair to dance, then they'd be disappointed. Deshi didn't dance...unless it was in combat, so yeah. If there was cue to dance then he missed as he continued to listen and observe the crowd.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time and while it did take him a while, the calm warrior was finally began to relax into the mood of things, understanding these creatures enjoyed scaring and not harming. As he began to relax and at least sway to the beat, he saw Jack waltz away, but had no time to see where to as his focus returned to the citizens once more invading his personal space.

First, it was the strange thing made of slim that wrapped around him and sang in his ear, then came the strange creature that jumped over him before landing closely in front of him. On instinct more so than fear, Deshi moved back as their noses touched. The song went on and the werewolf came up singing. Deshi’s eyes went to the familiar form, but he did not feel threatened as he continued to listen to the song. He was distracted when the creature that had touched his nose moved to wrap an arm around his shoulders. His eyes traveled from the creature next him to the another as each sang a part of the song. The only discomfort he showed was when he shifted slightly away as the werewolf got too close to his leg for comfort. While he was indeed not afraid and quite comfortable, it was still hard to override logic and instinct and instinct told him to keep his leg out of the werewolf’s path…even if he was harmless.

In any case, his attention went from the werewolf to two blurs that flew by and headed towards the sky singing. It was two females from the sounds of it, but how were they flying? Deshi’s eyes followed the bat shape trail they left behind until he saw the two ladies on brooms. Magical brooms? Now that was new; however, these odd brooms seemed to support the two ladies with ease and bent to their will. He watched as the two women flew around in awe. They were good at what they did. So good they were that even the Void could not help, but to agree on this point. As the two women made their flight and created a smiling pumpkin in the sky, Deshi actually smiled. Not a half smile or slight smile that he usually gave, but a truly genuine one that hadn’t been seen since he was very small. He was enjoying the show and while the residents danced, Deshi listened to the song the strange ladies on brooms sang before having to duck as the pair came in low on their rides.

As he was recovering from the swoop, he felt something wrap around him in a firm, yet gentle grip and instinctively looked at what had him. Where those tree roots around his heels? How did he not hear them come up and who was the--? Oh!

Deshi focused on the talking tree mildly shock. Of all the things he had fought, he had only heard of tree walkers, but never had run into one until now. As he was pulled closer to the odd and somewhat threatening tree, Deshi kept himself as relaxed as possible although his body was tensing slightly. He heard with the tree said and then hearing a voice from above, he looked up into its branches to see the hanged man.

Okay. Now that did changes Deshi’s attitude, but it wasn’t the tree itself that made his smile turn into a frown. It was the memory associated with the hung one. The dead were one thing, but watching someone die by being hung is another thing. It was bad enough to watch it done properly by an executioner, but it was far worse to watch as someone took their own life. The way the body moved as the life was choked out of them….and more. Deshi shudder slightly in the tree’s grasp as he had to look away from the body in the tree. It was too much....no....the memory was trying to take him back to the darker parts of his past. No. No....he didn't want to go there. Not there. Not now....

In that small moment of fear and weakness, his left eye turned grey as the Void slipped into the small crack that was opened for it. With ease, it wedge itself in taking partial control, but instead of driving Deshi into a mad rage, the creature did an odd thing. It temporarily lined up with him and acted as one with him. It took up the pain he couldn’t bear and in turn calmed him and returned him to enjoying the atmosphere around as it ate the memory away and replaced it with blackness.

At first Deshi was concerned, but had no time to wonder if this was a good thing or a bad thing as the Void pushed him aside slightly in response to some cue in the song that he missed when the dark memories came, so when he sung the next line, the voice remained his own, but there was definitely a change there as more enthusiasm than before was added.

“I am the creature with the two way face.
One very sweet, and the other with blood all over its face.”

The creature sung adding theatrics into the mix going from innocent and smiling to maliciously grinning as he passed his hand across his face in a dramatic fashion. The Void was having fun and since it wasn’t in full control, the creature would not harm. Besides creatures of the night and the dead were not good subjects of art. No, they were much better studied instead of dissecting and stuffing and what better way to study than interact with them? Yes, for this one moment, he could share the body. After all, the boy could take some notes from these creatures and learn to loosen up a bit.

[Deleted]

Xion had never seen anything like this..she felt rather lost, but not unhappy with the experience. It seemed that this place, though she had visited it a long time ago on missions with Roxas, had surprises of every kind around every turn, and the inhabitants were just as fully animated with their apparent happiness and delight in their surroundings. Everything should have been terrifying, nightmarish, or even a little disturbing. She wasn't sure what made her not feel anything of that nature. In fact, if anything, her curiosity was getting the better of her, rather than feeling the need to withdraw and hide somewhere. The leader, Jack..she was sure she had seen him before. His spirit seemed so friendly, so careful not to be intimidating, that it made her feel safer than when she had originally encountered the citizens, who seemed to be enjoying themselves and their song.

Xion had simply been watching and listening to everyone take a turn singing and dancing, surprised by Jack taking her paws and dancing with her in turn. She tried to keep an eye on Deshi, not wanting to lose him in the crowd of people. She was uncertain of the intent of the citizens, especially when the Skeleton King placed her near the vampires. Her reservations, however, were proved unfounded when they simply smiled and sang their song. This nightmarish scene wasn't what it would seem at first..they truly were happy here, and were in no way threatening..they seemed to be thrilled that they had company, in fact. She continued along with Jack, surprised at his lithe motions and incredible ease at bringing new people into something that had apparently been a tradition of sorts.

When the Skeleton finally led her to Deshi, Xion was about to speak to him when she felt the roots wrap around her ankles. She looked down in surprise, seeing the roots, and then looked up to see the bellowing tree, and the singing hanged man in its branches. This was by far the most peculiar place she had ever seen.. Her attention was held by Deshi as he seemed to change in some way she couldn't identify, and then sang a couple lines, adding his own phrases to the townspeoples' song. Was this what they were supposed to do? They were expected to join in? She wasn't sure she had any sort of musical talent..

Xion realized in a bit of dismay that it was now her turn to add her part...what could she say? Was there some sort of guideline to this, a set way of putting words to song? She felt her mouth go dry, her mind was whirling with comprehending everything and trying to come up with something to add..

"I am the Puppet who has no strings, only the Light can give me wings.." She wasn't sure if the words fit, but she decided she would try them anyways..