Shay wanted to say (even to herself) that she didn't often do this. That this would be the first or, maybe, the second time she had done such a thing; but those would all be lies, and she tried not to do that, especially to herself.
She followed the spirit as it drifted listlessly into the underbelly of Manta Carlos. It was a curious thing because Shay didn't usually see spirits wander from their designated area. The young girl predicted that whatever trail of bread crumbs the ghost was following probably wouldn't be good to her.
Lately, Eroshay had been getting herself into trouble. She met creatures and people no child should have and put herself in these stupid, dangerous situations. Following a ghost led by some form of magic was now on that list. She didn't bother sneaking as she followed the apparition; it wouldn't notice her and whatever she was about to meet would probably have known she was there, anyway.
The moment Shay stepped into the underground, she was on high alert -- very aware of the seedy looking people smoking and people who might leer at a child. It wasn't so much that she was afraid, she had long since passed fear, but she never wanted to feel safe enough in a place like this to turn her back on a predator.
Oh my God, I'm sorry it took me even longer! x.x
An Nam Il
If getting into dangerous situations was like taking drugs, then Nam Il was hooked on the hard stuff because for some reason these days, he just could not stop. It was night and he should have been back at the dorm hours ago. If he had a roommate, they would probably either be worried or used to his behavior by now but in any case, he was just glad that he wouldn't be bothering anybody by it all. The last time he had used his powers, well. It hadn't exactly been pretty.
But that was why he was at the island, right? To learn how to use his powers? He had only made a little lantern that other time but he had probably put too much of his magic into it. That was all, maybe. If he used less, it was possible he'd find a much less dangerous spirit.
The thing that Nam Il loved about the Underground was that nobody seemed particularly bothered about people walking on their roofs. It was just something that happened on a regular basis so one kid doing it in the dead of night wasn't as suspicious as it could have been. Relatively. It had to have been a good thing that he was learning how to use his powers, though, right? It wasn't like he could really do this sort of thing around the school unless he wanted to get seriously hurt. There was just too much loose magic around there. Better out here in the city, then.
Sitting on the roof of a three-story building, he dangled a dim lantern into the alleyway as if he were fishing. The string only went on for six or so feet but still, he wanted to see what would happen in a relatively safe position. Most spirits were mindless enough that they wouldn't think to climb the bolted ladder right next to him.
Shay's time of running around in the middle of the night in dangerous places was coming to an end. That was probably a good thing. She really shouldn't have been doing it, but she had nothing better to do while awake in the middle of the night.
Shay had hesitated before following the ghost in the alleyway, but it was ridiculous thinking a ghost would lead her into some kind of ambush. She was correct; the spirit was interested in a lantern, which made no sense to Shay. Why had it traveled all this way for a light source?
Her first thought was that the lantern was some form of angler fish trick, and she watched it warily. Rather than attempting to touch it, she looked around until she found the latter and, as quietly as she could, climbed it.
Shay had been expecting all manners of creatures, most of which were predators, but what she hadn't expected was a boy not far in age from her. "Is that your lantern?"
An Nam Il
Aha, there's one right there! To be perfectly honest, Nam Il hadn't been completely sure if his lantern would be seen at all. The fact that the dimness had managed to attract something both delighted and vaguely worried him. It would have been nice to have a constant source of light without the attraction part but, well, maybe that was asking for too much. At the very least, that seemed like a pretty harmless spirit down there, so that was a promising start.
The quiet sound of somebody coming up the ladder was almost lost on him. Almost. With the feeling of having been caught red-handed, he turned just as that person set foot on the rooftop, some sort of a muddled excuse already on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth, stopped, blinked, and closed it. It was only a girl not much older than him.
"Um, yeah, it is," he said after a beat. Glancing between the object and the girl, he ventured, "So, out of curiosity, what exactly does this look like to you?"
Aha, there's one right there! To be perfectly honest, Nam Il hadn't been completely sure if his lantern would be seen at all. The fact that the dimness had managed to attract something both delighted and vaguely worried him. It would have been nice to have a constant source of light without the attraction part but, well, maybe that was asking for too much. At the very least, that seemed like a pretty harmless spirit down there, so that was a promising start.
The quiet sound of somebody coming up the ladder was almost lost on him. Almost. With the feeling of having been caught red-handed, he turned just as that person set foot on the rooftop, some sort of a muddled excuse already on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth, stopped, blinked, and closed it. It was only a girl not much older than him.
"Um, yeah, it is," he said after a beat. Glancing between the object and the girl, he ventured, "So, out of curiosity, what exactly does this look like to you?"
"It looks like a lantern? Or are you talking about you, in general?" Shay canted her head to the right. She was stiff, light on her feet and ready. He didn't seem like he wanted a fight. Shay couldn't answer his question. She wasn't sure what, exactly, he was up to. She didn't want to give that ignorance away.
"Can you see that ghost down there?" She asked instead. Most people couldn't see these types. The ones without a way or a voice. Shay always assumed there were different planes of existence, the farther you were from the main one, the harder you were to see. Maybe she was wrong about that, but it made it easier for her to visualize the spirit realm.
"Your lantern attracted it. You weren't trying to do that, were you? Are you practicing something? Your power?" She breathed out. She was bombarding him with questions. That wasn't fair.
"I'm sorry. I'm just curious. You're not in trouble of anything. I'm Shay." There, introductions were made. Shay wasn't a fan of small talk or pleasantries, but she didn't want to interrogate him either. She had to cool it. Breathe. Let him have a chance to explain himself.
An Nam Il
"I'm not doing anything suspicious!" Nam Il blurted out right after the girl's second question, spending all of five seconds as a complete panicked mess and attempting to become one with the roof beneath his feet. "I-I mean. Yes. Yeah, definitely. It's a lantern. Yeah. Um." Mentally, he congratulated himself on not immediately spilling his guts to a total stranger. Baby steps, Nam Il. Baby steps.
"Er, the ghost? Yeah, I can see it. It's not really that big of a deal in my family," Nam Il said awkwardly. "Most of the ones in Asia kind of have it as default, anyways." Actually, truth be told, it was more weird to him to be around somebody who couldn't perceive spirits of some sort.
"Um, it's nice to meet you?" He glanced at the ghost for a moment but it wasn't doing anything interesting at the time. "I'm Nam Il. Sorry, I'm not really, um, good with talking to people out of the blue. Right now, I'm just-" Almost helplessly, he waved his free hand towards the lantern. "Well, yeah. I'm practicing with my powers," he admitted at last. "I didn't think I'd encounter anybody actually living."
"I'm not doing anything suspicious!" Nam Il blurted out right after the girl's second question, spending all of five seconds as a complete panicked mess and attempting to become one with the roof beneath his feet. "I-I mean. Yes. Yeah, definitely. It's a lantern. Yeah. Um." Mentally, he congratulated himself on not immediately spilling his guts to a total stranger. Baby steps, Nam Il. Baby steps.
"Er, the ghost? Yeah, I can see it. It's not really that big of a deal in my family," Nam Il said awkwardly. "Most of the ones in Asia kind of have it as default, anyways." Actually, truth be told, it was more weird to him to be around somebody who couldn't perceive spirits of some sort.
"Um, it's nice to meet you?" He glanced at the ghost for a moment but it wasn't doing anything interesting at the time. "I'm Nam Il. Sorry, I'm not really, um, good with talking to people out of the blue. Right now, I'm just-" Almost helplessly, he waved his free hand towards the lantern. "Well, yeah. I'm practicing with my powers," he admitted at last. "I didn't think I'd encounter anybody actually living."
Shay rubbed the back of her head. Hadn't she just said he wasn't in any trouble? She couldn't get him in trouble anyway, even if she wanted to. "Relax. Again, you're not in trouble. I'm not blaming you for anything or anything. I'm just curious. I don't usually see people my age around here at night. Some scary people are roaming the Underground, you know? And that isn't my subtle attempt at a threat, either."
Shay walked over and sat beside him, leveling the playing ground and hopefully calming him down in the process. She offered him a slight smile. "Nam Il? Well, it's nice to meet you. Glad you can see it," she motioned with her chin at the ghost, "but most of them are pretty boring and sad. Lost souls, like that one. I followed him because these types don't tend to move unless something is stringing them along. Death, murder, or someone like you. I'm glad I ran into you and not... well, someone who fits the Underground more.
"Also, not that you needed to before, but you definitely don't need to worry about me telling on you. I'm down here too, so if you look suspicious so do I. I guess we're both doing the same thing. Powe practice." She flashed a smile.
An Nam Il
"O-oh, well. I guess, if we're both just practicing powers it's fine." And that was pretty much where Nam Il's knowledge of how to handle weird encounters with strangers during spirit fishing ended.
"To be honest, I'm pretty glad it's just you, too," he said. "I, um. This power thing doesn't just attract ghosts. It sometimes attracts a bunch of other things, too, which is why I'm trying to take it slow right now. " Laughing nervously, Nam Il looked back down at the spirit. It was watching the light still, seemingly entranced. He bounced the pole a few times. The spirit reacted not at all. After a little while, Nam Il dismissed the lantern, trying to see if the spirit would simply move on as if nothing had happened or actually look around and try to figure out what was going on.
To the girl, he asked, "So, um. What exactly are you doing, then?"
"O-oh, well. I guess, if we're both just practicing powers it's fine." And that was pretty much where Nam Il's knowledge of how to handle weird encounters with strangers during spirit fishing ended.
"To be honest, I'm pretty glad it's just you, too," he said. "I, um. This power thing doesn't just attract ghosts. It sometimes attracts a bunch of other things, too, which is why I'm trying to take it slow right now. " Laughing nervously, Nam Il looked back down at the spirit. It was watching the light still, seemingly entranced. He bounced the pole a few times. The spirit reacted not at all. After a little while, Nam Il dismissed the lantern, trying to see if the spirit would simply move on as if nothing had happened or actually look around and try to figure out what was going on.
To the girl, he asked, "So, um. What exactly are you doing, then?"
Shay wasn't good with awkwardness, at least, she'd have said she wasn't. She wanted to ignore it and pretend this was all completely normal. Nam didn't remind her of a murderer, so she relaxed and went to sit beside him as he dispelled the lantern.
The ghost was still for a long second, staring where the light had been, but inevitably it turned sluggishly and continued on its way as it had been before. Shay pursed her lips and watched as it wandered off.
Shay shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant as she could manage. This was normal for her; she had to remind herself. Soon, she couldn't do this anymore. Couldn't run off with no one knowing where she was. A whole new life.
Eroshay puffed one cheek, watching him from the side of her eye. "I like getting familiarized with the Underground. A lot of secrets to find down here. I take it your lanterns have a way of attracting unsavory types? I kind of do that, too.
An Nam Il
He couldn't help but perk up a little in interest. "Yeah?" Nam Il said. "You attract spirits and stuff, too? They're not always the evil ones for me. It's just, well. There's a greater variety of evil than there is of good in this world, huh?" It was a depressing thought, yes, but somehow, Nam Il saw that as an entire reason in itself to be optimistic about life in general. After all, if everything was expected to suck, then the moments that didn't were so much more powerful in comparison. Right?
Granted, nothing particularly bad had actually happened to him but it was the thought that counted!
"So how exactly do yours work then?" He asked curiously. "Mine only works through my lanterns and I can't really control what comes out after them at all."
He couldn't help but perk up a little in interest. "Yeah?" Nam Il said. "You attract spirits and stuff, too? They're not always the evil ones for me. It's just, well. There's a greater variety of evil than there is of good in this world, huh?" It was a depressing thought, yes, but somehow, Nam Il saw that as an entire reason in itself to be optimistic about life in general. After all, if everything was expected to suck, then the moments that didn't were so much more powerful in comparison. Right?
Granted, nothing particularly bad had actually happened to him but it was the thought that counted!
"So how exactly do yours work then?" He asked curiously. "Mine only works through my lanterns and I can't really control what comes out after them at all."