dirt-riot

Hallow grinned with pride as they pinned the final collectible in place, a tiny Ace of Diamonds card that twinkled brightly in the streetlight, a creamy white with the edges and diamond in a bright cyan: because what else in this world could be anything less than eye-searingly bright? They'd gotten a tip from a friend that the last of the Ace pins had come back in stock in this area of W?ND?RL?ND, and they had immediately left the maze -- after being trapped in that bizarre red space at least five times -- to grab the last of the Ace pins they needed. They were thankful the streets had been mostly clear as they stumbled out of one maze and into another, trading leaves for cobblestone streets. The store owner was even one they had recognized (they often seemed to change people at will ... or was it just faces?), and had known exactly the pin they had been on the lookout for. A simple transaction, and it was theirs! Holding up the lanyard, Hallow beamed. It looked so pretty in line with

The orange and white stygian twirled with a flare, causing the cape they now wore around their shoulders to swirl around their form dramatically before falling straight behind them. The store owner had been kind enough to cut a couple of holes in it for their wings to poke through, for which Hallow had been grateful -- along with them being nonplussed by their toothy grins. While they were pleased with the cape, it had been the top hat of the Mad Hatter that had grabbed their attention from the street, and the stygian had been all the willing to sit on the street figuring out the sign -- as Hallow had figured out the puzzles in this area for the time being -- before it had opened with abandon and welcomed Hallow inside to try on the myriad of costumes. But it had been the top had that had caught their eye, and to that they decided to revel in a bit of mad hattery for the evening. At the very least the shop owner had also been proud to find several adornments that would match the

Hallow shoved their face deeply into the bright orange cotton candy they held, enjoying the satisfying texture melt to liquid candy in their mouth and took another bite. They were at the top of the White Queen's ferris wheel at the moment, kicking their dainty hooves into the warm summer-like air that seemed miles and miles above the ground. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or magic, or they truly were up that high. Either way, Hallow had been enjoying the feeling of weightlessness as they descended each time, and the stygian had cackled with glee with each rotation around and around it went. Their ghost buddies, however, were having less of a joyful time, except for one: while two of them shoved themselves into the stygian's wild mass of orange-and-white hair, one was content to hang onto the rail and make wordless screaming noises as they went around. At least one of them was having fun! Now though they were waiting for someone to get onto the ride, although Hallow wasn't exactly

There was probably something to be said for a stygian steeped in the spooky hilarity of Halloween, to become completely enamored with mazes. Although, they would be preferred at least more scarecrows, probably to the distaste of some. The roses reached out from the hedges to brush against their hair, only to be set upon by a ghost buddie before it was flung up into the sky. The music continued playing, the hazy scritch-scritch of a needle hitting a record echoing below the music itself. Hallow wasn't even particularly perturbed when it began reciting history, of something that seemed familiar, and not. What were great wars to their candy-addled mind? What would fight would fall and rise again, but Hallow never had a thought towards it. They knew the history of the Nightmare Tree, or at least as much as they cared to remember. Something about order, and chaos. But really, did it even matter? They just didn't care about anything that got in the middle of their fun! It was only when

Hallow paused outside of the fancy looking teapot shop, tilting their head from side to side, trying to make sense of the hours sign in front of them. 11-6? Maybe it would've made more sense if they knew the time in this strange realm. Maybe. Probably? Since arriving in the city-styled area, Hallow had instinctually changed into her human form. They still maintained the wild orange-and-white hair, which flowed like rivers nearly to their knees, as well as the blood-red eyes which stood out in the middle of what looked like heavily-applied eyeliner. These things may have made Hallow look vaguely human, but that's where the resemblances ended. Instead their skin was a pumpkin orange, with black stitch marks covering several joints and large areas of skin that were visible; two vaguely menacing orange horns jutted up from their forehead, and a swinging black spade-ended tail swayed to and fro while the stygian continued to look from the sign to the darkened inside of the store. At the

Hallow slipped as they placed the last of the bright flowers. They shivered in unison, and the sound of the dew dropping from the petals to hit the ground seemed almost like laughter. The colourful eyes that had beckoned them on as they wandered back and forth through Tugley Forest now blinked rapidly, and Hallow had the unsettling feeling they were clapping. Oh well, it couldn't be that bad, they reasoned. The two ghost familiars clapped happily along as well, having never felt daunted by the strangeness of the bright forest. If they were okay, they figured, so would Hallow. They had never led her astray before. The mome raths Hallow had found, as the forest had entreated, began burbling happily -- or at least, what Hallow assumed was happiness. The ghost buddies floated down to follow the raths as they disappeared into the slowly multiplying flowers, only re-emerge with a rather... strange thing. It was the bright pink mome rath that came forward, held in it's tiny hands and pushed