Here's my article:
Pet Share
__________________
Welcome to another month of Pet Share! There were some lovely entries submitted this time, so let's showcase them!
Blixlove:
Hi, this is just a fun story on good luck.
I had decided to breed Thorn and Lilac Cloud, because the both had a marking that I liked
Here they are
Thorn
Lilac Cloud
I absolutely love the coloration of the father not so much the mother, but this is what I got!!
An exact replica of the male but female!!!!
I am so happy :3
________________________________________
Animaspectra:
Show off sylesties, you say?
Alrighty then!
I have like 20 max stats and a couple supers lol
"Oh hello there, I didn't see you!"
This is Day, one of my two super Ferrikkies.
This wasn't her original color palette, because I dyed him/her.
"Spells ready, armor good.. Who's there?!"
Here's Jeb, the other super Ferrikki.
I'm in the midst of dying him, but I've put that on hold.
"I'm just your normal Lunemara. Totally normal.."
Next up, we have Magu'manoko Faiahato!
She was my first ever legendary, and she has restricted traits too!
"Torchlight coming through the darkness, that is what you've always been~"
Oh, this is Unbreakable!
His name is a reference~
"Ugh.. Rosesoul ran off again."
Don't worry, Natureguard Roseheart!
You're still one of my favs!
"Aren't the stars so mystical?"
My newest majestic tagged, Prince Niviro of Univea, is here too!
Just need to find a mate for him..
"I demand time with my new child!"
Gosh, Kamatsumi the Divine.
You're still the first of your kind.. I'm pretty sure.
"More fins, more friends.. right?"
Hello there, Adamantem.
You might need to calm Kamatsumi down..
I have a lot more than this, but I don't want this to turn into a novel.
Anima out!
________________________________________
Hiraeth:
I'll share my favorite two!
Impulsive Dye Job
I was bored and had a lot of dyes, so I made this guy. I'm pretty sure a few people have impulsive dye jobs of their own!
1st 6v Summer Meadow
He was bred a while back, but he's still my proudest breeding achievement to date. :) 1st 6v Summer Meadow Nephini on the site!
________________________________________
Miroh:
Storming Heart of Neptune!
"Ige uri tang, tang, tang-tang..."
My very first majestic, named by Sairento! I'm so proud of this girl :)
District 9!
"Yeogin. Urin. Guyeog District 9."
Ahhh finally, my first 6-vis Winter's Chill project baby! I love her name as well ^-^
Higher Jeo Wiro Gallae
"Higher jeo wiro gallae, higher deo nopi nallae..."
She's my very first 6-vis fabled, bred by me as well! Now I just have to get her a mate for my project...
Un-named
"Jom deo barakhae igoseul run away-"
My very. First. 3-vis. Fabled tagged. I'm still in shock...he's the result of a trade with Fennimage666 and I am super pleased with him :D
________________________________________
Tamer234:
lavender
My first 6vis pet whomst I got from an egg I bought
~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to everyone who shared!
[Feel free to edit this for making the line breaks better looking and use this for reference on what the original fonts looked like in the user posts: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=92793] |
Written by Larkien, edited by Limor
Note: Stories/ideas are not originally mine, but they are rewritten/edited by me.
You always hear the uneven footsteps first.
Drag.
Click.
Drag.
Click.
That's how you realize she's behind you. The heel of her left shoe is broken, and she drags it across the ground with every step. It alternates with the steady click of the other, intact, heel, against the pavement.
Help me, her whisper carries to you; a haunting plea.
Please, I'm hurt; help me!
Don't turn around. That's when she gets you.
Don't run, either. Shell still get you if you do, and when she does, its going to hurt.
At least, that's the rumor, anyway.
Every small town has at least one - a local legend that everyone knows and swears is true, because their sisters best friends cousins neighbors grandson actually encountered it and lived to tell the tale!
Ours was dubbed the Limping Woman, for her aforementioned distinct gait.
It was said that she was a teacher at the elementary school some decades before. Young, beautiful... and the victim of a murder. The story went that shed been walking home to her house one night after school, when she realized she was being followed. She sped up - and so did her pursuer, until both were running down this dark country lane with only open farmland on either side.
Her heel broke, and her ankle snapped, and she fell. And her pursuer became her murderer.
It was a slow, torturous affair, with a dull knife, and when the killer was done, he just left her to bleed out beside the road. She wasn't found until the next morning and, by then, all anyone could do was search for the person responsible.
Some believe the man was caught and dealt with not long after. Others think he or she is still at large, and that the Limping Woman, as the victim came to be infamously known, won't rest until her killer is caught.
I was always skeptical of the story. I'd passed the spot where she was supposed to appear a hundred times without incident, as had everyone else I knew. If a murderous ghost lived there, I was pretty sure I'd have seen her by now.
I mentioned as much to my friend Stefi when she brought up that a friend of a friend of a friend had met the Limping Woman during lunch at school one day.
It's true! She was out on the old highway a couple nights ago and saw her! Stefi insisted stubbornly.
If she actually saw her, wouldn't she be dead? I asked. I thought you weren't supposed to turn around.
Heard her, I guess, you know what I mean.
Sure, I said, rolling my eyes. It always frustrated Stefi that I didn't share her willingness to believe the unbelievable. So how'd she get away?
She said the words, duh!
Oh, right, the womans last words. Last words we all somehow know without ever having caught the one person who would have heard them.
We know them because the real killer was never caught. He mustve told people who told other people-
And suddenly everyone just knew to use them so they could magically ward off being killed, I finished for her.
Stefi shot me a frown. She loved all things spooky and supernatural, and spent a lot of time researching our local legends, especially that of the Limping Woman.
It's not magic, it just reminds her of her own mother, and she gets distracted by her grief and leaves you alone.
Okay, okay, I said, hoping that would be enough to put an end to the topic. It was an argument neither of us would win and I didn't feel like getting into it (again) over whether or not a ghost was real. Maybe if we were younger, but at fifteen, it would be too silly.
But Stefi, however, wasn't going to let me off so easily. They say she remains because they got the wrong guy and she's angry about it. Like, everyone knew it, but no one cared because they wanted to blame someone. Don't you feel at least a little bad for her? She must still be waiting for justice after all this time.
Stefi-
She only goes after people who don't believe in her, you know.
I didn't like the way Stefi said that, like she had an idea forming that I wouldn't approve of, and I shook my head.
Whatever it is, no.
We could go out there, out to the spot she haunts.
No, don't be dumb, I said.
You don't believe anyway, so what's the big deal?
I've walked past there a lot, ok? Nothing's ever happened.
Have you gone after dark? Stefi had started to smile.
No, but so what?
That's when she's active; going in the day doesn't count.
This is dumb, I said again.
We'll go tonight!
Every argument I had was met with questions of whether I was too afraid or Stefi mocking me for being chicken. She kept it up for the rest of lunch, through our shared science class, and then passed me notes in the halls between classes after that. By the time the final bell rang, she had worn me down.
But not because I believe she's there, I made sure she knew. I'm just going so you shut up.
The sun set just after five that evening. At seven, we met up on our bikes in front of my neighborhood. Her parents thought she was doing a project at mine, mine thought I was at hers, and we had two hours to ride out to the farm where the Limping Woman was said to haunt and get back before they started trading phone calls.
We peddled hard and fast, leaving behind the glow from windows and streetlamps until only darkness surrounded us. With only moonlight to guide us, we rode our way across town and passed into the outskirts, where the insects were louder, the stars brighter, and the safety that came from feeling like you were surrounded by other people fell away.
It was hard not to feel entirely exposed out on that road, where flat fields rolled off into the distance on either side. There was the occasional barn or farmhouse set some ways off across the fields, but otherwise, it really was just us and the night, which was beginning to feel colder by the minute.
Up ahead, Stefi said from behind me, See the cross? That's the marker for her.
We skidded to a stop a few yards away from it and exchanged a glance almost lost in the shadows.
Scared? She asked, breathless with excitement.
No, I said. It was an honest enough answer. I was nervous, sure, but who wouldn't be when you're outside after dark?
Remember, if you turn around, she gets you. If you try to run, she makes it worse. Just stand still when she's close by and say the words.
Stefi spoke so seriously that I had to stifle a giggle. It was ridiculous! I kept trying to tell that to all the butterflies stirring in my stomach, but it didn't do much good.
We climbed off our bikes and set them on their kickstand. Stefi groped about for my hand and entwined her fingers with mine. She was shaking.
Ready?
Let's just get it over with, I replied.
We walked up to where the cross was placed and paused. Stefi squeezed my hand and took in a slow, shuddering breath. Her fear was starting to have an effect on me, quickening my heartbeat, but I squared my shoulders and clenched my jaw and took a step forward.
We crept along the roadside, careful to keep our eyes pointed straight ahead. Stefi kept reminding me in a trembling whisper that looking anywhere else could lead to trouble.
A minute or two passed, it couldn't have been longer despite feeling like it, and nothing seemed to happen. My fear began to ebb, replaced by an admittedly relieved giddiness that I had been right and I almost turned to Stefi to say I told you so.
And then I realized how quiet it was.
All the insects that had been singing loudly when we arrived had gone silent. There were no distant calls from night birds, no breeze passing over us, nothing.
Just the sound of our own breathing.
To my surprise, Stefi sighed, disappointed. I wondered if she realized how quiet everything had become. How could she not feel how claustrophobic it had become out on that open road, how closed off we were in the dark and the silence?
I wanted to ask her, but the question was like a knot in my throat that I couldn't untangle.
Behind us, grass rustled, followed by the crunch of loose gravel underfoot. Like someone was pulling themselves slowly out of the field and onto the road.
Drag.
Click.
Drag.
Click.
Every hair on my body stood up at once.
Rina? I hadn't realized that my grip on Stefis hand had tightened so much. I could feel her eyes on me, but couldn't bring myself to look at her.
From somewhere over my shoulder, a woman started to sob softly.
Help me, she cried plaintively.
Rina? Stefi said again.
S-she's coming, I managed to whisper.
Instead of being scared, Stefi snorted. Real funny. I get it, ok? The Limping Woman is just made up; I'm convinced now. You don't have to rub it in.
Drag.
Click.
Drag.
Click.
The unmistakable sound of someone inching towards us, slowly, painfully, crying out with each step.
Please, she begged, I'm hurt and he's still out there.
Stefi, I hissed, tears burning in my eyes, she's coming!
There must have been something in my voice, a tightness that only true terror could cause, that convinced my friend that I wasn't just pretending. She grabbed my forearm with her other hand and clutched it until her nails were digging into my skin.
She only goes after people who don't believe, Stefi said. That must be why-
What do I do? I begged, my mind white and blank.
My entire body was screaming to run, to get away from that thing that was getting closer and closer, but Stefis firm grasp and my own mounting dread held me in place.
Please, the Limping Woman sobbed, Turn around. Help me!
The words, Stefi said hurriedly, you have to say the words when she's right behind you!
What words? I wanted to scream, but I couldn't speak or think, I could only hear her.
Drag.
Click.
Drag.
Click.
The legend said you'd hear her uneven footsteps and be forced to listen to her pleas, but no one ever mentioned the smell. The stench of rot and earth and blood oozed through the air, slowly surrounding me and wrapping itself around me like the tentacles of some underwater horror, smothering me. I gagged and pressed my free hand over my mouth and shook my head violently, trying to clear it, trying to make sense of things.
Stefi was jerking on my arm and saying something to me, over and over again, but I could barely hear her over the Limping Womans cries. The smell was getting so strong, making my stomach pitch and heave until I thought I'd be sick.
I leaned heavily on Stefi and she pulled me in close so that her lips were beside my ear. Through the veil of panic and nausea, I heard her scream.
Say the words!
Drag.
Click.
Drag.
Click.
The Limping Woman was so close behind us now that I could feel the chill radiating off of her.
The words, I thought. I had to say the words.
It just reminds her of her own mother and she gets distracted by her grief and leaves you alone, I heard Stefis voice from the previous day echo in my head.
Her mother. The words remind her of her mother. The Limping Womans last words.
P-please, bile rose in the back of my throat, my mothers waiting for me.
The footsteps stopped and were replaced by a high pitched, heart wrenching keen.
From somewhere off in the night, a dog started to howl.
Insects began to sing again. The wind whistled across the field. Sounds of normalcy. Of life.
The Limping Woman continued to screech while I found my legs again and, with Stefi in tow, tore back to the bikes. I never once looked up from the ground. The only thing I saw as we darted by was a pair of feet in torn stockings and pumps, the heel of one of which was missing.
We didn't stop riding until we made it back to my lawn and, when we got there, I raced to the bushes on the side of the house and vomited.
Stefi claims she didn't hear or see anything that night, but she believes that I did. She believes that I encountered the Limping Woman. I tried to come up with some kind of rationalization for it, like power of suggestion or something, but when I think back to those footsteps and those sobs and that final scream, I know that there is only explanation.
And now I, too, believe in the Limping Woman. |
