Submission (#10190) Approved

****TW for minor violence and attempted manipulation(?)****

No One drifted around the haunted home of the ghosts they'd been hunting for; the graveyard. It seemed like the most obvious place for them to try their luck, and so they went, speeding around quickly whilst dashing in betwixt tombstones of various sizes and designs. In a flash, it seemed like they were searching for ghosts at a record’s pace.
Their sibling, Nobody, had given them this task in order for them to get intel much faster than Nobody could, as Nobody was much more used to lazing around and taking things slow. This came in handy incredibly quickly, as the both of them realized that they had much less time than they had anticipated to gather as much information about these spooky specters as possible.
As No One flew around a little more, their compass started to tick in a certain direction. No One read the fine print inside, watching as the arrow stayed firmly at the “Angry” marker. But who could be angry at No One? And where were they if that were the case...?
No One immediately tensed at the thought of an ambush, circling around the spot they had stopped at in an attempt to try and see if they could find the ghost that’d triggered the compass.
With no luck, No One couldn’t seem to spot the potential threat. They slowly hovered back down, still ready to give the attacker a nasty scare if they even thought of coming anywhere close. As their feet lightly ghosted the grass below them, they floated a little slower in an attempt to catch the ghost again. They passed through thick swathes of trees and cracked graves that eventually broke down into rocks and sediment, and yet they still couldn’t find the potential ghost.
Already over this game of marco polo, No One frustratedly swooped back in the other direction to where they came, except… they couldn’t find where it was. They were surrounded by the same dead trees in each and every direction, seemingly spanning forever.
When they attempted to breach through the branches by flying through the top of the forest, they were blocked by seemingly impenetrable clusters of branches.
This was a trap. They knew it. They’d been tricked somehow. Neither Aeolin or Nobody would’ve tricked them though, so how…?
No One didn’t get their answer, though. Instead, they saw a clearing open up with the sounds of the underbrush and foliage swaying and sweeping itself out of the path. They knew that that this trail would lead nowhere good, but this was the only option they had at the moment as they continued through the dark and gloomy tunnel. The tree stems bent in an arch, light barely making it through until the end swallowed No One whole in a sea of complete and total darkness.
No One held the enchanted compass closer to themselves as they felt electromagnetic waves dance in the air, prickling their hair like static. They knew some sort of strong spiritual presence was near, they were just unsure how many or how strong.
When they looked down to check their compass, the arrow was spinning in circles, seemingly just as unsure and panicked internally as No One was. Something was going to happen for sure, though.
…Silence completely engulfed the area until an unfamiliar presence made itself known, carefully coming into view as No One readied themselves.

The presence didn’t seem unfriendly, though, just.. sad. Broken. But more strangely, they were… a sock puppet..?
The unfamiliar Ranebo was torn in many different places, their threads all coming undone, limbs and head slack as strings held them up. Despite that, they still looked very much dead. They SEEMED very much dead.
This confused No One greatly, as they hadn’t ever heard of a sock-puppet Ranebo before. Who was this, and why were they out here? And how did they approach if…
The puppet gasped as if they were desperately trying to catch their breath, almost choking over their own breathing while No One lurched backwards yet unable to leave. They quickly darted around the edge where the trees held them captive, escape impossible.
As the unfamiliar stuffed sock toy came to life, they yelled out a “WAIT! Come back, I need to tell you something!” off into the distance.
No One heard, but was still rather spooked and approached slowly, almost excruciatingly so. The puppet, however, didn’t seem to mind. They didn’t seem to mind at all, as their expression went unchanged as they stared at No One.
Or at least, it SEEMED like they were staring at No One. That was until No One came close enough to realize that the other being was staring past them.
Unnerved, No One waited patiently for the other to speak once more.
“Hello there.” They croaked. “My name is Socks, and you are…?” They asked, expecting an answer.
No One didn’t answer verbally.
The air shifted around the two of them as harmless electric pulses radiated throughout their bodies as No One manipulated the air around the two of them.

Through this, No One made their intentions clear and known. If this was truly a ghost, they would be able to understand the message easily.
The other Ranebo looked almost puzzled for a second, before their expression widened and they gasped with an intensity that almost made No One dart off once more.
“Are.. are you another ghost…?!” Socks exclaimed, seemingly excited until their expression turned sour in a startlingly fast manner.
No One seemed surprised at the sudden change in the other’s face as Socks glared daggers for a quick second.
Their expression then turned a bit softer, but filled with concern.
“You don’t know, do you?” he said, turning to look away before taking glances back at No One, making sure that they were paying attention to him.
No One seemed incredibly puzzled, having no clue where this was leading. “Of course you don’t.” He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect.

“…You do know they’re using you, correct?” He continued, bitterness creeping into his voice.
“Aeolin and your brother trapped me here in these woods eons ago. I’ve tried desperately to break the curse, but nothing has worked…” He drifted off, still eyeing the other’s expression.
No One was a bit hard to read due to only having eyes to emote with, but they were still deeply suspicious of this individual.
“I know that look.” He went. “I’ve been there too. How long do they have you work for..? How many friends do they have compared to you?” He asked as he circled carefully around No One, like a shark ready to bite.
“Why are you letting THEM take all the credit, all the fame..? Don’t you do all the work around there?” He sneered.
“..Y’know, you’re talented. Why do you always sit back, what are you so afraid of..? It just… confounds me, I suppose.” He stops.
No One still seemed just as wary as before, backing away.
Socks just seems to sigh externally, limbs slumping a bit. “Alright alright, you caught me! It was a good try though, right?” Socks exclaimed, seemingly brushing off whatever he just tried to do.
“It’s been nice meeting you, but I guess I’ll be heading out if what I have to say doesn’t click. You’ll understand later, though.” He smiled.
“Shake on it?” He asks, outstretching an arm.
No One thought on it for a moment, and shrugged internally. A handshake couldn’t hurt, right?
As No One approached and attempted to grab his hand to shake it, Socks shoved his own hand towards the compass No One had in their other hand, gripping it tightly and yanking it harshly as he tried to take it from them.
Before No One could react, the compass changed in less than a second, the pointer sharply turning to “EVIL” as the glass covering cracked and SHATTERED into millions of pieces, shooting shards into Socks’ body and face as he shrieked in pain.
No One, finally taken out of their haze of mixed emotions, bolted back the other way into the dull moonlit graveyard where they once were as the false forest faded into nothing.
No One took a moment to try and comprehend what just happened, but… couldn’t.

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1382 words/100 = 13 EC
character interaction = 2 EC
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TOTAL: 15 EC