Survival Of The Fittest

Standing on a swing rocking back and forth in the playground and watching the sun set over the hills, basking in its radiant glow, swaying in the gentle breeze, hair turning auburn in the solar rays, Violet turned around and saw her elongated shadow cast across blades of grass, warped and thin, a wisp of a human being, and she knew then just exactly how the whole Slender Man thing started just as she banged the back of her skull against the support beam holding up the swing she was standing oh-so-precariously on, and promptly jumped off, wood-chips covering her feet as her sneakers dug into the ground.

[Violet Schmidt continued from Say Yes! To T!nn!ss!!]

Violet scrambled up the slide and into the play structure, where a knapsack with various grimoires and material was stored. The witch-squad had been summoned to the park through a variety of means—the complicated nature of their communications web was so dumb that Violet had trouble understanding it herself, despite the fact that she was central to the execution of several of its functions whoops nerd-speak—but, as Violet perceived it to usually be, Violet was the first to arrive, somehow. From her position in the lookout tower of the playground structure, she had a great three hundred and sixty degree view of the surrounding area, even if a good one hundred and maybe fifty of those degrees just had trees in them.

She also packed a few candles to see by, and a powerful flashlight to really see by, in case things got cryptid, which, y'know, Violet was always keenly aware of the possibility of things going cryptid even if nobody truly took her seriously. Sasquatch is not a river in Egypt. Likewise, she had also brought some energy bars and a couple of water bottles. Enough that her mom thought that she was just going on an evening walk and not a quick pilgrimage.

One thing she did not pack, though, were binoculars. As such, she found it harder and harder to stay focused on her task of person-spotting from the tower, and she began to distract herself by flipping through one of the manuals she had brought with her. After taking a cursory glance from her surveillance point, she sat down out of sight and opened to where she had dog-eared the page, disappearing into her book.

((Dolores Upton continued from Meditation and Premeditation))

Dolly's parents had admittedly been skeptical when she emerged from her room with a small bag slung over her shoulder and announced that she was going to meet some friends at the park. They hadn't put up a fuss or tried to stop her, but they'd both raised their eyebrows at her in that way parents did when you did something they didn't necessarily disapprove of but still didn't expect. Perhaps their suspicions had been allayed since she didn't look much like she was dressed to do anything really unsavory in her cream-colored dress with the dainty little rose floral pattern on the skirt. Personally, with the dress paired with her brown calf-height boots and her hair loosely bundled into low tails, Dolly felt delightfully like an old-fashioned adventurer.

Fortunately, her parents also hadn't asked what was in the bag, but it was just some necessities, really. Her reusable water bottle, filled up full. A bag of trail mix; Dolly was still comfortably full from her meal, but she wasn't sure how long she was going to be out -- her parents didn't really enforce a curfew on the rare occasions that she left the house at night -- and besides, there was always a chance that somebody else might get hungry. A small keychain flashlight which could light up in both white and red light, in case you didn't want to destroy your night vision. Her deck of Tarot cards and a folded-up Ouija board. And, of course, her cell phone.

You know, the essentials.

Truth be told, Dolly wasn't entirely sure what they aimed to do in the park. It wasn't the first escapade, nor was it likely to be the last, and as good as she and her friends could be at making plans, sticking to said plans was another thing entirely. She wasn't one to complain, though. Usually.

Dolly arrived at the park's play area where they had been mandated to gather, the sound of her footsteps becoming abruptly louder as she moved from grass to the layer of wood chips coating the ground. There was nobody else in sight, which was somewhat surprising; Dolly made a round of the swingset and jungle gym, peering up into the structures in the fading light.

"Anybody home?"

[Amelia Fischer Pregame Start]


The night sky was beautiful tonight. The stars were shining down on the city of Chattanooga brightly, and from where Amelia was sitting, there was no better view than this. She’d arrived at the park not too long ago, after a rushed discussion with her grandparents about going out to ‘prowl the night’ as she lovingly put it. Her grandmother looked at her in practiced bemusement, making her promise to be careful and to call if she was going to be too late. Her grandfather simply laughed at her statement, and went back to tidying up the kitchen. Her grandparents were amazing people. The amount of freedom Amelia was afforded was something she’d been told by others was pretty remarkable, so she felt very lucky. Back to why she was in the park in the first place, she snapped out of her thoughts and hopped off the bed of her truck, taking one more longing glance at the star-filled sky above. She grabbed her bag from the bed, and slammed it shut before making her way over to the play-area.

In her bag were a few essentials for the night. A thermos full of her grandma’s hot ginseng tea, a few Wiccan texts she’d swiped from her grandfather’s bookshelf, her tarot deck (which she never went without), a few granola bars for snaking, a pink flashlight, and a set of sidewalk chalk for drawing magic circles. Her attire was pretty relaxed, her standard black combat boots, a pair of black leggings, and a oversized gray knit sweater over a white tank top. She was very comfy, as per usual. Her hair was messily thrown into a bun on top of her head, and she really couldn’t be bothered to do anything else with it. She was here for adventure, not for a beauty contest. Besides looks wouldn’t matter when the aliens came. She smiled at the thought and stepped onto the wood chips surrounding the play area. Spotting Dolly a bit ahead of her, she called out to her friend.

“Ahoy, Dolly!” She waved with a smile. “Ready for adventure I see.”

Voices!

Violet sprung up from the tower and gazed around to see who had just arrived. There were two that she could see, standing in the wood chips just beneath her. She saw Amelia first, the further from the structure, carrying a bag of some kind. Dolly was also carrying a bag. Preparations for the night? Dark materials, ready to be used to summon esoteric forces into their world? Snacks? The possibilities excited her greatly. Of the two, Violet was a little closer to Dolly, but there wasn't any particular reason for it besides the fact that they had maybe had a couple more classes together.

"Hey, y'all!" she exclaimed, leaning over the knee high wall so that her head came out from under the blue plastic canopy, "Over here!"

She wondered who else would turn up, and then promptly yelled at herself in her mind. Were these two not enough? She'd be happy even if only one person total had shown up, or even if she had been alone for the time being, although that could be possibly, like, scary maybe?

Whatever. Violet was not afraid of the dark. Just what was inside of it. But, who could be afraid with friends like these a good solid breathable few inches by their side?

Dolly shot Amelia a smile over her shoulder before turning back at Violet's shout and raising one arm in greeting. "I certainly hope so! It's been a while since I had a good, old-fashioned adventure."

Amelia could be a handful, but Dolly thought that she'd be glad for the energy this evening. Something to keep her on her toes. Dolly waved her over as they drew up to the playset, craning her head back to look up at Violet.

"Shall we come up? Or will you come down?" A smile played on her lips as she asked. Either way, it didn't matter, except perhaps for the extra calories burned on one side. The light of day was fading, and the twilight held whispered promises.

Of what, she didn't know. That was the point.

Amelia grinned at Dolly as her friend smiled in turn. She already felt the bubbles of excitement building up inside her as she crossed the small play area to get to where Dolly was. It wasn’t often that they met up late at night like this, and the idea of adventure in the night made her equal parts nervous and energetic. It was a strange combination to be sure. It wasn’t as if she was afraid or anything, after all, Amelia found the most comfort at night under the stars; moreso it was almost like a being nervous to speak in front of a crowd. Not wholly bad, but just a bit uncomfortable. Amelia took a deep breath and held it for a second before releasing it, in an attempt to calm herself. No sense getting all worked up before they even began, after all.

As Amelia reached Dolly, another voice shouted out to the two of them from the tower of the play-place in the center of the kiddie park. Violet sprung up into view and Amelia smiled widely at the other girl, waving her arms excitedly. Violet and Amelia weren’t the closest of friends, but Amelia really liked the other girl. Hopefully tonight would be a chance for them to become even closer.

“Violet! Hello!” She called out cheerily.

Dolly asked if they should go up, or if Violet was going to come down. Amelia patiently waited beside Dolly for the reply, not wanting to jump the gun only to have to backpedal and return to the spot she was currently in. That would just make her look like a silly person.

"Yes!" she shouted back, waving her arms, "up here! I got books and snacks and stuff!"

She was hoping that the two would be alright as they came up. The structure did feel a little wobbly underneath her feet, but that was probably just the fact that she was an almost adult girl, and not a five year old child. That wasn't really a fact that needed pointing out at all, though, was it? Was it?

Violet started getting out some of her texts of esoteric importance. She had brought along some selections from Crowley's Magick: In Theory and Practice, photocopied, because lugging the whole thing around would snap her twig back pretty easily, she figured. Also in her bag, this time in its whole entire feature length presentation, was Franz Bardon's The Practice of Magical Evocation . Ultimately, though, she expected the others to have brought the really hard hitting literature, stuff that they could really work with in a witchy way rather than a brainy, nerdy, bedroom occult way.

Dolly stepped back a bit and gestured for Amelia to ascend first. These were her friends, but she was wearing a skirt, and modesty was still a consideration. "I brought snacks too," she remarked. "And some other things."

It wasn't a secret, but it felt somehow taboo to start discussing the extra-normal out in the open. It was the kind of conversation best left for close quarters, or as close as Violet's comfort would allow. Bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly, she waited for Amelia to start ahead of her, and then she followed.

Dusk had well and truly fallen.

Amelia nodded at Dolly as she let her pass ahead and climb up before her. As she made her way up the structure, dolly shouted up that she too had brought snacks. Amelia Clapped her hands together as she reached the top and grinned at Violet, who looked ready for the night’s adventure to begin. Amelia plopped herself down beside the girl, sitting Indian style, and placed her bag in her lap to open it up. She pulled out her thermos, as well as a few small plastic cups, and set them beside her. Then she pulled out the two books she’d taken from her Grandfather’s bookshelf and placed them in front of her for the other girls to see.

The Gardnerian Book of Shadows, by Gerald Gardner, and Aradia: the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland. Two very important books in Wiccan culture, and from what her grandfather told her, are full of magical rituals of their faith. Seeing as they planned on doing some magic tonight, it seemed appropriate to bring them.

“I brought some books too!” She smiled happily as she saw the books Violet had pulled out. “There’s lots of old rituals and spells in here we could try. I brought some chalk too in case we hafta draw anything.”

She waited for Dolly to fully join their circle before grabbing the thermos and presenting it to the girls.

“My grandma made some hot Ginseng tea for us! Anyone want some?”

"Ooo!" Violet said, looking at the two books that Amelia had brought, "I've heard about those two!"

A lot of good, warm stuff about those two. They were far more along the lines of the practical manuals that Violet was hoping that others would bring along, rather than the introductory stuff that she had on her. She wasn't entirely sure that she would consider herself a wiccan in the true sense of the word—she didn't really adhere to any old pantheon of gods or pagan set of beliefs or anything like that—but she had respect for their beliefs and found that some of their practices could be adapted in a more universal sense of things.

"Ah, I'd like some tea," she said at Amelia's offer, "please."

Ginseng tea was very good for calming the mind and nerves, and it was very thoughtful for Amelia to bring some. Now Violet felt like her offerings (not in an actual offering sense, there would be more of that later) weren't very good. She had some energy bars that she was willing to share with the group, but tea was actually going to go towards being productive and taste good.

"I brought some Clif bars," she announced, "but maybe we should save those for the end of the night, if anyone else brought something, uhm, more appetizing."

"Tea would be lovely," Dolly said once she'd made her way up and arranged herself on the floor next to her friends, legs tucked underneath herself to prevent any skirt mishaps. "And I didn't bring any books, but I do have trail mix." She retrieved the plastic bag and shook it to emphasize the contents.

"I've got my board and my deck with me, too. I wasn't sure what we would end up doing, but just in case." Without specifics, it sounded like they might have been here to play games. Some roleplaying, perhaps. It was almost like that for Dolly; she didn't believe, not in the way that Amelia or Violet did. Not religiously, nor in power of another sort. She came close, sometimes, when the atmosphere was right and she got caught up in it along with her friends. It was the same way when she'd listened to tapes of exorcisms, the words that seemed to have no right in a human mouth. She respected her friends' beliefs for what they were, and she knew that demonic possession was a delusion encouraged and worsened by one's environment, but sometimes in the moment, she wondered.

Tonight wasn't supposed to be anything so grim, though, so Dolly put those thoughts out of her mind and a smile on her face. "So, is there a plan, or are we winging it?"

Amelia busied herself with pouring the tea as Dolly got herself comfortable next to them. She pulled some plastic cups from her bag and set them down to pour the tea. As she opened the thermos, the lovely aroma of the tea overtook her senses, and made her sigh contentedly. This was the perfect night, some relaxing tea with good friends and adventure on the horizon. She couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be. Amelia passed the cups to the other girls as she filled them, and after sealing the thermos and putting it back in her bag, she also pulled out the granola bars she’d brought with her.

“I have a few of these too.” She lay out the Quaker chewy granola bars in the middle of the circle, motioning for the others to take one if they wanted.

Dolly asked if there was any sort of plan for the night, and Amelia shrugged in response before taking a sip of tea. She hadn’t really put too much thought into what exactly they’d be doing if she was being honest. She figured the others would have a plan of some sort. She looked over at Violet, who had brought them together tonight, and waited to see if she had any kind of game plan. Truth be told, Amelia wouldn’t mind if there wasn’t a plan. It just meant they’d have to get creative, and that sounded like a lot of fun.

“I dunno. I didn’t really think about a plan or anything.” Amelia blinked at her comrades and awaited their planning. After all, they were much better suited to it than she was, even she could admit that.

"Oh, uh," Violet said, fishing around in her bag, "I didn't have the biggest plan, really, but there were a few things I wanted to do, if this is going to be everyone here." She pulled out a Black 'n Red notebook, one of her own personal Books of Shadows. This one had been filled up with spells and the results of meditations and attempts at astral projection a while ago, but it contained the practice that she had wanted to go over with the people here. Plus...

"Tonight's a full moon," she remarked, "so whatever we do, we'll be harnessing energy at levels that I've never personally dealt with. Which is why the two of you are here, as the strength of our bond together as friends will make channeling these forces easier together than they ever would be if we were going at it alone, I think."

Just as Amelia did, Violet put her own Cliff bars in the middle of the circle as well. She had made sure to grab only her favorite kind, the Chocolate Brownie flavor. Anything else was a little too close to inedible, really. The Chocolate Chip ones made her teeth hurt way too badly because they were just a little bit crunchier than the other ones. Once, she accidentally packed one in her bag on a supply gathering trip around town, and it was the only thing she ate all day.

"Do you want to wait for maybe a couple more people to show up," she asked, "or should we start with a banishing ritual?"

"If we're not on a strict schedule, I think it's fine to wait a little bit and see who turns up. There's no rush." Really, the longer it took, the ever-higher the moon would climb into the sky. It sat just above the horizon now, fat and yellow, the perfect moon for some sort of ritual (besides a proper blood moon, perhaps).

Dolly cupped her hands around the tea she'd been given, smiling slightly as it warmed her palms, and lifted it to her mouth for a sip. "Your grandma makes lovely tea, Amelia. I don't remember if I've ever mentioned it?" She floated the compliment-by-proxy to the side, comfortable in the knowledge that it would find its way to the intended recipient at some point. Back to Violet, "If we do a banishing too early, it might prevent someone else that we want from showing up, no?"

She wasn't sure that was how it worked, and indeed was about half-confident that it very much wasn't, but often it seemed like the intent of these things was more important than the exact process.

Amelia sat quietly while the other girls discussed the plan. Amelia really didn’t care what they did. Even if they just ended up sitting here all night she’d still be having a good time. She grabbed at one of the granola bars she put down in the middle and opened it up for a quick bite. She’d eaten earlier but left the table quickly to start getting ready for tonight, so she was still pretty hungry. Dolly and Violet were still talking, but Amelia wasn’t really paying attention. Instead she munched on her granola bar and stared up at the night sky, watching the stars. Amelia’s attention got brought back down to earth when Dolly said something about how good her grandma’s tea was, and it caused Amelia to smile at her friend.

“I’ll tell her you liked it!” She chirped happily. Then Dolly said something to Violet about Banishing and Amelia tilted her head. Guess she should have been paying attention, they were talking about cool stuff.

“Who’s getting banished?”