Christmas Eve

[skeleton_king]

Jack doesn't attempt to leave the custody of Gene as he leads the search party into the forest, map in hand.

There are a great many more doors now, each with a pumpkin, and as Jack comes into the vicinity they seem to give a little click.

He turns to the search party.

"Spread out and search each area of the forest." he says. "There is likely to be monsters behind these doors, preventing the retrieval of the first Santy Claws. Your Santy Claws is, I think, in the hands of a creature called Oogie Boogie, the former king of Bug Day, who appears as a big sack full of bugs. If you find him, or you get into trouble, shout for help at once. The other monsters should not hurt you too severely, but they will attack, so your best bet is to force them back into the door."

Comments

[capture_eternity]

"That's not what they mean by bagging rabbits!" Dorian says, nevertheless pushing the critter towards her.

[girlwithout]

"If you have a better idea, share with the class!" Between his stick and her shield, they manage to corral the rabbit into the bag, at which point Rikki closes it up quickly.

"I didn't need this bag anyway."

[capture_eternity]

"We could have killed it?" Dorian says. "While it was attacking? Not now. It's not sporting to kill something that's in a bag, not even a raging, possessed black rabbit. Let me take that bag."

He holds out his hand for it.

"We can't just leave it here."

[girlwithout]

Rikki shrugs. "I don't kill things if I don't have to. Not when there's an alternative."

She hands over the bag full of enraged rabbit and gathers up her stuff again, leaving whatever she doesn't need. There's some pockets in her clothes for the smaller stuff. "Not how I was trained."

[capture_eternity]

Dorian puts the squirming pack on his back, then picks up most of the things she's leaving to stuff them into his coat pockets.

"We can't leave it, or its colleagues will eat it. That would be unsporting."

[girlwithout]

She grins lupsidedly. "Maybe we could tame it and make it a pet. Or at least have it exorcised."

[capture_eternity]

Dorian marches on.

"Or we set it free when we're done," he says. "I don't know if the priest they have hear will exorcise rabbits."

[girlwithout]

"If this is a thing, maybe the priesthood should branch out."

Do chaplains do exorcisms? Maybe she should ask Ellen.

[capture_eternity]

"To exorcising all the rabbits in Milliways?" Dorian says. "They might get bored with time."

[girlwithout]

"I bet it'd be interesting enough to try for once at least."

[capture_eternity]

"With one rabbit," Dorian agrees. "Well, we have one now that we can surprise the priest with."

[girlwithout]

"And then one of us could keep it," Rikki adds cheerfully. "Mostly you, because I have a dog at home."

[capture_eternity]

"What would I do with a de-demonised ex-monstrous rabbit?" Dorian wonders.

[girlwithout]

"Teach it to race other rabbits and make a fortune in the high-stakes bunny-hopping business?"

[capture_eternity]

"Is it likely to be very ---"

Dorian stops.

"There's something moving in the trees!" he says, pointing in the direction they'd been going.

[girlwithout]

"If it's another bunny, I did not bring enough bags for this!" Rikki announces before breaking out into a jog in that direction.

[capture_eternity]

Dorian follows, and the bagged bunny bellows as it bounces on his back.

[girlwithout]

Poor bunny. Rikki may or may not be nicknaming it Mr. Fluffikins in her thoughts even now.

- Or, at least, up until she catches a glimpse of what's making the noise in the trees. It is definitely not a demonic bunny this time.

It stares at her with its one stupidly-giant eye and licks its... lips, for lack of a better term.

"No way."

[capture_eternity]

"It's purple!" Dorian says. "It doesn't look like Father Christmas, though..."

Not like anything he's every seen, actually.

[girlwithout]

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't have... any of that, yeah."

It flaps its wings. Menacingly.

"So, thoughts?"

[capture_eternity]

"If that's the monster which has Father Christmas," Dorian says, "we're probably supposed to find out before we raise the alarm."

[girlwithout]

"Good idea."

She takes a tentative step forward. "I mean, it's not really doing anything, is it? Maybe - "

In a flurry of activity, the purple thing launches itself in her direction. She gets the shield up in time to deflect most of whatever it was going to do, and it flies upwards, staring down at them through the trees.

Great. Now her cheek's bleeding.

[capture_eternity]

The thing in the tree stares down at them with its one big eye.

"I jus' wanna get a job in a rock 'n roll band" it declares, sadly.

"What?" Dorian says. "What are you?"

"I'm a Purple People Eater, that's my line?
I like eating purple people, and it sure is fine!"

[girlwithout]

Is this what having a stroke feels like?

"Uh, I don't think either of us has a band," Rikki points out. "And we're not purple."

Well. Her coat is purple. Does that count?

[capture_eternity]

Dorian's shirt is purple as well, but he's wearing a coat over it.

"We can't help you there, my good fellow," he says. "But there's a lot of people in the bar who make music."

He turns to Rikki.

"Then this definitely wasn't the monster who kidnapped Santa. Let's go and look somewhere else..."

But at that moment, an unearthly wail is heard, and the are called to another part of the forest.