The Fool

As the pair stand near the entrance of the crypt, the hot breath of death rolling out of the depths, Ricin begins to conjure fearful images of ghosts returning to the living world to seek their vengeance against those that have done them wrong. A subtle, light breeze skitters across the top of the snow-clad landscape, stirring the small diamonds inside the powder and causing them to sparkle as the frozen flakes tumble gently around. The wind picks up the wolf-dog’s long fur and flutters the ends about, making it appear to him that she is wreathed in a white halo of fur. Fear slowly falls away from his features as he instead looks on her with awe, wondering once more, if she is a spirit that walks the land.

He watches her with quiet reverence, almost expecting her not to speak because she is clearly not from this world. But the spell is broken and ruby eyes blink with surprise as his brow lifts when the stranger speaks. Her light, playful tone has his dark lips tugging upward in a sheepish, shy grin as the boy suddenly tries to playoff his pervious uncertainness. Lightly, he quips back, “Me? Real? Well… my brother says I am so it must be true.” He tosses in a wink and small chuckle as he dips his head in greeting and says, “My name is Ricin and uh, sorry for the strange question.” With that he purposefully relaxes his stance, the tension that had caused his shoulders to rise and neck to stiffen melting away with ease.

The boy’s gaze roams from the wolf-dog to focus on the entrance of the crypt behind her. As if to explain his weirdness, Ricin says, “There are stories about this place that say the dead wander the tunnels down there. And… if you listen closely… you can hear their cries of despair.” His bright eyes turn back to the pale wolf as he shrugs his light blue shoulders and smiles, adding, “But, I haven’t met any yet, so I can’t say for sure.”  While his body language may appear relaxed (and that is only due to the great effort he takes to appear that way) the blue boy’s nervousness shows itself in the way he rambles on.

"Ricin Dauner"