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Post by Quest Master on Jul 5, 2010 21:52:59 GMT -5
It has been said that there is a train with no one on it that can be seen at sunset. Many have said this is merely bogus. Perhaps a ghost story to scare young children.
A single purple train stood idly on the tracks near Central Station. The sky was darker than usual. Stars lined the sky with the moon being the only light for guidance through the night. There was one small lamp post near the train booth where people could buy their tickets. No one could be seen inside the booth but two train tickets lie on the booth's table. |
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Post by mrcrazycakes on Jul 5, 2010 22:20:12 GMT -5
"Tch... Geeze, since when is it so dark around here?" Seifer Almasy wondered aloud, tossing his hat from one hand to the other boredly. He'd been waiting here all day for crying out loud! It took long enough for that train to get here. Everyone acted like it was such a big deal; purple train that never takes passengers, ooooo, scaaaaary. This late at night, who's getting on a train? No one, that's who. Seifer unballed his hat and pulled it back onto his head, noticing two tickets sitting on the booth where that same skinny, nice looking old fellow had been before he left for the night. Huh, weird; didn't remember him putting those there. But why two tickets? Both looked to be marked with a 'Round Trip' stamp... but he only needed one.
"Huh, weird. Gonna have to thank that old man when I get back from wherever this thing goes," Seifer mused to himself, pulling the replica sword from his belt, the thin blade that had been added glimmering in the moonlight. The wooden club was still hooked in to the makeshift sheath, but the sword would probably be more useful if push came to shove. He rested the dull side of the wood-and-steel sword on his shoulder, looking over the so-called 'ghost train'. It didn't look as frightening as everyone had hyped it up to be. Earlier, he'd had a bunch of younger kids begging him not to investigate, but they'd all left when the sky started to get dark.
Oh well. Show time! Seifer collected the two tickets, sticking them into his pants pockets before wandering onto the train, his usual smug look unchanged.
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Post by The Bilby Guy on Jul 9, 2010 17:04:52 GMT -5
Bartholomew Kildrey found himself in a bit of a pickle. Harmonizing with nature and strengthening one's spirit was all well and good... but perhaps there was a reason that this pilgrimage was usually attempted only by adults after all. Lesson learned late, as Bart found himself in Twilight Town for the past several days with nowhere to take shelter at night, save the tunnels below town if the gates weren't locked up before he got there(And they usually were). Having spent some time observing this "Struggle" game down at the Sandlot Bart had found the hours passed quickly. Perpetual sunset was as useless as a perpetual starry sky for telling time, which was all he had back at the Monastery either. His body could tell when it was time to sleep, though.
Perhaps out of sheer fondness for the view Bartholomew walked over to the other side of the plaza he'd arrived in, passing the entrance to the train station as he did so. By mere coincidence did he turn his head to look inside as he passed, expecting no one to be around at this time. And yet, someone was there.
'How unusual. Perhaps they have someone who keeps watch at night. But they look a bit young... and familiar. Say, isn't that the...'
It was. The Ghost Train. The very vessel that had brought Bart to the lower realm of Twilight Town. Whoever was walking as if to enter it now must be a magician or.... no wait... it wasn't.
"Seifer!"
The memory of the boy's name entered Bart's mind as he saw him walk aboard. Panicking the young man forced his way inside the station and rushed after him as fats as he could, cape waving in the air behind.
"You mustn't get on that train!" the son of Kildrey pleaded, realizing too late that he himself had run aboard in his haste to catch up to Seifer. Yes, he remembered Mr. Almasy now. They had met the day he arrived in town. He recalled that Seifer was not a magician at all that day, which meant he should have had no business on the Ghost Train. Bart had allowed his thoughts to wander again so he shook his head to clear them and then motioned back toward the exit of the train car with his wooden staff. "Please, let us get off now before it is too late."
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Post by Quest Master on Jul 9, 2010 17:43:55 GMT -5
The train veered backwards some as it started to steam itself up as Bart on it. The second ticket that Seifer had picked up had been for Bart, but to how anyone knew that Bart was going to go on the train as well was a mystery. The train began to move forward, slowly gaining speed. There was one car for passengers on the train. The first car was where the driver would be but there seemed to be no one driving it. In the passenger car had two seats, a faint light lighting the car. |
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Post by mrcrazycakes on Jul 9, 2010 18:24:10 GMT -5
Seifer couldn't help but look at Bartholomew weird. "You know, YOU got on it, too. And it looks like it's too late to get off now; I'm not jumpin' out of a moving train! I like being able to walk, thanks," He retorted, noting that the train had started moving and there was no conductor. Kind of weird, but nothing frightening so far as Seifer was concerned. This could be a magic train or something like that. Even if the weirdly-dressed kid had given him a good reason not to ride the supposed 'ghost train', he would have done it anyways. Why? Simple; because he was Seifer Almasy. And for him, that was reason enough.
"Well, there isn't any getting off this thing now. What's so scary about a purple train, anyhow? Like anybody's going to ride this thing this late," Seifer commented, tapping the flat edge of his wood-and-steel sword on his shoulder somewhat impatiently. "This isn't anywhere near as cool as I thought it'd be. I mean, sure, it drives itself, but other than that it's just a tiny train so far as I can tell," He finished, sitting down on one of the two chairs sitting at an odd angle with his legs crossed and the replica sword still resting its dull side on his shoulder.
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Post by The Bilby Guy on Jul 9, 2010 18:36:36 GMT -5
"Oh dear," Bart said hesitantly as he watched the scenery pass by the windows. The young man held his staff tightly with both hands.
'The Ghost Train is a shared service of all who live in the upper realm of Twilight Town,' the apprentice monk reminded himself. 'It goes whenever it is currently being led to go, and disappears when it isn't in use. So, it's currently in use. By someone. Could be anyone, really. I don't know how many people live in the upper realm who can control it. So... we're at the mercy of whoever currently commands the Ghost Train. Yeah, that's all. It could be fine. I'm sure most of them are fine people.'
Bart just stood in place, thinking all of this to himself to remind him of why he probably shouldn't be too worried and to keep a grip on reality. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that he wasn't allowed to actually tell any of this to someone from the lower realm like Seifer.
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Post by Quest Master on Jul 14, 2010 16:39:38 GMT -5
As they stood there talking, the train moving the interior of the train seemed to change a little. It was a subtle change, but a change never the less. The train moved at a constant pace, going no more than forty miles an hour.
To the eye of the two boys there seemed to be no one or nothing else inside of the passenger car. Nothing too spooky, right? Wrong. There were indeed others in the train but they could not be seen by the two boys; they were invisible, to say the least. Perhaps, even ghosts. But, at the moment they didn't feel like scaring the young boys. Plus, not all ghosts has to be scary or even. There were just some that chose to.
The train kept moving, but its destination was yet to be known.
It moved for a good five more minutes and then stopped, it's passenger car rear door opening and then thirty seconds later closing again and the train started moving again. They were near the ocean; it being on the right side of the train and the town being on the left. Where it had stopped there was a small platform with a single lamp that was dimly lit. |
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Post by mrcrazycakes on Jul 17, 2010 14:27:19 GMT -5
Seifer noticed that Bartholomew was acting kind of weird. He looked nervous, actually. He dismissed it with a mental shrug; what kid in town other than him wasn't shaking in their shoes when the Ghost Train was so much as referenced? The kid was probably scared out of his wits by now. Seifer yawned and removed his hat, twirling it on one finger boredly.
"Huh. Weird. If I was the conductor of this thing, I wouldn't have stopped if there weren't people there. Wonder how far this thing goes..." He said aloud, watching the scenery roll by. He hoped this wouldn't take too long; he had some stuff to do later.
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Post by The Bilby Guy on Jul 24, 2010 18:47:46 GMT -5
When the Ghost Train came to a halt on the empty platform for a short time Bart tried to encourage Seifer to abandon the vehicle so they could walk back to town. The youth seemed glued to his seat though and the apprentice monk was left hanging his head in disappointment and worry.
'Farther than you could know,' the son of Kildrey thought in answer of the scarred youth's question. He imagined his own Monastery high above the sky, beyond their ability to see even with telescopes. 'I wonder if father became lost because of the train?'
The last thought struck Bart as odd. he had never imagined that possibility before, the Ghost Train always being reliable for those who lived above the sky on this world. But here he was, without any control over it. This knew possibility merited investigation... once they were both free again.
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Post by Secret Agent Cat on Sept 6, 2010 21:16:55 GMT -5
Perhaps someone had a destination for these two young boys; after all someone had given them two tickets. But, who? And where exactly was their destination, if there was any? The train continued to move along the tracks, still moving along the beach but then shifted a little to the left a little. Ahead of them was some cliffs, it was a good thing the train started to head to the left some. They might hit the cliff--- wait, was that tunnel entrance there before? Never-the-less, the train was heading towards it and it seemed to be the only route around the cliff, by going through it.
A-and, the train seemed to be moving faster as well, perhaps over fifty miles per hour or more! Speeding towards a tunnel? Probably not a good idea. But, before there was even time to jump off (not like they could politely ask the conductor to stop), they entered the tunnel. The lights went off and the train rattled for a moment as it seemed to gather even more speed! And if they were to look back, there would be no sign of light from the way they had come. Nor in front! |
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Post by mrcrazycakes on Feb 28, 2011 19:21:36 GMT -5
"Woo, a dark tunnel. I'm petrified," Seifer remarked sarcastically, blowing a strand of blond hair out of his face. How long was this route, he wondered? And what was at the end of it? He grinned to himself. Well, this was a nice little distraction to an otherwise boring day. He just wished something would happen.
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