[CYOA] Human Studies: Superstitions (Nerisei)

[Elyessi]

The Human World.

It was a place whispered by her ancestors, be it through fear or frustration of the beings on that side. The trees were filled with the results of the human world, the pain and suffering and the death that the humans caused day in and day out. The Hamadryad knew that they needed to journey to the human world and protect their home, but that didn't mean they would like it.

Ever since Nerisei was a little ghoul, she was told about her role in both Halloween and the Human World. She would one day journey out, away from the protective embrace of the Grotto. As a small ghoul, the Grotto was there to protect her. Yet, the Grotto needed its own protectors, and once she grew she would be part of that team. Nerisei knew she would be there, eventually, after long hours of training and going to an academy to hone her skills.

She just didn't think the opportunity for it to happen would be so soon.

Some unknown force led her to the sign-ups for the Halloween class, and she really wasn't too nervous. No, she wanted to see for herself what the fuss was about, and understand a bit more the world outside of their home. That was, after all, why she was at the academy.

As she filled out the paperwork in Professor Winter's office, she listened to the directions carefully. It seemed simple enough, finding out what these superstitions were with the humans and documenting them accordingly. Maybe she would even find such things related to the trees, meaning she could take advantage of it once she graduated and was stationed in the Human World.

The rest was a bit of a blur. With her passport collected and her glamour on, she was thrust into the world of the humans without any further hand-holding. She knew she was on a time limit, but the voices of the humans and the creatures running around the street made it easy to move along. So, Nerisei decided she would stick outside and see if she could not only complete the task, but also see how the humans interacted with nature with her own eyes. So she continued to move OUTSIDE.  

[Elyessi]

1, 5, 7, 6

It was time to focus on the task at hand. Despite the fact that there was a forest near by, it seemed that most were content in their cleared land (which was very well treated). Nerisei had a feeling there would be no ill-will toward the plants, so she instead took to watching the humans closely. There were some interesting actions they all were making, and some that were just concerning.

The first human she spotted appeared nervous. Remembering how superstitions were described, Nerisei knew she had to get closer. As she ventured down the path, she noticed that the human was tying knots into a handkerchief. It was so strange, and no real logic was behind it. The human just stood there, tying and untying, and Nerisei determined she should move on.

As she was walking, Nerisei suddenly felt like she was making eye contact with a human in front of her. It was only for a second, but she could tell as soon as they froze. Stilling herself, she found herself unable to breath when suddenly, they began to circle her. She watched as they circled nine times at almost a run, unable to move just in case they tried to walk into her. Instead, they seemed to let out a sigh of a breath before rushing off, leaving her alone.

Still stood still, Nerisei realized humans were still walking by. One caught her eye, but she was uncertain for a long moment until it clicked. Their clothing was on backward...and inside out...and they were walking in reverse! It startled her so much that she was able to move again, and she rushed away.

Finally, finally she seemed to catch something. A human was walking by a cemetery, and they seemed to take a deep breath and hold it while walking a little quicker. Tilting her head, Nerisei figured maybe they believed that they needed to ignore a smell, or they could sneak by spirits? It seemed as if something was going on, for as soon as they passed the cemetery, the human took a deep breath and began to breath normally.

Suddenly, she was being called back to the portal. Looking at the humans one last time, she shook her head before rushing back and getting home.

As she arrived, she was told the instructions for how to submit a report to Professor Winter. It didn't seem too difficult, so Nerisei decided to get it out of the way and headed to the Professor's office. Settling down at a spare table with her report, Nersei began to describe what she saw when she had a chance to see the human world.