The day was dimmed by a cloud-cover. The dreary olive grass of the drought-stricken southern fields coated the cracked earth in thick patches, resembling a disease. Something resembling a dress with a featureless head fumbled onto the scene. Eve had wrapped her head in a scarf to protect her face from the harsh winds, also doubling as a way to stifle her urge to punch everything she saw. She tugged the ends off the top of her head to see better. A puff of hair flopped out the top. Her tweaked eyebrows also appeared on her pale skin, above her eyes. Though it was best not to look at them, they appeared to be red and in poor condition. Which was to say, pretty normal. Today was the day. Eve began to speak. "Today is All Hallows Eve right? It's a holiday I think. There's a holiday about me?" Eve still had a poor grasp of language. She continued down this avenue of thought. "If it's my holiday, I should be in charge or something. . . The King never sent me any letters. Okay. First course of action, I have to Trick-or-Treat. I can't win the holiday if I don't get more candy than everyone else." she smirked. Eve dug through her Adventure Pouch, plucking out a mask. It looked to resemble some kind of goat or livestock with large ears and horns. Affixing it to her face, she approached the edge of the woods. Her dress seemed appropriately themed, covered with spider-web patterns and a sharp purple zig-zag tooth mantlet draped over the goldenrod surface of the dress. She had put all of her effort into entering the spook zone today. Something had compelled her to come all the way out here, maybe it was the fact that most southern towns were in ruins. eve was sure it was around here somewhere. With the Mountain range visible in the distance, a presence of Ganon loomed over the scene. The trees, while bare of leaves became thicker in number as she walked. At the end of the path cut through these trees appeared to be a structure. Towering above the scenery was a twisted manor. The wood warped with time, as well as outdated construction methods made it look top-heavy and leaning forward. The clearing as well as the structure were littered with refuse, cobwebs and the like. Weather-worn stones also coated a cleared patch to the left. While the stones were lined up like graves, they were too worn to tell what their original purpose was. Eve approached the door with her mask still on. The house had a large double-door of thick mahogany. Termite holes coated the wood but it showed no sign of physically falling apart with how solid the wood was. The knocker was shaped like a boar's head, ominously reminding Eve of something she heard about once. Eve knocked the boar into the hard door thrice. After a short pause Eve heard the house creaking sharply as footsteps arrived at the door. The large shape slowly pushed out, exposing parts of the structure's interior. A strange, funky old lady shuffled out, moving her shoulders as if she were dancing. Her scraggly white hair like bleached flour. Her eyes lit up at the sign of a child and she came forward. "My my, young one! It's dangerous to come out here alone! What would you like?" she serenaded the Kokiri saucily. "TRICK OR TREAT." she replied with an ornery voice. The old lady chuckled. She seemed to pay no mind to anything weird about the situation and extended her arm into the door. "Come on in, young one! Let's sit down." she added. The woman led Eve into the house as she removed her mask. A scowl appeared on her mouth as the mask slid off. Why not just give her the candy? Maybe there was a big stash inside. Eve followed politely. The woman creaked by the entry, winding into a living room/kitchen. On a small ornate sofa were a few other children. One of the blonde girls lacked a face entirely. Eve laughed nervously as she came past. Locking eyes back on the old woman, she began to be overcome with the urge to punch the shit out of her. However the candy had to come first. Eve pinched the skin of her punching arm and stood back. The old woman centered herself in the kitchen and turned to face Eve again. "You see, child. . . we have a problem. None of the children who come her have gotten their treats yet. Now that doesn't mean you have to trick me, I do have candy. However. The candy is all upstairs past many of the rooms of this manor. You see, every part of this house besides this kitchen is overrun with Skulltulas." she elaborated. "Nobody can have any candy until we find someone who can clear the infestation and come back with my trunk of treats. Would you know of anyone who can help?" she finished. Eve gave her a blank stare. She was about to agree, she thought. Instead she ran up to the woman and slugged her hard in the face. The woman fell to the ground in pain and her face seemed to twist up from the impact of Eve's fist. A few teeth fell to the floor before a whole set of dentures fell out of the woman's mouth. "Sure I'll help, funky old lady! Wow I just hit you! . . . Hard in the face." The lady quivered and pushed herself up to face Eve. "D-don't worry ch-child those teeth were fake anyway. Hee hee. Fuck." The creepy children all glared at Eve as she tried to lift the injured woman up. Eve gave them a look that could only be construed as "you're next if you do anything." The children kept their eyes on her. While several of them noticed something wrong with her eyes, the faceless one just stared forward knowingly. Was that kid related to the boy who messed up her eyes? Whatever, she was just here for candy like everyone else. It seemed like even the Twister liked sweets.
Noelle trudged silently through the overgrown trees, grimacing slightly as she pushed aside the branches. Far above, dark, foreboding cloud’s filled what little sky was visible through the trees. “We’re definitely lost,” she grumbled, mostly to herself. Behind her, a ball of reddish-brown light darted and zipped through the trees. “Not lost, not lost, no no no. Right where we mean to be, where we mean to be yes.” Noelle rolled her eyes before returning her gaze to her feet. While Umber was rarely, if ever, empirically wrong, she knew the sprite’s sense of direction was downright abysmal. Which, in part, was why the girl was stunned when, moments later, she heard “Noelle, we’re here.” He spoke with an unnatural clarity before bee lining it towards the towering structure just beyond the brush. Noelle stared at the manor in awe. The wood had long been bent and twisted by age, distorting the shape and size of the structure. A feeling of trepidation overcame the girl as she stepped out from the trees, and a sudden chill ran down her spine. Noelle froze for a moment before shaking her head, chastising herself for her foolishness. It’s obviously abandoned, she thought to herself as she hurried after the Fairy. Umber had long since disappeared around the far edge of the structure, and his absence had become unnerving. Rounding the corner, Noelle found herself before a curious sight. Lanterns had been stuffed inside oversized pumpkins, their flesh carved into horrifically disfigured faces. Cobwebs covered the entirety of the front stoop, and, more frighteningly, a Hylian hand had been nailed firmly to the door. A sudden gasp escaped her lips, eyes wide in disbelief. Umber floated silently, just as transfixed by the sight. As if compelled by some unseen force, Noelle found herself taking a step forward. Then another, and another, until she was standing inches from the door. Noelle's mind froze as her body moved by its own accord, her knuckles reaching up to rap loudly against the weathered door.
Eve kicked open the door. Her mask was apparently already back on. The goat-beast face glared down at Noelle. "No time to explain! We have to get the candy in the attic!" she yelled at the new trick-or-treater. "Nice costume, by the way." she added, referring to Noelle's unorthodox appearance. Eve stomped down the hallway without another word. If there were skulltulas on the first floor, they would be a problem later. Especially if there was some huge curse going on because of them. Naturally, the first floor was no big deal. A small rustic bedroom/study for guests took up a big part of the support for the rest of the house. Eve spotted a gaggle of spiders of the curse making the bed and desk into their personal dance floor. She groaned at the simplicity of the attack, though gold skulltulas were more spikey and off-putting than most of the monsters she fought. She began by flailing her boots at them and screaming down the hall for Noelle to go up the stairs.
Noelle stumbled back as the door burst open, her arms flailing in vain as she crashed to the ground. The girl looked up at the open entrance, and gasped in horror. In front of her now stood some sort of creature, not much taller than Noelle. Though its body was not unlike that of a human child, its head was unmistakably that of a goat, if not some other cloven hoof animal. Noelle’s eyes widened, her body paralyzed with fear. She willed her arms to move, certain the monster meant to strike. Much to her surprise, however, the creature spoke instead, shouting wildly about candy and attics, before complementing Noelle on her supposed “costume.” “T-thanks…?” she stammered, her mind reeling. Was she caught in a dream? Had she hit her head when she fell? Noelle pulled herself back to her feet slowly, catching a glance of the creature as it turn to head back inside. She gasped again, this time not in horror however. Noelle felt her face grow hot with embarrassment as she realized her would-be assailant was nothing more than a child in a scary mask. How could she have been caught so off guard? The girl cursed herself silently, upset that she had fallen for the ruse. A voice called suddenly from within the house, shaking Noelle from her thoughts. “Up… the stairs?” Peering through the doorway, she noticed an elaborate staircase a scarce few steps inside the house. Anxiety gripped Noelle’s stomach, her mind telling her to leave now, as it always did. And yet, deep down, Noelle knew she couldn’t just leave the child. Who knew what lay within the house? The girl groaned, taking a deep breath as she stepped over the threshold. A dry musk assaulted Noelle’s nose almost instantly, thick enough to taste. Sputtering, Noelle lurched for the stairs, hoping higher ground meant fresher air. Reaching the bannister, Noelle instead found herself face to face with a swarm of four angry keese. Two of creatures dove at her, squawking angrily. Noelle ducked backwards, hands fumbling for her staff as she narrowly avoided a collision with the keese. Another dove at her as she swung her weapon free, the solid wood connecting with a crunch. The keese dropped to ground, its wings twitching futilely before Noelle snuffed out its remaining life. The other three turned and fled, flying up the stairwell and into the darkness. Rather than follow, however, Noelle moved towards the hallway from where she had heard the child previously, calling out into the dark. “H-hello? Um, it s-seems there are m-monsters up there. A-are you okay?”
