This world is quieter than the one he is used to.
The ghosts are silent specters as they move about their not-lives. Most pass over the sand, leaving neither a sound nor a hoofprint in their wake. The waves shush against the shore, softer than the breaking of more tumultuous waves on the Other Side. He wonders what forces drive the waves here, wonders if the moon still has some effect in such a strange place. Do the sun and moon even behave the same here? Are there fire-soaked sunrises on the watery horizons? Do the ghosts turn their gazes heavenward to watch the moon arc across the starry sky? There is so much to learn here in this baby-new sector. The fear of being trapped still festers somewhere in his stomach, though. He wants both to stay and go home all at once; his curiosity and anxiety are at war within him.
Gail’s presence helps, at least.
She had taken on an almost mythical quality during their ordeal – their holy grail at the end of an impossible quest. She had been the unfindable and unseen, the unwitting damsel waiting in distress for all of eternity. To Ramiel, she had seemed like an anchor. If he could only tie himself to her, he’d never become lost again (Carnage wouldn’t allow it, surely). They had lost her again in unexpected fashion, but this time, at least she could be reached.
She is an anchor in a world with many doors now, where before, there had been none.
He feels like he will always be able to find her, will always be drawn to her whenever he chooses to come back. This beach is probably more than meets the eye. He plans on nosing every corner and searching every grain of sand. He plans on meeting his ancestors both recent and ancient, (how wonderful is it that that possibility now exists!). It occurs to him, then, that he can meet nearly everyone who’s succumbed to age or the dark whims of another: kings, queens, heroes and villains. The grey ghost wonders if he’ll be able to bring any of them back to his benefit or to their’s. Gail seems to think Graveling is special – perhaps there are others just as different, just as deserving of another chance…
The girl calls him strange, and he laughs. It’s loud, resonating off the nearest dunes and filling the dead space. It sounds almost artificial here, too colorful in such a monochromatic place. He cuts it off quickly, grinning instead. “Most assuredly,” he says, flicking his tail that disappears and reappears as it moves across his hocks. Strange but comfortable in his otherness. He’s always been a proud creature (proud of his parents, proud of his home, proud of the company he kept) and becoming a ghost has only cemented his unwavering confidence. Ramiel watches the black women as they wait for Graveling’s response. What will she do when the girl is gone? He wants to comfort her but doesn’t know how. What words can restore one from the numbness of being alone? Maybe there are others here that she can turn to, he thinks and hopes.
She will need the company, because Graveling soon accepts his offer. He nods, noticing the diluted strength poured into her voice, as if she had to add it in. She must be terrified, he thinks, imagining how he would feel in her hooves, trading in the only life she’s known for a world she won’t believe. Everything will overwhelm her on the Other Side; every sight, smell and sound will be magnified. “I will be back,” he tells Gail, saying goodbye without actually saying the words. He doesn’t need to. Probably he doesn’t need to tell her he’ll be back, either, because it is obvious. She is the black light in this world that is dark with mysteries. He’ll likely need her again just as she might need him.
“Whenever you’re ready,” he smiles lightly at the dead girl, turning towards the cliffs and the only door he knows of so far. He starts walking, leaving one of the only sets of hoofprints in the otherwise undisturbed sand as he goes. There are other sets, and if he didn’t have a responsibility to the girl, he would have followed them to their conclusions. But he is proud to take Graveling back to Beqanna (proud that Gail has entrusted him to do so) and he must follow the task through. Ramiel turns back once, his golden eyes shining with encouragement, to make sure she is following.
r a m i e l
what a day to begin again