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Content warning: Not really sure, I think abduction and trauma? Again, not sure.
This is a rewrite of my contest entry from the 2022 Halloween one shot contest. This is my take of what happened after Romani gets abducted by aliens/creatures/whatever they were amd before she is returned. I of course took creative liberties with this, as I did then. Here is the story:
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The pale glow of the moon shines upon the ranch five minutes to midnight. Romani stands proudly upon a wooden box near the barn, the cool summer night wind blowing gently through her waist length auburn hair.
"Come on… I know you're coming… You came around this time last night…" Romani says as she slides a finger along the string of her wooden bow that was used by her late father to defend the ranch from monsters. "Any time now…" She mutters as she scans the horizon for the orb the creatures arrive in.
Looking towards the house, she sighs. "Cremia, I know you don't believe me, but why would they hang around the barn like they're looking for something? I'll show you proof." she says.
“It’s probably just the Gorman brothers again. They really should be in prison," Cremia said as she washed the breakfast dishes.
“It wasn’t them! Strange monsters — they came from a glowing orb! And I saw them near the cow pen last night. They might even take the cows!” Romani stomped her foot in frustration.
Romani lets out a gasp as she hears the familiar humming sound of the golden yellow orb as it approaches. With a smile, Romani takes an arrow from her quiver and nocks it into the bow.
She watches as the orb stops moving. "Yeah. Bring it on," Romani whispers. The orb floats down towards the ground before several of the creatures emerge before Romani's eyes.
The creatures begin to slowly float towards the barn, their glowing yellow eyes never blinking. Romani grits her teeth as she raises the bow, her heart starting to pound in her chest. She lets loose an arrow, only for it to fly through the creature's cylindrical body.
"W-what?" she asks fearfully. As the creatures neared her and the barn, Romani quickly draws a second arrow, only to get the same result. "Can they be defeated at all?" She asks. Looking around, she realizes the creatures are trying to surround her. With a horrified scream, she drops her bow and runs for the barn. Throwing open the door, she rushes inside and locks the door before backing up to the wall. "Why did I think I could do this myself? Why didn't I go and get Link and Kafei?" She asks as tears start forming.
Her eyes widen with fear as the creatures phase right through the wall, their eyes exhibiting a slight purple aura. While several approach the cows, one approaches Romani, allowing her to get a good look at it:
Its head is spade-like in shape with purple and black lines. The only part of its face Romani can see are the glowing yellow eyes. Long spindly arms extend from its cylindrical body, which has the same colors as its head. It floats several inches off the ground and is clearly bigger than she is. With a shout, Romani attempts to punch the creature only for her fist to pass right through its body.
"Can they be hurt?" she asks.
Before she can act, there is a loud crash as bits of hay fall to the ground and moonlight fills the room. Looking up with a gasp, Romani sees the orb hovering overhead. After a moment, a large beam of eerie yellow light is emitted from within the orb around the barn.
As she watches in horror, a smaller purplish beam surrounds the cows and starts to slowly lift them into the air, the cows not really noticing at all. Fearfully, Romani makes her way to the door and unlatches it only to find it blocked as if a strange force is keeping it shut. "No! Come on!" She cries as she looks up in time to watch the cows vanish into the orb, after which the purple beam begins moving towards her with an eerie humming sound.
"Let me out!" Romani screams as she continues to struggle to open the door. She lets out a scream as her body is lifted into the air, her grip on the handle being the only thing keeping her from being pulled into the orb. Her fingers slip from the metal bar as her muscles fail. The yellow beam shuts down, as if the creatures know that Romani can't escape.
"No!" She cries as she loses her grip and is pulled upward towards the orb. As she is lifted through the roof, she glances towards the house. "Goodbye, Cremia," she mutters, tears flowing at the thought of never seeing her sister again. Then a thought came to her. "Good thing I didn't think to run to the house as they would have gotten her," she mutters solemnly. She looks up as she is pulled into the orb, terrified about what's going to happen.
On the other side, Romani finds herself in a large metallic room with many pipes going in many different directions, some having a strange green fluid of some kind flowing through them. There are multiple tunnels that go in every direction, with multiple on different levels and connected by pathways. Above her head, she sees a strange orb from which the purple beam holding her is being emitted. "Is that thing creating the beams? What other beams are there?" She asks.
As if on cue, the center of the orb begins to glow with an eerie red glow. "Uh-oh," Romani mutters fearfully as she watches as the orb fires a pulse of red energy at her. She can feel her muscles twitch as the energy surges through her body as she blacks out.
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Romani awakens with a gasp. "W-where am I?" She asks as she looks around fearfully. She can see that she is in a strange circular dome. She tries to sit up, but finds that she can't. Tilting her head up, she sees that she has been strapped to a table with strange metal bands that tie her wrists, ankles, and upper torso to the table, preventing her from moving.
Gazing around, Romani spots the cows located in a separate dome to her. They each have a strange mechanical device attached to their udders. "What are they doing to them?" She asks.
Several of the creatures enter the room and approach a panel with several buttons and switches. The creatures turned to each other and starting communicating with each other, though Romani could not understand them as she only hears strange moans from them.
"(Acti…vate…Mind…flayer…)" One says to the other.
Romani watches, her heart pounding in her chest as the second creature turns and pushes a button on the panel. Hearing a strange hissing sound, Romani looks up and can only watch as a strange skull-like orb with organic, fleshy arms and a singular yellow eye in the middle lowers down towards her.
Once the orb is one foot away from her face, the hands grab her head and force her to stare at the eye. "What is this thing? What's going on?" Romani asks fearfully, despite knowing that she won't get an answer. She then lets out a gasp as the eye suddenly glows red. Her muscles go limp as the machine does its work.
"(Mem…mory wipe…begins….)" A creature says staring at a monitor.
"(Re…turn….hum…man…after…)" the other says.
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The next day, Cremia heads downstairs. "Good morning, Romani," She says. Not getting a response, she looks over to the fireplace only to not see Romani sitting by the fire, reading a book. "Huh. That's weird," she says. Heading back upstairs, she peeks into Romani's room and sees that she is not there. As she heads back downstairs, a thought occurs to her. "You better not be doing your hiding game again. You know it bothers me… especially after last time. Unless Link came early to give her lessons in horseback riding," she mutters.
As she steps out onto the porch, she scans around, but does not see Link or Romani riding Epona. As she looks over at the barn, she lets out a gasp as she sees the barn with its roof blown off. "What in the…?" she asks in horror, her eyes wide in shock. As she walks towards the barn, she feels something underfoot. She looks down to see her dad's old bow. "Why is…?" She asks as she picks it up.
She turns as the sound of a horse neigh is heard. Link approaches on Epona. "What happened here?" He asks.
"I don't know. I thought Romani would be with you, but clearly she's not," Cremia replies as she stares at the barn, her eyes wide.
Link slides off Epona's back as the two head to the barn. As they approach the door, the sound of whimpering is heard.
The two enter the barn and spot Romani curled up in the corner.
"Romani!" Cremia exclaims as the two rush over to her. "What happened? Where are the cows?" Cremia asks as she hugs Romani.
Romani shakes her head, clearly in a catatonic state. "I…I don't…I don't remember," She replies, clearly out of it. She begins to sob.
Cremia holds Romani close. "I feel that you might have been right about those creatures," Cremia says.
"Is that…what happened? I…don't remember," Romani mutters. Then she falls asleep.
Link gently places a hand on Romani's forehead. "She's freezing. Get her inside the house," he says, a sense of urgency and concern in his voice. Cremia nods as she looks at Romani.
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After tucking Romani into bed and ensuring that she is asleep, Cremia lingers, questions filling her mind. She turns and silently leaves the room and heads downstairs, where Link is waiting on the couch.
"She's asleep now," she says as she sits in a chair across from Link, who sits on the couch.
Link nods. "You mentioned that you didn't believe her about creatures?" he asks.
Cremia sighs as she thinks for a moment. "Honestly, I want to believe that it was the Gorman brothers, but my heart tells me that it wasn't them. After all, if it was them, Romani would know and the barn roof would not be blown off," she finally says.
"Yeah, there's no way it could be them. They would have left tracks behind. Those cows are not easy to move," Link says.
For the next several minutes, the two sit in silence, only broken by the sound of the grandfather clock.
"I scouted the area for any signs of what might have happened. Found nothing, though I found several arrows on the ground that seemed to have been shot away from the barn. Seems like whatever happened occurred at the barn itself and she fought something and lost. Whoever did it likely won't be coming back," Link says.
"I do hope she recovers," Cremia says.
"We'll just have to keep an eye on her to see if she gets better," Link said.
"I hope so," Cremia said with a nod.
For the next several days, Link stops by to check on Romani's condition. While she does recover from being catatonic, she never recovers completely, still retaining some of the damage of her condition and is clearly still traumatized by whatever happened to her. She also never fully regains her memory of the event.
I would like a review. I think I have improved my craft with this.
This is a rewrite of my contest entry from the 2022 Halloween one shot contest. This is my take of what happened after Romani gets abducted by aliens/creatures/whatever they were amd before she is returned. I of course took creative liberties with this, as I did then. Here is the story:
=======================================================
The pale glow of the moon shines upon the ranch five minutes to midnight. Romani stands proudly upon a wooden box near the barn, the cool summer night wind blowing gently through her waist length auburn hair.
"Come on… I know you're coming… You came around this time last night…" Romani says as she slides a finger along the string of her wooden bow that was used by her late father to defend the ranch from monsters. "Any time now…" She mutters as she scans the horizon for the orb the creatures arrive in.
Looking towards the house, she sighs. "Cremia, I know you don't believe me, but why would they hang around the barn like they're looking for something? I'll show you proof." she says.
“It’s probably just the Gorman brothers again. They really should be in prison," Cremia said as she washed the breakfast dishes.
“It wasn’t them! Strange monsters — they came from a glowing orb! And I saw them near the cow pen last night. They might even take the cows!” Romani stomped her foot in frustration.
Romani lets out a gasp as she hears the familiar humming sound of the golden yellow orb as it approaches. With a smile, Romani takes an arrow from her quiver and nocks it into the bow.
She watches as the orb stops moving. "Yeah. Bring it on," Romani whispers. The orb floats down towards the ground before several of the creatures emerge before Romani's eyes.
The creatures begin to slowly float towards the barn, their glowing yellow eyes never blinking. Romani grits her teeth as she raises the bow, her heart starting to pound in her chest. She lets loose an arrow, only for it to fly through the creature's cylindrical body.
"W-what?" she asks fearfully. As the creatures neared her and the barn, Romani quickly draws a second arrow, only to get the same result. "Can they be defeated at all?" She asks. Looking around, she realizes the creatures are trying to surround her. With a horrified scream, she drops her bow and runs for the barn. Throwing open the door, she rushes inside and locks the door before backing up to the wall. "Why did I think I could do this myself? Why didn't I go and get Link and Kafei?" She asks as tears start forming.
Her eyes widen with fear as the creatures phase right through the wall, their eyes exhibiting a slight purple aura. While several approach the cows, one approaches Romani, allowing her to get a good look at it:
Its head is spade-like in shape with purple and black lines. The only part of its face Romani can see are the glowing yellow eyes. Long spindly arms extend from its cylindrical body, which has the same colors as its head. It floats several inches off the ground and is clearly bigger than she is. With a shout, Romani attempts to punch the creature only for her fist to pass right through its body.
"Can they be hurt?" she asks.
Before she can act, there is a loud crash as bits of hay fall to the ground and moonlight fills the room. Looking up with a gasp, Romani sees the orb hovering overhead. After a moment, a large beam of eerie yellow light is emitted from within the orb around the barn.
As she watches in horror, a smaller purplish beam surrounds the cows and starts to slowly lift them into the air, the cows not really noticing at all. Fearfully, Romani makes her way to the door and unlatches it only to find it blocked as if a strange force is keeping it shut. "No! Come on!" She cries as she looks up in time to watch the cows vanish into the orb, after which the purple beam begins moving towards her with an eerie humming sound.
"Let me out!" Romani screams as she continues to struggle to open the door. She lets out a scream as her body is lifted into the air, her grip on the handle being the only thing keeping her from being pulled into the orb. Her fingers slip from the metal bar as her muscles fail. The yellow beam shuts down, as if the creatures know that Romani can't escape.
"No!" She cries as she loses her grip and is pulled upward towards the orb. As she is lifted through the roof, she glances towards the house. "Goodbye, Cremia," she mutters, tears flowing at the thought of never seeing her sister again. Then a thought came to her. "Good thing I didn't think to run to the house as they would have gotten her," she mutters solemnly. She looks up as she is pulled into the orb, terrified about what's going to happen.
On the other side, Romani finds herself in a large metallic room with many pipes going in many different directions, some having a strange green fluid of some kind flowing through them. There are multiple tunnels that go in every direction, with multiple on different levels and connected by pathways. Above her head, she sees a strange orb from which the purple beam holding her is being emitted. "Is that thing creating the beams? What other beams are there?" She asks.
As if on cue, the center of the orb begins to glow with an eerie red glow. "Uh-oh," Romani mutters fearfully as she watches as the orb fires a pulse of red energy at her. She can feel her muscles twitch as the energy surges through her body as she blacks out.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romani awakens with a gasp. "W-where am I?" She asks as she looks around fearfully. She can see that she is in a strange circular dome. She tries to sit up, but finds that she can't. Tilting her head up, she sees that she has been strapped to a table with strange metal bands that tie her wrists, ankles, and upper torso to the table, preventing her from moving.
Gazing around, Romani spots the cows located in a separate dome to her. They each have a strange mechanical device attached to their udders. "What are they doing to them?" She asks.
Several of the creatures enter the room and approach a panel with several buttons and switches. The creatures turned to each other and starting communicating with each other, though Romani could not understand them as she only hears strange moans from them.
"(Acti…vate…Mind…flayer…)" One says to the other.
Romani watches, her heart pounding in her chest as the second creature turns and pushes a button on the panel. Hearing a strange hissing sound, Romani looks up and can only watch as a strange skull-like orb with organic, fleshy arms and a singular yellow eye in the middle lowers down towards her.
Once the orb is one foot away from her face, the hands grab her head and force her to stare at the eye. "What is this thing? What's going on?" Romani asks fearfully, despite knowing that she won't get an answer. She then lets out a gasp as the eye suddenly glows red. Her muscles go limp as the machine does its work.
"(Mem…mory wipe…begins….)" A creature says staring at a monitor.
"(Re…turn….hum…man…after…)" the other says.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Cremia heads downstairs. "Good morning, Romani," She says. Not getting a response, she looks over to the fireplace only to not see Romani sitting by the fire, reading a book. "Huh. That's weird," she says. Heading back upstairs, she peeks into Romani's room and sees that she is not there. As she heads back downstairs, a thought occurs to her. "You better not be doing your hiding game again. You know it bothers me… especially after last time. Unless Link came early to give her lessons in horseback riding," she mutters.
As she steps out onto the porch, she scans around, but does not see Link or Romani riding Epona. As she looks over at the barn, she lets out a gasp as she sees the barn with its roof blown off. "What in the…?" she asks in horror, her eyes wide in shock. As she walks towards the barn, she feels something underfoot. She looks down to see her dad's old bow. "Why is…?" She asks as she picks it up.
She turns as the sound of a horse neigh is heard. Link approaches on Epona. "What happened here?" He asks.
"I don't know. I thought Romani would be with you, but clearly she's not," Cremia replies as she stares at the barn, her eyes wide.
Link slides off Epona's back as the two head to the barn. As they approach the door, the sound of whimpering is heard.
The two enter the barn and spot Romani curled up in the corner.
"Romani!" Cremia exclaims as the two rush over to her. "What happened? Where are the cows?" Cremia asks as she hugs Romani.
Romani shakes her head, clearly in a catatonic state. "I…I don't…I don't remember," She replies, clearly out of it. She begins to sob.
Cremia holds Romani close. "I feel that you might have been right about those creatures," Cremia says.
"Is that…what happened? I…don't remember," Romani mutters. Then she falls asleep.
Link gently places a hand on Romani's forehead. "She's freezing. Get her inside the house," he says, a sense of urgency and concern in his voice. Cremia nods as she looks at Romani.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After tucking Romani into bed and ensuring that she is asleep, Cremia lingers, questions filling her mind. She turns and silently leaves the room and heads downstairs, where Link is waiting on the couch.
"She's asleep now," she says as she sits in a chair across from Link, who sits on the couch.
Link nods. "You mentioned that you didn't believe her about creatures?" he asks.
Cremia sighs as she thinks for a moment. "Honestly, I want to believe that it was the Gorman brothers, but my heart tells me that it wasn't them. After all, if it was them, Romani would know and the barn roof would not be blown off," she finally says.
"Yeah, there's no way it could be them. They would have left tracks behind. Those cows are not easy to move," Link says.
For the next several minutes, the two sit in silence, only broken by the sound of the grandfather clock.
"I scouted the area for any signs of what might have happened. Found nothing, though I found several arrows on the ground that seemed to have been shot away from the barn. Seems like whatever happened occurred at the barn itself and she fought something and lost. Whoever did it likely won't be coming back," Link says.
"I do hope she recovers," Cremia says.
"We'll just have to keep an eye on her to see if she gets better," Link said.
"I hope so," Cremia said with a nod.
For the next several days, Link stops by to check on Romani's condition. While she does recover from being catatonic, she never recovers completely, still retaining some of the damage of her condition and is clearly still traumatized by whatever happened to her. She also never fully regains her memory of the event.
I would like a review. I think I have improved my craft with this.
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