The Heroes of Little Springs

As Crusader trudged through the chilly and snowy walkway, he was bumped. He thought nothing of it, because this sort of behavior was common, no matter if the place was busy or not. However he was slightly confused by the stranger who bumped them. It was like they did it on purpose, to catch his attention.

However as they passed their line of sight, Crusader looked onwards, but they were gone. Not a trace left of them anywhere. Taking a second time to observe each direction where he stood, he confusingly shook off the encounter, and began trudging through the walkways, to his apartment.

Elsewhere, Crusader's acquaintance entered Bridgeford Street, which was only a few blocks away from Little Springs Elementary. However despite this being the fastest route and shortcut, it was also notorious for being the less developed section. There was never any lights, posts nor poles, and everything was always shrouded in darkness when night fell. It was also the least repaired, leaving the area dirty and roads unpaved.

On Bridgeford Street, with nothing but the sheer knowledge of the way to guide them, the Crusader's co-worker walked through the complete darkness. The odd sound of the wind present from before continued once more. However, it was much louder and clearly not that of the wind.

Just in front of the man was a figure. It was hard to tell at first that the figure was even there to begin with due to the darkness. But with his eyes adjusted to the nearly complete absence of light, the silhouette was unmistakable. The figure only gave him a moment to perhaps acknowledge or recognize that there was someone in front of him before a shimmering of light came over it as it transformed into a silvery figure.

The creature was showing absolutely no mercy. With a scream, it charged towards the man full speed.

Stopping momentarily, in the freezing weather, the co-worker leaned inwards, as they squinted. They couldn't make out what was in front of them, but it was farther up ahead, and blocked the middle of the walkway. It also seemed to be staring at them, so they allowed their eyes to adjust to see what it was.

When they realized the shape and figure to be that of a human, a person, they didn't think much until it transformed before their very eyes. Shocked, confused, and terrified as this floating abomination, they gasped, before stepping backwards.

They didn't have any time to react, as it screamed it's deadly and painful high pitch screech and swooped down into them. Around the the block one could hear this man, as if mustering their last breath and words all in one long terrified scream.

...His fate was undetermined.

A faint moaning echoed throughout Bridgeford Street before eventually dissipating into the night as the mysterious wind continued until that too eventually died. Then, all was still.

The night continued on with Quiver still scouring the park. And yet, she had found absolutely nothing. But she continued her search, thoroughly believing that the banshee would at one point attack someone. All the while, she thought over and over the things she had learned at the library and within the police report.

While she was at the edge of the park, police and ambulance sirens wailed by. And, by the looks of the number of cars with the bright red and blue lights, it seemed as though something rather serious had happened. Quiver stared at them for a while as she determined the direction they were headed before grimacing. There was no guarantee the police were traveling to another murder or victim by this serial killer but she still felt the compulsion to investigate. In fact, she was certain she wouldn't be able to rest until she knew what the police were doing.

Following them was not all that difficult: the sirens pretty much led the way. It was a desolate street, one that had little to no lighting at all to lead the way. Which on one hand was good because it meant sticking to the shadows was all the more easier. On another, it was the perfect place for any sort of crime to be committed.

The reds and blues of the cars lit the area well enough to where Quiver could see a white sheet being carefully placed over a body. Though it was a little hard to tell, there were remnants of blood on the pavement next to the sheet.

Quiver sighed. It was an angry, frustrated sigh. The detectives that had been brought in, the low conversations that were taking place amongst the officers, and the "another one" mentions said it all.

When Quiver felt as though she had seen enough, she left. She knew the banshee wouldn't attack again, not tonight anyway. Assuming it stuck to its usual pattern. But she guessed from its odd behavior of killing outside of the park that it wouldn't wait very long for its next killing. She had to stop it at all costs.

After dropping off his items, Crusader met up with his co-worker for some pizza and drinks at Cheesy Luigi. However that was the plan, but he never did show up. Eating a few slices alone, he found it odd for him to miss anytime he had the opportunity to eat at Luigi's, his favorite restaurant.

Eventually he decided it was time to find out what was up, and unfortunately for him, there he saw his co-worker being tagged and bagged into an ambulance. "Does he have a chance?" One of the paramedics asked, as the other who was on scene first shook his head sadly. "Nah, he was dead before I got here."

With the two doors slammed shut and loudly, the back was patted, and the ambulance drove off with the dead co-worker and medics. From the shadows, Crusader stated downwards from a rooftop. He stood there for several seconds, a frown etched upon, as he knew who had exactly done this.

Not wasting anymore time, he furiously twisted and turned, to leave the scene. At his apartment, he threw all of his equipment on bed, and spilled what was in the bag out. From there he began to work hours relentlessly crafting different objects, with several library printed sheets, which he skimmed across on occasion.

He would continue to work nonstop, from night, to daybreak, never once ceasing.

The rest of the night went without any other peculiar instances occurring. The morning newspaper reported the unfortunate incident of the Crusader's co-worker however there were little to no details provided. Though, the article took the time to make it explicitly clear that this murder was completely unrelated to the park murders through the details it did care to provide.

It lightly snowed midday and stopped by late afternoon. That was probably the only interesting thing that occurred for most citizens of Little Springs. However, for Quiver, today was a day in which she brooded over whatever information she had gathered the previous night. She thought over every detail, continued to scour for additional banshee lore, anything that she thought might be helpful for tonight. When she had the chance, she took the time to rest because she knew she wouldn't be sleeping at all tonight.

The night couldn't have come any sooner. But when it did, Quiver was ready. She was already in the park though not necessarily looking for the banshee. While she knew there was a chance it could be there, she was after something else.

Something had broken the banshee's pattern last night. And, whatever it was, it must have happened in the park. She wasn't sure if it was before or after she had left the park. But, she needed to start looking. It didn't help that the snow probably covered a majority of whatever evidence she could find.

With several new additions crafted onto his armor, as the sun began to rise, Crusader was slightly sleep deprived. However he didn't have work or anywhere important to go, so he did not matter. He would get enough rest this day.

But first he needed to know something. Stowing away his tools, equipment, and armor into his secret place, he left his apartment. His route was straightforward, determined long ago. Once he arrived to Little Spring's morgue, he had about him a determined expression, as he stepped up to the receptionists desk.

He flopped the newspaper onto their desk, which showed the death of his co-worker. "Mrs. Beckers has asked me to confirm his body, as she's too squeamish to do so herself." He replied.

The woman at the desk looked at the article then back at the Crusader. She then went behind her where a row of filing cabinets were. There was a pause as she searched for whatever it was she was looking for. But when she had found it, she pulled the form out and walked back to the desk.

"I'm going to need you to fill out this form," she said. She slid the form across the desk towards him before handing him a pen.

Crusader knew this wouldn't be any cakewalk, so of course they wouldn't be letting him anywhere without some form of identification or forms to be filled out. Doing as he was instructed, he took the paper, which was clipped to a pad, and pressed the pen's top, so that the needle popped out.

He then began to jot down any information which was needed, such as his name, street address, phone number, and relation to the deceased. Of course he wasn't a relative, but they were close co-workers. That had to count for something, especially after all the pizzas they shared.

...Which would had totaled one, if he was fortunate enough to show up last night.

When Crusader had finished filling out the various forms, the woman looked them over briefly before filing them away. She then came to the side of the desk where a small swinging door was located that was meant to blend with the desk.

"This way," she said, her voice cold as she opened the door. It was clear that this woman was the sort who preferred to spend time with the dead rather than living.

The walk was an agonizing one despite how short it actually was. With her white lab coat trailing behind, the woman walked at a brisk pace, her heels clicking with every step. The hall was sterile white with artificial lights beaming down on them. Eventually, she came to stop in front of a large silver wall. At first, it looked to be another series of filing cabinets. However, anyone would quickly recognize it as a filing system of another. The woman's eyes scanned the rows of silver before finally locating the one she desired.

With a pull, the cabinet extended where a body was laying down. She didn't even bother to see if Crusader was emotionally prepared. But sure enough, there it was, the body of his co-worker.

His body was cold and drained of color except for perhaps the purple on his lips. Though most of it had clearly been cleaned, there were signs of blood coming from out of his ears. But the most striking thing of all was the blow to the head the victim had clearly suffered. The way it had deformed the side of his head seemed almost inhuman.

For the most part Crusader kept to himself, and although the woman was cold and unsocial, he didn't care. In fact it made his time here less troublesome. He could just get to the spot, inspect the body, and get out.

Once the body was in front of him, he took in every little detail he could. The discoloration was possibly from being outside in the cold for so long, but still they had bagged him a few hours after his possible death, so this could had also been the work of another.

The blood around the ears he took a lot of notice to, it was clear that the screaming of this thing, this banshee was the cause of his death. Though the injury to the head was peculiar. Had it screamed so powerfully that his entire head imploded? Surely more of his body would had been ruptured if that was the case.

This was more physical it seemed, and that was something he needed to be on the alert for. He wasn't sure what he was going to face, how this thing went about its killings, but now it was clear, and it was graphic. They were not the victims who were murdered crying out about their death, it was but one, who was murdering for reasons he did not know.

But that didn't matter, what did was this menace was on the loose. With his inspection done, he pulled away. "...Yeah that's him." He said turning away quickly to avoid suspicion. "I've seen enough, he added, as he left. Not even waiting for the woman, he was gone.

For the remainder of the day, he had off of work. With little to do, he was still sleep deprived, and spent the rest of his hours resting in bed, even as the sun began to set and the land was shrouded in the darkness that always comes.

Quiver was currently standing where she had encountered the banshee in the park the previous night. She lightly traced her hands over the newly formed snow to see if she could find anything but without disrupting whatever evidence might be there.

Her hand traced over something, something that felt out of place. Carefully, she tugged at whatever was. It slipped out of the clutches of the snow easily revealing itself to be a small piece of fabric. Quiver examined it but had no idea where it might have come from. In fact, it could have come from anything really. But judging from how close it was to the top of the snow, she guessed this must have been from the previous night.

But this still didn't explain anything. It only confirmed her suspicion that someone had been here either before or after she had gotten here. Before was the most likely but she couldn't completely rule out after. Still, it was just a theory that whoever this banshee had encountered broke the pattern (for all she knew, she could have been the one to break the pattern), it didn't explain why or what it was now doing.

Despite Quiver's diligent attitude and duty to the town, Crusader was still asleep. It was not as if he was a slacker or in anyway uncaring of the state of the town, but he was tired. Tired from working long and hard the entire night before for his armor adjustments and new features.

So instead he slept soundly, snored even sometimes, unaware of anything that may be happening in town or around him...

After careful inspection and nothing knew arising, Quiver decided to head towards the next destination she had seen the banshee. Perhaps it would appear there once again. Or, perhaps she could find yet another clue to this mystery.

Elsewhere, as the Crusader slept, a distant moaning began to occur in the room. It was soft at first but as time went on its volume gradually increased. Slowly, a figure manifested into the room. Faint at first, it slowly took the form of the silvery figure the Crusader was all too familiar with.

Sleeping peacefully, Crusader was unaware of everything and anything happening around or inside his own room. As the peculiar figure appeared and transformed into the banshee from before, it hoovered by the bottom end of his bed.

Still he did nothing, simply moaning in his sleep, and continued to snore. That was until the moaning grew stronger and louder. Opening his eyes quickly, and with his armor and equipment already adjusted and on, he was simply baiting the thing into his trap.

If it would work, he wasn't certain yet. Pretending to sleep, he hadn't moved a muscle yet, waiting for the moment to strike. When he felt it was the right opportunity, he twisted and extended his arm outwards.

With fast agility and reflexes, his projectile compartment under his arm launched several small razor sharp discs, which seemed to be just pizza cutters, which were detached from the handle and sharpened to be more deadly.

Two of them shot forth, spinning quickly into the banshee, before he used the opportunity and the time the discs would buy him to leapt and twist out of his bed and onto his feet.

Caught off guard, the two projectiles wedged into the banshee's chest. She screamed upon impact out of pain, clearly not expecting such events to unfold. Staggering (or whatever was close to it seeing as she was still hovering), the banshee pulled the two out of her body. There was blood but it wasn't seeping out like a normal human's would. Rather, it looked more like a red bruise.


The banshee appeared to have dissipated into the air. For a moment, everything was still. The air was unusually tight yet there were no signs of the creature.


Suddenly, something pushed the Crusader from his bed. It was a strong push though not an inhuman one, one that sent the Crusader towards the window of the apartment. The slightly transparent figure could be seen: the bed appeared to cut the being in half.

Staggering to the side of his room, Crusader was taken off guard slightly, but still maintained his footing and bearings. When he took notice of the banshee again, who had suffered an odd wound, but a wound nonetheless, it gave him slight satisfaction.

Still it didn't make sense why this being was able to go through something solid like his bed, but couldn't do the same when they were in the forest. It clearly had to go above the tree coverings to reach the other side. Why not just phase through the plants to the other side? That would had made the most sense and be the easiest solution.

Either it didn't think of it at the time, which was too foolish of a theory, or it couldn't for some reason. Perhaps it couldn't phase through nature that wasn't tampered with? It wasn't written in any of the information he found in the library, but then again how many people, especially the authors of the said book, have actually witnessed a real live banshee. One that was standing or more like floating and breathing right in their presence.

Adjust his leather armor head wear, which he fashioned protective leather ear padding to, he was ready for another cry or scream if it was to come. He had tested it before and it muted most of the loud noises he normally was acquainted to in the construction yard. Even if it didn't block her voice out completely, it would make it more bearable.

"I don't know why you're here." Crusader replied, "But if you think you'll take another victim tonight, you're sadly mistaken." He extended his arm outwards, as if aiming an imaginary cannon that was on his arm, directed to the floating entity.

"I learned a lot about you. Your kind have made yourself notorious over the centuries. Metal is very painful, especially iron." He said lowering his arm to the bed and where the banshee was. "That's why I rigged this just for you."

Finishing his words, a launching compartment on his top arm hissed brightly, before a large paper wrapped cylinder slammed into the bedsheets. A large cloud of smoke trailed behind from where it was ejected to where it hit the bed.

When it made contact it exploded into a loud, bright, smokey, and firey flash, which engulfed the entire bed and room. The black powder caused everything to be engulfed in the thick black smoke and embers. Along with the intense flare were several different spices, which did little to irritate the banshee before, but also several small particle sized shaved iron pieces, which would heat up and expel everywhere, as the entire canister exploded.

Once the smoke would settle or the banshee would react, they would soon find that the window was wide open and Crusader was no where in the room. Flying freely upwards in the air and on the apartment complex, his grapple hook came undone as he reached the roof top. If he was going to fight this entity thing, he was going to do so on his terms and in a larger space.

Seeing the Crusader about to launch something, the banshee flew towards the ceiling to avoid it. However, she was not expecting it to explode much less fill the room with iron. Her scream was agonizing as the iron consumed her. Although she was still in her more transparent state, it still hurt her. In fact, the iron caused her to gradually lose her transparency and she quickly became a more solid figure. Through the smoke, the banshee could see that the Crusader was no longer in the room.

Quiver, who was now fairly close to her destined location (merely a block or so away), froze for a moment as she heard the all too familiar cry. Although it was clearly a cry in distress, it was still loud and recognizable. She wasted no time in rushing towards the source of the scream. It was clear some people had heard it as well as they covered their ears and once the scream had subsided began looking for the source. Quiver scoured the area. Something had happened. She only hoped she wasn't too late again.

The Crusader stood on the roof, waiting for the banshee to appear. However, it had not done so yet nor was there any familiar moan of pain that would signal its arrival.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of you," a voice said from behind. No longer in her true form, the woman stared at the Crusader, frowning.

Crusader noticed the young woman who appeared in front of him. The same peculiar one who he met in the woods before transforming, and the very same who bumped into him, before killing his co-worker.

Her only action was to appear in front of him and speak. She did nothing else, no floating, attacking, screaming, or anything. She seemed annoyed of course, which was quite clear from her chosen words, but even more so through her tone and expression.

Crusader was not entirely sure what to do at the moment. Although he knew this was a killer, as he watched her or it attack him, and then later kill his co-worker. While he wasn't there to actually see it happen, he knew it was her, for she would not had toyed with him at the same time and near the same street of the murder if not.

Still why would she show herself in this form? Would she not be more vulnerable this way and be more effective in her banshee form? For this reason, he chose not to attack her just yet, until he heard more or she acted upon her impulses.

Slowly turning directly to her, he smiled, with a slight mischievous expression. "While you can never get rid of me, for death can never creep onto, it cannot say the same for you." Crusader stated, stepping forward intimidatingly.

The woman stared at him, the irritation in the expression on her face unwavering. If she felt threatened by his intimidation, she certainly didn't show it. In fact, she appeared to be even more irritated than before upon hearing the Crusader's explanation.

"Well, if that's the case, we'll be at this for all eternity," she replied. Her voice was impassive and yet there was also a hint of coyness as she spoke. Though it was unclear, it looked as though she may have been suppressing a small smile. Her teal eyes locked onto the Crusaders as she started to take a few steps back away from him. "You think your little toys can kill me: you're dead wrong."

Her once brown hair was released from its bun, spiraling out into a web of entangled silver hair. The eyes he had been staring at were suddenly milky white as her ghastly appearance returned once again. She screamed at him. And it was a long, concentrated scream as she went to penetrate the protection he held over his ears.

From down below, the scream seemed to be very faint. And yet, Quiver looked around erratically. Had the banshee moved already? Was she really too late? Desperate, her eyes looked to the skies for the silver figure she hoped she would spot.

And there it was; on the roof. Just a few buildings away from her. And, although it was difficult, it looked as though someone else were there. She wasted no time: she ran towards the nearest fire escape, heading towards the rooftops.

As the female transformed into her banshee form once more, Crusader readied himself. Once the powerful screams escaped her vocal chords, loudly shattering glass nearby, he was ready to test out his newly formed leather head padding.

To his satisfaction, it worked. He didn't cave in from the sounds, nor have to mend his ringing eardrums. While it still vibrated and was irritating, it was not excruciating. Still the banshee must have caught on, as they were ready to attack or destroy his creation.

She had only dealt with his ingenuity as of far, through his armor and gadgets. But his fighting and quick thinking had not quite been utilized to their fullest extent on this peculiar ghostly apparition. As it swooped in, he fluidly ducked, sidestepped, and twisted all in one motion, to avoid her first attack.

Launching several more of his new refined sharp discs, he then turned to where the park was, before he hurried towards that direction, leaping onto another roof, with the aid of his grapple.

There had to be a reason the banshee couldn't phase through stuff in the park, he was going to find out one way or another, especially if it meant leading the banshee in that direction.

As the Crusader went to throw more projectiles, the banshee twisted her body as she flew in the air, missing them by a mere fraction. She then watched as the Crusader made his way for the park.

By this point, Quiver was now on the roof. She stared at the banshee for a moment. But before she could fire her arrows, the banshee flew towards the figure that was fairly far ahead of them now before disappearing all together. Quiver watched the figure and guessed this must have been what may have disrupted the pattern. After all, the banshee was clearly going to pursue them.

Quiver didn't bother to wait any longer. The next roof wasn't too far apart so she jumped over towards it. Running at full speed, she ran towards the fire escape that was in her path. She climbed down and jumped off before continuing.


Meanwhile, while the Crusader was hanging onto his hook, a bird of some sort flew towards him. It was too dark to tell what kind of bird it was but it pecked ferociously at the Crusader's protective head wear and tried to pull it off altogether.

Holding tightly onto his grapple, as he swung over fully to the next roof, and then downwards across the building, he spotted something peculiar swoop by him. Noticing it was a bird, that was in fact now attacking him, he knew something was up. This had to be the banshee's doing. But was the bird the banshee or did they have the ability to call on animals to do their bidding? If that was the case would going back to the park be a wise decision?

Especially because it was trying to destroy his head wear. Although the pecking was still powerful, so was the thickness of his leather armor. It would take more then a few mere pecks to penetrate it completely. Still a few simple dents would be possible, and probably had happened, but he didn't have time to look at the damage.

He also didn't have the time to wait for his grapple to reach its end, where he would then leap to the next building. Instead he brought one of his arms up, where the bird was at the moment, and allowed the short blade to pop out of his compartment. While it wouldn't kill or hit the bird right away, it would at least scare or push it away enough for him to work on his next action.

Swinging his hook and grapple to another direction, he brought his feet up, and busted through a window in the building across his apartment. The glass shattered with an echo, as he made it in with a soft landing and roll. Quickly the rope and grapple raveled back inside, as he rose to his feet quickly.

He was in the stairwell, and instead of taking the the stairs like any normal person would, he jumped in the middle so that he could reach the bottom quickly, as he used his grapple to safely descend. As he reached the bottom, he shook the hook off of a fence on the stairs.

Immediately looking around he spotted the fire exit door, which he kicked open, and with that was gone.

Seeing that things were being swung at it, the bird moved away. However, it was unclear as to where it had gone in order to avoid the attack. Though, for a brief moment, it was visible in the street light and was revealed to be a hooded hawk. Of course, the odds of the Crusader seeing this small detail were slim.

Quiver kept looking from the buildings and what was in front of her. She had to push past some people just to keep up as she saw the mysterious figure swinging from the rooftops. Just what the hell was going on here? The silvery figure from before had yet to make a reappearance.

The swinging figure had now swung into a building, shattering a window in the process. Quiver pursued: it was the only sort of lead she had at the moment.

As the Crusader swung into the building, running through the apartment in a desperate attempt to exit, the banshee was no where to be found. Nor, was there any trace of her.

The Crusader kicked the door open, revealing the banshee directly in front of him. She didn't give him time to react before letting out a screech. Let him try to fully counter the attack with his earmuffs damaged. Her scream was as loud and as powerful as ever as it broke all the windows in the apartment building.

Yet, something stopped her in the process as an arrow managed to whiz by her. But it merely grazed her as it hit her and landed in the wall just inches away from where the Crusader was. Clearly, it was meant to only gain her attention. The banshee turned from the Crusader to Quiver as she stepped forward then back to the Crusader.

With the door flung open, Crusader was already in hiding, or he was about to be, but the banshee's scream stopped him. While the bird did little damage to his head-wear, this loudmouthed banshee's scream was painful on its own.

Once they directed their attention to the unknown archer, their screaming stopped. It was enough to allow Crusader the time to recover, and before the banshee decided to chase him again, he was gone, and in hiding. He didn't know who this peculiar archer was.

He couldn't see much from where he was before, but he was sure he had seen them somewhere before. It wasn't clicking however and he wasn't sure if they were friend or foe just yet. Instead he hid and observed indirectly what was about to go down with the banshee and archer before he determined his next course of actions.

If they were allies of some sort, he was in more of a bind, so the safest action was to lay low and watch the events unfold...