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You listening, new guy?”
He blinked and looked at the Earth ghoul speaking to him. There was a hesitation before nodding shyly and the ghoul next to him sighed.
“I said,” she began again. “Here is your mask. Humans can ’t see you without it. Part of the contract.”
She passed the shining silver mask into his hands and he looked at his reflection in it. When he tried to put it on, the metal knocked against his horns. They were larger than the usual ghoul’s, moving out to the sides of his head and splitting into several prongs. One ghoul who was there when he was summoned said he looked like a deer. He didn’t know what that was.
“No, you have to glamor yourself first.” His lack of knowledge annoyed the elder ghoul. “Didn’t they tell you anything before they sent you up here?”
He hesitated again before slowly shaking his head ‘no.’ He hadn’t exactly volunteered for topside work. According to them, it was a great honor to be chosen. Especially having come from such a small tribe. He had never been particularly ghoulish or demonic, so he was told that he would fit in just fine ‘up top’ and ushered on his way. He didn’t even know what he was doing there.
“What, were you just spawned?”
He shook his head again.
“Can you not talk or something?” The elder ghoul pressed. “Did something get messed up when you got transferred up here?”
Another hesitation while he thought. He wasn’t feeling the best from the sudden transport from Hell, but he felt like everything was in order.
“I don’t... like to.” He murmured, voice raspy from lack of use.
“Ah, tall silent type.” The ghoul nodded. “You’ll be popular with some Sisters around here. Come on.”
He was led around the ghoul’s quarters, shown his room, then told how to glamor himself and given his clothes. Then he was sat in a common area with six other ghouls.
“This will be your group. You’ll be touring with them, so make friends now.” Before leaving, the ghoul that had been chaperoning him around added “He seems like a mute, but he’s not.” before leaving him alone with six strangers.
There was a pained silence as he stared, wide-eyed, at everyone. Once the situation got too awkward, a broad ghoul cleared his throat and rose from his seat.
“So, uh, I’m Aether.” he introduced himself. “Both me and Dew here,” he clapped his hand on a much smaller ghoul’s shoulder. “We’ve been here the longest. Ask us if you have questions.”
When he still said nothing, the others introduced themselves. Cirrus and Cumulus, the two air ghoulettes, we’re cuddled together on a couch. The water ghoul, Rain, was tuning his bass and nervously avoiding his eye contact. Swiss, who refused to give his elemental type, was sitting sideways in another chair in a way that did not look comfortable.
Still, he didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“And your name is...?” Cirrus prompted, and he swallowed. His eyes darted around the room nervously before he shrugged.
“Are you saying you won’t tell us?” Cirrus continued to prod, and he just fidgeted under her strong gaze. “Or... do you not have one?”
“... never needed one.” His stomach turned in embarrassment. He had never even considered a name in the past, but was now so ashamed that he didn’t have one.
“What, were you from one of those fringe tribes or something? The weird cult-y ones?” Dew asked before Cirrus or Aether could stop him with a look. They all seemed a little relieved when he shook his head.
He had heard of those tribes. Religious zealots existed even in Hell and others often compared his tribe to them due to their standoffish and solitary nature.
“Just... small.” he breathed.
“Well, that means you can pick whatever name you want.” Swiss tried to make the situation lighter. “That’s what I got to do. Better than getting saddled with a name like Dewdrop.”
“Hey!” Dew stood up, looking like he would lunge at his band mate. Swiss didn’t even look in his direction.
“But you’re here for drums, right?”
He shrugged. He didn’t even know what drums were, but something told him he could play them. He would later find out they gave band ghouls the knowledge of their instrument in their transfer.
“Okay, Earth ghoul. Easy.” Swiss finally untangled himself from his awkward looking position and sat in the chair normally. “Just pick something nature-ish from where you’re from and you got it.”
“.... Dirt?”
“You really wanna be called Dirt?” Swiss snorted. He shook his head. “Then name another thing.”
“.......... Sand?”
“Maybe something that people don’t step on?” suggested Cumulus. “You seem like a timid guy. You should have a stronger sounding name so you don’t get walked all over by the others.”
He was silent again as he thought, not being able to think of anything that sounded strong.
“You know, like something from home that seemed intimidating. Or that people would avoid.” Cirrus prompted him again.
“A cactus?”
“Hells,” Dewdrop put his head in his hands. “You’re from one of those desert tribes out in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere, aren’t you?”
“I guess?” It was true that he grew up in the desert. And there was no one else around. He wasn’t sure where ‘bum-fuck-nowhere’ was, though.
“So you’ve not seen a river? Or a lake?” Rain shyly entered the conversation, gingerly setting his bass next to his chair.
He shook his head. He didn’t know what those were.
“Well, we can show you. Help you figure out a name.” Aether said. “It’ll be a bonding exercise.”
He wasn’t sure he would like that, but he nodded out of politeness.
They took him out into the large garden in the church's courtyard. He didn’t know what anything was, so they told him to point at something he liked and they would tell him what it was called.
Ivy? A little too feminine.
Oak? No. But maybe another type of tree?
Willow? No, didn’t sound authoritative enough.
Sunflower? Cirrus said that sounded like a pet name she would call Cumulus, so that was out.
Bush? Swiss snickered at the suggestion, which meant it was a bad idea.
None of them seemed right.
He had scrutinized every plant in the gardens, but none of them were the right name for him. He was willing to call the whole thing off, just stay nameless for a while, but the others insisted that they take him to the forest outside of the church walls to find more potential names. He felt like he would get in trouble for leaving the abbey grounds the first day he was summoned, but Cirrus and Aether insisted that it was okay, which comforted him.
When they stepped out of the back of the abbey, it overwhelmed him. There were so many plants, flowers, and trees. So much more than in the garden. It felt like it would take hours, days even, to find one thing to make his name.
“Ooh, I’ve got it!” They had been wandering around aimlessly for twenty minutes before Cumulus pointed triumphantly towards the horizon line. There were brownish-black shapes in the distance.
“... buildings?” He asked. The things in the distance looked like triangles of varying size. They were very far away, but they reminded him of the skylines of the cities he could see on clearer days. These seemed more calming to look at, though. Fewer harsh lines.
“No, no mountains.” Cumulus seemed annoyed that he didn’t share her instant enthusiasm. “They’re huge, huge, huge piles of earth. They’re tall, and sturdy, and stoic, and people die climbing mountains every year so they’re super intimidating.”
There was a general murmur of agreement as everyone looked to him to see what he thought.
“Mountain...” he murmured, getting a feel for the word in his mouth. Could he see himself as something so strong and immovable? Not really. But he could see himself as a mountain in the distance, like the ones they were looking at now. Tall, silent, and a calming presence in the background.
He nodded and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well, then.” Aether clapped his hand on his shoulder. How did Dew not flinch when Aether did that to him earlier? It felt like a massive weight collided with his shoulder. “Welcome to the family, Mountain.”
“Family....” Another word new to him. A tribe and a family are two different things. He had always had one, but never the other.
But he was in a new place, with a new name, why couldn’t he have a family as well?