Owner: That Bloody CatName: Harou-Xin (ha-ROO-zin); Haru or Xin for short
Gender: Female
Status: Permanently Unmated
Personality: Most of the time, Haru is a sweet, laid-back soul who loves nothing better than to relax somewhere by herself and watch the world go by. When she's not relaxing, she spends her time hunting small creatures for practice and then letting them go unharmed. (She prefers to get her food from humans, for some reason.) Her black, white, and red coloring does not lend itself to great camoflage, but her catlike stealth makes up for it. Despite the fact that she sometimes seems to suddenly show up from out of nowhere, Haru is generally a friendly, lovable Fasheea. However, during one month out of the year, she undergoes a drastic change.
As fall approaches, Haru grows more and more active. By the later weeks of October, she rarely sleeps, and an eerily mischievous grin is almost permanently affixed to her face. She can often be spotted darting into and out of a specific hiding spot; a glance inside will reveal a stash of stolen candy and trinkets from who-knows-where. However, if she catches you anywhere near her stash, Haru will viciously attack with hisses and bites until you leave.
Woe be to any who get in Haru's way on Halloween night. As the local neighborhood begins trick-or-treating, Haru goes on a rampage. She skulks through the shadows, collecting dropped pieces of candy. She hides in random places, leaping out at passersby and scaring them out of their wits. She even goes so far as to bite anyone who gets in her way and dart off into the darkness, leaving little "vampire" marks on ankles and wrists everywhere. When the festivities end, Haru retires to the hiding place with her stash inside and proceeds to eat tons of candy.
For a week or so after her Halloween-night antics, Haru goes into a state of hibernation. After that time, she will quickly regain her happy nature and gradually empty out her "stash", hiding the objects in random places for passersby to find and creating a scavenger hunt of sorts. If your little brother or sister brings home a little toy that they say they found in their shoe, it may be Haru's doing.
How we met: I sprinted out the front door, my long black cape flowing behind me. "See ya later, Mom and Dad," I yelled behind me. This year, I thought, pulling on my mask. This year for sure. I'll scare someone out of their mind!
The sky was blacker than a raven dipped in ink. The only lights to be seen came from the windows of the houses that were inviting the last trick-or-treaters to their doors. The wind was howling like the wolves, colder than a slap to the face; only the boldest trick-or-treaters remained, for the younger ones had gone home to enjoy their candy in light and warmth.
I hunkered down behind a corner, waiting for someone to come by. After a few minutes, the sound of faint footsteps could be heard. Giddy with excitement, I pulled an air horn out from under the black cloak...
-HOOOOOOOOOOONK-
I screamed as the air horn went off, dropping it with a loud clang and a sickening thump. My finger had been nowhere near the trigger. What the heck had happened?
The footsteps grew fainter as their source fled into the distance, panicked.
Cursing myself at letting this chance get away, just like every other year, I sat down and sighed, trying to think the situation through. Come to think of it, the air horn had felt a lot heavier than normal...
I looked down and nearly screamed again, not expecting anyone to be there. But sure enough, sitting there and gripping my air horn was a cat-sized creature, pitch-black with bright white stripes- almost in the pattern of a skeleton. A red fin-like spine ran down the creature's back, ending with a flat red fin on its tail. The black-and-white wings on its head twitched as it gave me a mischievous grin, showing off its pearly fangs and narrowing its glowing red eyes.
The creature stared at me for a few moments, then scampered off, taking to the shadows like lightning.
I stood dumbfounded, staring after the creature. Then I caught myself. Stupid Fasheea, I thought, walking away dejectedly.
For a little while, I trick-or-treated at the few remaining houses like everyone else. But after fifteen minutes, the only candy I'd collected was a packet of Swedish fish; it was so late that all the other houses were closing down for the night.
I remembered all of a sudden that Halloween wasn't all about candy. It was about the thrills. I knew I wasn't going to give up, not this year. I was going to give it one more try.
As quietly as I could, I found a tree with branches low enough for me to climb and perched on a thick branch. Between the cover of the leaves and the darkness of my costume, no soul would see me. I could leap out and startle anyone.
Again, I heard faint footsteps approaching. I shifted, preparing to jump...
-thump-
...and nearly fell out of the tree as a heavy weight landed on my back. The dry leaves rustled as I tried to grab whatever had jumped me, and as soon as I got a hold on it, I heard the footsteps running off again.
Knowing who the culprit was this time, I held my hand out in front of me, glaring. The Fasheea was hanging there by her tail, grinning the same evil grin from before. All of a sudden, she reached into my bag, snatched a packet of Swedish Fish, and twisted away, making a chuckling noise as she fled.
She'd done it now. Swedish Fish were my favorites.
I leapt from the tree as fast as I could, chasing after the Fasheea. She was lightning fast, but I was desperate. Still, she was getting away. Just as I lost all sight of the thief and was about to collapse from exhaustion, I nearly tripped over something- the bag of Swedish Fish, slightly mauled. Smiling, I put it back in my bag and started to walk home for the night- only to realize that I was lost.
Crud, I thought.
~*~
Half an hour later, I slouched through the door, muddy and ashamed. "Mom, Dad, I'm home," I called, making my tone as flat as possible. Neither of them answered.
I dragged myself up the stairs to find my dad glaring sternly down his nose at me."Would you care to explain why you've been hoarding candy?"
Before I could speak, the same black-and-white creature from before hopped from my hood, nearly making me freak out again. I collected myself just in time to notice her scampering off towards my room. I chased after her, watching as she disappeared under my bed. I peered underneath it, but all that could be seen were the glint of creature's blood-red eyes... reflected off of several shiny candy wrappers.
Pointing after the creature, I glared back up at Dad. "It wasn't me."
"Oh. What is that?"
"It's a Fasheea, and it's awesome."
Where I had failed at scaring someone- anyone- this Halloween, she had succeeded. She had scared me. She had won it fair and square...
I reached into my bag and pulled out the slightly mauled pack of Swedish Fish, dropping it under the bed for the Fasheea to collect. "You've earned this, you little trickster," I told her. As I stood up, I could've sworn she made a happy little growling noise.
"Don't even try to move her," I told my dad. He started to object, but he took one look at my glaring face, still half-covered with the Grim Reaper mask, and backed off.
...For a long week after that, I anxiously waited for the Fasheea to wake up, but every day she slept. She seemed almost comatose. On the last day, I checked once more, but she had disappeared.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was in the kitchen, calling "Mom, Mom, do you know where that Fasheea went? Is anything of yours missing?"
...Then I suddenly realized that Mom was feeding a scrap of turkey to the Fasheea. She let out a happy sound and swallowed the morsel, then looked up at me and smiled. I almost did a double take; her wide, sincere smile was completely the opposite of what I'd seen on Halloween night.
"She's right here," said Mom. "By the way, I like the necklace. It looks nice on you."
Necklace? I wasn't wearing a... wait.
I looked down to see a piece of string tied around my neck. Hanging on it was a charm in the shape of a fish.
Lineage: None Known.
