Sacrifices and Gifts

It may have been hours. Possibly days. A week at most. Time was inconsequential to an ancient vampire. All that really mattered was intent, and Eydis was full of it at the moment. Her mind was relatively clear and the stars seemed to be in alignment. It was all very fortuitous. With a whistle and a bit of a skip in her step, Eydis followed a very thin thread winding it’s way through the forest and to the outskirts of the town. It connected her young vampire protege and an equally young human soul. Blood was blood, no matter how tainted. Call it magic, call it taste. She had sampled Gladys’ blood and had a much easier time accessing her and her bonds. The little string took her close to the church, which for most vampires would spell certain doom. However, Eydis felt for the aura of peace surrounding the space. It had been weakened severely with the attacks and was starting to rebuild. Good, she thought to herself. The string snaked it was through the hallowed ground and into a small building set off the church. Perfect. Moments later she was humming outside the stables. As though it were a familiar tune, a few of the horses inside the building began to bray and stomp in time with her. Eydis giggled in delight and took up a small twirl to music inside and out of the stables.

Claud was finishing the last of his chores for the day. Well, the chores he had to do for the clergy, he still had plenty of work waiting for him back at his cabin. It helped keep his mind off matters he had no control over. Hanging his lantern on a centrally located hook he checked on each of the horses, made sure their bedding was fresh and there was an appropriate amount of feed for each. Eventually he became aware of a soft humming outside the stables. "Sister?" he called out uncertainly as some of the horses began to... well, not panic, he didn't know what this was. "Heyy, hey, woahhh," he soothed, running up to one of them, then looked nervously to the partially open door.

Eydis was mid-spin when a voice called out from within the barn. With one last rotation, she came to a less than graceful stop before teetering over to the door. “Not yet,” she responded, but only in a deliberate whisper so that he wouldn’t hear, “don’t ruin the surprise.” Claud would see a pale figure floating between the barn doors. Eydis made a lovely ghost. If he was an avid reader, he’d find her a child-like depiction of Miss Havisham. If he was anything like Gladys, then he hadn’t read Dickens or much of anything else. A devious mood set upon her, as it well should given her intentions. Her head cleared as she took up a rather devilish ruse. “"S-…sanctuary,"” she called inwards, “"please, sir. She follows behind me."” Color bloomed across her face as she forced what little blood there was in her system to go flush across her face. Her almost colorless blue eyes were wide and innocent, with a hint of terror.

Claud was expecting one of the sisters due to the humming he'd heard before, but he was immediately disarmed by the sight of a girl, or perhaps she was a young woman, pale with fright and looking much harassed due to the general state of her clothing. "Who does?" he asked with concern, walking towards her, but stopping just within the door of the stable. He had a bleeding heart but could still tell something was off.
Eydis’ tiny hands hit the door frame and clung on to it as if she were about to be dragged off by some unseen force. “"A hellion,”" she cried in between short, stilted breaths, "“a red-headed demon in the woods."” The young man’s demeanor gave away his caution. He was a smart lad. Life in this woods and with the church had already planted the seed deep. But what Eydis said wasn’t a complete lie. Gladys would be in meeting her in the woods momentarily. And she certainly was a hellion.
Claud's eyes widened and the blood rushed from his face. "Oh no," he whispered and stepped through the door, offering his hand to Eydis. "Come with me, quickly!" Reason had left him and compassion taken over. Had he but paused a moment to think he would have been even more suspicious. Gladys hadn't ever attacked women.

Eydis reached out for the hand and realized for just a moment that one touch might bring all this fun to a halt. She took a few hectic steps towards Claud before tripping on the folds of her dress. A quick stumble landed her right against the young man’s chest. It was warm and strong, in a fleshy sort of way. For a moment Eydis felt old memories creep up in her mind, pooling around her like waves lapping upon the shore. Her tiny fingers grasped at Claud'’s shirt. The desperation was momentarily not forced. “"Sorry,"” she mumbled demurely before looking back over her shoulder into the night, "“Where will you have us go?”"

Claud tensed when she fell against him, worrying that this was an attack, but no, she was just a girl, alone and afraid. "The church, it's safe there. Who—whatever is chasing you won't be able to reach you in there," he promised, gently laying his hands on Eydis' shoulders. She was the exact same height as... Claud's heart clenched. "Please, quickly now," he urged, gesturing with one hand towards the nearby building.

The young man was gentle soul, no doubt. The touch on her shoulder was telling. Claud would find the tiny figure wrapped around him, her head buried into his frame. She trembled violently at the thought of going into the church where all the priests would be reading themselves for evening prayers, late night walks, and maybe even a hunt or two. Now wasn’t the time to go bare skinned into a hornet’s nest, as fun as it did sound. “"I-I can’t,”" she sobbed, “"my parents. They pushed me on ahead."” What a fun little play. If only there was music. Or an audience. As quickly as she had clung to the young man, she pulled away, snagging his sleeve with her hand. “"I can'’t leave my mother.”" The urgency was very real. For Eydis, it was more about the ruse falling stale and the limited amount of night left at her disposal.

Claud's pulse was pounding in his ears. He couldn't go plunging into the forest at night with an unarmed girl and no other hunters, and what if it wasn't Gladys? Surely there were other creatures who fit the vague description, creatures he was not equipped to face. Still, he couldn't leave a family to die. "Alright, let me fetch my bow at least."

Clever boy. Clever. Clever. Eydis looked down at her feet as the water grew a bit deeper. This ruse was taking more out of her than she had anticipated. The frantic look in her eyes was by no means forced. But waste not, want not. Her head swiveled from the forest to the cottage and back again. "“I-I can’t- they might already be,"” she sobbed as she took a few more steps towards the woods and stopped, looking conflicted once more. Finally, she resolved to accept whatever came next as she ran after the young man who had made it the cottage well before her. She collapsed right before the entranceway, clutching her chest and gulping for air. Okay, now she was laying it on a little thick again. “"P-please,"” she called through ragged breaths.

Claud ran faster, burst through the door, grabbed his quiver and bow, which he roughly strung before running to the girl's side. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated, stooping to pick her up. "The bow I all I have," he explained, finally moving towards the woods, "I'm just a hunter in training."
It took only a moment, but Eydis was back on her feet. Without so much as a thank you, she grabbed onto Claud’s arm once more and made her way towards the forest. Hopefully he won’t apologize too much longer. While it was cute, it also demonstrated how weak he still was. There was a great deal of training left for him if he was ever going to be a hunter. He could still be one—- it just depended upon how this meeting went. Guilt caused her to sink just a little deeper into the pool of her memories. “"N-not yet,"” she said to nobody in particular.

Claud didn't quite hear what the girl had said, but since she said nothing more as they walked, it must not have been terribly important. For now, he concentrated on their environment and providing them safe passage through the Knowchenwalde. The familiar sounds of evening were starting, and he hoped they were not too late. He hoped they could find their way back to the girl's parents at all. Realizing he hadn't asked her name, Claud said nothing. At present being silent was of more importance than manners. If all went well they could take care of such pleasantries later.

Eydis led the young man through the woods. She debated charming him now. It would give her more control over the situation, but it would make things less unpredictable. Besides, this wasn'’t her story. It was Gladys'’s and it was Claud’'s. While she was acting as a vehicle to their personal progression, she had sworn she would not become a central figure. Or had that already happened. She gave a shrug as she neared the clearing where Gladys sat waiting. Maybe she should’'ve told the young vampire what to expect. Her pace picked up, breaking away from the young man until she tumbled over the root of a large willow and into the slight clearing where the fated encounter would take place. Of course, this all hinged on Gladys getting there on time.

Claud followed along, on high alert but not seeing or hearing anything that told if they were close to the threat. Well, nothing out of the ordinary for this forest. But there were no human screams, no sounds of a conflict. Maybe they were already too late. His heart sank into his stomach and he pressed on as fast as they could manage. Then the girl sprung ahead, had she seen something? He rushed to her side, scanning the area for threats before kneeling down to help her. Nothing. "Were they here? Is this the place?"

And then, across the clearing, stood Gladys, looking as confused and shocked as Claud felt.

Claud sprang from the side of the "young woman," and leveled his bow at her, arrow drawn. "What have you done!?" he yelled while walking backwards, trying to put distance between himself and the others.

Gladys was between them in an instant, furious. "You dare point an arrow at her—!" she threatened, but did not strike. Not yet. She doubted Claud could harm Eydis in the least, but just the sight of him pointing his crude instrument at her filled her with rage.

Through thick curls of disheveled hair, Eydis stared up at the siblings. She opened her mouth and then closed it. What had she done? There wasn'’t exactly a proper way of explaining the situation. Instead, her hand snapped out and grabbed Gladys by the wrist. It took her even less time to fling the young vampire directly at her human brother. There. That would give her a bit more time to think things through. As the siblings tumbled together, Eydis would pick herself up and wander over to a felled tree. This would be a fine vantage point. Before she knew it, the waters rushed over her and she was awash with the memory of a large circular space, rows of seats, the sound of cheers, and even the roar of a large, feral cat.
Gladys hit Claud and they hit the ground together. They struggled there a moment, Claud thinking Gladys was trying to take his bow, Gladys was simply tangled in her skirt and cloak, and caught in their limbs. With a disgusted sound she pushed away from him, turning into a bat, only to land a few feet away from him, scowling. "Put that away," she admonished with disdain in response to the sound of his bowstring straining. Then she looked over at Eydis, obviously pissed off with her. Why did she bring her stupid brother here? Why the trickery? What had she planned? She looked back at Claud, eyes accusing.

"I don't know why I'm here either," he answered, anticipating her questions. He stood slowly, but did not slacken his grip on bow and arrow. The good news seemed to be that Gladys knew as little as he did. The bad news was that they were in the presence of a much stronger being than they, whose whim seemed to be unknowable.

Eydis clapped her hands together with a surprising force. The air around them cleared and the forest echoed with the reverberations from her hands meeting together. “"The Gods demand a sacrifice,"” she began ominously as she pushed herself up to a standing position upon the tree root. "This is a sacred show,"” she began with some pomp. “"This is a hallow space. Do not displease me, for I am an avatar of their will."” Her eyes narrowed as she tossed her dirty cloak over her shoulder and sat down once more. Eydis looked more like an ancient marble statue now seated wordless before Gladys and Claud.
Claud and Gladys snapped to attention and listened to Eydis' speech. Gladys sighed and looked tired, Claud looked even more nervous. He had always been the more superstitious of the two.

"Who, who," Claud pointed at Eydis and looked to Gladys, "Who is this?" He at last had let his bowstring slacken, though he still gripped the arrow in his other hand. There was no point in trying to shoot either of them, but danger was still in the forest around them.

Gladys sighed and crossed her arms, and looked to Eydis for explanation. "You heard her, she's uh." Gladys hadn't understood what Eydis had said.

Had they not heard her? Her gaze was fixed on the two of them. Nothing would dare enter this sacred space. And if something did sully the circle, Eydis would rend them to pieces and erase their very existence. But she wasn'’t to intervene. Or so she had told herself. That was what HE wanted. That was how he'’d make her weak. Slowly, like a statue coming to life, Eydis stood. Even the bravest of warriors needed motivation from time to time. That wasn'’t really interfering, was it? In a blink, Eydis was behind Claud staring over his arm at the weak bow. “"Do you want to kill her," she asked informally, the authority gone from her voice. “"You were prepared to do so.”"

Claud inhaled sharply, the small woman (a vampire? a fae?) had stood so slowly, and then she was behind him. "No!" he answered defensively and without thinking. Realizing this, he looked over at Gladys, whose eyebrows were raised in incredulity and surprise. "No," he stated again, firmer this time, looking her in the eye. "I don't want to kill you."

"But..." Gladys prompted, voice low and angry.

"But I cannot let you kill any more people," Claud said with some semblance of resolve.

Gladys uttered an impatient huff and turned her face away from him, "I don't do that anymore."

Claud blanched, "What do you—? Yes you do!"

"No, I don't," Gladys growled in impatience. "I've learned a better way."

Claud scowled and grappled with this new information. Was she lying? Omitting certain key truths? How could he believe her?
In another blink, Eydis was behind Gladys. She snatched up the young vampires hand and interlaced the fingers with her own. "“Look at how utterly weak this one is,"” she said, eyeing Claud with an air of haughtiness. Her eyes had a tinge of gold to them Gladys had yet to see. “"Now I understand what you said earlier."” Eydis moved closer still, pressing herself against the young vampire’s back. While it looked suggestive in nature, the older vampire was also a wall, blocking them both in. “"And he might only need to kill you",” she whispered loud enough for both to hear, "“but you are the one that wants to kill him."” In Eydis'’ memory, a crowd roared around her. A mighty blow early on.

Claud took another step back, fear reasserting itself. "Gladys?" he asked in a soft, scared voice.

Gladys opened her mouth to deny it, she wanted no such thing, but then... well, she supposed that was technically true, wasn't it. "No, what I want is for you to, to come with me."

Claud stared at her a moment, then huffed out a humorless laugh. What was the difference? Killing, turning, he'’d be dying either way. Claud was tired of entertaining the bad behavior and newfound madness of his sister. "Alright, fair, I can see it your way, can I go home now?"

Eydis balked in front of the two siblings. This was not at all what she expected. It was almost... disappointing. There was no heroic battle or exchange of words, no epic power struggle. The two were just having a cold, yet oddly amicable conversation. She sighed heavily and released Gladys from her grasp. She knew there was still a great deal unsaid, but how could they find that spark. “"Go home,”" she stared at the young man incredulously. “"Did you not hear her?" Moments later Eydis was behind Claud once more, this time wrapping her arms around him as if he were a clone of his sister. Although her touch was soft, he would find her grip absolute. “"Or do you not understand?"” His blood still pounded as his adrenaline coursed through his system. It was quite tempting. “"She doesn'’t want you to abandon her again."”

Most animals will choose fleeing over fighting, but back them into a corner, remove escape as an option, and even the smallest and the most docile will become ruthless.
Claud blinked in confused anger, and when he found he could not push away, fear once again strongly reasserted itself. "Of course I understand, do you?" he asked angrily of Eydis. "I did not abandon her, she abandoned me!" he turned to face Gladys, "You left me with nothing! With no one!" he was yelling, louder than even he expected or meant to. "Is that the story you tell your friends? Tell yourself?"

"Shut up," Gladys commanded. She very much wanted to strike him, but knew she had very little moderation of her strength and so might accidentally break his neck. She took a step closer to the pair. "Are you, or are you not, glad dad is gone?" She smiled at him without any sincerity or mirth and did not wait for him to answer. "You're welcome. When I say that you abandoned me, I mean that you left me years ago. You saw what dad was becoming and you did nothing to protect me or even yourself from him. You coward."

Claud pressed his mouth into a thin line and said nothing, so Gladys continued. "I left long after you stopped caring because I saw no other way. I wanted things to go differently, I wanted to leave, to run away years before, but you kept refusing. Why?" She asked that question with real sincerity.

Claud shook his head, "Of course I wanted to leave too but you——I can't just go around doing whatever I want."

Gladys clenched her fists and asked again, more angrily, "Why!?"

Claud grew impatient with her selfishness, "Because he needed us! Once mom died he stopped functioning! If we left he would have just hunted us down, or, or, any number of terrible things would have happened to him."

Gladys scoffed, "So?"

Impatience gave way to open disgust. "You're unbelievable. He was our father."

Gladys pressed her question a second time, her expression approaching manic. "So?" Each of them were saying words, but neither of them understood that what they were saying didn't hold any intrinsic value to the other.

Claud gave up trying to press his point. "Fine. Let me say this then. Do you know how hard the past season has been? How hard I've had to work just to sustain myself, starting from nearly nothing? How many tools I've had to re-make or barter for or simply do without? How cold and hungry I was on a regular basis because you burned our house, all our provisions at the worst possible time of year? I can almost understand you murdering our father but burning the entire house? You reckless, selfish brat."

Gladys' eyebrows went up in cool triumph, "So your new friends really haven't been helping you that much after all?"

"They helped me as much as they could spare, but everyone is cold and hungry. Lost travelers are coming into town all the time and there's only so much food to go around. I was a burden to them and I tried my hardest not to be."

"I think," Gladys said in a vaguely sing-song voice, pointing at Claud and twirling her finger a little, "That you are as proud and as stubborn as I am, and it bothers you."

Claud sneered, "Maybe so, but I try to be helpful instead of a burden. And here you are, actually living off of human life. We couldn't be more different if we tried. And I think, that bothers you."

Eydis’ tongue clicked off the roof of her mouth. Different, yet utterly the same. She let her grip on the young man slack. It had served to keep him anchored there, and kept his words honest and passionate. A glamor would’'ve destroyed the exchange of raw, unfiltered thought. Where was the fun in that? Her hand glided down the small of the young man’s back. "“You speak a great deal of what you don'’t understand,"” she said in a singsong whisper, “"but that is the church for you.”" Then again, her kind was the same way. Just because they could take life, didn'’t mean they were above it. "But then, who has helped you, little sparrow?"” Surely not the ancient vampire. She was merely poking into a cage holding two trapped animals.
Once he felt her arms loosen, Claud took a nervous step away from the two women. He wondered at the relationship between his sister and this waif. If she was using nicknames for Gladys, then they must be rather close.

Gladys puffed up in pride and smiled genuinely, "You have, Oma." But then she really considered it. Who had helped her? Eydis was kind to her but had she actually actively done anything to help Gladys? She was a friend to her, that seemed enough. Her master certainly wasn't much of a help, though he had at least given her some advice. There was Francis, but again, he was a friend, not someone who actively guided her, apart from the one time he helped her with transforming. Gloria? Titus? ...Bec? Gladys' smile faded. She had kept so busy, had been forging forward for so long that... she never noticed that she was forging on alone. Even Francis was gone, she hadn't seen him in weeks and she began to fear the worst. Any time she had seen Claud with friends, with people who were at least a little civil towards him it had made her blindingly angry, though she hadn't really known why.
Her silence stretched on, and her smile fell; eventually it became apparent that that was her answer.

Claud swallowed nervously, he'd thought of Gladys as only being selfish, and with good reason, but she was also self sacrificing to a fault. She took a lot, but she could give a lot too, when she wanted to. And here she seemed to only have one friend, and who knew how good a friend this woman was? Or even how lucid? Even Gladys seemed to be at a loss at times when the tiny woman spoke.
In response to Gladys' non-answer, Claud thought back to the night he was escorting the librarian out of the woods, the look of anger and jealousy on Gladys' face. This explained a lot.
Eydis began to take deliberate steps, encircling them both as they stared at each other in silence. "“Ghosts,”" she said in a hushed tone, “"can only speak, they cannot return to the flesh."” She extended her hand slowly and positioned her fist so that her thumb was in the air. It rotated slowly downwards so that it now faced the earth. A lion and a warrior had entered the ring, and somehow started a conversation. The gods and the crowd would not be pleased. "“Haunt,”" she commanded of Gladys, “"or help him cross.”" She turned her back to them and took a few more steps away, knowing she was throwing a match on to gasoline. “"As you so desire.”" The forest went unnervingly still around them.

Both of the siblings watched Eydis with confusion and rapt attention, and felt the pressure of the stillness all around them. A hunter and a creature, both highly attuned to the natural world.
Claud looked at Gladys with a new panic in his eyes, and began begging in a soft but insistent manner. "Please, Gladys—" he didn't know what to say. Don't kill me? Don't make me into a monster, like you? Even in the cool evening air he began to sweat.

Gladys drew herself to her full height and stated with calm reason, "Claud, you will die. It's not a matter of if, but when." Her features softened somewhat and she smiled sadly, "Please, we could be together, forever."

Claud truly did feel torn, there was still some small amount of familial love for his sister left inside of him. But at what cost? "Would you have me give up everything I've worked for? This new life I've built? Gladys I'm... happy." Even as he felt shame for admitting this, he couldn't help but smile, just a little, because he realized it was true.

Gladys' expression fell, then worsened. She grit her teeth together and stared at the ground for a moment before managing to bring her temper under control. "Just. Consider it, alright? Live your life. I couldn't take that away from you. I want you to be happy, not hate me for all time."


Claud uttered a short, terrified cry that was cut short when he slammed into the ground, the wind knocked out of him. His bow fell into the tall grasses of the clearing. All he could do was curl defensively in the face of such unexpected power and wait for what would come next.

"Oma!" Gladys cried in a panic, and rushed towards them. She didn't smell any blood, a good sign, but if the elder vampire had made up her mind then there would be no stopping or dissuading her.
Gladys hesitated, and then gently lay her hands on Eydis' shoulders, "Oma, please, don't harm him. I would rather he choose than be forced." Even as she was saying those words, Gladys realized it was the truth. "There's still time," she promised.

Eydis did not take her eyes or her grip off the boy. “"No pity for another’s broken leg when you’'ve got two strong ones,"” she continued. "You dance right in front of her." She gestured back at Gladys without looking at her directly. Naive, innocent, and utterly heartless little human child. She was beginning to see why the young vampire acted the way she did. Once again she lifted Claud up by the collar, as if he were made of straw. Her eyes finally tore away to meet Gladys. How could she explain what she saw in him? How could she explain the centuries of heartache and death that followed this very pattern? “"There was never any time," she replied while dropping the boy to his knees. She wandered over and picked up the dropped weapon. It landed in front of Claud moments later. "“You were dead to him long before you died.”"
Claud flinched at the sound of his bow hitting the ground in front of him, and made no move to pick it up, just kept his head bowed and his hands in the dirt.

Gladys looked at Claud kneeling there and considered Eydis' condemning words. Admittedly she was surprised that Eydis had taken her side as ferociously as she had, and now she was reassessing her position. Claud was just a human, not even a Hunter, and entirely at her mercy in this moment. She could kill him. She could have him turned. Maybe.

"You scare me," Claud admitted in a soft voice. "You've scared me for a long time. You would get so angry and violent, I didn't know what to do or how to help, so I ran. I didn't know what else to do. I knew you were hurting and I didn't know how to heal your hurt. I'm sorry, I'm not brave, I never was brave, or strong, or clever like you. I'm sorry." Claud trembled and pressed his head against the soft earth, smelling of green life and decay. He wasn't enough, he was never enough, and now that was plain for everyone to see.

Gladys looked down at Claud, frankly unsure of what to do with him. Finally, an idea came to her, but she had to wait a full minute as she considered the most tactful way to do this. Claud was always better with reverence and decorum. Drawing on knowledge she hadn't accessed in years Gladys spoke, "Claud Moray, in the name of our gods, I require a token of your remorse."

No, no no no. —Claud tensed, he knew what she wanted, knew what she was doing, and he didn't like it one bit. He knew it was irrational to prize one's hair so highly but... what he really cared about was what it represented. He hadn't cut it for a reason.
And yet... it had been bothering him, a deed left undone for so long. Too long. He relaxed and sat up to look at her, tears streaming freely down his cheeks. They both needed this. He nodded.

Claud pulled his knife from his belt. Walking towards him Gladys held up a hand, "Wait, I want to braid it first." Claud nodded again and sat kneeling so Gladys could run her fingers through his hair to pull out any debris or snarls.

Never in their life had Claud and Gladys spent so much time apart, and it felt strange yet so natural to do this again after having been separated for so long. Now that she was calm and close to him, Gladys could feel the heat coming off of Claud's body, hear his shaky breathing, his elevated pulse. With gentle and practiced hands she combed his hair, just as she had many many times. She wished she had planned for this, could have known things would turn out the way they did.
Suddenly a sad thought came to her and she smoothed her hands over his head as she said, "Claud, you are the only one who will ever cut their hair for me."

Up until this point Claud had been weeping rather silently but he realized it was true, and for a moment he shook with bitter sobs. He had been so angry and so preoccupied for so long that he hadn't ever paused to look part that anger. Leaning against Gladys' middle he cried openly and did not try to stop. After a moment, she cradled his head in her arms.

"I miss you. I miss mom," Claud sobbed.

Gladys smiled wryly, "Not dad?"

Claud laughed a small, bitter laugh. Then, with considerable vehemence, "Damn him. He lied to us, the bitter, old man. He lied and I believed him. The priests are nothing like he said they'd be. And the people in the town too! Either they've changed or he was lying. If I only knew then..." Claud's throat tightened and he could only utter occasional, small choking sounds. If only he'd known they wouldn't have been stoned on sight. That the town's folk were suspicious, but could also be kind and accepting. The strangers especially. People like him, from the outside. There were so many, too, many more than he would have thought.

After a while he quieted, Gladys kissed the top of his head and continued with her grooming. Soon his straight hair allowed her fingers to pass through it virtually unhindered, and she began braiding. The forest sounds once again filled the silence.




"“You do! I was afraid you’d look like dad, but you just look really dumb,"” Gladys grinned, brushing his hair out of his face.

Claud shrugged. “"It'’ll grow back."”

“"Gods, I hope so,"” Gladys uttered.

Claud tried to tie it back with the remaining bowstring and it just formed the saddest little ponytail that stuck straight out from his head.