The Tale of Ragdoll

Collecting is a Great Hobby

It was raining, or was it? Does it really matter? What is the nature of Chaos? Why do we fear it, not like Ragdoll. She seems to thrive off of it. I don’t know her, but at the same time, I recognize her down to the atom. Her purple hair drenched in dirt, blood, and grime, makes it look black. Her lavender-colored eyes haunt you. They pierce like the sharpest of knives, but she doesn't scare me. She feels like home. She feels like a warm shower on a cool day; it's comforting now, but it leaves you freezing when she is not around. I know it's not healthy, but I also don’t care.

We walk the streets most nights. I feel good when it's wet. I’m not sure, but I also hear voices when there is water near me. It calls for help. It tells me it doesn't like how they control it, and it's painful to be squeezed through a series of pipes just to be collected and burned for it to happen all over again. I get flashes of water in my mind when I close my eyes. I get the feeling that it would be easier for me if I were in water.

We usually walk around at night waiting for someone to try to attack us. Most of the time it happens, but sometimes it doesn’t. There is a detective that's on to Shenanigunz, but we dissuaded him from pursuing the case. That poor bastard needs to be put down. This world needs me to liberate it, so much misery, hunger, and injustice. Shenanigunz tells me this is normal for their world. I would not allow this if I ruled this world. The people here are lost. I must guide them. I had dreams that I would rule this world, and Shenanigunz tells me it's the gods communicating with me. I don't really care who is giving me the dreams or why. What I do care about is the feelings these dreams give me. It feels right.

“Where did you get that ring?” I asked as we walked down the rooftops of Los Angeles near an area she calls skidrow, where people have been going missing. She usually dresses me in the fashions of her world, to act as bait for people to attack while she gets positioning to attack them, not that I couldn't and didn't handle them myself.

“I found mine in a gutter while I was walking to a pawn shop, I tried to sell it but they wouldn't buy it.” She explained while holding her hand out to examine the ring.

“Do you inherently know who made the ring?” I asked thoughtfully.

“Yeah, it comes to your mind. The name just kinda pops into your mind and when you've got it, it feels right. at least that's how it was for me.”

I thought about it, and I had no idea why it felt so right when I said it, but it did. “ We should hunt the rings. If we have them and control them others cant and therefore wont.” I wasn't sure if she'd taken the bait, but I waited patiently until she answered.

“That much chaos in one place can do some bad things, not to mention one person alone shouldn't and couldn't have that much power or chaos.” She replied thoughtfully, as she removed her ring as she wanted her mind clear for this conversation. The ring had influences, and sometimes she didn't realize the influence was happening. She did not want to take the chance that the ring was speaking and not her.

“We could choose wise and noble people to bear the rings. If they mess up then we kill them. If we control the rings then we can control the bearers and their actions.” I replied while stopping and looking Shenanigunz in the eyes. She had taken her ring off and was thoughtfully looking over the edge of the rooftop we were standing on. There was gravel on this rooftop, and it wasn't the tallest building, but somehow the breeze could be felt lightly blowing. My hair was lighter now because Shenanigunz had forced me to wash it. She convinced me it was best for my disguise as bait. The sensation of the wind blowing through it was something I was still getting accustomed to.

“What brought this up?” Shannon asked me as she kicked some of the gravel rocks while patiently awaiting Ragdoll’s reply.

“I just have a feeling if we collect those rings it will help a lot of people, your people need help.” I said, pointing to the camps below where people moaned and cried. “ Those people could use a guiding hand, those people down there are dying, crying, and starving. They could use the help from a team of people, like you, who can and will protect them.” I stuck my hands in my pockets but stayed where I was. I continued to watch the people below as they carried on unaware of our presence.

“You do make a point, but I just don’t know. I agree these people need help, but I also know that not all of their enemies are others. Some have enemies which aren't physical. They need help too, but these rings can't help them.” She said thoughtfully as she looked at the people below, but she wasn't seeing them. She was looking through them into her past. She thought of her own life and struggles and how her parents struggled with drugs that had made life so hard for her and her siblings. The ring helped her, but how did it help others outside her siblings? It didn't help her parents, who still struggled. The ring did help her. She is free now because of it. They could do good if they fell into the wrong hands. Who knew what sort of mischief they could reap? She would be responsible if she had the opportunity and ability to make the change.

“ OK.” She replied absent-mindedly before continuing her train of thought, “we collect the rings, but if someone good already has control of that specific ring, then we let them keep it. Also, we have to help people when we can. Even if it's not easy, we gotta help them.” She finished her thought and replaced her ring before leaping off of the building’s roof. She landed on the ground and began to help bag the trash that littered the street.

Yeah, that seems fair. I thought to myself before following her off of the roof and I talked to the people who wanted to talk.

“You’re a long way from Celpi, your highness.” A voice called from the darkness. The voice didn't sound familiar, but that was no surprise. But they called me, your highness. Did they know who I was? I turned to see who had said it; but the voice said nothing else.