( giyuu not last man standing please )

[baori]

...until i find something better.

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wk 0; arrival

[baori]

[ he'll give them enough time to settle in and not be soaked to the bone wet and maybe say hellos to a few people before accosting(?) them with some Brand New Information that came to him. or, hm, did it really come to him? maybe it wasn't just him... hopefully it wasn't.

either way, hewwo you two. giyuu probably wasn't the person you are most happy to see but that's okay. his feelings aren't hurt. ]

Do either of you know why we're here?

[ could there have been plenty of other ways to address this? yeah, definitely. maybe even a greeting of some sort would have been nice. ]

[wisterin]

[ (gotoge voice) giyuu is always lms

If he weren't the one to approach the other two, Shinobu surely would. It's just a little unsettling when you're supposed to be dead and you're suddenly not. She wants to see what the others were like because no matter what kind of place this is, she knows she can trust both Giyuu and Mitsuri irrevocably.

She needs to feel this environment out, see what kind of plans she can make, all of that.

Usually, seeing Giyuu wouldn't be the happiest thing, but it is good to see two people she knows rather than none, so he gets that benefit. ]

No. [ She's smiling. ] I'm afraid I don't. As far as I'm aware, we shouldn't be here at all.

[ Or at least, she shouldn't. ]

[bridesque]

[She's sooo relieved that she has Tomioka and Shinobu here! As far as Mitsuri's concerned, there's no need for greetings when they were attending the same meeting earlier today. Seeing their faces definitely brightened hers. But right now, it's dropped out of concern.]

Right. And what about the rest of us? If we're here, does that mean so is Master?

[Ignorance is bliss.]

[baori]

[ giyuu lms is so cursed.

and yeah, he's not going to make a comment about how they shouldn't being here, rather about certain people not being here, which is is also to say that he is now going to avoid looking at shinobu because he's an adult, i guess. ]

Then it's just me.

[ don't go talking to yourself giyuu, no one likes when you do that, but the side comment aside, giyuu will keep avoiding looking at shinobu and mitsuri both (so now it isn't just her) before he "explains" himself. ]

The island is cursed and the only way we can escape is that a certain number of people die. [ i wish the mods didn't give giyuu A Knowledge. ] So, let's hope that it's just going to be who we've already seen and no one else.

[wisterin]

I haven't seen Master or any of the other Pillars here.

[ And she made sure to keep a lookout. There are some people she would expect to see here if this island were a strange afterlife, but since there doesn't seem to be more, it makes her think.

What Giyuu says makes her smile freeze in place and think even more. She sees red behind the hard lines of her smile. ]

Tomioka-san. [ She says his name in that bright way she does whenever she thinks he's being absolutely tone deaf and awful at being a person. ] How do you know this?

[ She doesn't doubt that he thinks this, and she doesn't think he's lying, but how much truth is in it?

There's enough logic in that absurd statement that she can't completely discount it either, and she hates it! She hates it so much, haha! ]

[bridesque]

[What? She glances between Tomioka and Shinobu, wide-eyed. Not only is the idea of such a curse awful, it doesn't make any sense. She has questions, but it seems that Shinobu, ever the smart girl, will be spearheading this discussion.

With an expression of unease, Mitsuri falls back to the familiar role of observer. She's at least relieved that Master is safe, but what does this mean for everyone else she's met thus far?]

[baori]

[ wow isn't it great that giyuu is completely unaware of that tone that she uses on him when he gets like this? it must be nice to live in his world, sometimes, but he'll take a moment to consider how to explain it to her and if anything he looks confused himself.

hmmmmm.......... ]

A hunch?

[ and they're really not going to tell mitsuri about the bad things, huh? ]

I'm not certain—it's just something I know to be truth since I've arrived.

[ does this work? it probably won't work. ]

wk 1; post explora

[baori]

[ it's it great that they brought all of the things that they brought with them only to something experience that was completely different than anything that they were thinking could happen? isn't that swell?? then again, who knew what they'd find when they got there.

gotta say that the fire and screaming was a bit...much. time for ara, our brain cell, to go about telling us what's going on because i can assure you that the grand picture is not going to be something that giyuu will be always looking at.

they sure do smell like smoke and hopefully they didn't kill anyone. also, giyuu may have told them the island was cursed but he had no idea it was cursed like this. ]

[wisterin]

[ There is no brain cell here. Shinobu lost it in all the smoke they smell like, but despite the status of her brain, she is looking up at the lighthouse with a frown.

None smile from Shinobu, an oddity and also a sign that there's nothing about this that she likes and it's overriding her default mood. ]

I suppose that could have been part of the curse. Or the ritual that was spoken about.

[ If they want to believe in that. ]

[bridesque]

[Mitsuri is just about to bury her face in her hands in shame when the footfalls grab her attention. The gruesome scene unfolds largely unseen, but what can be seen and heard horrify her—more so when it ends, just like that.]

What? What was that? The fire suddenly vanished!

[Did someone just die in front of them? That can't be. The three of them combined couldn't budge the door. What is Shinobu suggesting?]

[baori]

[ mitsuri is valid even when giyuu doesn't realize she's valid, but this time she's really valid because he's sharing her sentiments. he's not reacting the same way but he feels it. there was fire and then there wasn't fire.

clearly shinobu thinks that it's linked to the ritual and it would make sense, wouldn't it? or. well... ]

Did it really happen?

[ or more like, how did something like that happen? ]

It doesn't seem like something that could be possible.

[wisterin]

Are you doubting your eyes? Are you doubting all of our eyes and senses?

[ Honestly, life (or death) would be easier if it were a mass hallucination, but what are the odds?

None of them have the super senses of the ones who will follow in their footsteps, but they've all experienced enough to know how to differentiate what's real from what isn't. When everyone tries to deny the existence of demons, they know better. ]

It's best to try and figure out what that meant.

[ If it's supposed to mean anything other than something to spook them. ]

[bridesque]

[If all three of them witnessed the same thing, it had to have happened. Thing is, Mitsuri can't begin to fathom what did happen. Whatever that was, the only lasting effect on the present is the lingering smell of smoke.

She walks back up to the door. This time, rather than use her fists, she presses her ear up against it.]

I don't hear anything. What do you suppose that was?

w1, post body announcement

[wisterin]

[ Hello, where are you two? Shinobu is going to hunt down the both of them after finding Anaido.

She's not happy, and she's not smiling. In fact, her anger may actually be showing? ]

We should pick a place to meet next time for efficiency. I hate complying with that voice, but we do need to find out who's a murderer.

[ Her body language and her entire demeanor says, she wants to stab. ]

[bridesque]

[ By then, Mitsuri has had sufficient time to confirm that the campers of Waterfall Camp remain intact. Under normal circumstances, she would find Shinobu's palpable anger dashing, but this is hardly the time. Four people have just died, according to that voice.

They'll figure out the location in due course. Mitsuri casts her gaze at the ground. ]

I'm so sorry. I fell asleep when I was supposed to be watching the camp . . . but nobody from my camp was killed.

[baori]

[ who knows where they meet up but giyuu will smell like smoke in addition to his rash and scratches that he got because of explora reasons which is a great topping for his week. everything is so great. giyuu is so happy. it should be obvious from the way that he's silently annoyed as all living hell.

he's not pissed on shinobu's level but shinobu feels things stronger than he does, or well, at least obviously comparatively. ]

What time and place do you suggest?

[ but he'll address mitsuri with some level of relief, honestly. no deaths in her camp. ]

I feel asleep on my way back as well.

[ which is really annoying him, well, aside from literally everyone else. ]

[wisterin]

[ They are wherever we want them to be in our hearts. ]

The bridge before the sun sets.

[ That's in the middle of the island, and night is when spooky things happen.

She finds it in her to smile. Her smile is as sharp as any of their swords. ]

I fell asleep at my camp, but I wish I could say they were all alive still.

[ Were any of the Cavern Camp murder victims there Thursday night? She doesn't know because I don't know.

Her brows knit because she smells smoke. ]

... Tomioka-san, were you at the ruins?

[bridesque]

[One of the victims was the girl to whom Tomioka lent his shirt. He and Shinobu must both be feeling awful.

It's also not unusual for Pillars like them to show up with scratches and bruises. When Shinobu asks about the ruins, though, Mitsuri shoots Tomioka a look of surprise. Why there? He just couldn't make it back to the camp on time?]

[baori]

[ shinobu's anger... but he'll acknowledge the bridge. it's easy enough for them to do and it's a good meeting spot. ]

I was. [ and he's extraordinary thankful that rachel is not dead and ended up being with him. ] I wanted to do one more check about what I could find.

[ basically, he did not learn his lesson the first time and then, you know, fire happened. caves are bad. ruins are bad. where is not bad. ]

wk 2; friday

[wisterin]

[ It's another week. It's another day with deaths. How fun, how lovely, how much Shinobu wishes this weren't the case.

She's waiting at the bridge because that's where they decided to meet, didn't they? ]

Hello! There are too many secret passages on this island.

[ She says that too cheerfully. ]

That's too many ways for murderers to run around and hide.

[bridesque]

[The odds were such that she's surprised that more weren't targeted from her camp. Nevertheless, Mitsuri looks somewhat distressed.]

But it's good that we found them, right?

[baori]

[ honestly, while giyuu is happy that they haven't been greeted with the same numbers as last week—they haven't come any closer to really figuring out what's going on. so many leads but nothing that seems to connect anything with substance.

potentially two from waterfall and another from cavern... ]

Were there any clues in them?

[ anything?? at all?? ]

[wisterin]

Not that I could see.

[ She's smiling, but the feeling is a frown. ]

Dimitri-san told me of a passage from the cliffs to the ruins. Tanzawa-san said there's a passage that leads to the camp by the jungle. [ Where the other point of that passage is.... wasn't said. Or hasn't been said yet. ] I just found a passage to the waterfall from the caverns. Have you two found or heard of anything else?

[ And why are there so many passages like this? ]

[bridesque]

[Shinobu is definitely angry, and rightfully so. It's crazy how many hidden passages there are. As for Mitsuri, the question she has to ask is only marginally related.]

Um, did you happen to see C-3PO on the way here?

[baori]

[ so nothing really learned other than the fact that the island certainly have made it easy for people to get up to no good and to be influenced by the disembodied voice. giyuu's brows crease at the amount of things they know but how it doesn't exactly help. ]

I found a necklace during my own exploration of the cliffs. [ presenting: necklace. ] I'm not sure if it helps our case or not, however.

[ ... ]

Was he missing from last night?

[ did they all stay at their camps last night?? ]