Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alwine's expression was unreadable. This was a given, of course, but her arms were limp at her sides and her posture was surprisingly neutral.

Then, there was a whimper.

"Rain!!"

Many who had interacted with Alwine on the train would be surprised that the shout didn't sound more like: RaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaIIIIIiiiiiNNNNnnn. However, even Alwine could tell that this was no time for whining and losing your head. (Yes, yes that pun was used).

"Rain, shouldn't we discuss this as a group? I mean, oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I mean, I'm personally fine with either path! The one I wanted to avoid was that candycane road place...

She shivered, and not from the cold. If the trees out here were like this, what would a candy-filled path be like?

She looked after Merope as he trudged off, but didn't say anything. She didn't really get to know him, but he seemed nice... and she was hurt that he felt that way. Of course, it was probably her awful personality to blame, sigh.

"So mountain or sea, it's fine! I'll get along, really! So please... please come out? I'm so so so so sorry if you got the wrong impression from me, I'm--- I'm really sorry!!!"

Alessa, having been dropped by Alwine at some point, sat in the snow watching the spectacle with an uneasy, tired expression. Ho boy. She supposed it had only been a matter of time before tempers ran hot but...this hardly seemed the time. Or maybe it was the perfect time. They were all cold, tired, and being attacked by trees. She supposed that would set anyone on edge.

Not really wanting to enter into a yelling match, she dropped her ears, turning a bit away from the conflicting students. "I said I was fine with any path..." she mumbled to herself with a sigh. It really didn't matter, did it? Whatever way they went someone would be unhappy. Maybe splitting up would be easier, but she wasn't sure what she thought about that either. She just wanted to curl up in a burrow and get warm. Or something.

Why had she said such an awful thing. She hadn't meant it. She knew how hard it was to be undead. She was a zombie. But those very demons, monsters, ghosts, and reapers had been looking to her for guidance. It should be a given that Merope was just as important to them. She knew his worries all to well but now was not the time for fighting and what was she doing? Just that. She was the worst of the lot.

"We've been discussing this for awhile.. now," she replied from the inside of her tent. "Every time we lean towards one direction, someone needs to go the other way. Then when we lean towards that direction, someone needs to go the way we just decided against. It's back and forth, back and forth, back and forth." It wasn't fair. She shouldn't be responsible for everyone else. Merope's words still haunted her though.

She stood up in her tent and pulled off her pants. Then she pulled of her hoodie and placed it down as well. She was clad only in her pink panties, something that embarrassed her greatly and a makeshift bandage bra. Taking a deep breath -- for dramatic purposes only as she didn't need the air -- she stepped outside.

Her body was covered in wounds from where the glass had pierced. In some places, there were huge gaps from the larger shards. There wasn't much blood as it was thick and coagulated, looking almost like sludge against her blue skin. The wounds needed stitched but it was nothing she couldn't handle. The darkness of her clothes had hidden them pretty well. "You see me right? You know what I am? That I'm undead and still you trusted me. Or was it just because I looked normal? Can you see me? The reality of my dead flesh? Can you accept that?"

"I don't know why we're talking about splitting up right now, we're not out of the woods yet, literally," Alessa sighed in agreement with Mandy, ears twitching. She settled down and huddled her body together, watching the group with her round rabbit eyes. What a mess.

When Rain came out she blinked, but otherwise didn't react strongly to the sight. "Um...you're going to catch a cold. Oh, well I guess maybe you can't? Sorry." She sneezed, a tiny little bunny sneeze that sent her whiskers shaking. After rubbing her nose with a paw she sad honestly to Rain, "I don't see why you being undead makes a difference. Trust isn't earned by being a specific race, it's through what you do. At least for me it is. You could be a pink duck and I'd still trust you. Although that'd be a little odd."

Julian jumped at Alwine's reaction, but he patted her leg again in a comforting kind of way.

And then Rain came back out of her tent, half-naked.
He listened to her, understanding what she was talking about. She was an undead. And he was supposed to look down on her because of that.
But he didn't. Because she was in a leadership position and he was not the kind of boil to take charge. So if someone else was willing to step into that position, better for them! Demon, ghost, undead, reaper, monster, he didn't care. Hey, he had the most wonderful friend in a monster. He was not a prejudice demon, not by a long shot.

"You guys try telling that to that damn fool, Merope!" So far, they seemed to accept her just fine, so they would also be fine with him. He never even gave them a chance! None of them treated him badly that she saw. Yeah, some of them probably didn't get a lot of attention but look at the situation they were in. Others were being ignored too. It wasn't intentional. This situation was frightening. When you have so many worries going on inside your head, it was hard to pay attention to everything going on around you! No one had any idea what to do and were looking for one another for guidance or support or simply some information.

Wasn't Merope acting exactly what he accused THEM of being? What he said had hurt. She felt guilty. She had used his tail for the game but she tried to make up for it. She would never use anyone on purpose. If she could cry, she would. She felt like she was betraying a fellow undead and it really hurt her but she knew he was being obstinate. Stubbornness seemed to be an undead quality most shared so she knew that if he had fully set his mind to it, he really would travel alone.

"He's so stupid. So stupid. So stupid stupid stupid!" She found herself stomping the ground as if taking her anger on the snow would help. "We have to go after him. We can't leave him out there alone, can we?"

She was taken aback by Belladonna's offer. "Oh no, no no no! It's far too cold for you to be ripping up your skirt and really, I'm fine. I don't feel pain. The most I have to worry about is that it's quite ugly to look at! I have plenty of bandages back in my room at home. I can make it until then, unless I lose a limb. One time, I lost my leg at the cemetery back home. I thought it would be great fun to jump from crypt to crypt and hit a fence rather awkwardly. I had to stick a branch in my thigh and wobble all the way home. My pop found my leg and patched me back up and my mom grounded me for a whole week for dragging leaves and mud through the kitchen. I'm adaptable!"

And with that, she turned and entered her tent to put her clothes back on.

"But Colette, if we go down candycane lane, we'll all be killed!!" Alwine shook her neck. "We aren't reapers... I can't fight anything! These trees are terrifying, can you even imagine what would be on that road??"

Alwine looked away.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm being selfish, I'm just... the idea of a Joy-filled road terrifies me."

Rain half tripped out of the tent as she was still pulling on her pants. "What if we compromised? What if we follow that damn fool and take that path to Christmas Town, and then take the mountain on the way back? Those of you scared, we'll take it slow. Test out the bridges first. Any shapeshifters can be carried and if we catch up to dumbass, we can have him ferry some of you across like he had mentioned. In fact, we'll make him take Iggy across first." He could use a little punishing. Maybe she'd make him carry Iggy for a few laps around the lake.