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 Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:51 pm
Aurian couldn't be sure if it was a trick or not. The voices were screaming that everyone was lying, trying to fool her, but Aurian thought there was just as good a chance that the voices were the ones telling lies. Fake!Holly still sounded and acted like Holly. Fake!West seemed just as freaked out as Aurian was.
"I know I'm real," she said to West. "If you have to ask... does that mean you are, too?"
The fakes wouldn't bother asking if others were the real deal, right? They wouldn't care. Unless they were just checking to find out who the targets were, and avoid anyone who said they weren't real. But then, if anyone said they weren't, the people said they were would have to attack them just to keep up appearances. Or... something like that. Aurian went crosseyed trying to follow that logic. Eventually she just shook her head and decided to try and act like her normal self.
Hesitantly, she nodded. "Stick together, yeah. I can work with that. I won't attack unless someone else does first." The voices howled their rage at her for this, but she ignored them by focusing on what the possibly-real students in front of her were saying.
Sticking together was the best plan. If any of them did turn out to be not-real, then the rest could take that one down. And if they were all fakes, well, then it was better that Aurian keep an eye on them and at least see an attacking coming.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:00 pm
They.. They called back! It wasn't just his imagination after all! Well, hopefully not. No, no they were real. Real and likely dealing with the same sort of madness as he was. Granted, he'd managed to shake off the worst of it, but the voices were a constant hum at the back of his mind, and everyone's eyes remained glowing and yellow. It was a trick, he'd already decided it, and he wasn't going to allow himself to fall so easily into it. No chance in hell. Still, it was Jacking eerie.
Dark eyes rolled to jove as he slipped closer, holding his arm up so Seiji could assess the damage. Arm, not abdomen. That only further convinced the boil of the hallucinetic effect of the fog. At least he thought it was the fog. They'd been fine until the most had risen up around them again. "Good, it's not as bad as it looked." Taking the pup's arm, he held the side of the sliced coat up, staring into it with a frown. Being as the kid was a ghost it was highly unlikely he'd get an infection. Lucky that, in a manner of speaking.
"We're gunna go find Bul, he sounded hurt. Everyone should hold onto someone so we don't get separated again." A twitch of his eyes sent a pointed stare down to both smaller boils. "Jove you hold onto Junko and Momo, Elaphe you hang onto Momo." Like a chain. To make his point the ghost strod over and recalled his old on his ghoul's hand, then waited for everyone to fall in line before leading them onward up the path.
"We're coming, Bul! Stay put!" then to West, who sounded behind them, "Keep following the Path, West! You'll get to us soon!" Maybe if they all stuck together they'd be safe..
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Pepzilla rolled 3 6-sided dice:
1, 6, 6
Total: 13 (3-18)
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:13 pm
(( Mini Profile)) "Well I definitely am bleeding, I know that ain't an illusion," Bul sighed then started to look around in their general vicinity for his bag and things. "Where the ******** is my s**t ugh.." he grumbled and looked up to her weakly while she too glanced around. "Seiji's a good friend of mine he was at the party with his ghoulfriend Junko."
Bul had never found out really about the girls' opposition to one another. His tail swished around in the fog around him as if a lure on a fishing rod to find anything. "What the flipping..." he growled and stamped his feet. "s**t every time I think I've got something it disappears..." The boil looked to Mei desperately. Now he was feeling and seeing things... was it his injuries or was the fog playing more of its devious tricks on him? Why? Why did it have to be that way?
Every time he glanced at Mei though he noticed a weird yellow gleam in her eyes much like the figure in his unconscious state. He kept shaking his head jerkily. Quit it quit it, there's nothing wrong with them, you're seeing things.. he thought to himself and blinked several times as if washing it out of his sight.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:20 pm
You can't trust them.
You can't trust them! the voices whispered against his neck again.
Like Damien was going to listen to these misleading conniving speakers again.
The tension in the air was so heavy. everybody was staring each other down like it was a contest. The first one to blink got a punch to the temple.
But they were asking each about if they were "real", that had to have meant that he wasn't the only one getting his mind messed with. The dusty ghoul might have been affected to, as much as he wanted to, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions, she could have attacked anyone out here.He started to pout, thinking that the ghoul might have been scared of whatever she thought he was. Just like how he thought she was HIM.
"Its really me, whatever's been happening is messing with us and it almost cost me my body parts. I'm not going to attack with out being sure who the other person is." He said as he nodded to each person. Everyone else had a similar idea and he could live with that.
At least it was better than being in a state of constant paranoia, intermittent paranoia was just fine for now.
But he had to fix what he and the dusty ghoul started, on shaky limbs he walked closer to Holly with his arms up in front of him and open palmed, nothing in his hands and no tricks up his sleeve and kept away by a few feet and looked at the ghoul that decided to perch on the Fox's shoulders.
"Friends?" he asked her with a questioning tone., hoping that it wasn't a mistake he'd soon regret.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:29 pm
Holly placed both her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed. "Of course I'm real West. I'd ask you the same question! I'll beat you in for even suggesting we weren't!" Or maybe he wasn't real? Then again he sounded normal. Or is that what they wanted her to think.
Marrowstripes? Well that is what the other ghoul was, wasn't it? Kill, them? "Do you see any Savior? Where?" What was she seeing or possibly hearing. Holly was certainly hearing crazy things herself. And now she had acquired a new adornment. Yep. Defiantly was Savior, there was no question about that. She steadied herself as the ghoul made herself home on her shoulders. How light she was! Holly was concerned at all the fuss Savior was having about more Marrowstripes. Not good.
Best way to keep an eye on all the weird glowy people was to stick together right? And then Damien approached her to make friends with the ghoul on her shoulders. She silently hoped there would defiantly be no more conflict.
"West... who are you yelling to?" And why are more people hurt.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:33 pm
Calming herself, she relaxed once reassured that he was, more or less, okay. However, she was careful not to touch him, in case of a repeat of the previous scare. No matter how much she wanted to think it was all and illusion--she couldn't. She would have sworn on her life that it had happened--but.. she was so confused.. and now they needed to find their belongings. The madness had no end. "Did we leave them back in the building..?" She asked, still unwilling to move from where she sat. She didn't remember setting it down though. Even her pendant, which rested around her neck, was gone. How strange.. Maybe it was an illusion? "No.. I still have the bag, right? I'm just seeing things, right?" She asked, hoping for him to agree with her.
Junko.. The doll made a face a the mention of that name. She would rather deal with the reapers again, then her. Eye shifting to locate the boil who called back, she hugged her legs closer to herself, wondering if they were who they thought they were. "Do you suppose we'll die here? On the island?" She questioned. Maybe he had the same thoughts? It was definitely possible.. That was for sure.
"...."
"Bul.." She spoke in a quite voice, just loud enough for him to hear. "Have you always had yellow eyes..?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:37 pm
West nodded at Savior. "If there're Marrowstripes'ere, we should move." He had never seen another of Savior's kind and he didn't particularly believe that he was surrounded by them now, but he had met Duerre in this fog... Thank Jack that bit of horribleness was fading in favor of the constant threat of yellow-eyed creepers. "I know'm real. Not sure if I believe annea you, but..." He shrugged. That was why he had a bat.
He raised his head at Seiji's reply, trying to figure out where the other boil was. "'t's Seiji. Ghost. Crazy arm," he told Holly. "Or maybe t's'not." At this point, any action was better than just standing around, even if it resulted in more fighting. "Should we, uh..." He pointed his bat in the direction of the ghost boil's voice, then lowered it with a sigh. "Where'd'you guys wanna go?" If they trusted him as little as he did them, they probably weren't going to just follow him.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:47 pm
Aurian glanced back and forth between the others. She didn't have the faintest clue what they were talking about. Had they found a new type of enemy out there? ... Or was it a secret code that only not-real ghouls knew about?
"Um, excuse me, but what is a marrowstripe?" she asked, head titled to one side. She'd met the strange Reapers in the fog, but nothing else. Perhaps this was something they'd learned about in school, which Aurian had yet to actually attend. She shifted, uncomfortable at revealing her lack of knowledge. No one had seemed willing to expand on it though, just took it for granted that everyone knew.
Talk turned to where they should go. "Has anyone explored the town yet?" she asked. "There should be clues as to why all the ghouls vanished, right? Unless they just ran from all this fog."
The voices snickered behind her. Aurian wouldn't blame the residents of the town if they had fled from the fog. It didn't seem like a healthy thing to be in.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:06 pm
Maybe it wasn't the best time to patch things up and decided to put that task on the back burner for now. It was far more pressing to figure out what to do now. He was listening intently to the others but this "Marrowstripe" thing, he never heard of that phrase before, was it lingo for something. Damien sat there looking at Holly and West like a confused little canine and let out a whimper. "Is that something bad?" he asked with his ears twitching left and right, listening to see if there was one moving around in the nearby fogbank.
Now they were using words and terminology he wasn't aware of, he hasn't even gotten to a lesson yet. How cruel, Ignorance was not bliss.
Where could they go, in this fogbank with no light? He took a good look at everyone around him and there was something he couldn't help but notice. "Hey, did you all lose your packs and items too?" There was plenty to go around and the flashlights were handy, so everyone should have been able to pick one up. So strange.
"How could everyone lose their items, maybe we should search for them." he said thoughtfully as he scratched his chin.
"If you go with them you'll die" Quiet you, voice. Your on time out, go in the corner. He was no longer in the mood for the voices games. He was Never in the mood to begin with.
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:18 pm
Aurian nodded quickly as Damien asked if the marrowstripes were dangerous. She wanted to know, too. They sounded dangerous, from the way everyone was suddenly wanting to leave. Aurian wanted to know what to watch out for.
On the plus side, if 'marrowstripe' was a not-real codeword, Damien was either real, or doing a job of trying to appear normal.
Her head jerked in surprise as Damien mentioned his bag. It could be a coincidence, but... "Yes, something stole my pack earlier today. I eventually found it again, but it seemed something had gone through it and tossed everything onto the ground. Maybe someone was looking for something in particular?"
Had anyone else had the same problem? Was it the work of the island's Reaper, this 'marrowstripe', or something else?
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:52 am
Him? Wander off again? Oh, now there was a cruel joke, and Elaphe's pathetic lack of retort saddened him. Though he hated the thought of lingering, to abandon the group a second time would have surely invited the things back, and he was still shaking all over from the first encounter. Had he felt more cheerful or optimistic, perhaps he would have consoled himself with some comforting thought, but no; it was hopeless, and there would be no point.
He could already feel the cold, claustrophobic touch of death by his throat--
For better or for worse, his tensions were interrupted by the news that, apparently, they were going to go off and find yet more people lost and hurt in the fog. By all rights, he should've been shrieking and protesting at the very thought of hanging onto someone, yet there wasn't a peep from the quivering boy as he stole one fleeting glance at Tomoko before, with the same haunting uncertainty, slipping a hand around the crook of her elbow.
She was probably the most comforting soul in the whole lot, Tomoko. Her eyes were soft and earnest, unlike the malicious glint he saw when he glanced up toward Junko and Seiji and the strange, pale dog boy. Perhaps she even reminded him of someone he'd left back home: naive, innocent, always looking at him with such adoration--
Bleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah...
... One ear twitched and swiveled reflexively towards a faint sound he swore he'd heard right then, nearly tripping over himself again when he paused just a split second in the daisy-chain before stumbling on. For a moment, his heart leapt.
That had sounded familiar... why?
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:06 am
Most of whatever the conversation was happened to be lost on Savior, her whole posture rather tense as she stayed seated upon Holly's shoulders. While she had initially bristled up against Damien's approach she made no efforts to strike out at him as eagerly or easily as she had before and when everyone continued to speak she simply let the conversation continue.
That is until they all started to say 'Marrowstripe'. That much Savior understood and that much she could understand. Where they all able to hear it to? The calls of her kind?
"Marrowstripe. Savior." Scampering down off Holly's shoulders (or rather she just jumped off) the monster stopped amidst the small group and placed a hand on her chest, gesturing to herself. "Marrowstripe, female." She hoped most of what she was trying to say was getting across and there was some relief in her eyes that the others were possibly understanding the severity of the situation since they were surrounded. Savior could defend herself, certainly. Defending other students with more on the way?
Not at all.
"Females, no hurt youse. Marrowstripes, male. Kills. Eats." It was easy enough to pantomime what the males of her kind did but there was likely some doubt that females wouldn't actually hurt anyone. Savior had done some damage after all to Damien and West, both proof that even something considered 'docile' could easily tear things apart. "Town. Others." She'd heard those two words before and mimicked them, looking over at Aurian and West. They seemed to have it the most under control though the clicks and whistles were getting louder. Savior was getting nervous.
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Eight rolled 3 6-sided dice:
6, 4, 4
Total: 14 (3-18)
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:24 am
Junko felt so uncomfortable even with Seiji holding her. She still...heard things. Voices. They were getting closer. Or louder? Something. They were there. She heard them. Everywhere. She whimpered and covered her ears with her hands, closing her eyes tightly and trying to block it all out. Make it stop! Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop! She looked around when it felt like it stopped, looking to Seiji and Jove. Jove! He was back! He was alri--why was he covered in blood?! "Oh, Jack! Jove! Are you alright?!" The ghoul cried as she hurried to him to see just why he was covered in blood.
Suddenly Seiji was freaking out and Junko blinked, glancing toward him with a worried frown. The frown went from worried to horrified the moment she laid eyes on him; she had gotten used to the fact that Seiji's eyes always had a bit of a red glow to them, but that was a red glow...Seiji's eyes...they were yellow. This wasn't Seiji? Wh-why were his eyes yellow? That made no sense! Junko hugged Jove out of an instinctual need for comfort, looking down at him to make sure he was alright.
Yellow eyes. Jove's eyes were blue.
Junko gasped and released him, jumping back away from the ghost boil and nearly falling on Tomoko. "Ah! I'm sorry Tom..o...cha..."
More yellow eyes. Tomoko's eyes were also blue! What was going on?! Junko backed away from all three of her friends, walking into Elaphe and crying out in fear. Attack from behind?! Oh. No. Just Elaphe...and...more yellow. Four. That was four people with yellow eyes. This wasn't natural. This wasn't right. She heard more voices though these sounded vaguely familiar...then again a lot of voices sounded familiar. For Jack's sake she heard her own mother! There was a rustling behind her and Junko whimpered, skittering away from the sound. She looked down at Elaphe as he snapped about being okay, looking absolutely terrified by his eyes. This wasn't really Elaphe, there was no way...
"Why does he get to keep his hair when yours gets taken away? That's hardly fair." Came an woman's quietly echoing voice. It almost reminded her of Riley, how it seemed so..otherworldly and slightly invasive. The woman chuckled. "His even gets to move. You should just take it. You deserve it more than he does."
Junko frowned. No...no she could never do that. She shivered and rubbed at her arms, suddenly finding it weird she could even do that. Where was her flashlight? Did she put it away? But why would she go and do a silly thing like that? She reached back for her bag to find the flashlight only to discover the bag was gone. Wait, what? Where did her bag go? The ghoul looked all around for a sign of the bag, thinking it probably just...fell off her shoulders in her panic. That was it. Her foot hit something and she squeaked, tensing up and looking down only to find it was just her bag. "There you are, get over here." She spoke to it like it was a living thing, picking it up and opening it to dig through and find her flashlight.
It was..empty? But that wasn't right, Junko had put two map pieces in here! And there'd been a note...the pendant was around her neck so she didn't have to worry about that. Her flashlight wasn't in here either! The rustling of paper in a non-existent breeze behind her got her attention, sighing with relief and hurrying over to get it. It was hard, and she had to wander away from her group to do it. Not that she noticed. She wasn't agile enough to just grab most of them, stepping on a piece or two to get them to stop moving. Wait, this wasn't all hers..right? She hadn't had this many sheets...
Oh well. No big deal, she'd give them back to whoever they belonged to. Junko sighed and stuffed them into her bag, finding her flashlight nearby and picking that up as well.
Who was calling Seiji? Where was Seiji...er...the person who looked like Seiji? And Jove? Tomoko and Elaphe? She found them again with a bit of wandering, looking up warily at West when it seemed he and another had joined them as well. Real? Of course she was real...wasn't she? "I...I don't..." Yellow. She never thought she'd ever come to hate a color, but yellow was quickly becoming a very disliked color. When Seiji came over to hold her hand she gasped and leaned away from him with wide, frightened eyes, whimpering as she did. Was he real? He...he felt real. His cool hand in her warm one, squeezing it gently. Maybe he was real...but...but then why were his eyes yellow?
"I..can...er...I'msorry." Junko frowned and stopped trying to get away from Seiji, stepping back to him and looking around unhappily. She wanted to go home...
And it'd be nice if whoever was laughing over there would STOP IT!
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:53 am
Though a little too preoccupied, what with all the madness and all, Seiji failed to notice whatever odd looks Elaphe might have been throwing out, or the distinct lack their of, he did notice Junko pulling against his hand. That alone was enough to make him slow, glancing down at her with brows pinched and features concerned, boarding on hurt. Why was she pulling away from him? Her eyes still glowed with an eerie yellow tint, did his own? Probably.
Gently drawing her closer, he bent so he could murmur against her ear. "Your eyes are yellow, too, J. Whatever it is it's effecting everyone. It's me though, I promise." He kissed her cheek, squeezing her hand gently in his, before leading them off up the path.
They didn't really have far to go, Bul and Mei were only a few yards away, and the ghost could see now why the half-beast hadn't been all that eager to get up. He looked like someone had tried to use the boil as a punching bag. In fact, they both looked pretty worst for ware. "Bul, you look like s**t, man." He tried for a grin, but only managed a watered down version his his usual pointy smirk.
Seiji himself was untouched physically, though there were some rather noticeable blood smears on his hands and the sides of his face from where he'd covered his ears against the voices. Of their little group, only Jove and Junko had been attacked, though they all probably had a tightness around the eyes.
Speaking of eyes.. "You probably noticed already, but everyone's eyes are yellow." He frowned, reaching a hand down to offer the other boil some help up if he wanted it. "Even you's. I don't know what it is, other then another trick." A trick he absolutely refused to fall into.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:14 am
Jove couldn't keep his hands from shaking as he held out one hand for Tomoko, and his other hand for Junko. She looked as terrified as he felt, even backing away from Seiji, of all people! But the older ghost seemed to have realized something important, and if it was the gold eyes that were bothering everyone else too...
The pup lifted one hand near his face, in the dark he could usually see the light of his eyes reflected cooly on his skin, but this time it cast an ominous yellow glow against the blood smears. So that's why they had stared at him, too. It really was everyone. He was relieved, in a way, so far his decision to trust these golden-eyed friends had led to no harm...
Jove dropped his hand and scrubbed it against his pants again, trying to get the last of the blood off. He would have to stop touching his side where it still oozed, surely the ghouls wouldn't want to hold his hands if they were covered in blood and whatnot. Then taking some courage from Seiji's actions, the pup screwed up his face into a determined expression, and grabbed Junko's hand whether she wanted it or not. She wasn't going to get left out of the student chain on his watch! Then he offered his other hand to Tomoko, with a look that read "You don't have to be afraid either, I'm gonna help keep us safe too."
He helped to shepherd the two ghouls in the direction of the other students, and tried to place himself, wary-eyed, between the pair he didn't know and his friends.
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