{ THE HAUNTED HOUSE - OUTSIDE } The arrival [post pg 46]

[Marushii]

Information about the upcoming field trip was hard to find. Amityville faculty were tight-lipped when asked about it, responding to most questions with a simple, “Ask Red about it.” And Red? She was nowhere to be seen. Students could catch glimpses of her in hallways, but even then the glimpse was nothing more than the end of her cloak whisking around a corner as she continued about her secretive business.

Then the day came. Students who were participating were requested to report to room 207 and enter the portal there. Getting to the room was easy enough; getting to the portal was another matter entirely. Gnomes and Bogeymen were standing by, forcing every student to go through customs inspection. It turns out the following items weren’t allowed:

1. Minipets (specialty trained service minipets and familiars exempt)
   
2. Non-Reaper Weapons
   
3. Alcohol
   
4. Drugs
   
5. Sugary snacks
   
6. Unauthorized glitter
   
7. Radios
   
8. Laptop computers
   
9. Nail clippers
   
10. Nail files
    
11. Personal gaming devices
    
12. Carbonated drinks
    
13. Opened beverages
    

Students were also limited to one bag that they could carry; those with more than one were turned away. In addition, bags that lacked shampoo, soap, or deodorant received a free partially used air freshener to combat the inevitable smell that would soon arise.

Ultimately once through inspection, students were free to use the portal. Last time, students took boats. And before that there was the train. What sort of a field trip warranted the costly, high-class instant transportation that a portal offered?

That was easy enough: the Human World was unmistakable. The sky above them was a brilliant dusk-red with the very first of the stars shyly began to show itself. The students had materialized in a clearing surrounded by tall evergreen trees. In the distance, a couple of birds were calling before the loud “Hooo!” of an owl silenced them. Night was approaching.

Before the students was a large wooden building of some sort. It looked like it was made out of wood once, but time and the weather had aged it until it was nothing more than a slumping form of its former self. A nearby pumpkin patch grows close to the house’s side, looking quite fresh and out of place.

On the patio in front of the house stood three figures, conversing in low tones. Red was easy to identify by her cloak the same color as her namesake; the other two were unfamiliar. One wore a purple cloak, the other a frosty light blue edged with white, reminiscent of ice on a window pane.

Red turns away from the two she was speaking with, walking to the edge of the patio and gesturing for the students to come towards her. She does not begin until the last student arrives and comes closer.

“Welcome to the Boogeyman Training Grounds,” Red begins without preamble, gesturing to the former house behind her. “I pulled some strings to have this made for us. This place will test your personal strength and your ability to cooperate with your group. You will be going through five rooms, each suited to your personal strengths... or weaknesses. Or not at all.” Red shrugged. “The haunted house is a fickle creature, and yes it is wise to consider it a living being. Part of the Fear that...” She broke off, shaking her head. “Nevermind, I doubt any of you are interested in how it works. Anyway,”

She turned towards her companions, accepting a box the blue-and-white cloaked figure handed her. Red opened it and held up a very familiar spherical object.

“Some of you may recognize these. These are pumpkin pills; every group will only have three. These pills can restore your health back to full. DO NOT LOSE THESE. And in addition, every group will have to SHARE these three.” She shrugged. “How you decide who gets what isn’t up to me to decide. If you wait too long to use one, you will dissipate. And that’s pathetic.”

Red shrugged, returning the pills to the box and handing it to her companion. “Groups, please have one person from your group remember to pick these up. My companion does have a list of people, so do not attempt to try and get more than the allotted three.”

The werewolf paused, turning to look at the final purple-cloaked figure. The figure shook their head. “Right,” Red grumbled, turning back to the students. “The boogeymen are still setting the place up. Go ahead and mingle, or if you still have any lingering questions come talk to me.”

“Also? I need a Rochester England Scythe. If that’s your name, please come see me. I would hate to hunt you down.” There was something about her tone that indicated that Red would have actually preferred to do that...

Quote:

THE OOC:

Welcome to the October Meta! Your field trip is at a Boogeyman Training Center located in the Human World.

Each group has three pumpkinpills to SHARE. It’s up to the group to decide who gets to use them and when, in addition to who gets to ICly carry them! You can divide them up if you wish, or even use them without the consent of your group. If you take that route, be prepared for the IC backlash your group’ll give you though...

In the event that a character gets killed in combat, you respawn HERE in THIS THREAD. Please post a respawn point here, and wait for GM approval before you are returned to your group.

If you have any ooc questions, please ask them in the Questions Thread or PM Marushii. More information about the exact trials of what’ll happen inside the training grounds will be revealed next GM post. Stay tuned! Please feel free to mingle or bother Red ICly with questions.

 

[Ice Queen]

Team: Scarlet Sabbath (+PIG)

Roch was NOT having a good day. This field trip? It blew. First--most importantly!! The PIG was pilfered. He was no longer his happy, chubby self, he was flat and pathetic and it broke the snack loving boil's heart!! And then--dude, he SWORE he recognized half the boogeys that had pilfered the PIG and patted them all down (and he SWORE the sons of witches ENJOYED every moment of it. Especially when they saw his face as the PIG was pilfered--or maybe he was imagining it. Maybe. But he doubted it.)

And now the lady in red was calling out his FULL name (yes, he was positive the snickering would start soon) and looking waaaay too interested in hunting him down. He took a moment to give any boogey looking at him a dirty look and a middle finger stuck up his nose (to pick a boogey, of course), then headed forward, leaving his group behind for a moment.

"I'm Roch," he said as he got to Red. "And no matter what they told you, I wasn't there! Probably." Ah yes, that was SUCH a great way to introduce yourself, Roch. Idiot.  

[Byagane319]

Team: League of Extrodinary Students

Nefertari was more than excited about this field trip now that she knew where they were going. The Human Wold! Jack this was cool! Of course the "one bag only" thing had totally thrown her. Don't they know a ghoul needs to look her best!? Oh well, she managed to fit as much as possible into her bulging bag. She looked at the list of nonregulated stuff and made sure she didn't have anything that would be taken from her.

Once she was cleared she stepped through the portal, feeling the weird feeling of materializing, then blinked as she arrived. Ooooooh her siblings were sooooo gonna be jealous! None of them had ever been allowed to the human world like this! Red was easy to spot, she was a woman Tari admired for her strength and ferocity. Nothing like a teacher that could actually bite you if you told them to.

Now she listened to her speach. Boogeyman Training Ground? Were they suppose to be boogeymen or were they going to attack them? Either way it sounded great. Her tail swished excitedly back and forth. Cooperating in a group Tari could do. Her family was pride based so group effort was expected. Then again she couldn't say the same about the others. But she was glad to at least have a year 2 in their group. A handsome dragon at that. Then there were the two demons and the reaper. When talked about personal strength and weaknesses she wondered what those sorts of tests would be. She liked a good test, made her think.

Once the pills were explained and they were released to mingle, Tari began looking for her teammates. She wondered what they thought of this whole thing. She would also ask who would carry the pills or would they devide them out.  

[Lucyal]

Team Awesome

After their HIM conversation, the time seemed to fly by pretty fast arriving to this date! Hel had spent the time working with Mitsu to get their armbands done, fitting in a few extra bouts of training with Mot, conversing with Shun about final details (that was the quickest part of her tasks to get done), and finally just lightly conversing (read as harassing) Riyo in an effort to get her more acquainted with the idea of working in a group. This also could be read as making her force her hand with statements like ‘Trust that this will be good.’ She had also dropped off her FoxFire with Mac for the month, tidied up her room, and packed as much stew as she could.

Originally they were going to meet at the School Gate, but after learning about where they needed to report, Hel had met her team outside the Reaper dorms about an hour before they’d leave. Then it was off to room 207. Hel was a bit disappointed, she had been expecting to take a train, but the sight that greeted her in room 207 was curious to say the least! Bogeymen, everywhere, guarding a portal, a topic often talked about in Savage’s class! The reaper wasn’t exactly too keen on being hassled through the customs inspection, but one needed to do what needed to be done. Soon enough she was through the portal, and stepped foot into the Human world. The ghoul paused as she looked around, a bit wide eyed as she stared up at the red sky and the stars, and then swept her gaze over to the Haunted House and the pumpkins nearby. She could feel the start of excitement creeping in once she got over her initial surprise, and waited for the rest of her team to shuffle in before heading over to Professor Red.

Hel listened quietly, shifting her bag and straightening out her rather long and large apron until the instruction was over for now. “I’ll go ahead and get the pills, friends!” She informed her team, and stepped up to the Professor to do so. The valkyrie returned, staring down at the pills with a raised brow before looking at her team. “Alright, who would like to take one? I will pass, so the four of you decide.”  

[Sexy Cocaine]

Team Awesome

Dear sweet Jack she felt out of place.

Riyo had been busy 'till the hour she had agreed to meet the team, so the ghoul had hired someone to shop for her. What could be the harm? She needed new clothes, and SPECIFIED to buy some covering, yet casual outfits (Jack help her if the dry cleaning bill went up another seed). Well. She had certainly gotten what she'd asked for.

A striped jacket... Black and red with... Cat ears on the hood. There were no tips for her little shopper. What's worse is that they had bought multiples... And she didn't have the time to take them back.

At least the jeans were comfortable. Though... The backpack was too much. Why in Jack's name would the ghoul have thought she wanted a cat-shaped backpack? ... Besides the fact that she had tons of cats in her dorm room. Ugh.

Riyo tried to hide her face in embarrassment as she met up with her team, drowning out the laughs with thoughts of how fantastic it would be to see all of them eat dirt on this trip. All her cats would be taken care of. There were people scheduled to check in on them and more bowls around her room than she cared to count. In her bag, there were copius amounts of canned tuna, a can opener, water, soap, and clothes. All she really needed.. Or at least, she hoped.

Thoughts of what they would be encountering continued to drift through her mind.. And moreover, where they were going. To say she was shocked when they walked into the room with the portal would be an understatement. To say she was embarrassed when searched by the boogeymen was a gross understatement.

And then, as she went through the portal and into a completely different world, Riyo stood in awe and looked to the sky. The smell in the air was different. The scenery was certainly different... And Riyo even thought that the sound of the wind might be different. It was amazing.

Silently, Riyo shook off her dazed look and listened to their rather violent professor as she gave them the run down. The house... Was alive? Was that right? The feline's ears perked as she waited for the explanation... That never came.

What finally snapped her back to reality was Hel approaching with the strange little pills. Brow furrowing, she stared at the pumpkin-colored dots before looking towards the others. "What would be the best way to divide these?"  

[kuropeco]

TEAM SKULLKER


Ren was wondering two things:

a.) Given what had happened the last field trip, why had he agreed to go on this one? and

b.) Why the Jack was Tybalt on his team?

He didn't really know the answer to either of these questions, however, which frustrated him, but it was no matter.

Except maybe he was going crazy or he was just plain stupid.

Both of these were valid conclusions. However, despite both of these infernal musings, Renaissance the Gryphon found himself, yet again, on an Amityville High field trip.

Which also meant being forced to go through the most ridiculous security inspection by a set of over eager gnomes.

Once they were all certain that Ren was, in fact, not smuggling any of Alessa's homemade cookies, Rhys, pumpkin juice, soda, or any sort of weapon, beneath his jacket, he was permitted to go through the portal. He glared at them as he walked by, his bandaged hand reaching for the side of the transportation device, and within a few seconds he had hauled himself through.

It was the Human World.

Ren stared. He had been here only once before, back when he had first been a student of Amityville. The secretary had been doing something around the forest grounds, and several of the students had instinctively gone to figure out what.

It seemed like so long ago, now; and even then, this place looked nothing like where they had appeared last time, in a graveyard of sorts. The sky above them was not a constant dark grey, dotted with clouds like it was back home, but instead was a myriad of reds, orange, and golds. And it did not smell like rain - a rather disconcerting fact. Ren's nose twitched, his eyes flickering warily from one tree in their surrounding to the next. Instinctively, he stepped closer to the one person he always did in times like these, his shoulder pressing against a warm and familiar arm.

"This oughta be interesting," Ren murmured, casting a glance at the all-too-familiar Professor Red, standing several feet away. The two she was speaking with were unfamiliar, but it was no matter. Professor Red had moved away, speaking in a loud, commanding voice to all of them as she held up a tiny orange object.

Those were definitely recognizable. Ren stared at them, slightly taken aback.

"...pumpkin pills," he muttered to his companion, reaching up to absently rub his neck. His ears flattened back against his hair, which was tied up in a loose knot at the back of his head. "Those are from that...that train ride. The Christmas place..."

Come to think of it, that had been the first field trip Ren had ever gone on, back before he had even gotten to Amityville High. And it had been slightly less disastrous than the island field trip.

But only slightly.

"I'll get the pills," Ren mumbled to Gabrian, glancing around at their motley little crew. He reached out a hand, absently patting Jove's head, and couldn't help glancing around surreptitiously, looking for LW. He hadn't liked separating from her, but she was in good hands with both Natalia and Mei.

He stepped toward Professor Red (wondering, at the same time, why she had called for Roch), accepting the box of pills and returning to his group.

"Well," said Ren, rocking back on his heels, wings fluttering against his back. "Here goes nothing, right?"

Dark Fire Angel

Grey Dragon

OnionGrump

Ary Keeyara

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Team Awesome

Once he made sure he had his supplies packed away, Shun had slung his bag over his shoulder before making his way to meet with the rest of the group, eyeing Riyo rather critically as he saw her. Working with her was going to be the hardest to do of the rest of them, if only because she seemed considerably less willing to cooperate than he was.

Stepping through the portal, he paused as he saw the sky. This was the human world? He wasn't entirely certain how to feel about this, but it certainly was interesting. Would they be finding any humans, he had to wonder. In which case, this would provide an excellent time to be learning more details of the lot.

The Reaper's attention shifted over towards the boogeymen, narrowing his eyes for the moment. He wasn't the most trusting guy of them, but he didn't say anything of it. Then, looking over to Hel as she came back with the pills, he looked around, shrugging.

"I"ll pass. Give one to the rest," he said. He felt fairly confident in his own abilities and all. That aside, he was more concerned about Mitsu's welfare.  

[DarkHeartedSorrows]

Team Scarlet Sabbath (+PIG)

Jack Skellington...

Nyyrikki glowered as bag after bag of gooey bears was emptied from his pig. It looked so sad. It's enchanted eyes stared at him in horror - or, they would have been staring in horror if they could actually make a face. All that was left for the pig to hold lovingly was their hair products (with Roch along, that seemed to be quite a bit), deodorants, some spare clothes, and a couple bottles of water. They wouldn't even let him keep his jacking eye pod. Boogeymen sucked.

He shouldered the after-image pig (with the boogeyman diet, it lost 5 pounds!), and stepped through the portal just in time to hear Roch's name called. Snicker? Why yes he would, thank you. It was just like Roch to get in trouble before the trip had really started. Hopefully he'd get it all out of his system now and they'd have an incident-free stay.

Haha...

Hahahahaha.  

[Bittiface]

Team Awesome

Today was the day! Upon hearing the announcement, Mot was filled to the brim with two very clashing emotions; Excitement and apprehension. He'd never been on a field trip, and he'd spent so long preparing, that he felt glee as the mysterious trip loomed. Yet, knowing the school's history of past trips, he had reason to be cautious.

He was about as cautious as a child told to play safe at a water park.

The boil practically skipped his way to the meeting place, grinning ear to ear and blabbering on about what he packed and how exciting it was to be out of school for a while. However, when Mot caught site of the boogieman guarding the portal..
He was even more excited.
The reaper asked a million questions about the profession, even as his belongings were searched, barely taking a breath between topics.

Mot's Duffel Bag

~5 packs of jerky
~1 first aid kit
~1 canteen of water
~extra clothes
~1 ball of twine
~toiletries
~parchment and graphite

The officers were probably more than happy to let the boil into the portal.

And then, their destination! The Human World! It was Mot`s first time, and it was amazing!

Mot joined his team mates for the briefing, biting his bottom lip to keep from giggling and bouncing on his heels all the while. Once done, and Hel had come back with the pills, Mot shrugged. "I, Riyo and Mitsu will take one, then. Though I think we'll use them only when in dire need." Mot said in a haughty tone, a proud smile lingering on his face. "If someone other than myself needs it in the group later on, I'll give it up if need be. Dependent on the circumstances."  

[bipolar bee]

Team: Misery Inc.

Herryk. Was. So. Excited. This was his first field trip ever, and he could hardly wait. He couldn't understand the apprehension he heard in the voices of a few of the students that milled around. This was going to be so awesome! The human world!!

Herryk was dressed up in the outfit that he'd been given. The pants were... kind of tight, but he was really digging the orange ascot he'd been told to wear. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be dressed up in the uniform, but Herryk hadn't been able to help himself.

Seriously, the ascot was awesome.

Clutching his bag to his chest (stocked with a various assortment of toiletries, an extra set of clothes and a pair of his boots), Herryk peered around for the other members of his group. He didn't really know any of them as he'd been sort of dragged into the group by Freya, but he held high hopes that friendships would sprout from the field trip.  

[Bilious]

Team: Misery Inc.

Christof was not entirely thrilled by the "uniform" Calder had supplied him. For him... it mostly consisted of a hat. A hat with floppy ears. And a demand that he wear all brown that day. Thankfully, most of his clothes were brown anyway, brown patched coat, brown vest, brown striped pants and his usual heavy boots, but the hat.... he sighed, scratching at his hair under the hood. Oh well, he would humor his friends.

He was aware they had two FIRST years with them, which worried him the most. Miss Freya had been... most insistent on joining them, although he had no idea WHY... but she did have very nice Parts, at least, and if she did die, maybe he could pick up the left overs. The other first year he had not met yet, just knew he was a friend of the Valkyrie's.... At the sight of Harryk, though, his patched face paled.

Oh.

THAT first year.

Well.

He wobbled. He had wanted to investigate the portal, try to see if he could figure out how it was made, but now was not the time. They had a job to do.... apparently. Whatever that job was, he didn't know yet, but with these Field Trips, there usually was some sort of deadly, dangerous task at hand.

He glanced about frantically for any sign of his two friends, but it seemed they hadn't quite arrived yet. Begrudgingly, he shuffled towards the giant brute of Herryk, brows furrowed as he stared at that ascot.

Somehow wearing more clothes made Herryk look.... even larger, if that was possible. He gave an unintelligible grunt in greeting, wondering if he had picked up the pumpkin pills just yet.  

[bipolar bee]

Team: Misery Inc.

Herryk's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Christof. The igor wasn't looking too pleased as he approached Herryk. Was he... was he staring at the ascot? Herryk's hand immediately went to the bright orange piece of cloth as he offered Christof a huge grin.

At Christof's grunt, Herryk brightened. "Herryk's ascot, you like it?" He wanted to slap the igor on the back as a sort of brotherly welcome, but he wasn't sure if he should. After all, he didn't really know Christof despite seeing him around at the Academy and at the Terror Warrior concession stand.

"Herryk is so excited for this field trip. It is nice of Christof and the others to let him tag along, and most especially it is nice to have this ascot." He hadn't stopped mussing with it since Christof's arrival by his side, and it was likely he wouldn't stop any time soon.

"Is Christof excited?" Herryk sidled closer, eyes bright with childish glee.  

[demon_pachabel]

TEAM X

Unlike some students, Shehk had never been to the human world before. The portal had been unusual to her, but that pause on the other side as she stared up at the sky was long and meaningful. The dying sky was beautiful, but she was also..... the air felt different to her. There was a certain feeling to it was lacked... it lacked FEAR. Every breath of it she took made it feel almost like she was gasping for air.

It was unsubstantial in that way. She would have to get used to it.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Shehk didn't have to sleep. If she had, she probably wouldn't have slept at all anyways and then she would have been exhausted - which frankly would have been pathetic. She was the one who had been telling people to get plenty of sleep, so if she ended up not resting enough, well.... that was just dumb. She took another moment to look at the sky, taking in the scenery before she moved towards that building in the distance. It was eerie, in it's own way. Definitely eerie. She watched it for a moment, before her eyes darted to Red.

Red, Red, Red. She both was terrified of and respected that woman. Shehk watched her cautiously, a bag over her shoulder. She'd packed that bag carefully and even given a list of suggestions to her team as to what they may have been wise to bring with them. Shehk's bag contained the following:

Shehk's Bag

• 3 sealed bottles of water
  
• One First Aid Kit
  ---- Packed with adhesive bandages, gauze, 2 ACE Bandages, prepackaged alcohol swabs, medical sutures, an eye patch, splints, and 'How to not kill someone while fixing them' instructions. Oddly, no painkillers. She gave a similar one to both Sammy and Toby.
  
• Squirrel Jerky. Lots and lots of Squirrel Jerky.
  
• An Extra set of clothing
  
• Deodorant x2 (she knows someone will forget it)
  
• Lysol
  
• Pine-scented soap
  
• Shampoo

She'd checked her bag four times before passing through the portal, but part of her was still paranoid she'd forgotten something. Never the less, if she had...she'd...hope someone else could spot her. If not..well... yeah. Still, a glance around told her she was the first one there. Goodie. The Pricolici shouldered her bag and walked up onto the porch to take up the box of three pumpkin pills they were being given, looking at it, then looking at Red and nodding firmly, before stepping back to find a space to wait for her group in.

She'd wait for everybody to assemble before she decided who would be manning the pumpkin pills for the group.

Leikkun

x_Nata_x

Hanyousblood

Miliardo Kason

 

[Dragain]

Team ARPK (thanks a lot, Danse, ilu)

She had packed her bag carefully; after the previous two field trips that she had gone through, she knew better than to leave her room unprepared. Her bag might look like the average, ordinary bag, but it held everything that might be important - shampoo, soap, snacks (some confiscated), fresh water, a change of clothing as well as her spare phone; being her eyephone just seemed like a bad idea to her.

Stepping through the portal, she looked around for her group - a ragtag team of friends and acquaintances... It made her nervous to think that they would be going through something as important and potentially life-threatening as a school field trip as strangers, although a small part of her was hopeful; they might become friends by the end of it! That was something to look forward to, at least.

As the only person she felt remotely close to on her team was Lattice, she tried to spot the ghoul in the growing crowd while looking for the other two members - Vieve and Edel, the latter whom she had only met briefly during the Festival.

At Red's instructions, she took one last look around before going to pick up the three pumpkin pills for their group. As she left with the pumpkin pills, she was hit with a realization - she was the only Knob in the group.

... She was the only Knob in the group.

... .... She was the only senior in the group.

Her group members would find her standing around with a rather dreamy, happy expression on her face, the pumpkin pills safe in her balled fist. The next person who addressed her would probably be met with an expression similar to the following.

Zyphiris

Pales

danse-hexe