The town is quiet, eerily so. All animals, all chatter, all gusts of wind have come to a complete stop this morning. A tumbleweed passes by through the center of town and the rocking chair on the Sheriff's porch sways but remains silent. Everything is muted and as the door of the hotel opens, the only sensation that rings utterly true today is this:
One of your own is gone.
And now, as the rules state, it is your job to discover their fate.
Welcome to the investigation post! If your character decides to search an area, please post the name of the location in your header and wait for the mod replies. Anything to discover or not to will be indicated during the course of the thread.
After the body is discovered, an announcement will be made and characters are free to spend the rest of the afternoons how they like. If there are any questions, please shoot a message either to this journal or at ![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico) robowest.
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robowest2017-01-27 05:58 pm
saloon - now in the right place
If nothing else, she can fortify herself with alcohol for what's to come.]
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[ oh god oh god oh god
darting after her friend. She's still wearing the same clothes she was in last night, and honestly, she looks exhausted. Pure adrenaline is keeping her going right now. ]
We'll go together, [ she says as she catches up, serious and concerned. ]
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[It's something of a relief to have someone familiar around, though at the same time, if something is here, she doesn't want Xion to have to see it. ...well, they'll just have to do their best.]
Stay behind me and Mister Auditore. Just in case.
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Better to be safe, wouldn't you say?
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[Sei takes a deep breath. Okay. Xion and Ezio. This should be a pretty solid group - they'll be fine.]
...surely there won't be a murder here twice.
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The Saloon is as empty as Sara's bed. ]
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Anyway Xion will follow the other two in with some small chagrin because she doesn't need to be protected, OKAY, but there's nothing here anyway. ]
It's empty... and clean. Should we check upstairs?
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[But with nothing to find, it'll probably be a short search. So much the better, though - until they actually find a body, they can pretend this isn't happening.]
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[ It's only partially rhetorical as she leads the way to the stairs. She feels strangely frustrated. Being someplace without evidence just means they can't help... but at the same time, they can't afford to not be thorough. ]
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[She sounds like she's trying to be reassuring, at least, rather than dismissive, and they climb the stairs together.]
It's possible nothing happened down here and everything relevant is upstairs, but you'd think they'd have left a clue of some kind coming down. Otherwise, they'd have had to have jumped out the window to leave no trace of it down here, and I don't think the people in this town who can jump like that [Ezio] would do something like this...
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It's hard to say, isn't it? Some of my friends ... keep telling me not to trust anyone.
[ She glances back at Seizaburo, and something in her expression is tender. ]
I don't know how not to, though.
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...your friends are probably just worried about you. It's easy to get taken advantage of when you trust people who don't deserve it.
[Sei smiles faintly.]
But I don't think it's a bad thing to trust. Having people you can rely on is one of the best things in the world.
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... that's true, [ she murmurs, faint, and there's something in her voice, like ... bitterness?
But looking back allows her to catch Sei's gentle smile, and it's enough to keep Xion from descending entirely into the foul mood that threatens. Her brow furrows over a pursed mouth. ]
Seizaburo... do you ... trust me?
[ what a loaded question ]
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Huh? Of course.
[Of course, she says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. It isn't, though, and she seems to realize that, because she follows it up.]
You've given me no reason to doubt you during the time that we've known each other, Miss Xion. So what else can I do but trust you?
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But... you don't even know me, [ she whispers. ] What if ... I betrayed you? Or ... you found out something horrible about me?
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[Sei smiles. This is a heavier conversation than she really expected to have today, but... with the knowledge that there's a dead body out there somewhere hanging over them, she supposes it's only natural for this sort of thing to be on anyone's mind.]
I may not know you very well yet, but... I like to think I'm not a terrible judge of character. There are definitely people I've met here that I don't trust, because of the way they behave - but you aren't one of them. Furthermore, I don't think there's anything for you to gain from betraying me.
[It would serve no purpose.]
...everyone has their own "something horrible" somewhere in their past. But even if there is something like that which I could discover about you, it's made you no less kind all this time.
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It is probably a surprise to absolutely no one that Xion's response to this is to just kind of dissolve. With a hiccup she lifts her fists to her face, rubbing at her eyes, and she whispers furiously to herself, over and over, ]
This isn't the time, this isn't the time, get a grip...
[ It's a lot. The faith that other people seem to have in her, for reason that seem, to her, to be so flimsy, based in nothing more than a few days of companionship and a handful of conversations ... it threatens to overwhelm her almost constantly. She doesn't know what to do with esteem. With faith. With respect. She's been without these things all her life.
To suddenly have them ...
It's a lot.
For whatever it's worth, she forces herself to calm down fairly quickly, swallowing the tears that want to fall and looking up. ... she has to sniff hard, but only once. ]
I want more than anything to be the person that you think I am. [ Said softly, but she continues with more strength: ] I'll be someone you can rely on, Seizaburo. I promise. Come on, we should keep going!
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Xion makes herself calm down and looks up, and Sei nods.]
I believe in you, Miss Xion.
[Onward they go! To find nothing in the saloon, and then to go discuss what other people have found.]