[ WEEK THREE ]

[sheriffexe]

WEEK THREE

CURRENT POPULATION: 35 It's a rather quaint town when you get down to it. At least, that's what the Sheriff would argue. Warm and dry in the mornings and afternoons with a brisk coolness in the evenings. The perfect type of weather to just sit out on your rocking chair and observe the comings and goings. ... Of course, there's not much in the way of comings and goings when there aren't any actual people here to watch. Nevertheless, don't let that get you down! The town is your oyster and those roosters won't stop crowing until everyone's out of bed. Up and at 'em, rise and shine, it's time to make the day yours! Except there is, perhaps, a few things amiss. This post functions as the general mingle post for the week. Wanted Posters and other small events will be posted in top levels below. If there's any questions or requests, please send a PM or shoot a PP to robowest.

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[thatsthespirit]

[on Wednesday evening, Milla will be. . . well, milling about the hotel lobby shortly after 9 PM, flagging people down and asking them to stick around because she has important things to say!! although she isn't going to force anyone to, if they really aren't interested.]

[once everyone who decides to listen to her are gathered, she speaks, arms folded over her torso]

Yesterday, Natalie, Seizaburo, Chane and myself investigated the mines to see what we could find. Unfortunately, the excursion didn't exactly go as planned.

[closes her eyes]

We first stumbled across a large, dark pit. Seizaburo and Natalie descended into it, where they found a pile of skeletons and dead bodies. Two of the corpses belonged to people from our group. As much as I hate to say it. . . to those of you who knew Ocelot, he is dead.

[a moment of reverent silence passes]

We were unable to identify the other victim, so if any of you haven't seen your roommate since Monday, please let me know. As I was not in the pit, I can't tell you how they died or how they wound up in the mines in the first place. Those are questions only Natalie and Seizaburo can answer.

[TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE. . . CONSPICUOUSLY. . . NOT HERE]

But as for those two. . . something happened with the skeletons in the pit. They were either taken by them, or killed by them, I'm not certain. I was unable to search the mines to further to discern their fates.

[thanks Chane!!]

If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability. That is all.

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke listens, his expression mostly passive, but it gets tighter with each bit of bad news (Natalie and Seizaburo?), before finally:]

... Are you friggin' kidding me?

[Four people gone/dead, and it's not even Friday yet. Damn it.]

[thatsthespirit]

[her expression is pretty somber herself, not hard and emotionless like it usually is when she's talking about bad news]

. . . I wish I was. Honestly.

[glaring]

...well, we do still have a murderer among us. The sheriff told me that the other guy he killed wasn't the one who did it

[ But it's not the right day so... she's not sure what anyone would have to gain from this. ]

[insincerely]

Dumping their corpses in the mines seems like a risky move, though... Well, unless they'd already investigated the mine shaft beforehand to determine how far they could go in safely.

[Though on that note, he supposes he might as well confirm:]

Hey, Milla. How difficult was it to reach the pit?

[thatsthespirit]

[Milla's thoughts exactly]

That's true, though I think it unlikely that Ocelot and the other individual's deaths are related to the game. It isn't the night murders are rewarded, after all.

But I cannot say that for certain.

[someone could be going around killing for kicks, not for reward]

[leadastray]

[Elizabeth solemnly raises her hand]

My roommate has been missing...we didn't converse much, but he went by the name Undertaker.

[thatsthespirit]

[oh 8(]

When did you last see him?

[court_chesster]

[ Simon brought the eyepatch dog with him, and drops down to pet it upon hearing the news. ]

Poor Ocelot... no wonder DD is so sad.

[thatsthespirit]

[oh nooooo. the poor dog. she addresses the animal directly and sincerely]

I truly apologize for your loss. I wish there had been something I could have done to prevent it.

[and then, to Simon]

Are you taking care of him now?

[impulsiveness]

[Jason's listening attentively, nodding at the appropriate places and storing information away for later... until the skeleton pit is brought up. He immediately pales.]

Wait— You can't be serious. Natalie and Seizaburo couldn't have just...

[Died? Disappeared? He doesn't know what's worse.]

Why couldn't you keep going? They might have still been alive yesterday!

[thatsthespirit]

[. . .]

[as annoyed as Milla is at Chane for knocking her out and forcefully dragging her out of the mines, she also doesn't want to throw her under the bus so quickly]

I wanted to continue searching for them. I didn't want to leave the mines without knowing their fates.

But I became-- incapacitated.

[ceded]

[ Well, Xion is one of the people who hangs around. Milla is a friend, so of course she'll listen. She honestly doesn't even suspect a thing, curling up in a chair to wait until Milla is ready to talk.

It's the list of names given that gets her to sit up straight. Four names, and only two of them present. Shock overwrites her expression as soon as the word "unfortunately" slips out, and her face stays that way for the entire story. Perhaps surprisingly to those who know her, she doesn't seem to really ... react. Not through expressions. She uncurls, sitting up straight and pressing both feet to the floor.

Ocelot and the other missing victim don't really register. Normally she'd be at least upset, but a screaming fear overrides anything else she might think or feel.

Perhaps the one real good tell comes when Milla explains why Natalie and Seizaburo aren't there. Xion's hands curl into fists so tight that her arms tremble. ]

They're just ... gone?

[ Her voice is soft and full of disbelief. ]

But...

[ Slowly she curls, pressing her hands to either side of her head. Her eyes are very wide. ]

No, I...

[ She's trying, trying so hard to just, just anything, breathe or speak or do anything and she-- she can't. She can't.

Xion doubles over, pressing her forehead into her knees while her hands twist into her hair to grip it so tight her knuckles turn white. There's quiet, for a moment.

And then, abruptly, she wails with grief before trailing off into quiet tears. ]

[thatsthespirit]

[Xion, by far, has the worst reaction out of anyone. Milla's own expression falters when the tears begin, and for a moment, she hesitates, uncertain on what she should do next. she is so bad at comfort. . .]

[and yet, there had been a few times in this place where she had succeeded, right? Yuna and Papika were partial to the hugs. Sara enjoyed drinking. so maybe. . .]

Xion. . .

[with a deep breath, she pushes past her hesitation and approaches, placing one hand on Xion's shoulder. she stays quiet, waiting for an opportunity to draw the younger woman into a small hug]

[leadastray]

[ Elizabeth is there with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Xion has been at the forefront when it came to looking out for others, trying to sooth her now is literally the least she can do, she wishes she could do more. ]

[insincerely]

[... Ah. He thought this might be hard for Xion—both because Xion is soft and because Seizaburo and Natalie were her friends. Seizaburo, whom Xion had bonded with even during grim times, in spite of their recent argument, and Natalie, who threatened Shinnosuke over not telling Xion happy birthday.

(This is part of why Shinnosuke doesn't want attachments. Why invest in something that'll only bring you grief in the end?)

A kind person would try and comfort Xion now, but no matter what Xion thinks about Shinnosuke, he knows that he isn't kind. He doesn't know how to reassure people, to begin with; it's not a skill he's ever honed. Besides, others seem eager to step up to the task. He has no reason not to leave it to them.

And so he watches Xion, before turning away to focus on the discussion.]

[generously]

[ Does nothing because he's a sociopath.

Yet still, Xion's pain evokes something inside him that not many do unless they're friends or family. Xion is certainly a dear friend - hell, it wouldn't surprise him if Chane and him took her in by the end of this ordeal. But someone has killed her friends now, so that leaves Claire with one solution and one very important question.




How the fuck does one kill a skeleton?

#problemsolving ]

[cherrypuncher]

Xion!

[And Yuna's there the second she can be, doesn't even wait for Xion to start crying before Yuna is pushing her way through to her, gathers her up in her arms and holds her tight. One hand takes one of Xion's, trying to keep her from pulling at her hair like that, and the other rubs small circles on her back.

Gone. They're just gone, and Milla could have died, too, but right now Yuna has to focus on what she can do something about, so she tries to keep Xion steady.]

[dubiousalignment]

[Natalie and Seizaburo...Tarvek freezes when he hears they're missing. Why? What did they do to deserve that? Why did that mine have skeletons and dead bodies?!

After a moment of silence he manages to speak, although it seems the disappearances of Natalie and Seizaburo did rattle him]

Did they--did they say anything about the skeletons? How they looked, or anything like that?

[thatsthespirit]

[THEY WERE MORONS THAT'S WHAT-- I mean no this is a serious thread with serious subject matter]

No. Seizaburo didn't give any detailed descriptions of the skeletons.

[so she totally doesn't know that there were weapons in the pit as well, because NOBODY TOLD HER sob sob]

[hydrokinetics]

[This can't be happening. For a moment, he's just...staring. He doesn't know what to say, alarmed that they went to the mines, angry that things went the way they did, angry at this game, frustrated there was nothing they could do.

Four people gone in three days.]

What do you mean "they were taken or killed by them"? They're skeletons. What actually happened? How can they just disappear?

[sidearmofthelaw]

...You went into the mines? What did you think you were gonna find? Ugh.

[ Nisha shakes her head. ]

They're just straight-up gone? The other two who went with you?

[ Not that she particularly knows them, but 'taken or killed by skeletons' is a little concerning. But she does have to address the other part too. ]

And Ocelot's dead, huh. I'm guessing you weren't able to figure out what happened to him.

[generously]

It's good that Chane stopped you.

Sounds like you would've bitten the dust like the other two girls. [ Plainly speaking... ] How deep was this cave?

[flippity]

They were... taken?

[ she looks shocked, understandably. hearing about the two dead bodies found down there is already bad enough, but not knowing what actually happened to the other two is somehow worse? ]

We need to try saving them!

[hitsitoff]

Damn it...

[Why does everything have to be such a mess, why can't things go smoothly in murder town for once.]

Anything else you can say about the mines? Anything that'll help us find those two again?