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 robowest.
[... He may not be able to see, but what he hears—the sound of movements, Natalie's voice, and the voices he doesn't hear—tells him enough.
She's dead.
Noct really doesn't have to help him anymore, because he's remaining still for a few moments, as if he's shut down (and he allows himself that luxury for now, as there's no danger now, save for others' tempers). A part of him is glad that he doesn't have to see whatever it is that lies before them.
... Yuna's gone.
A choked up laugh bubbles out of him, because it's almost funny. He knew this was going to happen, for so long.
[it's like everything goes quiet around her once Milla lays eyes on Barnham, then Russell, then. . . Yuna]
[she stands, dead still, unable to tear her gaze away from this scene, like her limbs and eyes are frozen in tableau. the sight of Yuna isn't a surprise, per se, but it does bring back something painful. it makes her stomach twist in her gut. it rips at her heart, and reminds her that even great spirits are capable of feeling broken]
[fear. loss. pain. hurt. sadness. it. . . had been a long time, since emotion had clouded Maxwell's judgment this much]
[in the back of her mind, she knows she shouldn't let it get to her. she knows she needs to remain calm, focused, determined, strong. but when she thinks back to the feel of Yuna's blood soaked fingers clutched tightly in hers, remembers the younger woman's smile, the last words that had fallen from her lips, and their conversation full of pinkie promises and the word sister earlier that week, she just can't bring herself to care]
[Natalie is yelling something, advancing on her quickly, but it all falls on deaf ears. in a swift motion, Milla yanks Higekiri's sword from its sheath and bolts again. this time, heading straight for the Sheriff's station. SHE AT LEAST. . . HAS ENOUGH SENSE NOT TO BARREL RIGHT INTO NATALIE, oh my god]
HAL!
[her voice booms and wow she looks like she's gonna burst through that fucking door. the pain from her injuries is almost unbearable, but she doesn't care, she doesn't care, she needs to get into that station and commit robot murder kthnxbai]
Barnham looks up at the yelling, and then there's Noct right in front of him offering him a hand, and he rallies himself. He can't break down here. That's... unacceptable.
It'd be unacceptable to Russell, especially. He told Russell that his courage and his effort made him proud. If he can't emulate that, what good is he? So Barnham takes a deep breath, and accepts Noct's hand up, but then he immediately turns on Milla and takes the necessary strikes to try to grab her uninjured arm???
Milla??]
Miss. Maxwell.
Enough.
[Don't get yourself killed right now, that'd be... that'd be really something.
(He can't do anything for Shinnosuke right now, he doesn't know what to do about Jason and Natalie, and Noct is trying far too hard for everyone's sakes, but he can do this, and try to get his head back on straight.)]
Jason feels like his whole body is made out of lead, but that doesn't stop him from pushing himself up to his feet once Noctis lends Barnham a hand. There is too much happening and he feels legitimately sick to his stomach. He failed to protect Yuna despite promising he would, and now — well. Now she's dead and so is Russell. He sure is the world's best babysitter, huh?
It's fortunate he can't speak anymore. He's pretty sure he would either barf or cry if he tried to open his mouth right now. How classy! Regardless, he makes his way over to Natalie, intercepting her before she can follow after Milla. Barnham has the Maxwell Dilemma under control, so... He focuses on grabbing her remaining wrist, shaking his head at her as if to tell her to cut it out.
Now isn't the time to fight. Not when they have two corpses to deal with and a trial waiting for them tomorrow.]
[She's vaguely aware of everyone else there, but her focus is still on Milla. When the other woman changes course, she nearly follows suit, until Jason is grabbing her arm. She looks back, enraged, to see who it is taking hold of her. Her expression softens when she sees him; as ever, he grounds her.
For maybe a second, that is. Then she remembers what he did, and she looks furious all over again. Her voice is shrill, suddenly hoarse.]
You - you don't... Let go of me!
[The raw, screaming fire inside her is the only thing distracting her from how she wants to vomit again. Suddenly, despite the anger in her expression in her voice, there's something more. There's fear, and there's concern.
Now more than ever, she can't lose him, too.]
Fuck you! Fuck you, don't... Don't you ever scare me like that again, you asshole!
[At least it seems like he's succeeded in distracting her from Milla.]
they're getting absolutely nowhere like this, and noctis has kind of had enough. he's been in this situation, where it was easier to lash out in mourning than deal with things the right way, where tensions have been high because the stakes are even higher. but it's not helping. not a single thing about this is helping.
barnham's trying to pull himself together, people are yelling and scared and angry and it's.
not.
helping.]
Would everyone just— [so this time, it's noct who raises his voice, almost uncharacteristically from what they've seen of him before.
but at the end of the day, he's still someone who knows in the grander scheme of things, he's supposed to be a leader. so right now? he's going to be the one to try and get this situation under control.]
Calm the hell down for a minute and start explaining what's going on!?
[but he draws in a breath to try and even himself out after that because this is just a huge mess and the wires are getting crossed everywhere.
there's definitely a muscled man on another world shedding a proud tear that his tough love has rubbed off on noct enough for something liked this.]
Shinnosuke smiles wryly, before he turns on his heel. It's not his job to calm others down, and he doesn't have the energy for that to begin with. He'll leave it to them. At any rate... he can guess what happened here.
He doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel anything.
(It should've been him in the stocks instead of Russell. He should've been there for Yuna. No—these are foolish thoughts, he knows.)]
I'm going to report to the others that Russell and Yuna are dead. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
[And with that, he begins walking away. Bye, guys.]
[thank you Barnham for stopping her in her tracks]
Let go of me!
[she yells, yanking on her arm as she tries to continue forward. but exhaustion is catching up to her now, and all at once her limbs give out from underneath her. she drops to her knees, sword clattering on the ground next to her, and hisses in pain]
[it's almost blinding. her eyes slip shut, and she balls the hand of her free arm into a fist, which she immediately brings down against the ground as hard as she can]
[she's okay. she's okay. Barnham's got her, her body has decided to rebel against her desires, and she's. . . okay. give her. a moment. or ten]
. . .
[when she next speaks, it's quiet, directed at Noctis specifically]
[... Well. He's never heard Noct use that tone of voice either. He's always seemed so willing to go with the flow of things, or gently try to change things--
It's a sign of how much this is wearing on all of them, isn't it? Still, it's not a bad reminder, and if that plus Milla's body giving out on her help slow her down, it's good enough for him.
Barnham crouches beside her, and offers her his arm to quietly help her up.
He doesn't have much to say right now, though, admittedly.]
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robowest2017-02-17 06:00 pm
no subject
She's dead.
Noct really doesn't have to help him anymore, because he's remaining still for a few moments, as if he's shut down (and he allows himself that luxury for now, as there's no danger now, save for others' tempers). A part of him is glad that he doesn't have to see whatever it is that lies before them.
... Yuna's gone.
A choked up laugh bubbles out of him, because it's almost funny. He knew this was going to happen, for so long.
He was an idiot for getting attached.]
no subject
[she stands, dead still, unable to tear her gaze away from this scene, like her limbs and eyes are frozen in tableau. the sight of Yuna isn't a surprise, per se, but it does bring back something painful. it makes her stomach twist in her gut. it rips at her heart, and reminds her that even great spirits are capable of feeling broken]
[fear. loss. pain. hurt. sadness. it. . . had been a long time, since emotion had clouded Maxwell's judgment this much]
[in the back of her mind, she knows she shouldn't let it get to her. she knows she needs to remain calm, focused, determined, strong. but when she thinks back to the feel of Yuna's blood soaked fingers clutched tightly in hers, remembers the younger woman's smile, the last words that had fallen from her lips, and their conversation full of pinkie promises and the word sister earlier that week, she just can't bring herself to care]
[Natalie is yelling something, advancing on her quickly, but it all falls on deaf ears. in a swift motion, Milla yanks Higekiri's sword from its sheath and bolts again. this time, heading straight for the Sheriff's station. SHE AT LEAST. . . HAS ENOUGH SENSE NOT TO BARREL RIGHT INTO NATALIE, oh my god]
HAL!
[her voice booms and wow she looks like she's gonna burst through that fucking door. the pain from her injuries is almost unbearable, but she doesn't care, she doesn't care, she needs to get into that station and commit robot murder kthnxbai]
no subject
Barnham looks up at the yelling, and then there's Noct right in front of him offering him a hand, and he rallies himself. He can't break down here. That's... unacceptable.
It'd be unacceptable to Russell, especially. He told Russell that his courage and his effort made him proud. If he can't emulate that, what good is he? So Barnham takes a deep breath, and accepts Noct's hand up, but then he immediately turns on Milla and takes the necessary strikes to try to grab her uninjured arm???
Milla??]
Miss. Maxwell.
Enough.
[Don't get yourself killed right now, that'd be... that'd be really something.
(He can't do anything for Shinnosuke right now, he doesn't know what to do about Jason and Natalie, and Noct is trying far too hard for everyone's sakes, but he can do this, and try to get his head back on straight.)]
no subject
Jason feels like his whole body is made out of lead, but that doesn't stop him from pushing himself up to his feet once Noctis lends Barnham a hand. There is too much happening and he feels legitimately sick to his stomach. He failed to protect Yuna despite promising he would, and now — well. Now she's dead and so is Russell. He sure is the world's best babysitter, huh?
It's fortunate he can't speak anymore. He's pretty sure he would either barf or cry if he tried to open his mouth right now. How classy! Regardless, he makes his way over to Natalie, intercepting her before she can follow after Milla. Barnham has the Maxwell Dilemma under control, so... He focuses on grabbing her remaining wrist, shaking his head at her as if to tell her to cut it out.
Now isn't the time to fight. Not when they have two corpses to deal with and a trial waiting for them tomorrow.]
no subject
For maybe a second, that is. Then she remembers what he did, and she looks furious all over again. Her voice is shrill, suddenly hoarse.]
You - you don't... Let go of me!
[The raw, screaming fire inside her is the only thing distracting her from how she wants to vomit again. Suddenly, despite the anger in her expression in her voice, there's something more. There's fear, and there's concern.
Now more than ever, she can't lose him, too.]
Fuck you! Fuck you, don't... Don't you ever scare me like that again, you asshole!
[At least it seems like he's succeeded in distracting her from Milla.]
no subject
they're getting absolutely nowhere like this, and noctis has kind of had enough. he's been in this situation, where it was easier to lash out in mourning than deal with things the right way, where tensions have been high because the stakes are even higher. but it's not helping. not a single thing about this is helping.
barnham's trying to pull himself together, people are yelling and scared and angry and it's.
not.
helping.]
Would everyone just— [so this time, it's noct who raises his voice, almost uncharacteristically from what they've seen of him before.
but at the end of the day, he's still someone who knows in the grander scheme of things, he's supposed to be a leader. so right now? he's going to be the one to try and get this situation under control.]
Calm the hell down for a minute and start explaining what's going on!?
[but he draws in a breath to try and even himself out after that because this is just a huge mess and the wires are getting crossed everywhere.
there's definitely a muscled man on another world shedding a proud tear that his tough love has rubbed off on noct enough for something liked this.]
no subject
Shinnosuke smiles wryly, before he turns on his heel. It's not his job to calm others down, and he doesn't have the energy for that to begin with. He'll leave it to them. At any rate... he can guess what happened here.
He doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel anything.
(It should've been him in the stocks instead of Russell. He should've been there for Yuna. No—these are foolish thoughts, he knows.)]
I'm going to report to the others that Russell and Yuna are dead. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
[And with that, he begins walking away. Bye, guys.]
no subject
Let go of me!
[she yells, yanking on her arm as she tries to continue forward. but exhaustion is catching up to her now, and all at once her limbs give out from underneath her. she drops to her knees, sword clattering on the ground next to her, and hisses in pain]
[it's almost blinding. her eyes slip shut, and she balls the hand of her free arm into a fist, which she immediately brings down against the ground as hard as she can]
[she's okay. she's okay. Barnham's got her, her body has decided to rebel against her desires, and she's. . . okay. give her. a moment. or ten]
. . .
[when she next speaks, it's quiet, directed at Noctis specifically]
. . . I'm calm.
no subject
It's a sign of how much this is wearing on all of them, isn't it? Still, it's not a bad reminder, and if that plus Milla's body giving out on her help slow her down, it's good enough for him.
Barnham crouches beside her, and offers her his arm to quietly help her up.
He doesn't have much to say right now, though, admittedly.]