graveyard part 3

[gamehead]

hunter's game the graveyard You wake up in an unfamiliar cabin. At first, it almost seems like you're in an entirely different place and that everything had been just a dream. The interior of the cabin looks nothing like the run-down, old-timey shacks that you had been living in before. Everything in here is sleek and modern, from the enormous flat-screen TV mounted on the wall to the fridge and mini-bars stocked with all your favorite foods. There aren't any individual rooms in here, just a common area large enough to house everyone comfortably, no matter how many more people join you...and there will be plenty more people joining you before the week is over. Because if you look outside the window, it quickly becomes clear that not only are you still in Prayer's Pass, but that you are no longer among the realm of the living. Judging from the tombstones directly outside, you're now in what had been the abandoned broken-down cabin in the graveyard. The cabin's not all that changed; the world outside has gone completely grey and everything you see appears to be faded and blurry. The only things that remain sharp and in color are what's inside the cabin, including your fellow ghosts. Occasionally, people who are still alive may enter, but it's clear that what they're seeing is completely different from what you're seeing. The door's unlocked; however, a mysterious force prevents you from stepping beyond the threshold, no matter how hard you may try. After all, this cabin is a cage for the dead - a gilded one, perhaps, but a cage nonetheless. On the flat-screen TV plays everything that is currently happening in the town. It will shut off once night starts...and something else will appear instead.

Comments

[speakveryclearly]

It doesn't make sense... Every other major group was split up - the Carters and their boyfriends, the nations, the Hope's Peak Students, all had multiple wolves among them. I think it's because an interdimensional town brought you together, Critter didn't think it mattered as much for there to be balance respective to your alignments.

...that doesn't surprise me much, wouldn't you know? The role after all... was first assigned to Elliot Nightray...

[expiatrice]

We had one and only one: Edward Nigma, the Alpha. Him, Joshua, Charles, myself, Luke, and Ema are all from Mayfield. That family was split, but one out of 6 is low. There is no sense or reason to the alignments, in my opinion. After all, out of the 7 nations, 3 were hu- wolves. Honestly, any one of us three would have made good wolves. We can work with each other just as well as we work against each other; Joshua and Charles spent a lot of effort and energy verifying my alignment first before they brought me back in and updated me on everything, did you know? They really thought I was the convert, for a while.

So it was him that it fell to. A little ironic, since I know he wouldn't protect others unless he was threatened with something important. Still, it's not a role that fits him well.

[speakveryclearly]

I have to admit I would have been an awful wolf, even if Kyouko is proof their ambitions are noble. I literally can't lie to save my life.

I think... Ada's given me the impression it fit the original owner's temperament better... [And bonding with Ada makes her feel a little worse about lynching Nightray] It makes sense considering he was so noble he refused to play...

[expiatrice]

Miss Vessalius did lie very well, speaking of which! I commend her for that, even if she's only likely been a pawn to the sharper wolves, but I admit it only makes me all the more curious about what the wolves are truly fighting for. Do we know if their cause is individualistic or unified?

...

You may be looking too much into it. I'm not close to miss Rapunzel, but does she really strike as a bloodhound to you? And Kuonji-san the werewolf sacrifice, for that matter? It could be just luck, though either way, do you really think the truth to that would help us any on both sides?

[speakveryclearly]

You're right about that. [Suddenly bitter bile rises in her mouth.] Rapunzel admitted herself I could have done better. I've even got a thing for blood. Ukyo, though, she was at least conscious and noble about what she was doing, certainly willing to have been martyred.

Anyway. I've got some theories about the wolves. I think they know something we don't about this game, especially what is accomplished the deaths occurring therein. They seem confident that if we knew what they did our allegiance would switch. Which is why one of the few penalties Critter bothers to impose upon the prey is punishment of traitors... it wants us to stay ignorant of why they should or should not win. All we former prey could say about the game is the numbers of who lived or died, and on that front we obviously still hold the upper hand, however shakily... But there's clearly something more to this. Something in the clues.

[expiatrice]

Rapunzel performed excellently, however. She worked her abilities for 4 nights, and during three she scoured out hunters: Ukyo Kuonji, Tony Stark, and England. It would partially at least account for the wolves' downfall.

[She nods.]

Lithuania raised concerns about the phone call during our meeting. I personally didn't pay it heed then, since we still had the game to focus about, but then there was the occasion when Charles asked Critter just who the hunters truly are. Its reaction was fascinating, wasn't it? The pages of Abigail's diary found since suggest the same thing; I'm already willing to believe we're all hunters, the reason why I've be referring to the wolves as 'wolves'. Preys who hunt wolves to save their own, and wolves who hunt because they are naturally predators. Given the context of the game however, and if what you said about Kirigiri is true, then the wolves aren't so much hunting as they are trying to come out on top of whatever we've all been caught in. If that's the case though, I'll concede that Charles, Joshua, and I were on the right side all along: we would have done anything to see our objectives met.

[She shakes her head.]

They've been frustratingly vague. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish, but at this rate, this hunting game will end in 2 days.

[speakveryclearly]

She knew what England was for so long though, that he was lying about being our protector. Whatever sympathies I may have developed for the pack, I'm still very angry about that gambit of his and its results. Every night America labored under that impression - that could have extended the game, would have reduced the number of prey deaths, and in the very limited window after England was out of the way he saved two lives! Given how well-planned your friends' final coup is there's probably little more that would need to be done to assure prey's victory - but there would almost definitely be more prey escaping the town.

[expiatrice]

Kirigiri-san is cautious and righteous. Without solid proof, she could not condemn England. At any rate, we can agree that the wolves are all fighting for something they wish very badly to obtain. Something we won't be getting an answer for anytime soon, so the point is nigh moot.

[Her smirk grows a tad sinister.]

It's not just that, now. Joshua is extremely competent and he's among the top players who spun the gears in motion, but the biggest mistake that's occurred during last night to today was targeting to eliminate 2 out of us at the same time in one strike. Haha, they really should've gotten him lynched while they had the chance.

[speakveryclearly]

I must say, the trials when I was undead were so different from the ones afterward. You actually had evidence. And even Madoka voted! I'm so proud of her for that.

[expiatrice]

The mishap with miss Skye aside, miss Rapunzel's death is what's likely started the whole engine, thinking back. She never claimed, but she did leave information behind in the right hands. Those passed through the proper channels, leading to Tony Stark on day 7 and England on day 8. Ukyo Kuonji too, even as a sacrifice. ...Haha, they've truly been an unlucky lot.

[speakveryclearly]

Incredibly unlucky. Kyouko took out two hunters before she even lost her role... and even the abstention burnings didn't spare them entirely.

[expiatrice]

Hmph, I still truly question the wolves' resolve at this point. Their lack of organization and unwillingness to vote saved Joshua over Bruce Wayne, for one, and trying to protect friends from home has also been a fatal mistake. Kirigiri should have been killed before she had a chance to get to Robin. Additionally, above investigator roles, they should have aimed for the intelligent and resolute from the very start. These are the individuals best-placed to rally others and rely information; I passed on Luke's notes from miss Skye like that, and Joshua pulled us together after receiving Rapunzel's findings from Beat. Kirigiri's role is useful, but with Maizono as the guardian who can pass out guns to use during daytime, her function is replaceable. The outcome would be very different right now, if any of us were killed earlier in the game. Kirigiri might have been the wolves's ace and had the potential to turn it around, but...

[She frowns at that, a hand cupping her chin.

Also way to go Ciel, shooting off in the graveyard about a plan of attack if she was wolf. NOT SUSPICIOUS AT ALL...]

[glowing_skye]

Scientifically speaking, assuming that the roles were assigned randomly the low percentage of Mayfield wolves is certainly feasible. Unlikely, statistically, but far from impossible.

Knowing how planned out everything else is, though... I have serious doubts as to whether roles were randomly assigned.

I'm just glad that the three of you were on our side. I think.

1/2

[expiatrice]

I won't comment about the special roles, though I'll concede that the game seemed severely rigged in the preys' favor. Kirigiri was the optimal convert, but giving us another bloodhound when our first snuffed out three was overkill.

2/2

[expiatrice]

...

[A small laugh at that.]

You must've already heard what's to come from Joshua, miss Skye? It won't be for much longer, now.

Re: 2/2

[glowing_skye]

I have heard, yes. Bitterness over dying stupidly aside, my concern is that the prey winning is what the Critter wants. You're right that it's certainly made moves in the prey's favor.

Either way, if there's some sort of award for smart play, the three of you deserve it.

[expiatrice]

...Ah, that. [She grimaces a little.] I'm aware my apology won't be enough, but I'd like to apologize regardless. That day was truly ridiculous and unbelievable, though our comeback only reinforces the idea that everything's been rigged from the start. As for Critter's wishes, now that I'm here and the outcome of the game is practically decided, I suppose I would have more time to mull over it. Can you tell me what you've heard so far, miss Skye?

[A shake of her head there, though.]

We've simply been coordinating properly. In the end, above logical reasoning, cooperation and resolve are key.

[glowing_skye]

There's nothing that you specifically need to apologize for. It was a stupid day all around, but things have really improved on the prey's side since then.

As far as the Critter goes... we're merely running on conjecture. The Critter's just as cryptic toward us when we're dead as it was when we were alive. The only difference is the option to unlock clues at night, and a fuller picture of the whole scale of it. Joshua's more or less covered what I already know.

[expiatrice]

Yet there's still a divide. Just what are the wolves fighting for?

[Shakes her head...]

Do we get to review the clues on this side? I've left my journal behind.

[glowing_skye]

That's the one thing we prey don't know and can't know. They're forbidden from telling us--the Critter has made it a point to remind them at least once daily.

We can review anything that's publicly happened, but that's it. Private conversations and artifacts are off-limits to us. But you have the added advantage of collaboration with everyone else who died. I'm not sure it's an even trade.

[expiatrice]

Can they tell us how this underlying game correlates to wolf victory? I'm hearing many 'the prey won't get enough time to receive the clues'. How are we guaranteed how much they matter regardless of which side wins? Won't the wolves be faced with the same thing? Additionally, are we all irrevocably assuming every clue is absolutely necessary in order to solve the mystery? [she frowns a little at that.] I'll review them later in that case, but it still seems like many gaps in logic are made, even by those who've witnessed a great deal from this side.

[condescent]

[cutting in here with a shrug] It's likely that Critter knew none of us would have hesitated in eliminating the others had we been on different sides or been that broken up about it. Entities like that usually enjoy seeing their pawns suffer as much as possible, and we wouldn't have given it much satisfaction in that regard, alas. Well, it did split up me and Sanae in the beginning, so points for effort I suppose, though I could have told it from the outset that he's tried to kill me before.

[notyetlost]

[Poland just mumbles to himself sullenly, after hearing that last bit.] Wow, like where was that Sanae when we needed him.

[Their protection list caused them more trouble than the Hunters could really afford.]

[speakveryclearly]

...It's at times like this I'm glad I came here alone.