graveyard part 4

[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

[destage]

[...Good god, that may have been one of the worst ways to try and perform in the history of ever. Not fun. Not fun in the slightest and she never wanted to do it again as long as she lived...or perhaps as long as she was dead. Ha. Hahahaha.

Well, Sayaka wakes up from the floor of the newer cabin and seems like she's in a daze for all of ten seconds or so--when she looks around, she's pretty shocked at just how...good this is. Is this...heaven or something? ...Hell? She doesn't know, and she doesn't necessarily care. She'd done her part in this game, but she still left people behind. That was about the only regret she had.

She doesn't move from her spot, but she does stand up. The only thing that comes onto her face is a bitter smile.]

...Looks like I failed, huh...

[pasodoble]

Not at all. ( Spain is right there, waiting with the most encouraging smile he can manage. ) You did your best.

( And he'll soften his expression some and ask, )

Did you get back to the cabin all right?

[destage]

...Thank you, Spain-san. But I left Oowada-kun and Fukawa-san behind--I can't feel like I really succeeded...

[...If her smile brightening just a little bit is anything to go by, she appreciates what he said nonetheless.]

--Ah, yes! Fei-Ong-san and Oowada-kun both walked me back. ...Was that really your last wish?

[She uh. Kind of didn't hear it after she decided to go chair-fu on Holden. Sorry.]

[pasodoble]

Well, it isn't over yet. ( They still need to unlock clues to help the living so!!! ) So let's keep working hard here to help those we left behind, okay?

( He blinks, remembering everything that happened the day before. )

Sí. A lot happened yesterday so I wanted to make sure you weren't alone. ( With Kirigiri's death and all. Aaah but he's genuinely glad that Sayaka was able to find someone else to walk he rback. ) I'm glad that you weren't.

[destage]

...It isn't? [Well, she figured that this place meant that they could get out at some point but--awwwwwww yes!!] We'll still be able to help everyone here?

[...Awwwwwwww. She seems surprised at that, but she grins.] ...That's...really sweet of you to do. Thank you so much, Spain-san.

[It means a surprising amount to her, really.]

[pasodoble]

Haha! You should have thanked Charles and Oowada instead of me.

( Spain didn't do anything except die, oops. But yes, onto more important things, )

It looks like the dead really were the ones sending clues to all of us. ( He'll try to explain but he really isn't very good at these things, ) So it's our job to keep sending clues and maybe it'll help them out.

[destage]

I already did that! [She laughs a little.] The sentiment is just really sweet, though.

[...Blink, blink. Well! This is an odd surprise, she has to admit!] Wow, seriously? So all of that stuff we found...

[...You know, she's not sure if she should feel bad about the fact they won't be able to do much now, or just...]

I guess it's good that we're still useful, even dead...

[pasodoble]

Yup! I guess they're kind of like gifts. Let's make sure to send some clues that make sense though, okay?

( Spain is so tired of puzzles. Let's just give them an answer, ugh. )

[notyetlost]

It would have been like way more helpful if you hadn't been responsible for getting everyone shot.

[destage]

[...She admits she feels somewhat bad now that she knows of this place, but she simply looks to Poland seriously after he speaks.]

It's better than having people keep getting tortured to death, you know.

[notyetlost]

Yeah you totally think so?

We'll see if you still think that if you've managed to get another hunter shot today. With a trial looming later and three things to still unlock.

Super helpful.

[encored]

[whoops hi sayaka... he's still looking right huffy over here, but he nods in greeting to her anyway.]

Don't consider it a failure. Even without you there, we're still going to win.

[destage]

[Hello yourself Fei-Ong-san. Sayaka looks to him a little sheepishly.]

...I suppose in the grand scheme of things it isn't. Those two are as good as gone, and then everyone else will be able to get out.

...Nice work on finding out who the last two were, by the way--I'm pretty sure you were right on. [She actually grins at that, though the uncertainty is mostly with Sharon since she never talked to her.

What is this thing called sorrow, there is only some kiddish pride that they're gonna win. And it's gonna be so sweet.]

[encored]

Ah, so it is Mayu and Sharon Carter, then? [WAHAHA excellent, he looks tickled pink by that confirmation. nope no need for sorrow here!! he only hopes that the "order of surety/danger" is actually heeded when people look at the list he left behind.]

I've done the best that I can for you lot and you've certainly done yours so I suppose the only thing left to do is sit back and watch the fireworks, yes? Oowada will definitely be a big help, he likely won't take your death well at all. [...] How did you go, anyway?

[destage]

If Carter-san is a blonde, then yes, she is the other one. [He isn't the only one, really. But she has faith--faith that this'll be over soon, and that everything will run smoothly. It'll be awesome!!]

Mmhm! The fireworks should be pretty good now, at least! [...That question though, ah. Ahahahahaha.]

...Electrocution. They wanted me to sing--whenever I stopped, the machine I was hooked up to shocked me. ...I gave up after a while of that. [...Yeah, that's uh. Not fun. Not fun at all.]

[encored]

[clapping his hands together!! AW YEAH] She is! I don't know if you saw, but she was the one who approached me on the day of Bruce's trial, accusing me of orphaning a child. [and he LAUGHS because wow what hypocrisy.] Goodness, with Holden out as a candidate for our poisoner, that must be her, then. Hopefully her execution will be a beautiful sight to behold. I only regret I won't be able to view it in person, you know?

[as far as her electrocution goes...] Goodness, they're getting quite creative, aren't they? You deserve a quick death if that's to your taste, so I do hope you got it.

[construe]

[ Just kind of watching her from the back and being mysterious as usual. ]

[destage]

[It takes Sayaka some time to get out of her self pitying funk--with thanks to Spain and Charles, obviously, but she does catch sight of Kirigiri out of the corner of her eyes. .

..She isn't sure if talking to her would be a good idea--she did effectively have her death orchestrated, right? Even if she didn't know until it was too late.

Well. Enjoy the awkward stare-off, o' mysterious one, she has no idea what to say that isn't likely just going to be awkward as hell. How does she approach this, really...]

[construe]

[ Kirigiri, start a conversation? Never. She just keeps lingering, being mysterious and impenetrable. ]

[destage]

[She's got all eternity, sister, bring it on.

This is an awkward stare off that may go down in history.

...For about thirty more seconds. If Kirigiri hasn't simply decided to walk away by then, well...Sayaka is just going to try and break the ice here, walking forward just a bit.

No pressure. Just the girl she latched hard onto within the first four days who made her a puddle of emotions and is part of the reason she tried to take a chair to Holden's head.

No pressure.]

...H-Hey, Kirigiri-san...

[Absolutely no pressure.]

[construe]

[ No pressure at all.

Kirigiri doesn't know a goddamn thing about feelings or how to sort them out. She has tons of emotions and bottles them up all the time, causing them to come out at the poorest of times. And in this game it's helped her, but it's hindered her, too. ]

...

Hello.

[destage]

[...Man, that's...god, this is awkward. This is so awkward. She can practically feel the Jeopardy music playing in her head while she just...awkwardly stares.

...Deep breath...inhale, exhale.]

...Uh...

[Come on, she can do this--!]

...Thank you for the letter, Kirigiri-san.

[construe]

You're welcome.

[ Awkwardness descends like a heavy veil over everything again. Did you think she was going to add anything else to her reply??? Uh, nope. ]

[destage]

[...Goddammit. Sayaka's face tightens--she was hoping that it'd be easier than this, that it could just be simple. It never seems to be.

She looks to the Tv for a moment--she can see everything there. She wonders if Kirigiri may have seen how she reacted. ...How she referred to her. How she...

She shivers a bit, and...tries to give Kirigiri a smile. It's failing--she's just trying not to let her emotions go too soon, it's not her right to do so--]

...It...really meant a lot to me, Kirigiri-chan. Even after...

[Her eyes shut, tightly trying to trap her emotions in there. She doesn't speak for a few seconds, trying to keep everything under control.]

Even after everything that happened... [...Ugh. It's not working, why is it not--] I'm so...sorry, I...

[Yeah, no more words are coming out of her. Even if Kirigiri was converted...goddammit, she was still kind of the person she trusted most in this whole damn dismal place. And look at what happened to her; Sayaka's own role did her in. Sayaka...by proxy, Sayaka killed her.

...Sorry Kirigiri, she's...just gonna try and slip out of there. She doesn't believe she has the right to cry in front of her, not after what she did, even if Kirigiri was a wolf. A wolf, a wolf, a wolf..! ...A wolf that became precious to her, just by the sheer fact that she wasn't alone if she had her around. And ultimately, that did Sayaka in too.

Ugh.]

[construe]

[ Kirigiri stands there, stone-faced and silent, but when Sayaka turns to go, she follows her. ]

Wait.

[ She may not be permitted by Critter to explain much, but she can try, right?

Things like friendship... honesty, trust... They never meant anything to Kirigiri. Not until she met true friends. Her classmates. Even her amnesia couldn't take that away from her.

She owed Sayaka an explanation. More than she owed one to everyone else. ]