graveyard part five

[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. (The graveyard so far)

Comments

[tsunneverset]

[He sits in horrified silence listening to Critter's speech on the television. He'd been holding out hope this whole time that the clues would lead to something that would bring them all back, or even just the people who'd been innocent. He knew the hunters likely weren't going to win, but even so, it hadn't mattered here in this cabin. Everyone was on the same side once they died, the side of hope.

And to now realize that they'd still been on opposing sides even when none of them knew it, that everything they'd done as hunters and as ghosts was for nothing...knowing that he has a good chance of being revived thanks to Clara or the Doctor doesn't help. In fact, it makes it worse. This had never been about saving himself, not from the start.]

You fucking bastard, that wasn't the deal!

[pasodoble]

And what was the deal?!

( Snapping and it isnt because he's talking to England. Okay, talking to England is part of the reason but the bigger reason is just being so done with this entire game now. )

[tsunneverset]

You haven't figured it out yet, you blithering idiot? There's only one reason why all of us would choose to play as hunters!

If we won, it said it would bring everyone back! That was our secret! That was what was written in our fucking rules! The only way to guarantee everyone leaves here alive is for the hunters to kill the prey and win the game!

[construe]

Honestly, if anyone thought we would ever play this game for some petty reward like 'answers' or 'money' or 'a heart's desire'... No, there was only one reason to consent to being a hunter.

[agentx13]

Does anybody know why Gundam and Syo fucking lynched me, by the way? Why the hell couldn't they get it? I dropped enough hints, didn't I?

And Jesus. I like Fukawa, but Syo... I should have killed her.

[construe]

...

We come from an environment of mutual killing. To them... survival must have become desperate...

[agentx13]

[ Damn it. She's angry enough that she's forgotten Kirigiri was friends with them. ]

I'm sorry. I just...

Fucking Gundam.

[tsunneverset]

Fucking Hope's Peak in general, really.

[He lets out an angry exhale.] No, fucking Critter. It's not their fault they wanted to survive. They were likely as fooled by this supposed real game and the clues as we were. Thinking it was some way out for everyone when instead....

[agentx13]

[ Sharon holds up her hands. ]

Wait. I think I missed something when I was being eaten to death by rabbits.

The game wasn't a distraction from the hints, it's the other way around?

[ She stops for a moment, then laughs. It's the sort of laugh of someone who hasn't had reason to laugh in a long, long time. ]

I managed to hold out a day longer than I should have because of a stupid distraction? Oh, God.

[ She covers her eyes with a hand. And that distraction had given her hope, and now she has nothing. ]

[tsunneverset]

I don't know. At first, I thought they were clues telling the prey to let the hunters win, but then the last one...it doesn't make sense. Maybe it was just false hope the entire time. Or maybe the real game was only about bringing the hunters back, since Critter started this whole thing about the dead wolves in the first place.

Well. It doesn't really matter now, does it? Not unless we're still missing something here.

[yajackass]

Hey, I just thought of something. Critter would hate the hunters because they're wolves, right? Even when it was trying it's hardest to pretend to be on both sides, it was always against us.

This is kind of a theory, but... what if Critter had to play this game before and tried to give something up to bring someone back?

[agentx13]

Like... it's humanity?

[ Scoff, scoff, scoff. Freshly dead girl is still a mite bitter about it. ]

[yajackass]

I wouldn't be shocked. Whatever Critter is, it's still going to pay. One day. [Even if no one here's around to see it.]

[yajackass]

I think he knew that it wouldn't accomplish anything. He wanted to be done with it, and the easiest way to finish you off was to get you to vote for someone that wasn't on the list.

Ugh. What an asshole.

[agentx13]

[ Her features darken. ]

He'd better hope I don't go back. I may still kill him.

[yajackass]

You can't blame him that much. I couldn't trust either of those guys. Him and Syo, I mean. They don't seem right.

[agentx13]

Syo, definitely not.

But Gundam... I'd expected better.

What a mistake to make, huh? Putting too much faith in the wrong person.

[pasodoble]

It's not like you or clues have been very good at giving answers! ( General you, btw.

His expression flickers to disbelief at the (obvious) reveal. ) So you had to kill us to save us!

( He's laughing but he feels sick sick. He feels so sick. It doesn't make any sense, but then again, nothing here really did. Still laughing, sorry England, he isn't going to stick around, he has a rabbit to beat up. )

[terryplz]

[He stands up.]

England, take my hand. I can launch you in its direction and talk you through fighting. You might not have your eyes, but you can still throw a punch.

[LETS GO ENGLAND.]

[tsunneverset]

Done. [grabs his hand] It wants us to act as a pack so badly, let's grant its wish. We'll tear it apart into pieces.

[terryplz]

Agreed.

[He grips the hand and hurdles England right in Critter's general direction with all his might. Get ready to punch England.]

[asapplepie]

[He is worried and upset the second he hears Critter's deal, and it's even worse in a way that England won't be staying with him. It's not fair that he gets to go back and America doesn't but he tries to smile.]

It's okay, you'll figure it out.

[tsunneverset]

[His breath hitches when he hears Clara say his name, but he doesn't look relieved or happy at all. If anything, he looks even more upset.]

No, I -- I never wanted this...

[His fists clench by his side and he swallows harshly.] I will. You're coming back with me too, all right? This isn't over yet.

[asapplepie]

It's okay, I know you'll figure something out!

[It doesn't occur to him, in trying to be positive, that expecting England to do something impossible may not be the best thing for him to hear.]

[tsunneverset]

[It's hard, bearing all this pressure on his shoulders, but no harder than it had been when the game had started in the first place. His goals haven't changed in the slightest, after all, only the method in achieving them. America's words just strengthen his resolve that no matter how impossible it may seem, giving up is simply not something he can do.]

You're right. It'll all be fine. So...so don't worry, okay? I'm not leaving here until I find a way to save everyone.