night; caretaker

[gamehead]

With night's fall, you are once again locked in your cabin for the evening. Outside, a blizzard rages. The howl of the wind blocks out the sound of anything happening outside of your small room, and outside your window you can see only the white of frost covering your window and darkness beyond.

At 11 PM exactly, the candle on your desk lights, filling your cabin with a warm, yellow glow. If you are asleep, the light will wake you. You are drawn to your desk.

There, in the center of the desk, is your journal open to a page that was previously blank.

Caretaker, who will you choose?

Ada Vessalius
Akane Kurashiki
America
Aoi Asahina
Arya Stark
Babydoll
Beat
Bonnie Hood
Bruce Wayne
Bucky Barnes
Byakuya Togami
Charles Fei-Ong
Ciel
Clara Oswald
Damian Wayne
Edward Nigma
Eleventh Doctor
Elliot Nightray
Ema Skye
England
Gendry
Gundam Tanaka
Hermione Granger
Hiyoko Saionji
Holden Caulfield
James Sunderland
Joshua Kiryu
Kanaya Maryam
Kyouko Kirigiri
Lithuania
Luke Triton
Madoka Kaname
Makoto Naegi
Mayu
Mondo Oowada
Peggy Carter
Poland
Prussia
Rapunzel
Rikku
Robin
Sam Winchester
Sanae Hanekoma
Sansa Stark
Sayaka Miki
Sharon Carter
Spain
Stephanie Brown
Steve Rogers
Tony Stark
Touko Fukawa
Ukraine
Ukyo Kuonji
Xion

No one

You will have until midnight to make your choice, before the ink on the page vanishes and the candle flickers out.

Comments

role | description

[gamehead]

The following is written on the first page of your journal, visible only at night:

You are the caretaker. Your role is to protect your fellow prey.

→ Each night, you will circle one name from the list in your journal. That person will have your protection, and cannot be harmed at night.
→ If a player has been poisoned, choosing that person will both protect them from harm and cure them of poison.
→ You may choose to protect yourself, but you cannot cure yourself of poison.
→ Guard your role closely. Do not let the hunters learn your identity.
→ Choose your protection carefully. Failing to protect those most vulnerable or important to the prey's survival will impact your own chance to survive.

night one

[gamehead]

[Tonight, at 11 PM, your candle flickers on.

There is a child standing in your room of indeterminate age and gender. It is wearing a mask that appears to be a rabbit head, and waiting near your desk.]

Hi!

I picked you for something really great!

[asapplepie]

[The atmosphere here has been really creeping him out, especially after all the creepy shit he saw in the museum earlier. Before the blizzard had picked up, he'd been sort of planning an excuse to crash with Lithuania, or even England if he was desperate. Instead he was stuck in this creepy, dark room, and was beginning to freak out a little.

So when a candle turned on by itself and some creepy kid in a mask was suddenly there, he screamed.]

Ahhhhhh!

Don't haunt me! Don't eat my tongue!

[gamehead]

[ The child bursts into giggles. ] Eat your tongue? Why, is it made of ice cream?

[asapplepie]

No! It's not! It's made of tongue!

...Are you a ghost?

[gamehead]

Huh? A ghost...?

[ The cheerful tone drops away slightly, and the child sounds puzzled. ] No, probably not.

[ And then, just as fast, it recovers. ] I'm Critter! That's what most people call me!

[asapplepie]

Oh. Okay.

[...Calming down slightly.]

Ghosts aren't real, just so you know. Also, what the heck are you doing in my bedroom?

[gamehead]

I told you, I picked you for something great. I have to explain all the rules of the game first, though.

[asapplepie]

Neat! I'm kinda planning to leave first thing tomorrow, though, so I dunno if I can play.

[gamehead]

I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. The blizzard's raging something fierce. And besides, nobody's allowed to leave until the game is over.

[asapplepie]

What, really? Ugh, can I at least get a TV in here?

[gamehead]

I might give you a nice prize later, if you perform well. But first I would like you to listen to the rules, okay?

[asapplepie]

Oh! Okay, sure! I bet I'll win all the prizes.

[gamehead]

This is a pretty complicated game, so listen up! Everyone that showed up in town today is playing. There are hunters, prey, and scavengers. You're prey.

Every night the hunters are going to meet and kill someone! It's the prey's job to find out who's doing the killing. We'll host a new trial every day, and we'll keep playing, and hopefully you'll get all the bad guys!

But if the hunters outnumber the prey... too bad, so sad- you lose!

[asapplepie]

Sounds like fun! I don't wanna be prey, though, that's a sissy role.

[gamehead]

I'm so glad you're enthusiastic about it! You wouldn't believe the trouble I'm getting from some of the others.

But don't worry, you're not just prey! Like I said, I picked something really great for you. You get to be the caretaker!

Wanna know what it does? Ask me! Go on, ask me!

[asapplepie]

Those jerks! If it's a blizzard and there's no TV, who even cares? I bet it was Arthur, right? Arthur would so do that.

Caretaker sounds kind of sissy, too, but okay, fine. What does it do?

[gamehead]

That's a se~cret.

Being the caretaker means you get to guard someone from the hunters every night. It's super important! You can stop them from killing! You can also cure others from poison. Isn't that neat?

[asapplepie]

Oh!

So what you're saying is, I'm the hero. Okay, I'll be the hero. But you should change the name to hero.

[gamehead]

I would, but this has to stay a secret, okay? Don't tell anyone that you're the hero! The hunters will kill you if they learn your identity.

You have to be a secret hero. Like Batman.

[asapplepie]

Right. Got it.

I'll only tell a few people.

[gamehead]

You should keep it a secret unless you're super-sure you can trust them.

[asapplepie]

Right. I'll do that.

Thanks, dude!

[And...still really unclear about the whole PEOPLE ARE GOING TO REALLY DIE thing.]

[gamehead]

You're welcome!

[ Critter trusts that he'll definitely see the truth tomorrow! ] Any other questions?

night two

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7PM EST on Friday to reply.

America

[asapplepie]

[He felt sort of pathetic doing this, like he was proving himself a coward...but he crosses off his own name anyway. He asked for advice and England gave it, even if he has a sneaking suspicion England just wanted to protect him.]

night three

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7PM EST on Wednesday to reply.

England

[asapplepie]

[America doesn't like to think of himself as someone who makes promises intending to break them, but often he has been and sometimes he needs to be.

He doesn't have any intention of dying tonight, but between himself and England, England is probably at more risk. He doesn't think anyone will believe England when he says he'll be protecting himself. Besides, he wouldn't be in this position if he hadn't risked himself for America. America would feel like a huge coward protecting himself in light of that.

That doesn't mean he isn't afraid, though. Knowing the chance he has of being targeted himself...he isn't going to sleep tonight at all. He'll stay awake in the dark all night jumping at every surprising sound.]

[gamehead]

[ The night passes without disturbance. ]

night four

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7PM EST on Monday to reply.

England

[asapplepie]

[Tonight's a tough call. He doesn't think any of the other countries are really at risk as much as other people, but he promised to put the countries first, and that's his top priority. Since he's probably not really in danger this time, he'll try England.

He feels guilty as he crosses the name off; he should probably protect somebody who is trying really hard to help everybody, like Kanaya or Kirigiri or Ciel. It's not the first time that he feels slightly sad he has to think like a country instead of just Alfred. But there's no choice to do anything else.]

[gamehead]

[ The night passes without disturbance. ]

night five

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7PM EST on Saturday to reply.

Ukyo Kunoji

[asapplepie]

[America had been planning to protect Ema, but England had shown him a letter from Ukyo showing that she was an important prey role, and after talking to England, he was convinced this was the best thing he could do to help prey.

He's a little scared that the scavenger will go after him, but even so...he just wants to do the best he can.]

Re: Ukyo Kunoji

[gamehead]

[Ukyo's name briefly turns crimson and then fades once again to black.]

night six

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7 PM EST on Thursday to reply.

England

[asapplepie]

[He knows this is probably useless, but...he doesn't care.]

[gamehead]

[ The night passes without disturbance. ]

night seven

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7 PM EST on Monday to reply.

Tucko Fukaza

[asapplepie]

[His hand shakes a little as he crosses her name off. He's really just helping make sure they'd get England in the end...and if England was going to die anyway, he could have saved Akane. He could have saved Damian.

But there's no changing anything. The first time he really acts to help the prey, and it's to help this horrible girl.]

[gamehead]

[Touko's name briefly turns crimson and then fades once again to black.]

night eight

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7 PM EST on Saturday to reply.

America

[asapplepie]

[He lies awake until the candle flickers on, too distracted and distraught to fall asleep. The dark is frightening for him as always, but finally there's a light in the room. The first thing he does is take out England's letter and read it again, especially the very end:

Watch out for the hunters. They'll be going after you now that I'm not around. Live. Be happy. Don't forget me, but don't be afraid of moving on either. You were never one made to wallow in grief. You're young yet, you still have so many experiences ahead of you; I want you to live them all to the fullest, with nothing holding you back. As long as I know you're at peace, I will be as well.

All my best,

England

PS: If I'm right about us meeting again once this game is over...

He has to believe this is all really true, and that means believing that last line, believing that this doesn't have to really be the end. He doesn't understand how to stop Critter or to bring England back, but he knows he has to fight harder than he's ever fought if he wants a chance at any of this, and that means not becoming angry or bitter. He has to live.

After what he said, after what he told everyone earlier...if the hunters really want to kill him like England warned, they'll know this is their best and possibly only chance. If he did this wrong, tomorrow someone will be dead and everyone will hate him, but their opinions of him matter much less than they normally do. It's fine if they hate him, but if he did this right, the hunters will target him tonight.

Which is why he strikes off his own name decisively. If he did this right, no one has to die.]

[gamehead]

[ The night passes without disturbance. ]

[asapplepie]

[He failed. Someone's going to die tonight anyway.

He tries to collect his breath, feeling like maybe Spain and the others are right, he's useless. But he has to keep trying.]

night nine

[gamehead]

Who will you choose?

You have until 7 PM EST on Thursday to reply.

Lithuania

[asapplepie]

[This has to work.]

[gamehead]

[Lithuania's name briefly turns crimson and then fades once again to black.]