INTRODUCTION

[petoskeymods]

INTRODUCTION

A sound wakes you up, muffled yet somehow near - the sound of a trumpet being played, from somewhere outside the building you're in. There's no fog, no headache as you greet a new day - only the confusion of being in an unfamiliar cabin, lying on top of an unfamiliar bunk bed in somewhere that is certainly not where you last closed your eyes. You're also pretty sure you weren't wearing this outfit before you somehow arrived here - so that's an uncomfortable thought. Yet, the cabin you're in is comfortable, but looking in the steamer trunks near the bunks will only result in finding normal toiletry items and sets of underwear and more of the same strange uniform. Your personal items have been stripped away - well, in the cases they're not absolutely essential for you to live.

Stepping outside, you find yourself in a very forested (and ungodly humid) area, outlooking a wide lake - there's cabins and other buildings next to yours, but the main thing that'll most likely attract attention are the three adults standing out in front of the largest building, bearing the name 'LODGE' on it in large letters. A woman, an older man, and a man in full priest garb, tooting away on a trumpet - your wakeup call, apparently. Just in front of them is a picnic table littered with markers and 'MY NAME IS' nametags.

Maybe you should go and demand some answers? Or will you just decide to explore...and try to find a way out of this weird camp?

Comments

[itsagazebo]

[This is about as calm as you're gonna get, Boa. He sighs, his forehead dropping to his knees.]

Yeah...

[His voice is muffled but there is a distinct tone of resignation]

I'm not killing anybody, though...

[finalguard]

[ I don't think you could is not a nice first thought to have to that. Let's... rephrase it. ]

If it comes down to it, there's others here who are more suited for the job anyway.

[itsagazebo]

Yeah... that's what scares me.

[He lifts his head up again]

But... so we... they... kill the counselors, what then? We still can't fucking get of here. And... What if what Leon said is true? What if we are s'posed to kill each other?

[finalguard]

[ Boa has no answer to the first question at all.. They can't get home, they can walk through the forest forever and still never reach anywhere familiar...

So he feels lucky when Eddie adds a second question that he feels more secure responding to. ]

Then we're going to have to be the last ones standing. Look, panicking isn't going to make you survive.

[itsagazebo]

[He groans, leaning his head back and straightening his legs. He flops his arms on the cot next to him.]

I know I just... I'm not... I can't...

[It's as if his memories are fighting to remind him of strength he forgot he had. He suddenly has a flash of leaping into a creek with a rock in hand, screaming and hurling it towards Henry and his goons. As that fades he smells something rancid and hears himself screaming "I'm gonna fucking kill you!!"

He starts, tensing and looking around as if he's searching for something. Not seeing anything, he drops his head into his hands.]

Fuck...

[finalguard]

[ Boa awkwardly waits until Eddie seems focused again. He's been around a lot of despairing boys his own age, but it's always been in a competitive setting where overall, he wasn't supposed to be able to care less.

He doesn't think he cares now either, but it's still different. The others had signed up for it. Eddie really has not. ]

You can. Or are you really okay with not being able to? It's your only choice.

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie shakes his head before letting his hands fall]

No... Maybe... I don't fucking know. It's just...

[He looks up at Boa. Part of him feels like he shouldn't talk about this, that the other boy will just think he's crazy. But all of this is fucking crazy. He sighs.]

I keep feeling like I've had to kill something before. Or at least, that I really wanted to. But it's like trying to remember a nightmare...

[finalguard]

[ Maybe another day, Boa might have confirmed Eddie's fears, but the last three days have been so unbelievably filled with the impossible that one would have to try really hard to make Boa consider something unrealistic. The laws of the universe seem to have weakened to a point where nothing but gravity is a given anymore, and even that doesn't seem to apply to Marisa, so who knows... ]

That's good, isn't it? In the worst case.

[ Boa no. ]

Mitsuru mentioned something about memory erasure earlier today. We suspected it on Stan, but... who knows...?

[ Also he means boy Mitsuru, he hasn't yet caught on to there being another. ]

[itsagazebo]

[Way to be a bro, Boa. Here he is being honest about something that's freaking him the fuck out and you gotta shit all over it]

What?! No! It's not fucking good! I don't wanna fucking kill anyone!

[He frowns, thinking about Richie and his own similar problem.]

You really think they coulda done something like that? Why the fuck would they do that? [He asks as if Boa had all the answers.]

[finalguard]

[ Listen, Boa meant this genuinely! And he's kind startled when Eddie starts (reasonably) yelling at him. ]

I don't know, I don't know why they're doing any of this. Maybe it's an experiment or maybe they're just really that big sadists that they needed to maximize everyone's suffering? I don't know.

[ Okay... deep breath. ]

And that's why I'm thinking panicking is useless, we're just.. letting ourselves be confused by them.

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie actually looks embarrassed and hangs his head a little]

I'm... I'm sorry. You're right... we shouldn't be taking it out on each other. I just... This whole situation is fucking confusing. None o fit makes any fucking sense!

[finalguard]

[ ... welp. As quickly as they bristled at each other, that energy is gone again and all that remains is awkward tension. ]

... yeah.

'If you lose, you die. If you die you lose.' I know these things, but usually I know what I might be losing at. Or what the winning conditions are.

Here it's just... We just have to be strong every way we can. That's safest.

[itsagazebo]

If you lose you die....

[He shudders as a falsetto voice dances across his memory:

"Time to float!"

"I'll feast on your flesh while I feed on your fear!"

He wraps his arms around himself to keep from shaking. Swallowing hard.]

Stronger together... [He blinks in surprise. Where had that come from? A girl's voice this time:

"IT wants to divide us!" "We were all together when we hurt IT"]

If the adults are the ones who want to hurt us, if we stick together maybe they won't be able to.

[finalguard]

[ Boa stares at Eddie in disbelief. It's a reaction that is quite disproportionate to the innocent suggestion, but in Boa's mind, it's outlandish. Relying on others slows you down, it makes you weaker. He's heard that so many times.

Of course he knows other people outside think differently, he just... thinks they're utterly wrong too. ]

If. There's dozens of us and we don't know anything about one another.

[itsagazebo]

So? What's stopping us from changing that?

[DUH]

So we get to know each other. Why not, right? If we're gonna be stuck here together.

[finalguard]

People could lie?

[ Double DUH :| ]

... it's more of a plan than we had before, I guess.

[itsagazebo]

If you've got a better one I'm all ears.

[finalguard]

[ What follows can only be described as 'stubborn silence'. Boa has evidently run out of arguments that actually fit their situation, but he refuses to admit it, so he just winds up making a tense face and saying nothing for a bit. ]

[itsagazebo]

[He lets that silence sit for a little while. Finally, he breaks that silence by clearing his throat.]

So, uh, where are you from?

[finalguard]

[ Another two seconds of silence follow in which it almost seems like Boa is going to deny the info exchange bonding too, but then he finally manages to open his mouth for a reply. There's no eye contact yet, but hey, your plan it is, Eddie. ]

... Mexico originally. I was just in Alaska because I was following someone around. Mexico's where I live, on the edge of the jungle.

[itsagazebo]

[He blinks in surprise]

Oh hey I didn't think there was anyone but Richie and me here from North America. We're from Maine. What's Mexico like?

[finalguard]

People tend to say 'hot' as their first impression. I wouldn't know, I've lived there my whole life.

[ Descriptive................. What's details? Oh! ]

I lived at a place called the Snake Pit, and fittingly there were a lot of snakes in the surrounding area.

[itsagazebo]

The snake pit?! That doesn't sound very hospitable.

[finalguard]

Well, it's not meant to be. You can't train if you stay in your comfort zone.

[itsagazebo]

Oooohhh I get it... so, is Alaska s'posed to make you used to the cold?