[THANKS THAT'S HORRIFIC!!! He's doing his best to carefully shield the bunny from all of this fucking carnage as he dashes by, and even though it's such a short moment, it still inspires the reflexive urge to rush to this deer's aid even though it is so obviously a fucking goner.
And then it really is a goner as its head is torn apart. GOD. He doesn't pause, clenching his teeth and zooming over toward where Uruha is.]
Let's go—!
[HE'S SO SURE THIS CREATURE IS GOING TO FOLLOW AS SOON AS IT'S DONE WITH ITS SNACK MY GOD.]
[ rolls for the bunny's mental damage. gets a three. IT'S NOT DOING WELL FAM but it is not attempting to get out of lucas's hold at least? yay.
Anyway while a child is held traumatized in Lucas' arm, the creature absolutely does immediately follow, apparently driven by chase instinct. It is still chewing as it goes, leaving behind a trail of blood and saliva. So appealing.
You guys aren't there yet but it will run after them even on the bridge, not bothered by water. The bridge itself will sway and creak ominously as they run. Maybe they can lose it after the bridge.
also i guess it is called a bridge entrance? this no longer sounds right to me because of jan. ]
[zia i assume this means the monster is pursuing them across the bridge and it's not, like, swimming? tags on mobile
but if that's the case, then if he and lucas manage to make it to the other side, uruha is going to turn around and try to slash the bridge ropes with the knife.]
[NOT THIS SWEET TRAUMATIZED BABY. i aki hope that destroying this bridge has disastrous consequences for them later but this is funny because Lucas basically has the same idea, but he'll leave it to Uruha and just stand guard behind him in case the creature gets too close and he has to throw his only fuckin weapon or something to buy a bit of time.]
[ the monster was absolutely following them across the bridge and was not interested in swimmies.
It reaches out for him when Uruha turns around, the tongue tendril extending out as far as it can and barely brushing against his extended wrist right before the ropes are cut and it plunges out into the river. Its scream of fear and agony as it is washed away echoes around the mountain, but you are safe from this monster for now without needing to throw away any weapon and without much injury. Yay! One down! Let's not worry about the full number! Let's instead roll for psych damage on that scream again.
Uruha's wrist was fortunately barely brushed by that tongue, but the sensation felt like a thousand tiny needles pricking his skin one by one and it will stay that way unless I tell you otherwise. There's no mark on his skin to explain the feeling.
Moving on! They are now on the other side of the river with no real way of going back down the mountain. Surely there's no issue with that later down the line. There is an odd stillness in the air now following the creatures' scream, but you guys have more important things to worry about. The path curls up the mountain once more, the cover of trees becoming more bare as they climb up further. They can keep going up on this path on the outside. Or, as stated by a sign that indicates a future split path, at some point there's a series of caves they can try to go in that are allegedly a shortcut to the top.
No, seriously, the sign says WEST - SCENIC ROUTE, EAST - MOUNTAIN CAVES (SHORTCUT!!! YAY)
[WELL. Lucas is here with his 13 and this baby rabbit still, grimly watching the creature tumble into the water and reeling a bit from the agony and fear in its scream. He is not used to demons having real feelings? Maybe these too are fake. Anyway it's fine.
UP THEY GO, THOUGH. He frowns... at the sign whenever they get there... Uruha is taking so much damage christ.]
...It does, and it opens up the same problem from before. If we go one way and they're in the other direction, what could we do? [...] I do feel splitting up may be a poor idea now, though.
[Glancing down the continuation of their current path.]
If we move quickly enough, we may not need the shortcut... But they might have taken it to save time.
[ Its last scream shared its feelings with Uruha and Lucas (and the fucking baby rabbit):
So: Uruha is going to feel every bit of damage for the rest of the cyoa tenfold. He doesn't know this yet. It's a surprise tool to have regrets later. The fear is being paired with his current paranoia; now not only does he not entirely trust the judgment and decisions of Lucas or other potential friendly faces, his mind will be plagued with thoughts about potential betrayal or abandonment by these people. Basically waiting for the other shoe to drop while being deeply, bone wearily fearful of it at the same time.
Lucas, meanwhile, will feel a heightened sense of urgency about getting to Nadia. Will he even notice this. Who knows. He will also now feel a chill to his bones, which isn't great because it sure is getting colder and snowier on this mountain.
Baby rabbit is bleeding from its neck wound again and shaking in Lucas' hold. that's right. even the rabbit has consequences. ]
I like caves. [ the baby speaks up, but like, it's a rabbit. of course it likes being in caves. that's what i thought you'd say, you stupid bunny. ]
[uruha's newfound internal crisis: if they don't split up, lucas might betray him while they're together. if they do split up, lucas might abandon him and never regroup with him!! dilemma either way...
with that said, decisive action is one of his skills, so.]
Let's take the caves, then.
[is this because i oocly want to even if it might not make sense? yea. it's fine uruha is PARANOID right now so the faster they do this the less time lucas has to betray or abandon him. ): ]
[SWEET BABY. He will bundle it and stroke its sweet little head, trying to calm it a bit, completely unaware that Uruha is having a fucking low roll crisis over there because he's just cold and wants to see Nadia urgently which yeah is basically just his default state of existence.
He nods! Thanks decisive action man.]
Let's.
[TO THE CAVES. He's going to be so fucking cold about it but at least he's not dying of turbo extra pain stat boost (future struggle) or paranoia. He will also do his best to keep this little baby warm in his arms as they go caveward. What's the deal with these damn caves...]
[ jan truly said I WISH TO GO TO THE CAVES, so inside the caves they go.
First, once they get inside, it's immediately apparent that it is dark in here. The rabbit is peering around from Lucas' arm. It has better night vision than they do, but it is not a cat. And neither is Uruha despite his appearance, apparently, because he can't see in the dark. Luckily, there's a convenient lit torch near the entrance, as there often is in convenient cave systems. The torch will probably not burn indefinitely and can probably be extinguished, though, since it's just. You know. A fire torch. It's too bad they don't have a convenient flashlight that they would know how to use.
Now that you are in an enclosed system, please let me know where you are looking as you advance.
The cave entrance seems straightforward for now. It's a single tunnel going up into the mountain. There's the sound of dripping water in the distance, but not much else. The signs continue, the first of which says:
[uruha will take the torch since lucas's arms are full with a baby, unless lucas really wants it.
assuming not, as uruha holds the torch up, he does his best to look around at the walls and ground as he walks, wary of where he steps. if there's anything on the ceiling that's lucas's duty now.
after a pause, he'll walk over to the first sign?]
[INTO DA CAVES... He'll let Uruha have the torch because he is truly just cuddling this baby and being cold. He will keep an eye on the path ahead mostly, though even with poor lighting, he's got a freaky instinct to immediately snap his attention in the direction of movement wherever it might be coming from. imagine i said he doesn't look at the ceiling and we get divebombed by bats, but no, he is doing a visual sweep from ceiling to floor and also keeping an eye out for the potential source of the dripping sound.
Once they arrive at the sign, he'll pause by Uruha for a second.]
This way, I assume...
[Gazing down in that direction... Is anything immediately amiss from what little they can see in the torch light? Not the setting sun too. God.]
[ The sign just says OVER HERE. There's no secret--wait. In small, tiny little writing, Uruha will spot something...
GOTCHA
When he reads this............ nothing happens.
Ok, then.
Anyway, funny you should mention bats; there are some bats on the ceiling above the sign, though they seem uninterested in our compatriots right now. They seem oddly still, in fact. There's no source for the dripping currently. There's also no source for the new sound, which is a faint buzzing in the distance.
Looking at the ground, Uruha will spot some foot(paw?)prints that show people have walked through here not too long ago. It's two different tracks, one smaller and one bigger. They go deeper into the caves.
Past the first sign, following the footpawprints, the caves veer to the right before letting them out into a larger chamber where multiple paths open before them. It's an entire cave system and there doesn't seem to be anymore cheeky signs to follow near immediately. There are four different paths available that you can see immediately, almost like a star shape. To the lower left, to the lower right, upper left and upper right.
The chamber itself has a lot of stalactites and stalagmites and not much else going on for it. The sound of dripping water and buzzing is slightly louder here, but not significantly so. ]
[He's just sticking with Uruha for now since Uruha has THE LIGHT. Though he's also frowning a little at the buzzing sound being added to the dripping sound.]
[ Here are your tunnel options, which are oddly color-coordinated for my own sake.
The lower left has some blue gems lining the entrance. The dripping sound seems to be louder in this direction. There's nothing on the walls or ceiling for this path, and nothing of note on the ground either.
The upper left has some yellow gems lining the entrance. The buzzing sound seems louder in that direction. There's some chalk lines on the walls of the path, like someone marking their way through the path. Nothing of note on the ceiling or ground.
The upper right has some red gems lining the entrance. It is colder this way. There are mine tracts going deeper into that direction that they could follow, but nothing identifiable on the wall. There are some more oddly unmoving bats on the ceiling of this one.
The lower right has some green gems lining the entrance. It is warmer this way. There's moss slowly growing on the floor and walls of this path. There's nothing of note on the ceiling here at the entrance. ]
[Do the large and small tracks Uruha saw earlier just VANISH... The way his frigid ass wants to go down the path that's warmer just for the warmth, but only a little. Mostly he is just focused on finding Nadia.]
I think that would be a good place to start. They may have marked a trail, so if we don't find anything or it leads to a dead end, we could find our way back and start again.
[ Thanks for asking! The small tracks do vanish. Or more like fade as they walk in because the ground here is apparently terrible for footprints. But not fully; the smaller tracks seem to stop near the yellow. The bigger tracks seem to stop near the blue. But they could have easily turned around and kept going elsewhere...
They have chosen the yellow!!
The yellow is a long, narrow path. The marking is about waist high and follows them as they walk. The buzzing gets progressively louder, but never more than having say, a fly in the room. As they go, the path will get narrower and narrower, until they have to squeeze in one after another to fit in this tunnel. This also makes it harder for them to see...
There is the faintest scent of blood as the tunnel starts to curve, and, more distantly, the sound of soft sobbing accompanied by the buzzing as they keep going down.
[okay well. uruha is truly torn between his sense of duty meaning that he should be vanguard, as the one who can probably pull out a weapon with the least amount of hassle, versus his paranoia that lucas is going to maybe stab him in the back... but he'll go in front... (also because he has the torch and they need to see.)
anyway, sobbing??? HE'S NOT TURNING BACK IF ANYTHING HE'S MOVING WITH MORE URGENCY although he does keep in the back of his mind that it could be a trap.]
[HE'S PULLING UP THE REAR but his attention is also anchored forward toward the sound of the soft sobbing. NOT THIS BLOOD SMELL. He can't rush past Uruha but he will definitely be keeping pace with him. He can live without his paranoid fear of getting stabbed in the back being brought to fruition for another day...]
[ The path seems to curve into a spiral, leading them on further and deeper into the caves. The sobbing gets louder for a second before it cuts out when Uruha calls out. The buzzing sound also stops abruptly.
Then it starts up again, so soft it's almost impossible to hear, as someone speaks: ]
Don't--don't come here. I'm okay. Please go.
[ It sounds like Koharu to Uruha.
Lucas can only hear pained cries. There are no words. ]
[He's just assuming Uruha can for some reason be able to tell that it's Koharu from the sound of pained crying alone. But! Since he can't hear the voice telling them not to come, he just keeps following along after Uruha. SURELY THEY CAN CARRY ONE MORE PERSON ANIMAL WITH THEM.]
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-09 08:53 pm
make your own memes actually
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And then it really is a goner as its head is torn apart. GOD. He doesn't pause, clenching his teeth and zooming over toward where Uruha is.]
Let's go—!
[HE'S SO SURE THIS CREATURE IS GOING TO FOLLOW AS SOON AS IT'S DONE WITH ITS SNACK MY GOD.]
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Anyway while a child is held traumatized in Lucas' arm, the creature absolutely does immediately follow, apparently driven by chase instinct. It is still chewing as it goes, leaving behind a trail of blood and saliva. So appealing.
You guys aren't there yet but it will run after them even on the bridge, not bothered by water. The bridge itself will sway and creak ominously as they run. Maybe they can lose it after the bridge.
also i guess it is called a bridge entrance? this no longer sounds right to me because of jan. ]
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but if that's the case, then if he and lucas manage to make it to the other side, uruha is going to turn around and try to slash the bridge ropes with the knife.]
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It reaches out for him when Uruha turns around, the tongue tendril extending out as far as it can and barely brushing against his extended wrist right before the ropes are cut and it plunges out into the river. Its scream of fear and agony as it is washed away echoes around the mountain, but you are safe from this monster for now without needing to throw away any weapon and without much injury. Yay! One down! Let's not worry about the full number! Let's instead roll for psych damage on that scream again.
Uruha's wrist was fortunately barely brushed by that tongue, but the sensation felt like a thousand tiny needles pricking his skin one by one and it will stay that way unless I tell you otherwise. There's no mark on his skin to explain the feeling.
Moving on! They are now on the other side of the river with no real way of going back down the mountain. Surely there's no issue with that later down the line. There is an odd stillness in the air now following the creatures' scream, but you guys have more important things to worry about. The path curls up the mountain once more, the cover of trees becoming more bare as they climb up further. They can keep going up on this path on the outside. Or, as stated by a sign that indicates a future split path, at some point there's a series of caves they can try to go in that are allegedly a shortcut to the top.
No, seriously, the sign says WEST - SCENIC ROUTE, EAST - MOUNTAIN CAVES (SHORTCUT!!! YAY)
this is trustworthy ]
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uruha's other hand moves up to grasp his wrist, as he tries to deal with the phantom pain. he looks at lucas with the rabbit.]
Are you all right?
[and then in the fast forward when they're at the split... stares at the sign. also i rolled a 5.]
... This feels a little pointed?
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UP THEY GO, THOUGH. He frowns... at the sign whenever they get there... Uruha is taking so much damage christ.]
...It does, and it opens up the same problem from before. If we go one way and they're in the other direction, what could we do? [...] I do feel splitting up may be a poor idea now, though.
[Glancing down the continuation of their current path.]
If we move quickly enough, we may not need the shortcut... But they might have taken it to save time.
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So: Uruha is going to feel every bit of damage for the rest of the cyoa tenfold. He doesn't know this yet. It's a surprise tool to have regrets later. The fear is being paired with his current paranoia; now not only does he not entirely trust the judgment and decisions of Lucas or other potential friendly faces, his mind will be plagued with thoughts about potential betrayal or abandonment by these people. Basically waiting for the other shoe to drop while being deeply, bone wearily fearful of it at the same time.
Lucas, meanwhile, will feel a heightened sense of urgency about getting to Nadia. Will he even notice this. Who knows. He will also now feel a chill to his bones, which isn't great because it sure is getting colder and snowier on this mountain.
Baby rabbit is bleeding from its neck wound again and shaking in Lucas' hold. that's right. even the rabbit has consequences. ]
I like caves. [ the baby speaks up, but like, it's a rabbit. of course it likes being in caves. that's what i thought you'd say, you stupid bunny. ]
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with that said, decisive action is one of his skills, so.]
Let's take the caves, then.
[is this because i oocly want to even if it might not make sense? yea. it's fine uruha is PARANOID right now so the faster they do this the less time lucas has to betray or abandon him. ): ]
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He nods! Thanks decisive action man.]
Let's.
[TO THE CAVES. He's going to be so fucking cold about it but at least he's not dying of turbo extra pain stat boost (future struggle) or paranoia. He will also do his best to keep this little baby warm in his arms as they go caveward. What's the deal with these damn caves...]
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First, once they get inside, it's immediately apparent that it is dark in here. The rabbit is peering around from Lucas' arm. It has better night vision than they do, but it is not a cat. And neither is Uruha despite his appearance, apparently, because he can't see in the dark. Luckily, there's a convenient lit torch near the entrance, as there often is in convenient cave systems. The torch will probably not burn indefinitely and can probably be extinguished, though, since it's just. You know. A fire torch. It's too bad they don't have a convenient flashlight that they would know how to use.
Now that you are in an enclosed system, please let me know where you are looking as you advance.
The cave entrance seems straightforward for now. It's a single tunnel going up into the mountain. There's the sound of dripping water in the distance, but not much else. The signs continue, the first of which says:
OVER HERE.
Outside behind them, the sun is setting. ]
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assuming not, as uruha holds the torch up, he does his best to look around at the walls and ground as he walks, wary of where he steps. if there's anything on the ceiling that's lucas's duty now.
after a pause, he'll walk over to the first sign?]
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Once they arrive at the sign, he'll pause by Uruha for a second.]
This way, I assume...
[Gazing down in that direction... Is anything immediately amiss from what little they can see in the torch light? Not the setting sun too. God.]
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GOTCHA
When he reads this............ nothing happens.
Ok, then.
Anyway, funny you should mention bats; there are some bats on the ceiling above the sign, though they seem uninterested in our compatriots right now. They seem oddly still, in fact. There's no source for the dripping currently. There's also no source for the new sound, which is a faint buzzing in the distance.
Looking at the ground, Uruha will spot some foot(paw?)prints that show people have walked through here not too long ago. It's two different tracks, one smaller and one bigger. They go deeper into the caves.
Past the first sign, following the footpawprints, the caves veer to the right before letting them out into a larger chamber where multiple paths open before them. It's an entire cave system and there doesn't seem to be anymore cheeky signs to follow near immediately. There are four different paths available that you can see immediately, almost like a star shape. To the lower left, to the lower right, upper left and upper right.
The chamber itself has a lot of stalactites and stalagmites and not much else going on for it. The sound of dripping water and buzzing is slightly louder here, but not significantly so. ]
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anyway, if uruha goes to the entrance of each of the four paths and holds up the torch, can he gleam anything further about any individual tunnel?]
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The lower left has some blue gems lining the entrance. The dripping sound seems to be louder in this direction. There's nothing on the walls or ceiling for this path, and nothing of note on the ground either.
The upper left has some yellow gems lining the entrance. The buzzing sound seems louder in that direction. There's some chalk lines on the walls of the path, like someone marking their way through the path. Nothing of note on the ceiling or ground.
The upper right has some red gems lining the entrance. It is colder this way. There are mine tracts going deeper into that direction that they could follow, but nothing identifiable on the wall. There are some more oddly unmoving bats on the ceiling of this one.
The lower right has some green gems lining the entrance. It is warmer this way. There's moss slowly growing on the floor and walls of this path. There's nothing of note on the ceiling here at the entrance. ]
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he turns to lucas.]
Thoughts?
[even if they might be bad ones. :/ ]
I'm wondering about the yellow one—it seems like someone might've passed through it.
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I think that would be a good place to start. They may have marked a trail, so if we don't find anything or it leads to a dead end, we could find our way back and start again.
[LET'S YELLOW BRICK ROAD...]
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They have chosen the yellow!!
The yellow is a long, narrow path. The marking is about waist high and follows them as they walk. The buzzing gets progressively louder, but never more than having say, a fly in the room. As they go, the path will get narrower and narrower, until they have to squeeze in one after another to fit in this tunnel. This also makes it harder for them to see...
There is the faintest scent of blood as the tunnel starts to curve, and, more distantly, the sound of soft sobbing accompanied by the buzzing as they keep going down.
They can always turn back. ]
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anyway, sobbing??? HE'S NOT TURNING BACK IF ANYTHING HE'S MOVING WITH MORE URGENCY although he does keep in the back of his mind that it could be a trap.]
Is someone there—?
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Do you see anyone?
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Then it starts up again, so soft it's almost impossible to hear, as someone speaks: ]
Don't--don't come here. I'm okay. Please go.
[ It sounds like Koharu to Uruha.
Lucas can only hear pained cries. There are no words. ]
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[and he is ignoring what she says as he heads further down the path, even as his wariness grows, hand around the hilt of his knife.]
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[He's just assuming Uruha can for some reason be able to tell that it's Koharu from the sound of pained crying alone. But! Since he can't hear the voice telling them not to come, he just keeps following along after Uruha. SURELY THEY CAN CARRY ONE MORE PERSON ANIMAL WITH THEM.]
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