Cabin in the Woods

*Euryale squeezes a bit with her arm.*

E"Well...I'm glad I could be of service. But with the amount of stockpiled food in this place, even split between so many people, I'm confident that we'll be just fine until we can get help. It might not be the most comfortable lodgings in the world, but we'll be okay."
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R"I guess it couldn't hurt for someone to look in that direction. Unless they get caught on fire. That probably hurts."

N"Just stay downwind, you'll be fine."

R"There is a road up that way, provided that A, the fire is out, & B, we can find a way up the sheer cliff."

*Roatha finally notices that Thiera is glaring at him.*

R"Oh, also, it was her idea."

Monu:<It's better then dying out because we didn't try. I say go for it.>

"My apologies," Hector said quietly to Thiera before speaking up. "So, if we do intend to make groups, how shall we choose them?"

R"By people with knives, I imagine. Which sounds suspicious when I say it out loud like that."

N"I guess I'll head up to the scene of the crash, then."

Cameron:<We could split up 50-50. Should we leave some people here to hold down the fort?>

R"We were wondering about that."

N"And do what? Call us if we get lost?"

R"Well, when you put it like that...."

T"And with such a large amount of people, we should really be able to get at least 3 groups."

Cameron:<If we stayed close enough, we could whistle to signal each other.>

Eve:<I don't think that'll work. It'd be really hard to hear though the trees, if we all even could whistle. I think someone already brought up marking trees.>

Monu:<Three groups would work. Safety in numbers. Then that'll be...at least 5 per group.>

Taiyo: "You think so?"

In another room, Azuma had gone back to bed and is laying on his side while Mimiru sits on the bed, leaning against him.

Azuma: "You're making this really hard to go back to sleep."

Mimiru: "Wah."

Azuma: "Maybe when I wake up this will all just be a dream."

"So, we should make groups and get on with it," Hector said. "We could probably use roughly the same groups we were in for bedrooms."

~Some Time Later~

Crash Site Group: Nero, Stefan, Euryale, Taiyo, Monu, Cameron
Around Cabin Group: Astarte, Thiera, Roatha, Hector, Eduj
Opposite Crash Site Group: Azuma, Mimiru, Eve, Tirea, Vanessa

*Roatha writes this down at the others' direction, though mostly at Nero's, on a piece of paper & sticks it on the "table."*

N"Alright, so those are the areas we'll search, & where to search them. We'll work until it starts getting dark--well, darkER--& then come back here for more spam & beans."

Azuma: "Delicious. If we make it out of this alive, we'll have dangerously high salt counts."

"So, let's go," Hector went for the door after casting a despairing look at Azuma. Astarte and Eduj followed.
Stefan waited for Nero, checking that his cross remained around his neck.

~Around the Cabin~

R"You know, when Nero told us to search 'around the cabin,' I don't think he meant for us to literally brush over the perimeter of the building."

T"Well, we should know about where we're living. Here we are."

*She pulls back some bushes to reveal a large cylinder of metal with an attached gauge for voltage and amperage. Wires extend from it into the house.*

T"So whoever built this place hooked up a generator to it."

R"Cool. Any way to know how much juice we've got left?"

T"I don't know how these things work."
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~In the Forest~

*Between the trees & the dim light, it's hard to see more than 30 feet in any direction. So far, all they've found is trees. Azuma happens to spot a caddisfly flying slightly to his left.*

V"Remind me why I'm out here again? How, exactly, does having more people help you find a nearby clearing that might not even exist?"
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~Path to Crash Site~

*The group is fanned out over an area of about 50 feet, trying to locate the start of the path. Nero turns on his flashlight to look around.*

N"This is ridiculous. I know it was overgrown, but still, how could it be this hard to locate?"

Azuma: "Look at the size of that thing."

Mimiru: "Focus, mutt."

Azuma: "Right. Gotta pretend the situation isn't hopeless."

=============================================

Taiyo sticks close to Euryale.

Taiyo: "What are we supposed to be looking for?"

Eve:<More people searching, a better chance of someone spotting it.>
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*Cameron takes out his flashlight and Monu his compass. Cameron uses the flashlight to give Monu some light to read by.>

Monu:<If from the crash to here was South, then we'll need to go North to get back.>

*Nero stomps over to look at the compass.*

N"We have been going north."

E"Either somewhere where we can get some phone service to call for help, or a road out of here."
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V"That's stupid, we're all looking in the same direction."

*Vanessa begins filing her nails, heading off to their left.*

Eve:<Still. We should all pitch in and help.>

Tirea:<Wait up!>
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Monu:<Then we're headed in the right direction.>

Cameron:<We could have easily already past the path. If I remember correctly, it wasn't all that big.>

Azuma: "Guarantee she'll be the first to vanish."

=======================================

Taiyo looks up, shining her flashlight at the trees above.

Taiyo: "Right..."

*Vanessa keeps going in the direction she's going, heedless of the others.*
=========================================
*Taiyo could swear she sees a pair of red eyes blink and some rustling in the trees. However, they do not reappear, and most of the trees are swaying slightly, due to a sudden gust of wind.*

*Eve sighs*

Eve:<This is just great......>

Tirea:<Should..we stop her?>
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*Cameron also shines his flashlight around, while Monu takes a step, then turns around 360 degrees*

Monu:<Does anyone remember if we were past here when we came out of the woods?>

Azuma: "I wouldn't. Comes across as a liability."

==========================================

Taiyo shines the flashlight around some more before returning to looking in front and around her.

"Neither do I, unfortunately," Hector said, briefly examining the generator. "Do you know anything about this, Eduj?"
Eduj shrugged. Astarte stood silently and absently scratched at the trunk of a tree with her knife.

Stefan looked around without really knowing how to help find the path besides keeping his eyes open.

R"So I guess we go in that direction for a while."

*He points to where Astarte has marked a tree.*
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N"Everyone, shut up."

*Nero spots a sphere of light bobbing around between the trees, like a lantern. He then puts a hand to his hear.*

N"I hear people whispering! Hey! Hey, wait up! Do you know the way out of the forest?!"

*Nero takes off running after the light.*
==========================================
*By now, they can just barely see where Vanessa is.*

Azuma: "Think she knows her way back to the cabin?"

=====================================

Taiyo: "Don't run off. Come back!"

Hector pointed his flashlight in that direction and took the lead.

"Wait up!" Stefan ran after him.