Cabin in the Woods

Cameron:<Hm...what burns slow?>

Monu:<Pinecones? Or maybe green wood?>
----
Eve:<That's awesome. See anything else?>

Azuma: "W'ever. It looks like we got we got a new more pressing matter, so..."

Mimiru: "You gonna go look for them or not?"

Azuma: "Might as well, since rallying up a posse isn't working."

The two leave, closing the door behind them.

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

Taiyo turns her flashlight off, moving closer to Euryale.

"Wait, wait," Hector said, having just returned from his room in time to hear Vanessa speak. "You followed a bug?"

*Vanessa turns briefly in Hector's direction.*

V"Shut up, retard."

*She then heads into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Thiera emerges.*

T"Well, I can't find anything in the house. Unless...."

*She looks towards the basement door.*
==================================
*Nero breaks off a low-hanging branch. He then snaps off the part with leaves, & starts stripping them off & handing them to whoever's closest to him.*

N"Wrap these around a branch."

Hector tried not to scowl at Vanessa while Eduj and Astarte stood silently.

"Okay, why?" Stefan asked.

Azuma: "They were the group heading to the crash site, right? What the hell direction was that in again?"

Mimiru: "How should I know?"

Azuma: "Hopefully they were marking trees, so we don't become just like them."

The two head off into the forest.

N"To make a torch, obviously. It'll take the leaves a while to burn, so it won't go out easily."
======================================
*Vanessa is heating herself up some lima beans. Roatha & Thiera suck it up & head back to the basement, Thiera getting her lantern on the way.*
======================================
*Assuming either of them are using a flashlight, they will be able to pick out N-shaped gashes on the trees. These cease after nearly half an hour of walking, & there is no sign of a path. There is a sign that some of the vegetation has been crashed and stomped through, as though a group of half a dozen people suddenly took off running in a random direction.*

Azuma: "What the hell were they doing out here chasing fireflies?"

Azuma and Mimiru follow the newly made path, marking trees.

Azuma: "Hope we don't need a sharp knife at some point."

Hector went into the kitchen to get himself some food without speaking to Vanessa, and Eduj and Astarte sat down on the couch together, Astarte coming to lean on his shoulder.
"This sucks," She said quietly, Eduj nodding in agreement. "How are you, anyway?"
"Fine, except for some stiff legs," Eduj replied.
"And Hector?"
"Fine, I suppose, though I can tell he is worried about you."

*Once they assemble a shitty torch of leaves wrapped around a broken branch, Nero lights the top on fire.*

N"So which way do we go now?"

E"I don't know, you're the one who ran this way, you tell me."

N"Hey! We all saw people out here, don't give me that!"
=======================================
*To their right, Azuma & Mimiru see a flame-like light bobbing along, & hear what sounds like Nero & Euryale arguing over something.*
=======================================
*Vanessa gets done heating the can & wordlessly heads over to one of the chairs to eat. Thiera & Roatha emerge from the basement.*

R"That idiot who looked down there the other day missed a bunch of shelf storage, a boiler, & vents for each of the rooms."

T"But we didn't find anything that could open a door."

Azuma: "Hey, you guys!"

The two make their way over, still marking trees because it's the smart thing to do.

"I don't know if that is good or bad..." Astarte said quietly.

Stefan looked towards Azuma's voice, relief washing over him.

*Everyone hears Azuma calling out to them to their left, & sees a ball of light moving about, walking slightly off-course from where they are.*

E"Hold on...remember what happened last time."
==================================
*The argument is too loud for them to hear Azuma, & the duo falls back a few paces every time they stop to mark a tree.*
==================================
*Astarte sees a shadow move briskly across the entrance to the hallway.*

T"I don't know...and we're still missing several people. Should we go look for them, or just stay here?"

Mimiru: "Keep marking the path, I'll go ahead."

Mimiru flicks on her own flashlight and goes on ahead while Azuma hangs back to mark the path.

Mimiru: "Hey!"

Astarte froze and grabbed Eduj's arm, gripping tightly while staring at the hallway entrance. Hector walked out of the kitchen, eating beans from a can with a spoon.

"But we know that voice!" Stefan said. "It's one of our group!"

*The light up ahead goes out & the voices stop.*
========================================
N"Even so, there's something strange going on here. Why is a ball of light, and not a beam, like a flashlight?"

*The light & voice abruptly starts moving in another direction.*
=========================================
*Roatha turns around to see...an empty hallway! Outside, they hear a muffled screaming noise.*
=========================================
*The light moves slightly faster as the group seems to be laughing about something. She also hears a scream & something take off running ahead.*

Azuma: "Damn it."

Azuma marks another tree and follows after Mimiru.

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

Mimiru: "What the hell is that?"

Mimiru picks up the pace heading in the direction the others are. Or seem to be.

Mimiru: "Hey!"

"Jesus Christ," Astarte whispered, her voice breaking a bit, as she curled up into a ball on the couch while clinging to Eduj's arm. "There was something there."
Hector moved to the window and peered outside.

"...Lord, help me," Stefan sighed. "Should we be calling for the others?"

Monu:<If I was alone, I'd say I was seeing things.>

*Cameron shines his flashlight in the direction of ball*
----
*Eve also heads to the window, while Tirea sits on the edge of the couch*

Eve:<It's probably just another fox.>

*It's too far away for the beam to really do any good.*

E"HEEEEEEY!"

N"The Hell are you doing?"

E"Nothing happened when you called. If they don't answer, we'll know it's another fake...or whatever."

*The ball of light stops & moves around a bit, as though someone is looking for the source of the sound.*
==================================
T"That is what it sounds like. And we searched the whole house, there's nothing here. Wait, we did get the bathroom & the closet, right?"

R"I went to the bathroom soon after I came in. I didn't think about the closet. Still, it's hard to miss doors opening in this place, & I didn't hear anything."

*Nothing can be seen outside.*
===================================
*After running through the woods for a minute or 2, it stops, & keeps screaming in their direction. The light begins moving faster, but starts to get louder. Mimiru hears the word "fox."*

Azuma & Mimiru: "Hey!"

Azuma keeps going towards whatever hoping to still be on Mimiru's trail.

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

Mimiru: "Fox?"

Monu:<Could it be a lantern?>

Cameron:<Maybe.>

Monu:<Hello there!>
---
Tirea:<See anything?>

Eve:<No. It's probably just a fox. Should someone go check the closet?>

*The light begins moving away again, as though the group decided they imagined hearing a voice.*

N"But that guy had a flashlight. Why would he need to borrow Thiera's lantern?"
===============================
R"I guess I can do that."

*Roatha enters the hallway, where they can hear a door creak open.*
===============================
*A branch falls, delaying Azuma slightly.*
===============================
*Mimiru slips on a wet spot. Staring up from the ground, she realizes that she's in an otherwise inconspicuous region of the forest--except that it has trash bags tied to low-hanging branches. Most of the bags are ripped open, their contents having long since been scavenged. However, she can smell a hint of rotting food. The light keeps weaving through the distant trees & is almost out-of-sight at this point.*

Monu:<I don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas.>
----
*Tirea heads over to the door way to watch Roatha*

Azuma: "Damn it."

Azuma goes over the branch and continues, still shouting.

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

Mimiru: "Fucking disgusting."

Mimiru stands up, flicking and wiping filth off of her.

Mimiru: "Fuck. Now I'm lost."