Cabin in the Woods

*Despite the best efforts of the forest, Azuma & Mimiru are reunited.*
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E"Well, we need to do SOMETHING, we can't just stay here all night."
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*Upon opening the closet door, Roatha backs away in horror.*

R"Oh God! No! What the fuck!? Why?!"

*A pile of poorly stacked towels falls on him, causing him to topple over before he can run away.*

Azuma: "This is proving fruitless and we're both lost."

Mimiru: "You stopped marking trees, didn't you?"

Azuma: "To be fair, it seemes not losing another person was more important."

Mimiru: "Idiot!"

"Ha," Hector looked down at the toppled Roatha, having moved to the entrance to the hallway. Astarte and Eduj continued to sit on the couch, Astarte remaining upset.

"We could, actually. If we took turns to sleep while one or two of us stayed up, we could start looking for the cabin again when the sun comes back up," Stefan suggested, lacking enthusiasm. "Just an idea..."

E"I'd really rather avoid sleeping on the forest floor, if I can help it. Besides, it wasn't much better when the sun WAS up."
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*Roatha puts all of the towels back, hopefully more neatly this time, then comes back to the living room.*

R"They've been gone for a while."
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*The fox stops screaming, leaving the forest eerily quiet. Still, there's the occasional sound of rustling trees or leaves being trod over.*

Monu:<Hm...We could try and fine a way to signal everyone back at the cabin.>
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Eve:<It was a long walk up here. But..I'm starting to get pretty worried.>

Azuma: "Where did you come from?"

Mimiru: "Some gross clearing."

Azuma: "Wanna try and head back there? Might be worth a shot if we can get reception there to call somebody."

*First of all, it's not a clearing, and second of all, since Mimiru never MOVED, they're still THERE.*
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T"Let's go out to look for them. I still have my lantern."

*She raises a handheld lantern, presumably for emphasis.*

R"Let's wait until after dinner. Don't look at me like that, we'll be more effective if we aren't starving to death."

Eve:<Very true. We should also leave someone here, in case they come and wonder where we are.>
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Monu:<So, what's the vote? Camp here or keep trying to get back.>

Cameron:<I'd rather try and get back.>

"Well, I've eaten," Hector said. Eduj stood up, bringing Astarte up with him, and moved to the kitchen to get dinner. Hector took Eduj's place on the couch.

"I would like to get back just as much as anybody else, but I feel like our chances would be better after sunrise," Stefan said. "And the forest floor sucks, but we're lost, we have to make sacrifices."

N"You can't stay up one night? What are you, a girl?"

*Euryale glares at him.*
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~Moments later~

R"Alright, who's with us?"

Azuma attempts a 911 call on his satelite phone as he was the only one who thought of bringing one.

Azuma: "What the hell is up with this place?"

"I'll go," Hector said, then pointed to Astarte. "But it would be better if she didn't. Eduj should stay with her."

"Come on, guys," Stefan looked pointedly at Nero. "We should try not to get on each other's nerves. It will just make this whole situation even less bearable."

N"You consider following your own advice there, Cub Scout? 'Make camp,' really...."

*Nero sets off diagonally.*
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*And so Thiera, Hector, & Roatha set off into the forest. Thiera holds her lantern near a tree to find a knife marking. They walk along a path that goes deep into the forest before the marks suddenly stop.*

T"They stopped marking their path. That's odd."
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*The phone fails to connect to a satellite. Anquished howls start coming from the forest behind them, but only for a few seconds before ceasing.*

"Maybe they ran off after something like idiots," Hector suggested.

"Damn it," Stefan cursed under his breath before speaking up. "Wait, shouldn't we discuss where we intend to go before you walk off?"

Astarte lay down on the couch and tried to sleep, while Eduj sat on a chair and began writing in a notebook.

The two backtrack the way Azuma came from.

Mimiru: "God, there better be hot water at the cabin. And soap."

Azuma: "And no way to get the stink off your clothes."

Mimiru: "Shut up."

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Taiyo: "Don't wander off again. We don't need anymore people lost."

*Long before they arrive, Azuma & Mimiru see a ball of light within the trees.*
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T"But what?"

*The group can presumably see a far-off point of light.*
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N"I'm not wandering off, if we go in a zig-zagging pattern, we're bound to find the path again and--hey!"

*He whirls around.*

N"I didn't 'wander off' in the first place, I was following people."

Azuma: "Think it's them or more bullshit?"

Mimiru: "Honestly I don't think we can get anymore lost if we tried. It's worth a shot."

The two start heading towards the light, calling out every now and again.

"Hey, look," Hector pointed to the light in the distance. "Does that look like a flashlight to you?"

"Speaking of that, don't you think that those 'people' disappeared kind of quickly?" Stefan narrowed his eyes in thought. "Do you think they were some kind of hallucination, or illusion, or something...?"

N"A hallucination we all had at once?"

E"Well, we didn't actually hear any voices clearly. It could have been some obscure natural phenomenon that made a sound like whispering."

N"Do you have any more plausible theories?"

E"A trickster god, maybe."
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*Thiera & Roatha call back, & before too long, they are reunited with Azuma & Mimiru.*

R"What happened, & why do you smell like garbage?"

Stefan raised an eyebrow at Euryale's comment, but said nothing.

Azuma: "Got lost. She went ahead as we saw what may have been the others' flashlights, some weirdo things happened and I pursued and we got seperated. I think that's what happened to the others."

Mimiru: "Slipped in a section of forest riddled with garbage."

Azuma: "Nice to see somebody decided to join us. Even if it meant searching for the search party."

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Taiyo doesn't pay any heed to Euryale's remark as what if it was or wasn't. Her belief.

Monu:<Could be, could be.>

Cameron:<Or what if it was a land angler fish type thing? Luring us in with the light so it can eat us.>
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Eve:<I should have gone with them.>

Tirea:<Well, we hadn't eaten anyway. We'll go if there's a next time though.>

*Eve nods, and the pair go and get something to eat, then come back and sit on the couch*

N"I can't decide which of those theories sounds stupidest."

*Nero turns in a different direction.*
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T"So they're even deeper in the woods? That seems...implausible."

Cameron:<I wasn't exactly being serious.>

Azuma: "Could be. This whole forest is bugging me out."