Into The Forest

[inheritance]

WHO: All volunteers
WHERE: The forest
WHEN: April 6th, late morning
WHAT: Attempting to map out the area and finding much more than they bargained for.
WARNINGS: Violence

"There is absolutely no wildlife.
There are no mutant animals to be found.
The birds are silent. There are no bugs.
It's as if everything is watching, and holding its breath, and waiting."

Comments

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo follows after the other two, keeping a few steps back and to Cairn's left. He slides both hands into his pockets and quietly scans their surroundings as they walk, keeping an eye out for anything odd. He listens for sounds of animal activity too, but the unsettling stretch of silence continues on, broken only by the sounds of their own footsteps.

He stops walking when Yata speaks, looking over to the stone table in the center of the brightly lit clearing. Huh. ]

What's something like this doing out here? [ It doesn't look like a natural rock formation to him; it's definitely strange enough to warrant a closer look, so Ryo decides to approach the clearing. Maybe there's something special about the table. ]

There's a stump chair next to it. [ So. Who wants to sit down first. ]

[unghost]

[ The brightly lit clearing is definitely a blessing, but that table and chair are super suspicious. While they keep the other two in close distance with them, they don't get too close to the table and chair itself, giving it a highly skeptical look... they've had bad experiences with seemingly normal appliances appearing from nowhere and then starting to explode. ]

Be careful. It could be a trap.

[ They're not going to be the first one to sit down, that's for sure, and they keep looking around expectantly for something to happen. They give the stump chair a little tap with their shoe, just to make sure it wouldn't blow up, and once that's done, they lean back into keeping their distance. ]

With that talking furniture from earlier, who knows what these can do.

[skatebird]

[ While Cairn is reasonably suspicious and makes a good point, Yata seems a little skeptical. ]

It's not really furniture if it's part of a tree, right? And the furniture was annoying, but it didn't hurt anyone.

[ Except with their words, of course, but even Yata can shrug something like that off. He approaches the stump, kicks it cautiously, and then, when it doesn't explode or attack him or anything like that, flops down onto it. ]

But there's seriously nothing out here. I thought this was--

[ Yata cuts himself with choked clicking sound. He whips his head around to stare at some point on the other side of the table, goes pale, then throws himself backwards off the stump with an alarmed yelp.

So much for 'nothing'. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo quietly watches Yata as he sits down, raising an eyebrow when the other stares at what looks like absolutely nothing to him since he cannot see strange-looking person sitting across the table. ]

What did you see? [ BECAUSE THAT SURE WAS A REACTION. Yata must've seen something. ]

[unghost]

[ They weren't really paying that much attention to what Yata was doing since they were so focused looking around, but as soon as the other yelps, they immediately become 10000x times more stressed looking, blade at the ready - but. It looks like nothing is there... ? ]

What was that reaction for? [ They seem a bit annoyed, thinking that the other could possibly just be pulling their leg. What other reasoning could there be? There's no way they could imagine something only being visible to him. ] You better not be screwing around. There's clearly nothing there.

[skatebird]

There's--!!

[ Yata jumps to his feet, pointing at something on the other side of the table, shuffling backwards, but-- ]

Huh...?

[ He falters for a moment then, still pointing, whips his head around to look at Ryo and Cairn again. ]

There was something there! Some weird old lady ghost thing!

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo just gives Yata a long look, cocking his eyebrow further up. Yata could just be fucking with them, but given how weird the forest is that's probably not the case here and his reaction was genuine. ]

Elaborate, Yata-san. We didn't see anything.

[unghost]

"Old lady ghost thing"?

[ If they could look anymore skeptical, they would. But they cross their arms and wait for a more detailed description, since they're starting to doubt the other is the kind to put this much energy into a farce. ]

[skatebird]

But she...

[ Yata turns and looks back to where the 'old lady ghost thing' had been just a moment ago, confirming that she's really still not there before he continues. ]

She was right there! I sat down and she suddenly popped up and ask if I wanted me fortune told!

[apocalypticist]

...Hm. [ So only the person sitting in the chair can see the ghost, then? Ryo contemplates this for a few seconds and then moves to sit down; just as he expected, the strange-looking person appears before him across the table. Someone not quite human. ]

I can see her. [ He says in a calm voice, after regarding the person for a long moment. "Would you like your fortune?", she asks, face blank and devoid of emotion ] Yes, tell me my fortune.

[ There's no hesitation behind it — nothing ventured, nothing gained. He regrets this almost immediately though, when the person demands payment and he discovers that he cannot get off of the chair; no matter how hard he tries, it's as if he's been glued to the seat. ]

—I'm stuck. [ Some help would be appreciated, guys. ]

[unghost]

[ Fortune...?? They can't fathom why Ryo would also sit down given Yata's reaction, but it's already too late before they can give an I Don't Approve of This speech. And now, he's stuck. ]

Are you serious?

[ Cairngorm takes a step closer to look at the stump, unfolding their arms. They're not blind, so they can see the other is putting in some effort in trying to get off of it... strange. With how light they've discovered most humans are, they don't think it'd be any problem at all to just pull him off, so they get a little closer while making eye contact with Yata. ]

Well - we can try lifting you off. [ They put a hand on Ryo's right arm, expecting Yata to follow on the opposite side. ] But if it doesn't work, we'll have to dig the stump out and figure it out later. Unless the "old lady ghost" takes issue with that...

[skatebird]

[ He just sat down?! And agreed to a fortune, too? Between this and the the coat full of weapons Ryo is... kind of interesting. Yata hovers anxiously behind him, closely watching nothing in particular in the approximate place where the old lady ghost is.

And then Ryo can't get up? That's even weirder. Yata hurries to help Cairn help Ryo, and when that doesn't work...

Well. ]

Guess we gotta start digging...

[ This'll take forever, huh? ]

[apocalypticist]

[ ...Well, at least they tried. Once they've determined that simply lifting him off isn't possible, Ryo looks to the creepy woman with a frigid gaze. Her expression remains perfectly blank as she repeats what she said earlier about paying, this time in a firmer voice. ]

She keeps asking for payment - it's possible she won't let me leave unless I do as she says. [ So digging the stump out might be a bad idea. ]

[unghost]

[ They hold a hand against their face, visibly very frustrated because - this is exactly why we don't agree to talking with invisible people!!!! ]

What kind of payment? You cannot seriously be considering giving it anything.

[ That had to be the biggest red flag of all of the things that had happened thus far. ]

[skatebird]

[ 'What kind of payment?' is exactly what Yata is wondering. ]

We don't have much to give her anyway, do we?

[ Unless she wants Ryo's knifecoat. ]

[apocalypticist]

A power or an important memory. [ And since he's just a regular human (as far as he knows anyway) the only thing he can give up is a memory. ] I'd rather not pay her, but I may not have much of a choice.

[ At least if he wants to be able to leave, that is. He'd gladly hand over the coat tbh, but he's certain she would refuse and keep asking him to pay in the form of a memory or a power. ]

[unghost]

I knew this seemed like a trap...

[ This is exactly why they wanted no part of this weird, creepy, furniture in the middle of the woods thing. There's only so much they can infer just based on the other's description, so they stare worryingly at the empty space across from the three of them. ]

You don't think there's any solution other than playing into it's hand?

[ They knew they couldn't stay here forever, so they would have to do something, but - making deals with phantoms in the forest seemed about the least smart thing to do. ]