June 17th - The Woods, Before Sunrise

[independent_dollmaker]

[As Alice meets up with the others, she can't help but feel that the woods seem even darker than usual.

Maria's dead. What the hell is going on?]

Do you know anything else about what happened? Why are we out here?

Comments

[kouyouensei]

[Haruhi doesn't like the darkness either. First of all there are tons of unnatural, un-urban trees blocking out the sky. Beyond that, the sky itself is pretty black, barely any moonlight. There was a new moon a few days ago, probably, also known as a blood moon; and there's a place in the forest that Shimamoto, or at least Alice, seem to suspect in advance. There's something Haruhi doesn't see. But even here she can hear the sound of a friendly voice... and her own voice, which she might love even more.]

You remember Maya-chan dragging off Yamane in the library? They left school together too - Maria-chan saw... [Wow, past tense verbs - those do a bit of a number on the chipper smile Haruhi is trying to maintain.] So then Maya-chan says she was with Yamane, like they're somewhere else in the woods and they found Maria-chan, and she texted me, and he called the police.

Then I called you, and Shimamoto-san, and so now we're here! [Tada! Haruhi is so proud of this totally unbiased summation. She even left in the qualifiers for the things she didn't witness herself.]

[independent_dollmaker]

I don't know if this was a good idea...

[If she followed that high-speed summary right, then someone was found dead in these woods, after all...]

Are we looking for Fey-san and Yamane-kun now?

[kouyouensei]

Yeah. We'll be safer all together. They're somewhere out here. Can't be far either. I'd kind of thought you had an idea where they would be in here somehow but I guess there's only so much woods anyway.

[independent_dollmaker]

I know I told you I'm related to a witch, Suzumiya-san, but that doesn't mean I can magically find lost people.

[kouyouensei]

That's not...

[What she meant - but the concept is so undesirable anyway. They've got all night.]

When was the last time you came out here? Did you hear anything else Maria-chan would have liked to do here?

[independent_dollmaker]

It was...

[Oh, right... Haruhi doesn't know about it. Nobody does.

You know what? It's past time to worry about that.]

...Last weekend, we all came out here together to investigate an urban legend. Maria, Yamane, Fey, Harime, Aino, Shimamoto, Osaka and I. It had something to do with a witch that Maria seemed to be fond of...

[kouyouensei]

[Haruhi doesn't do speechless a whole lot. Morose, maybe. She gasps for breath - just a little more than settling down from running here.]

You did the ritual without me?

[The shriek sounds childish; she's really trying to make sure she has the correct understanding here. She feels a little hurt, yeah, but.that's not what cracks her voice--]

Then... Then... Then what the hell happened to Seta-kun???

[Keep it down, Haruhi; you're all in mortal peril here]

[independent_dollmaker]

I'm sorry! The rules say you aren't allowed to involve any outsiders, it just has to be the eight people who were there! Nobody else could even know about it, or there was no point!

[--Actually, wait a minute.]

...But Seta was there when we came up with the idea... he couldn't come, but he said he wouldn't tell anyone, so we figured that was fine...

[kouyouensei]

Of course that's how it is! Nine is a bad number and ten is outright unwieldy.

Still. What's supposed to happen if someone else knows? Everyone dies? It's been days and everyone was fine for a... while...

Augh!!! What do we do?

[fortunatetoaster]

Y'could try waitin' for me to catch up before ya take off, maybe!

[ and that sure is prez struggling to catch up. she looks a little worn out -- her cheeks are just a little too red and her eyes are just a little too bright. she's not used to staying up all hours and she's still catching up with her sleep debt from the ritual, so this is kind of pushing it. ]

J--jeez, I thought I'd lost ya both!

[kouyouensei]

Shimamoto-san!

[A sight for Haruhi's own less sore eyes. Too bad she doesn't have any tea left to share.]

See the others on your way here?

[fortunatetoaster]

[ she gives another puff, trying to catch her breath and then shakes her head. ]

Nah, I didn't. An' I take it if you're askin' me, you ain't seen 'em either?

[independent_dollmaker]

So far, it's just us. Suzumiya, Fey and Yamane called you first, right? Is there anyone else we should get in touch with?

[flatview]

[ She's certain she's only been running for about two minutes, but it feels as though it's been much longer. Oddly nimble for a mere seamstress, Nui darts across the forest as fast as her legs will let her. Her lungs are burning, her feet are scratched and bloody from wearing only thin sandals across the rough terrain. ]

Alice! Haruhi! [ She can't stop yelling. This forest is huge. She could run past them five or six times if there wasn't a response, or a flash of color. ] Osaka, you goddamned lunatic, I'm gonna slice all of your fingers off one by one!

[ --what was that? A blur of gray and purple in the distance. Someone. It probably wasn't Alice and Haruhi, but someone else was out in the forest at this time of night, that was the important point. Temporarily, she adjusts her course towards the figures.

Well. She was just wearing a nightgown and jeans, so her parasol would have to be the key identifier here. Pink as ever, and trailing behind her like a makeshift club. ]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Hiroshi was getting antsy. They'd called people eons ago, and they still hadn't seen anybody. With Maria dead, he couldn't help but have his mind go in terrible directions and who the hell is that screeching like a banshee

Nui will find Hiroshi looking a bit like a deer in the headlights when she arrives.]

...Nui?

[itwasfeyt]

[Maya was about ready to tear her hair out in frustration. No one was coming yet, and she kept hearing things in the woods.

Hearing that horrible screeching noise, Maya squeaked and grabbed for her prayer beads until she realized what it was...]

Nui... Nui! What's the big idea?! Where is eveyrone?!

[flatview]

[ --Hiroshi and Maya? What the hell were they doing out here? Well, maybe Alice called them beforehand.

She can't bring herself to stop running, though, so she keeps moving around the two of them in jagged patterns while she speaks, shifting her parasol uncomfortably. ]

Alice called me. Osaka's gone nuts!

[all_onis_are_true]

Osaka?! Are you quite certain?

[A memory flits through his mind, then: "Why does everybody call me Osaka?" "I don't understand. Why are you lying?"

He pales, though it's hard to make out in the darkness. The signs were there. The signs were there and he'd ignored them. Okay, he couldn't have known what they were signs of, but...]

[itwasfeyt]

Whaaat?! Osaka is the person doing this?!

[Maya was stunned. Nice, ditzy Osaka, a murderer? She was the one that did this to Maria? But why? What was the motive? Why would she...

And then she noticed Hiroshi's face.]

Hiroshi... do you know something...?

[flatview]

That's what she said. She got hit or something, and Haruhi-chan was screaming.

[ Nui attempts to stay silent in her frantic pacing, but grows frustrated when the two of them aren't keen on moving. ]

Ugh, talk while you're walking! Move, or I'll leave you two behind!

[all_onis_are_true]

[He follows her, but he still seems a little stunned.]

Osaka... she had been acting strangely behind Souji's house. Asking why everybody called her Osaka, accusing me of lying when I told her that it was HER nickname. I thought it was just her being her at the time and that I was imagining her acting funny, so I had not put any thought into it, but...

[He grabs his temples, angry at himself.]

If I had only listened!

[itwasfeyt]

Wh-whaaaaat?! No waaaay!

[Maya looks very worried now, keeping her eyes trained on every shadow that looked like it was moving, even though it was a trick of the lights. Maybe.]

B-but, why is it her..... it was you before...!

[flatview]

[ nui says nothing in response to the two of them, more concentrated on occasionally calling out the girl's names and peering around the trees that continually block her path.

How far into the forest where they? It had to have been relatively far if these two didn't hear the others screaming. ]

What the hell, where are they?

[all_onis_are_true]

How the hell should I know? Clearly you cannot just rely on visions, and yet somehow your vision predicted the GIST of this nonsense! Do you realize how much this defies scientifically?

[itwasfeyt]

Yes! Yes I do, okay?! [She snaps at Hiroshi, fear and confusion mixing into one emotion.] This whole thing is impossible, but it's still somehow possible! I've never gotten visions like this-- I'm a spirit medium in training! This has never happened to me before, ever!

[She covered her mouth with a hand, looking away as she tried to think up an explanation for all this that didn't mean what she thought it meant.]

It... i-it doesn't make any sense.