WEEK 6 CYOA - CLAUDE, FUTABA, LUX, KON

[dormheads]

Comments

[overshaded]

[ Nope.

It's darker in this room than it is in the hallway, but on the way to the doorway, he can see bags of flour strewn across the floor.

Once inside, he can hear the faint patter of footsteps outside. ]

[shaft]

[ Gently touches the flour to make sure it's not drugs.

But okay, he doesn't love the dark, and something feels so wildly off that he desperately just wants to go outside but.

He has to be smart, so he'll pull out his phone again to illuminate the room around him. Are there windows, a door or anything useful? ]

[overshaded]

[ Is Claude so well-versed in drugs that he can tell the difference between flour and something else in dim lighting? When the bag of flour isn't even open? And nothing is spilling out?

Anyway, now that he used his phone, he can see better, and the inside of this room is all wood like it is in the hallway. He can hear the faint sound of waves lapping against something in the distance.

There is a table with some chairs. A bookshelf. There is no window in this room.

A cough can be heard from outside. ]

[shaft]

[ No. He's never touched a drug in his life.

Anyway, he's not thrilled about the lack of windows, but he can't stay in here forever. (Though he will nosy around the books, trying to see if they give him any clue of where he is)

Eventually, he'll head over to the door before pocketing his phone again, pulling out his dagger before carefully sliding the door open... ]

[overshaded]

[ The bookshelf is full of journals and random maps and things like that, so if he wants to go back and look at them more, he can.

But since he is opening the door again, he can't take a deeper look.

No one is right outside the door.

He can hear a cough again to his left once he opens the door. ]

[shaft]

[ Okay, well if he can't immediately see anything, he is oNCE AGAIN taking out his phone and opening up the camera app.

He's going to peek it out past the doorway to try and see if he can get a look at whatever it is that keeps coughing to the left. ]

[overshaded]

[ Well.

He can see the silhouette of a young girl on his phone. It's too dark to see what she looks like in detail. ]

[shaft]

[ Claude slithers back into the room to deliberate this further.

No, jk. He'll finally step out of the door, holding his dagger low and out of view, but still ready to strike. ]

Hey there. Under the weather?

[overshaded]

[ Instead of answering, she looks startled, backs away, and dashes into another room. ]

[shaft]

...

[ Well, that he didn't expect. ]

Hello? Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to figure out where this place is.

[overshaded]

[ He can hear some shuffling inside the room, as if something might be shifting or moved.

There is a little more coughing, but there's no other reply. ]

[shaft]

Yeah, don't worry. You're not the only person who thinks I'm suspicious.

[ He'll hide his dagger under his clothing again before carefully stepping toward the direction that the girl ran off into. If there's a door or something in the way, he'll knock politely. ]

I promise I mean no harm.

[overshaded]

[ Is that supposed to make a young girl feel any better, Claude? Why do you pick such terrible dialogue options?

There is a door! It actually looks like a nicer door than the door he used previously! Bigger. Fancier. Sturdier. Wowie.

There's another quieter cough.

And then, he can hear in his mind, very faint, Will he... ]

[shaft]

[ Okay, well. He's not going to bust open the door or corner this girl, so he steps back to take stock of this new place. What else is there for him to explore?

Those words... is it the thought sharing effect? ]

Is there where you live? Would you mind telling me the name of the place?

[overshaded]

[ Well, he can try to leave this corridor somehow, but he's got to choose a direction.

There's some more coughing. In his mind again, very, very quiet: Is he going to....

He can hear some more shuffling, almost as if she's moving closer to the door. There is the faint sound of her stomach grumbling.

More shuffling, as if she's moving back from the door now. ]

[shaft]

[ ... Of course. Children can be bribed with food, can't they? ]

If you're hungry, you can have one of my snacks.

[ Casually places snack bar outside the door... and steps back. Like leaving food for a stray cat. ]

If this is your house, I'm sorry to just wander in. I'm a little lost.

[overshaded]

[ Snack...?

There's some more coughing, and then the door opens to reveal a little girl. She does not have the bow in her hair.

She is also not smiling. She looks a little nervous, as if she's ready to run again. ]

[shaft]

[ It's a little girl!! He looks openly relieved, and he'll gesture to the snack bar that he put on the ground. It's still in the wrapper. ]

I've got plenty of those, so help yourself. You just need to peel open the cover. I hope you like apples and cinnamon.

[ He doesn't approach, just smiling a little worriedly at her. ]

I was going to ask if you could help me, but I'm wondering if I should offer to help you instead.

[overshaded]

[ She still looks scared, but now she also looks confused. Snack bars don't exist in this world. She looks down at it like.... it could be.... poison...?

But when he says if he should offer help instead, she looks up at him with surprise.

She coughs.

You'll help...? Really? You'll help me? ]

[shaft]

[ Okay, so this isn't thought sharing, she's literally speaking into his brain which is weird.

He really hopes nothing else weird happens. ]

Yeah, I'll do my best. What is it that you need help with?

—And do you want me to open that for you?

[overshaded]

[ Oh, something about what he says startles her a lot, and she backs away again, a few steps into the room.

How?

At least the door is open, and he can see there is light in this room, somewhere. ]

[shaft]

[ He blinks a little at her. ]

Well, it's not that difficult... You just need to...

[ He pulls another bar out of his pocket and demonstrates how to open the wrapper, presenting the unwrapped snack before taking a bite. ]

Ta-da!

[overshaded]

[ She still looks very startled, her eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights, but after a long moment, when it seems like he isn't doing anything else, she'll come back towards Claude.

She approaches the snack bar on the ground, slowly, inch by inch, as if he'll attack her if she gets too close.

She looks up at him with every step she takes. ]

[shaft]

[ His expression softens a little, and he stops thinking about his next move for a moment. Stops calculating and trying to figure out what to do next.

He just nods at her. ]

It's all yours. My name's Claude, by the way.

[overshaded]

[ She coughs.

Claude....

She picks up the snack bar, unwraps it like he showed but much more clumsily, as if unused to doing something like that, and takes one bite.

Then tries to scarf the entire rest of the snack bar in another bite, gobbling it.

She almost chokes on it. ]