WEEK 6 CYOA - CLAUDE, FUTABA, LUX, KON

[dormheads]

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[alitaba]

[ idk maybe she left them in her other pants. ]

I think I found something!

[ she will bodily move her way to said item and shine her poor struggling light upon it. ]

[amain]

[ As she approaches, the flashlight of her phone dies out exponentially. However, she can get one last look of this mysterious item before it goes pitch black.

It's an oil lamp.

Taichi, being an actual useful npc, does have his phone flashlight on once hers goes out. It does the same awful flickering, but she should be able to make out how to turn the lamp on. ]

What is it?

[ The smell... Is stronger where Futaba is and the kid is whimpering as they hold onto her shirt or something. ]

[alitaba]

Got a light.

[ and also a strong whiff on the scent. hm. that's not concerning at all.... ]

Be ready....!

[ she turns it on ]

[amain]

[ Taichi peers up, but can't really see from where he is with all the crates. Only Futaba and the child can take in the scene full...

They are bodies, so many bodies of different ages, drenched in blood and rotting. Some are weeks or days old, some are fresher than those, and all of their eyes and mouths are gaping open like it's a still frame of their last moments. They're beyond saving. The wood under them have stained dark and wet, while fresh blood slowly pools over the old.

It's ripe here. ]

F... Futaba?

[ Taichi can't see the bodies, but he can see the shadow of corpses against the back wall. The child starts crying again. ]

[alitaba]

[ the hills are alive with sheer shrieking ]

[amain]

[ Oh, no. The kids also SHRIEKS. Taichi is quick to act, getting to them and pulling them back from the scene—he gets a small glimpse of the pile and his heart sinks, but he has to focus on the people alive.

He makes sure to take them as far as they can from there, but not so far they can't see the door with the oil lamp's light. ]

Listen to me, both of you. It's okay. It's going to be okay.

[ He has to tell himself this, too. ]

[alitaba]

[ HE SAYS THIS BUT IT SURE PUTS THIS ROOM(?) IN A WHOLE DIFFERENT LIGHT. ha. ]

We gotta get out. We gotta get out right now-

[ she rubs the poor npc kids back because WHOO BOY WAY TO TRAUMATIZED THE BOTH OF THEM ]

[amain]

Yeah, we're going to get out. There... There must be something in these crates that can crack that door open?

[ Taichi is slowly losing his mind because that pile was maybe about eight people. ]

Maybe I should throw a crate?

[ As they think about the door, it coincidentally opens. Act fast, fuckers. ]

[alitaba]

[ futaba, already spooked like a horse, throws the nearest thing in sight.

unfortunately, that's the lantern ]

[amain]

[ I... This is an oil lamp, Futaba.

The door closes and another body is dropped. It makes a kind of familiar mrr noise as it slowly gets up. It looks at the oil lamp that sure spilled onto the floor? The wooden floor.

Fire.

They can see the new person is Lalli and he turns to both of them with the weariest look ever. Taichi is speechless because the fire is growing, bringing light to this whole place. They can finally see the ceiling better and it is not that much higher. Smog forms fast. ]

[alitaba]

[ SOMETIMES YOU PANIC? so much for being the calm cool navi she should be??? look, no one ever said you could think straight after getting a second fright so soon after the first. ]

Should've thrown my phone instead.

[ OR NOT. I MISSED A PART. she flaps instead. lalli why didn'tyou keep the door open with your finnish noodle body.]

Lalli?!

[ kissa is our only hope now ]

[amain]

[ Sorry, the door closed after they dumped Lalli in here. He's more concerned about the fire and is trying to cover it up with his jacket? No oxygen means it'll stop, right? Taichi is also focused on the fire, leaving the kid to shake and sink. They hold onto their knees, sobbing some more.

It's very unfortunate that there's so much food for a fire in this place... There's enough oxygen to keep it going, too. It catches onto crates. It catches onto the corpses (smells like bad bacon). The smoke thickens fast. They decide to abandon the fire. It's a lost cause now. ]

Futaba, stand back.

[ Lalli coughs as he watches Taichi prepare to body the door. ]

[alitaba]

[ she's holding onto the kid and keeping low. at least she knows that much about fire safety?? being in a tank top doesn't do much for the smoke though so she tugs at lalli ]

Get down here and share your cloak!

[ here's hoping taichi can either ram the door open or throw a only vaguely on fire crate at it ]

[amain]

[ Lalli is tugged down by Futaba! And with her and the kid, they huddle up like little kittens weathering FIRE. Taichi is doing his best, he keeps body slamming the door to no avail. It does seem to loosen with each attempt he does, but never enough. Not quite enough.

There's too much smoke. Their vision is blurred by it as it reflects the bright light of the flames. The coughing starts. The suffocation starts.

There's one last stand, a crate is thrown and it breaks, sending its contents flying. Eventually, Taichi falls, coughing a storm. The kid, too. Lalli is doing his best, having experience from a separate cyoa, but the coughs can still be heard.

The fire has engulfed the whole hull.

The kid closes their eyes. The coughing stops for them. They're dead. ]

[alitaba]

[ she's not gonna cry. she's not gonna. but boy howdy is this a fast lesson in how difficult npc quests really are. she pets the poor kid and stands, pulling up lalli to where taichi is. ]

One last go with all three of us.

[amain]

[ Damn... Futaba. You did your best. You were doing so well. The boys barely make her out, but they know. They all hold onto each other, as if knowing this was going to be their last moment. The fire takes their breath away, so there are no words.

Taichi dies first, for exerting too much in this fire.

Lalli comes second...

Then Futaba— ]

[amain]

BAD END

---

Wow... Maybe don't throw oil lamps in a wooden realm. You may load up your last save file and try again. What save point will you choose?

[alitaba]

[ route b where futaba chucks her phone at lalli instead ]

[amain]

[ It felt like all that fire was a bad dream. Instead, Futaba throws a phone at Lalli and he makes a tired yet pained groan. Taichi, fortunately, does not greet Lalli like that. Instead, he bolts to try to get to the door, but it closes almost immediately. ]

You got to be fucking kidding me!

[ Slowly, Lalli gets up and takes a look around. ]

How did I get here?

[ The kid is still crying. Lalli closes his eyes, then covers his ears, shrinking away. ]

Loud. Smelly.

[alitaba]

[ she pats the kid. are her hands shaking? it's hard to say from what. she's just gotta keep moving and maybe cry later when this is over ]

Congrats on getting kidnapped too.

[ her eyes are looking for kissa though. best girl is their last hope ]

[amain]

... Kidnapped.

[ Lalli squints, letting that sink in, as Taichi keeps banging on the door. There is no cute little meow meow, unfortunately. Kissa did not join Lalli on this trip. ]

Hey! Someone! Help us! We're in here!

[ Some fear sinks into Lalli, so of course he decides to find a nice quiet place further from the stink to curl into a ball, but he sees Futaba shaking. He frowns and chooses to be with the loud child just to be close to her. There's space between them, he likes his personal space, but he's close. ]

I was looking for the missing people to get out of this trip... [ Frowns harder. ] This isn't good.

[alitaba]

[ LALLI WHAT USE ARE YOU. but she appreciates him for being a near ]

Well, you found them.

[ her head tilts to the now shadowed pile o' bodies. she continues patting the kid in a way of soothing herself. ]

We're gonna join them if we don't find a way out. Doors out so we're either down to digging our way or slamming our heads against the door.

[amain]

[ stop... Lalli IS the support cat! He follows her line of sight, then frowns. His sense of smell is very good, so he doesn't need to see more than what he can from here. The kid that Futaba has been comforting quiets down. ]

... I was looking for them, too, but when I followed the lead I had, I appeared here.

[ Lalli only makes a noise in agreement. ]

I don't remember much.

Futaba is right. We need to find another way out or be quick enough to get through the door.

There are a lot of crates in here.

[ Taichi frowns because is that really all they have? Crates? They just have to open crates...? But the oil lamp gives a lot more light than the phone flashlight, so it might be easier to explore this place now. ]

[alitaba]

We were moving the crates away before Things happened.

[ and now that they have the lamp..... ]

I'm hoping there's some sort something they're hiding or we're just completely missing a hidey hole.

[ how many noodles does it take to escape a death trap? ]

[amain]

[ Lalli merely looks at Futaba, then nods, then looks over to Taichi. Taichi rubs his neck as he looks at the sea of crates. ]

Back to looking for this secret escape hole.

[ Noodles at Work. ]

Bring the lamp closer to the center.

[ Lalli wants the light to cover more area so they can look around. ]