week four: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Four
22 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find a large, swirling mass grey in color looming near the sakura tree. This swirl cannot be approached just yet, but seems to be locked and waiting for something more.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. Though they’re together, it’s Sol who speaks up first this time.

"We've been asked to open another gateway for you guys, but...it's funny. It sort of feels like things have calmed down. The corruption's temporarily evened out and the universe is stabilized for now, but that doesn't mean we should stop looking. Take a look and see what you can find on the other side. You might even get to learn something new."

When Sol finishes, they turn to face Lune, allowing for the other to speak for themselves.

"A bit of reprieve of welcome, isn't it? Please take this time to recover, even as you make steps forward to continue your good work. Thank you, thank you."

The moment participants leave the hall, they will find that the gateway has changed from grey to white, the opening widening enough for multiple people to step through. The Signs will soon take their leave, and all will remain peaceful once more.

In addition, as the week goes on, partners will be able to hear each other's thoughts whenever they look at one another! They may not hear every single thought that occurs, but the link will partners to hear thoughts as though their partner is speaking out loud. The more private the thought, the more likely the partner will pick up on it.



Welcome to your week three mingle! As a reminder, this is break week! This means no murders and no trial! Your normal schedule will resume next week. We will still be hosting a laid-back mini-event on Tuesday, however.

In addition, ensure that all of your week three private conversations were reported on the page, and your week four private conversations are reported on that page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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[stillstands]

You’re welcome.

[ Ladies....

She nods though. ]

I will. [ And they’re off! There’s a fair bit of wobbling on Miki’s part, but the longer she flies the more stable she feels. Enough so that she’s able to push herself up off her broom to try and see further ahead when a large silhouette starts looming on the horizon. ]

What is that thing...? Some kind of tree...?

[foodbin]

It looks like a tree...

[But as they both get closer, clumsy as their progress is, she can't help but get the feeling...]

Isn't it moving a little bit much for just the breeze?

[stillstands]

It does... and for a tree that big, it wouldn't be wafting in the breeze. Not like that.

[ Hmm. Bad?

Bad. ]

Do we want to try and go around it sort of.... wide?

[foodbin]

That... is probably the best option, yeah.

[She frowns.]

How quickly are you getting the hang of steering?

[stillstands]

I'm-- [ she wobbles. ]

Not.

But if I start moving around it now I should be fair enough away by the time I get there?

[foodbin]

Okay. Let's both do that, then.

[And as she says that, she's veering to the right to give the tree a wide arc - which doesn't prepare her at all for when one of the large knotted branches takes a swing at her. She might have been expecting shenanigans, but not those particular ones!

Which is to say, she's veering even sharper right, and probably getting a mouthful of leaves as she passes through a few tree branches before stopping in midair.]

What the fuck was that?!

[stillstands]

[ Miki ends up doing a way-too-extreme barrel roll, none of it intentional, to get out of the way of the flailing branches. When she's out of the way, she straightens up, hands gripping to the broom so tightly her knuckles have gone white. ]

Was that the tree?! What kind of tree is that?!

[ It is WAY bigger than she thought, and the smaller branches seem to be flailing themselves threateningly around. And then one of the bigger ones starts rising up, and-- ]

Look out!! It's going to swing one straight down!!

[foodbin]

[Well.

Since Miki is holding on tight enough to the broom to keep that hold no matter what, Emma is just going to fly in her direction (and probably knock into her just a little) in order to grab her collar, and just

try to haul the both of them away as quickly as they can go. Apparently she's already forgotten the 'take it slow' advice from earlier.]

[stillstands]

[ oh there they do.

Miki lets out a yelp that sort of gets cut off as her collar gets yanked, but hey. They managed to avoid death by tree branch? Good. Good. ]

Come on, come on, come on, go, go, go--!!

[ Is she talking to her broom or Emma? Who knows but whatever gets them speeding in the direction away from the huge tree is, is the best thing to do right now honestly. ]

[foodbin]

I'm going!

[But despite that, even as they zoom away, the tree tries to make one more hit at them - it doesn't hit, but it's a close enough miss that it startles her into quickly changing her direction, and she

goes flying straight into a tree, Miki in tow. Oops.]

[stillstands]

[ You're doing great, sweeties. ]

Ahh--!! [ oh my god there they go. Miki presses a little flatter to the tree in the vague hopes it won't take swings against itself?? ]

Emma?? Emma, are you still conscious?!

[ this is going GREAT. ]

[foodbin]

[Apparently she is, because she's still holding on to Miki's collar, and this time they are going straight up, out of the way of the branches entirely.]

...You okay?

[She's very bruised. It's fine.]

[stillstands]

[ Look at her go. Soaring like a majestic eagle, useless teenager in tow. ]

I'm fine, I didn't crash into a tree--

[ Oh my god. ] Go left! Left!! The branch is following us!!

[ WHAT IS THIS. ]

[foodbin]

[Left it is, just as severe as the turn she made a few moments ago - but it seems like that, finally, gets them outside of the reach of the tree.

As she lets go of Miki's collar:]

I can't believe I have to be the only botanist on earth who hates trees.

[stillstands]

[ There's still one branch attempting to reach them, valiant and annoying. It takes about ten seconds for Miki to rev up a fireball and fling it at it, sending it wriggling back towards the main tree, slightly smoking. ]

...

[ She flops a little bonelessly over the handle of her broom and sighs. ]

... ? A botanist? Is that your job?

[foodbin]

It was going to be.

[But that's about all she'll say on that, before gesturing in the direction of the joke shop.]

You ready, or do you need a second?

[stillstands]

... ?

[ Oh, right. ]

Let me just get myself back on this thing properly again. [ fffff brooms. ]

... It definitely went in there, didn't it?

[foodbin]

Yeah, it must have.

[But she'll wait until Miki is ready to continue.]

[stillstands]

[ Thank you for the moment of peace. Once it's done, Miki does look more stable again. ]

Okay then. The sooner we find it, the sooner we don't have to be on brooms anymore.

[foodbin]

Yes. Here's hoping we don't nearly get killed by another tree.

[Off they gooooo.]

[stillstands]

There can't be more than one of those things, can there? This is a school. There must be students wandering around half the time. [ Imagine the legal fees. ]

... [ I mean. She's looking a bit steadier. Maybe she's learning? ]

[foodbin]

If they haven't gotten rid of this one, I get the feeling they don't care much about that.

[Anyways. As they approach the village, Emma points towards the noises of laughter she hears.]

There, right?

[stillstands]

You'd think they would, if their students are just going to get hurt by it?

[ what is the logic of this school?? ]

I think s--[ Hrrr. ] It's laughing. Okay, sure, the shop is laughing.

[ It. Sounds like it's getting louder too?? Bad? ]

[foodbin]

...Maybe we should keep our distance until we can tell what that laughter is.

[But then she pauses, seeing something glittering, and glances towards Miki.]

I think I see the—

[That's when the first dungbomb flies out of the window.]

[stillstands]

[ With a surprised yell, Miki - or rather her broom - rolls aggressively to the side, avoiding the dungbomb as it flies straight at them. Avoiding the dungbomb is fine; avoiding the smell however.... ]

Ugh! What is that?

[ and more importantly where is it coming from? ]

I can't see anyone up there throwing things!