Character Halloween

In the middle of a shadowy and desolate forest, a lonely castle stands atop a crag. While its towering Gothic spires and bleak, dark walls present a foreboding appearance, tonight this castle will play host to a festive gathering involving characters of many strange and different natures from across many worlds.

But as the characters arrive for this party, they may find more than they might have been expecting. For the holiday is Halloween, and as the sun slowly sinks behind the trees and the shadows lengthen over the old castle, mysterious and spooky events will begin to occur, and the visitors will find themselves in for a Halloween night to remember...

Welcome to the latest installment of the Character Development Threads! These shared story exercises give you the opportunity to develop your characters, practice writing, and have fun alongside your fellow writers, no signups, profiles, or GM approval necessary. Want to join? If the thread's gotten long, there's no need to fear Archive Panic- just head on over to our discussion thread and say so, and we'll give you a recap of what's going on and good spots for working your characters into the thread; how you choose to do this is up to you. A little communication in endeavors such as these can go a long way towards having fun, helping others, getting that kink in your character worked out, getting your characters out of their comfort zone, or whatever you're here for, so if you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. We're all for helping each other out.

Character Halloween is a Halloween-themed casual thread. For those unfamiliar with the Character Development Threads, a casual thread is one primarily focused on character interaction; violence and physical conflict between characters are discouraged. Tonally, the thread is meant to be scary good fun: while it's Halloween-themed and spooky events are encouraged, they should be of a harmless nature rather than horror-based.

For more details, please see the trope page, which contains essential information about the thread. And feel free to stop by the CDT Discussion Thread.

I'd like to acknowledge the assistance of Crystal Glacia, Ryuhza, Night, Gault, Killer Clowns, Yomegami, Elfhunter, and Flowing Cotton, all of whom provided me with feedback during the planning of this thread.

• Current Time: 1:00 AM
• Current Weather: Dark and Clear

Thread maps:

• Castle Grounds◊
• Central Castle Interior◊
• Overall Castle Layout◊

Halloween has now ended.

edited 21st Feb '15 10:48:32 PM by nrjxll

[[Outside Castle]] —-> [[Entry Hall]]

Michael was struggling to ride his bicycle now that the road begun to slope, breathing harder with every stroke of the pedal. It didn’t help that the sun was beating down on him while he had on a heavy black trench coat. He was wearing a white shirt underneath, along with light blue jeans and dark blue and white sneakers. He had pulled his plastic mask above his head, covering his black hair, but streaks of sweat still ran down his pale face. He looked about eighteen years old.

What kind of asshat calls people for a Halloween party at fucking four in the afternoon? he thought between breaths, And out in the boonies too. Does this guy think anyone with a life is going to show up? He peered ahead with black eyes and studied the façade of the castle. Have to give props to the guy for picking the spot though, looks spooky as hell.

It was at this point that he passed the Pumpkin patch with a comparatively unimpressive scarecrow in the middle. Or might be the thing looked scarier in the dark? Well, it scared the birds at least; not a one within yards of the patch. He soon left behind the graveyard as well, only giving a cursory glance and noting the number of graves. Damn, this place must be old. Does the dude actually live here?

He braked as he got to the entrance, and got off and parked the bicycle a little ways to the side. It looked like he was the first one here. Of course, I am. Come to think of it, why the fuck did I even come this early? The pulled out a pair of black fingerless gloves from his coat pocket and put them on. Rubbing his forehead with his coat sleeve, he pulled down his mask as well. It was shapely vaguely like an upside down teardrop, and it was all white, save for the purple lightning symbol over the right eye and a thin red smile drawn on it. His medium sized hair was messy now, falling over the top of his mask.

He slammed the gargoyle shaped door knocker and waited to be let in, but when no reply came he knocked harder and called, “Hello?” Again, receiving no reply, he tried the door and found it to be unlocked. With a frustrated sigh, he went inside. The door opened into a very large hall, with a few armchairs here and there. The chandelier in the hall had been lit but it didn't look like they’d even started decorating the hall for the party, or were the cobwebs part of the decorations? And it would have been nice if “they” had decency to greet the guests when they arrived. He shook his head, closed the door behind him and took a seat, waiting for other guests.

edited 30th Oct '14 10:07:26 AM by Elfhunter

Outside (Path to Castle) -> Entry Hall

Kaguya walked along the random path she had found, looking around with an expression somewhere between confusion and wariness on her face. She wasn't at all surprised to be apparently out in the country, but this terrain looked nothing like the forest she was just walking through. She had also gotten separated from Hayate somewhere along the way, which was something of a sign she wasn't just seeing things.

She appeared to be a Japanese girl of around sixteen years of age, somewhat short but otherwise having average build of someone of her age and ethnicity. She was dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt and short, red pleated skirt, in what looked like a typical school uniform at first glance but also appeared to reference the traditional Miko uniform. She had paired her clothing with a pair of loose socks that went up to just below her knees and a pair of black mary janes. While otherwise looking like a human, her hair and eye color were very unusual; her hair, which reached down to the bottom of her shoulder blades, was golden, and her eyes were blood red.

Knowing Hayate, her current situation was just another one of his "lessons," and so she wasn't concerned about finding him again. She was concerned about the nature of the area she found herself, however. Something about it just seemed...off. At least it appeared to be daytime, but Kaguya wouldn't be surprised if it started getting dark soon. She had long stopped paying attention to the time beyond the rising and setting of the sun ever since departing from human society as a whole and as such had no idea how early or late in the day it was.

After some time, the forest eventually opened up. That was what initially caught her attention, but it didn't take her long to notice that the ground had started sloping upwards. She followed the continuing path with her eyes until they finally settled on the castle standing upon the highest point. It didn't look any more comforting than the forest she had just gotten out of, although it was civilization of some kind. Actually, now it was reminding her of something, not that she could put her finger on exactly what.

For lack of a better option, she kept on her path towards the castle. When she passed by the pumpkin patch filled with scarecrows, she couldn't help but stop and give it an odd look. She couldn't help but wonder if the owner of this place was trying a little too hard. It was also about then that she realized just what this was all reminding her of: one of those old cheesy American horror movies.

She frowned heavily. Of all the sorts of places she could have wound up, she had to arrive in some place like this. Just what was Hayate's game plan here, anyway? What was he expecting her to learn by dumping her off here, which looked more spooky than she would have liked to deal with and where the owner was likely going to suck the blood of any unexpected guests? She wasn't exactly in the mood to play the role of the maiden victim here. Then again, what choice did she have? She could go back into the forest and get herself even more lost, or go up to the castle and maybe get some information about where this was and how to leave. If nothing else, the castle was at least shelter.

She sighed. Fine, Hayate, she thought, I'll play along. Despite how much it was going against her better judgment, she kept on walking towards the castle.

Before long she was standing in front of the castle's front door. She hesitated for quite a few moments before slowly reaching towards the door knocker and used it a few times. She then took a few steps back and waited. When no response came for past the reasonable time frame for a response, she was sorely tempted to just shrug and walk away. Again against her better judgment, however, she reached for the door and attempted to open it. To her surprise it appeared to be unlocked. As far as she was concerned that didn't bode well, but she reminded herself yet again that this was probably her only chance of learning anything and so she opened it up a little more and took a peek inside.

The room beyond it didn't appear to be lit all that well, but beyond that vague feeling she had gotten from the castle's surroundings nothing else about this particular room really seemed off. There didn't seem to be anyone else here at the moment, although it could have been that she simply hadn't noticed them. She sighed again before pushing the door open a little more and fully, if slowly, entering the castle. She was about to look around some more when the door closed behind her now that she wasn't holding it open. She promptly turned around and attempted to open it again just to see if she still could. When she got it open with no more effort than it took to get in, she breathed a small sigh of relief. At least she wasn't trapped in here.

Even so, she couldn't help but constantly look over her shoulder at it as she walked further into this first room.

[The Grounds -> Entryway]

Victoria felt content with her costume of choice for this year's Halloween. Her companion, however, was less enthusiastic about participating in social events.

Victoria was a very tall and very dark skinned women with petite facial features, including calm bright blue eyes. For a costume, she wore a black suit with a slight magenta hue, which had a white shirt with a magenta tie. She had white skull make up painted on her face and wore light purple contacts which had a slight glow to them. She had gloves which mimicked a skeleton's hand, rib like structures had been added to the sides of the suit and a golden heart was attached to the left side of the suit. Finally, she wore a bright purple wig in the style of a pompadour.

Victoria's companion was a small, bat winged ball of pink light who didn't seem happy about attending a party.

"I can't believe you got me to cut off my physical avatar for a party!" The ball of light said with an angry tone.

"Nel," Victoria said softly, "It's only for a short while. You can go back to whatever you wanted to do when it's over."

Nel grumbled as she followed Victoria toward the door of the building. Victoria knocked a few times, only for the unlocked door to open anyway. Victoria shrugged and the two entered into the strange castle.

edited 30th Oct '14 3:56:12 PM by DarkbloodCarnagefang

[[Entry Hall]]

Well, that didn’t take long, Michael thought, as he heard the knock on the door, Someone must be really excited about the party. Boy, are they gonna be disappointed. He wasn’t sure whether he should answer the door or wait for someone to show up, but ultimately it didn’t matter, as he heard the door open. He had seated himself a bit to the side of the room, where he wouldn’t be immediately visible from the door, and he in turn couldn’t see the new guest.

It took a while for them to enter the hall proper. He was surprised to see an Asian school girl and was about to ask her if she was lost, before remembering that he was dressed as a Japanese cartoon character. She was constantly looking over her shoulder for some reason, which Michael found curious.

“Hi there, Wassup?” he called out to the girl. Immediately afterward, there was another knock at the door. Wow, people have nothing to do today. “Come on in, doesn’t look like there’s anyone here to greet us,” he called out to whoever was at the door.

edited 30th Oct '14 10:02:05 AM by Elfhunter

[Entry Hall]

Victoria marveled at the size of the entry hall of the castle, though she could care less about the cobwebs. Nel was much less impressed.

"Eh, I've seen better."

Victoria rolled her eyes and continued into the room. She noticed the other two people and approached, Nel shortly behind her.

"So I assume we're all the people who've arrived for the party so far?"

Entry Hall

Upon hearing someone else's voice call out to her, Kaguya let out a little yelp of surprise and jumped what to her felt like ten feet into the air. The room had appeared empty and given the lack of response to her knocking she had assumed that no one else was here. It was a little foolish to assume such a thing to begin with, she admitted to herself; after all, she hadn't been here for very long at all and her thoughts had been mostly focused on worrying about the door locking her in to even start looking out for anyone else.

Now that she knew she wasn't the only one there, she started looking around for the person who spoke to her. Her first thought was that the voice came literally out of nowhere; it'd be pretty fitting given what else she had seen here. Then again, it very much sounded like it came from a person rather than from everywhere, didn't have the right tone she would have expected out of such a voice, and she would have expected such a voice to greet or warn her with something considerably more formal than a "What's up?"

It didn't take her long to notice the masked man sitting off to the side, who she presumed was the actual owner of the voice. Given where he was in the room, his black trench coat, and the dimness of the room, it wasn't much of a wonder that she didn't notice him before now. The mask made her very wary, but at the same time he didn't look too dangerous, at least right now. After all, a monster or any other sort of malevolent spirit wouldn't be greeting a victim as casually as this person did.

"Er...Hello...?" she timidly called back, before taking a few steps closer so she wouldn't have to raise her voice so much, though she was also noticeably reluctant to get too close. At the same time, she also decided to take a look into his surface thoughts, mostly looking for a name and maybe the reason why he was here. As much as Hayate disapproved of how much she used her third eye, he wasn't here and she was stuck at a dark, spooky-looking location. She felt perfectly justified in using it now; at least it'd give her a heads up about who was friendly and who wasn't.

She also might as well try to talk to this man beyond just a greeting. If she wanted to know just where she was, she should probably ask. "Um...where is this?"

At that point another pair of people, or rather a person and a glowing ball of light, entered. Kaguya was mostly focused on getting an answer from the masked man, but she gave the newcomers a brief look as they approached. The woman had an...interesting fashion sense, for lack of a better word. The focus on bones didn't exactly give her a good impression. As for the light ball following her around, there wasn't anything Kaguya could determine just by looking at it. It didn't even have a face.

She turned back to the masked man and was about to pay them no further heed when the woman asked about a party. At that point she turned back towards the woman with a very confused look on her face. "Wait...'party?'"

[Entry Hall]

Stationed in one of the many armchairs in the entry hall, one tucked away in a dim corner and not immediately noticeable to those just entering the castle, was a person, waiting peacefully. Very peacefully. So peacefully, in fact, that at some point before the others arrived, this person had nodded off. The person was still sleeping rather soundly even after the castle gained some additional company.

Depending on one's definition of "person", it might have been a stretch to actually label the creature in the chair as one. Most of it's body structure was of a very similar configuration to a human being's. It dressed in human clothing: a dark blue shirt that was buttoned all the way up to the neck, black slacks, both offset by a pair of tightly-laced, very old-looking military boots and some kind of cape or cloak that was draped around the creature's shoulders. There were also a pair of dark gray gloves laid neatly one atop the other on one arm of the chair. And it was true that those gloves were made for human hands, and those boots for human feet. Yet, while the creature did possess what appeared to be human-shaped hands and feet, it's human traits diverged at one very notable point. It's head.

Where a mostly flat human mouth and angular human nose would have been, the creature instead had a long, blunt muzzle with a wide nostrils, like that of an animal. It's eyes seemed to be wider set than a human's as well, though it was somewhat difficult to tell since they were closed. The creature's head was quite bald. In fact, it's head seemed entirely hairless save for a few short, thin, nearly imperceptible hairs scattered across his face, and the lashes of his eyes. He had a pair of rather large horns growing out from either side of his head and curving upward. The creature's skin was of a pale blue pigmentation, save for some pitch black patterns around the creature's knuckles, which could've been tattoos. Not quite as immediately noticeable but just as notable, the creature was sharing space on the armchair with a fairly long tail that ended in an almost comically devilish point. It extending down the front of the chair, where the spaded tip hovered just above the floor, twitching slightly every now and again.

The creature's overall appearance reflected some kind of beast, though it was no beast known to man. The horns and muzzle gave off the impression of a bull, though even that comparison wasn't quite right. Whatever the case, the creature was clearly inhuman.

The creature's head was propped up by it's arm, it's cheek resting against it's fist. The level of noise within the entry hall was, apparently, not enough to wake the creature from it's slumber.

Feel free to have your character's wake him, but I won't be able to (read "shouldn't") reply until around this time tomorrow. I just wanted to establish his presence before too much happened.

edited 30th Oct '14 3:16:04 PM by Ryuhza

[Entry Hall]

Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Was I the only one told about a Halloween party?" She then noticed Michael and shrugged, "I guess not."

Nel become a slightly dark shade of pink, "Victoria, I swear that if there isn't an actual party, I will..." she trailed off, "Shit, I can't do anything without a physical avatar."

Victoria ignored the ball of light, "So I guess I'm half right."

[The Grounds]- Forest

Warren and Dakota walked through the seemingly endless forest. Where was this castle, again? He was getting tired of walking around with the stupid costume he had on. Dakota insisted that he needed some sort of costume, so he put on a make-shift medieval soldier outfit made of cardboard and silver paint. His little sister had made it for him. Dakota was going as a witch, and put much more effort into her costume than he did with his.

While the cyborg girl marched ahead fearlessly finding her way through the trees, Warren was more cautious. Both had gotten lost on their way to the alleged Halloween Party, and now they had to wander along some path they had found.

Hearing Dakota move along without regard for the noise she was making or where she was going, Warren got worried and frustrated.

"Slow down, Koda," He told her. "We don't want to get hurt or lost."

She looked back at him with a small smirk. "Oh, relax. There's nothing to be afraid of. This place is cool!"

He sighed and picked up his pace to walk next to his best friend. "We just have to get to that party. I want to know what's going on!" When the two of them first found out about it, Warren had been immediately suspicious. A Halloween Party, at such a place, at such a time? Something strange was going on. He didn't want to party at all- he came for information. Dakota, on the other hand, just tagged along for the fun of it.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, then!"

Dakota broke into a run, and Warren groaned and chased after her.

edited 30th Oct '14 5:53:16 PM by Sibuna

[Path to Castle-Entry Hall]

Four black teenagers, three dressed in costumes, walked to the castle. The first teen, Nick, wore a hood, a partial skull mask, and held a large, plastic scythe. The only thing that was visible was his dark brown eyes and his mouth.

The second (and much shorter) teen was Adam, who only wore a black jacket with red stripes, gray jeans, black shoes, and purple gloves. He had long red hair and light blue eyes.

The third teen, Maire, was dressed like a pirate, complete with a pirate hat and a (fake) sword in her left hand. The eyepatch on the right eye, however, was not part of the costume. She had wavy black hair and dark purple eyes.

The last teen, Jackson, had short blond hair, dark blue eyes, and wore a brown jacket and black pants. Noticeably, unlike his three companions, he didn't have on much of a costume...except for cat ears. From the look on his face, he didn't approve.

"I hope you know I'm still pissed at you for this." Jackson said, with a Cockeny accent.

"Hey, I thought it fit your personality." Nick said, chuckling, "Cats are assholes, and so are you." He put his hands behind his neck and looked on ahead. "Castle, huh? Man, whoever invited us sure knew how to pick the mood."

"Promise me we won't get separated." Adam said to the others, with a very small (but noticeable) Scottish accent. "It looks really scary."

"Don't worry." Marie said, "We're all gonna have fun, and we'll stick together." Once they all reached the castle, she stepped to the side to let her friends in, "Though we should see if we can find the host first."

Once her friends got inside, she followed them into the castle, humming to herself.

Forgot to mention that my characters changed so all the events in the previous threads are retconned.

edited 30th Oct '14 6:31:02 PM by Masterofchaos

[forest]

Somewhere within the twisting morass of the forest, a man laid on the ground, face-up and looking not unlike he had been dragged there from under his shoulders. His body was cold to the touch, his pulse was slow, and his chest was motionless, enough to convince the forest's corvid denizens that he had passed and left them a meal. A handful of the oil slick-colored birds swooped down around him, a couple landing on his chest. One walked up to his face and peered at it, the others watching closely, then gave his cheek a curious peck. His eyes snapped wide open and he immediately began to flail about, the small flock erupting into a furor of limbs and oily black feathers.

After what felt like hours, his futile attempts at using oxygen to calm himself finally beginning to slow, the man pulled himself upright and eased onto his feet. Bracing himself against a tree, he slipped his overcoat off and meticulously picked bits of dirt and fallen leaves off the back, trying and failing to remain calm as he slowly became more and more aware of his situation.

He had no goddamn idea where he was.

He had no goddamn idea why he was here.

Without realizing, he froze, still holding a leaf bit.

...Oh, God, did someone try to kill him? (And the wind just decided to whistle.) Screw it, it'd be pointless. They could chop his head off and his own body would erase the evidence given enough time.

Suddenly, cleaning his coat didn't seem so important anymore. He settled for a few lazy, ineffective slaps down his coat and put it back on, ignoring his trousers completely, then headed off through the forest in a straight line. He didn't have to walk long before he heard salvation- voices! He broke into a sprint towards their unknowing banter, finding himself on a path- God, it was like Christmas! A smile gone vacant from too much joy spread across his face as he saw a boy and a girl running up the path.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

The man looked human, maybe thirty at most, but his coloring was just off enough to say otherwise. His skin was pale, a shade of white that undeniably had more gray and blue in it than any healthy human could achieve, which left his lips a little blue. A thin-lined circle as dark as henna was marked around his right eye, whose outside was filled with outstretched rays like a stylized sun. His dark, neck-length hair, mussed from whatever turn of events left him in the forest, framed a not especially masculine-looking face. He looked to be of roughly average height for a Western man. His slight frame was dressed not in costume, but in clothing that was tailored to him exactly, not just his pinstriped button-down and dark trousers, but even the double-breasted black wool coat he wore over top. Someone especially eagle-eyed and attuned to such things may notice that his shirtsleeves were made just a bit too long for him and find some more evidence against him being less than human, such as the fact that his body had barely warmed since the corvids assumed him dead and that his breathing and pulse were a bit too infrequent and slow to be normal.

edited 30th Nov '14 9:12:44 PM by CrystalGlacia

[Forest]

Warren came to a stop and grabbed Dakota's arm so she would do the same. He looked at the strange man with curiosity and caution.

"Hello," he said, with a nod. "How can we help you, sir?" He slipped into his formal, authoritative tone he tended to use when on the job- whenever around someone who wasn't Dakota, more accurately. Despite only being in his twenties, Warren was so used to being in charge and being professional, it was a hard habit to break.

Beside him, Dakota seemed visibly annoyed at having to stop running, as well as taking a slightly defensive stance in case she'd have to fight this man- for him, not herself. He was not the physical type, and Dakota was a skilled fighter. Whenever strangers attempted contact with him or one of their allies, she'd often be there to intimidate them if the stranger tried anything funny.

Despite her protective attitude, however, she still gave the man a small grin. "Enjoying yourself?" Her natural sarcastic humor was not meant to hurt the man, but Warren knew it very well could if she wasn't careful, so he gave her a look, and she sighed. "Would you like our help?" Her voice was now a mutter, not out of spite towards the man, but out of annoyance at being forced into politeness.

edited 30th Oct '14 6:53:28 PM by Sibuna

[Path to Castle]

Two humanoid figures made their way out of the fringes of the wood and onto the path leading up to the castle. The taller of them was a young man who looked to be about thirty, with spiky black hair with blue and red highlights and racially-mixed but mostly Chinese features. He wore an unusual outfit of a garishly-designed waistcoat over a white long-sleeved shirt, a purple vest, and black trousers with high boots, and his eyes were partially concealed behind very unusual-looking goggles - they appeared to be made out of silver and, instead of glass, had glowing yellow fields of energy.

His companion was shorter by about a head and was entirely concealed in hooded, intensely black robes of some kind. Though unadorned, they had a tendency to reflect light in oddly glittery ways as they moved; the overall effect was reminiscent of a monk with an unusual interest in material things and a lot of money to spend on them. The afternoon sun was low enough in the sky that the face under the hood was left completely in shadow. The figure's arms hugged its sides closely in what looked like discomfort with the wind.

As they came up the path, they were proceeded for some distance ahead by the sound of their bickering. The shorter figure - who had a feminine and faintly birdlike voice - was easily the more vocal:

"I'd like to be reminded again why we decided to do this. In both the general sense and in the 'land the ship a kilometer away from the building' sense.

"Chill out, Krajn^note krah-jinn, it's not that bad."

"Chilling out is exactly the problem. It is excessively cold out here."

The male speaker sighed and rolled his eyes behind the goggles, looking around to see if there was someone else he could talk to, as the duo continued to walk towards the castle.

edited 30th Oct '14 7:06:29 PM by nrjxll

[Entry Hall]

The armor wasn't quiet about throwing the door open, but the silence that resulted as the woman inside surveyed the room was deafening.

"This is the worst party ever." Priss Asagiri◊ couldn't restrain the remark. Not that she tried very hard either. Going in her hardsuit, blue with red detailing, minus the helmet, was probably a bad decision too, but she managed to get permission to...Sylia had been seeming a little weird there. Just wanted to get Priss out of her hair for her own plans; maybe that guy she'd been seeing? Linna wouldn't like that, she eyes on him too...

"I mean...music? Food?" Priss asked no one in particular. "It'll hurt but I can live with the usual crappy organ drone if I've got no other choice. Can't dance to it though..." Considering her armored outfit, which even apparently had heels, she was either extremely optimistic about dancing or the suit was like wearing a second skin. From its proportions the latter may have been at least partially true or the designer had been heavily skimping on weight and had custom-fitted the armor. The overly long legs and arms suggested that it wasn't a perfect replica of her despite the semi-anatomical body, particularly when a close examination of the hands or feet would reveal equipment had been built into them that had to occupy space inside.

Priss' armor clicked on the hard floor as she stalked over to the small knot of people and...the glowing ball of light, then she crossed her arms on arrival. "Do any of you know who I should punch for sending me an invite?" The mechanical fingers on the armor's left fist flexed a couple of times, mimicking the unconscious motion of the wearer.

[[Entry Hall]]

Michael smiled at Kaguya’s question, though the latter couldn’t see it. “Earlier in the day, I would have said somewhere in Washington,” he replied, “but now that I’m here, I’m not sure we’re still even in America. My invitation only gave me directions, and I just kept on peddling till I got here. There weren’t any road signs either. Nothing suspicious about that!”

He turned to look at the two newcomers who’d entered the hall; well, he’d thought they were two, judging from the voices, but he only saw one woman (In an admittedly well-made costume) and…a pink wisp? Was that the real deal? The woman would have had some knowledge of magic in that case.

“Sure looks like it,” he replied to her when she asked if they were the only guests, “Actually, it’s a bit worse than that – we seem to be the only people here. I don’t know, maybe they’re busy or something.”

He turned to Kaguya when she showed surprise at the mention of a party. “Wait, you really were lost? I mean, I’m not surprised, I can’t tell one tree from another in that forest. But what were doing around here anyway? Were you here on a school trip or something?”

At about that time, four more teenagers entered the hall, much to Michael’s annoyance. Ugh, fucking high schoolers. Now, whip out your smart phones and take fifty million selfies before the party’s over. How many did this dude invite anyway? Oh God, please don’t let this guy be some Twelfth grader who invited us to look cool.

Michael turned with a start when the door banged open, followed by clicking noises that seemed to be approaching the hall. Then, a woman in some kind of robot suit entered; another well made piece, possibly 3D printed. She was also visibly very annoyed. When she asked a question to no one in particular, Michael replied, “No, but if you find him, sock him once for me too.”

[forest]

Instinctively, he chuckled, partly at the remark about enjoying himself, partly at their costumes, partly at their attitudes. The professional and the... tactless. Something in him wanted to feel offended, even though there was no way he could expect the girl to know about his mini-crisis, but the rational part of him just couldn't bring himself to be angry.

But, seriously, this was his life right now. This. Standing in a creepy wood talking to two people in costume.

Suddenly, he straightened himself, still clutching his arms in the cold. He could have just buttoned his coat, but their caution was practically palpable. The lump in the back of his trousers, hidden from sight under his coat and shirt, seemed to decide to really make its presence known to him now, pressing into his waist.

...Come on. Say it!

"Do either of you happen to know where I am?" he said, his smile still a little vacant.

Entry Hall

The masked man didn't seem to have much of a reaction to Kaguya's mind reading, if he'd even noticed at all. As far as she was concerned that probably meant he was an average human; she would have expected at least a comment if he were another youkai or other sort of supernatural being. She also didn't learn much from his surface thoughts that he didn't just tell her, beyond the fact that his name was Micheal and he too believed there was a party going on here. He also didn't seem too pleased with how it was going so far. At any rate there weren't any truly malevolent thoughts on his mind right now and that was enough for her, especially when what he just told her about the location was much more startling.

"You're from America? Um...." she responded, shutting her third eye and therefore completely withdrawing from Micheal's mind, "Er...that's a little unexpected. I guess I really am lost, then. I definitely wasn't on a school trip, though. I'm not even in school right now. Or even technically a student. It's...um...a very complicated situation and something of a long story." She frowned again. "I don't know what I'm doing here myself, or even how I got here. All I remember is being with my...friend, I guess...and then somehow getting separated and finding myself out in the woods around here."

She glanced towards the woman and ball of light who were also present. "Though if there really is a party, that's...a little better than what I was expecting? I was wondering if I got dropped into one of those old American horror movies or something along those lines." Quietly, she then added, "Though I think I would have preferred the horror movie...."

Then the group was joined by a very unpleasant woman who was dressed in a very unnerving suit of futuristic armor. At least, "unpleasant" was the first thing that Kaguya thought of to describe her, given that the first thing out of her mouth upon joining was to ask who she should punch for inviting her. Granted, this was without reading her mind, but at this point Kaguya decided she'd probably be better off with a nicer group.

She turned back to Micheal. "Um...thanks for the help," she said, offering him a small bow, "But I...think I should be looking for this host person right now...."

She turned to leave, but after a second thought she faced the assembled group again. After a noticeable hesitation, she added, "Oh...if any of you happen to meet a talking fox who calls himself 'Hayate Tsukino,' could you tell him Kaguya Koizumi is looking for him and send him my way? It would be much appreciated...." She couldn't help but dwell on how ridiculous that probably sounded to everyone else present. Had any of them even heard of a bake-gitsune before, let alone actually met one?

With that, she made another small bow and then headed off further into the entry hall. If she was honest with herself, she had absolutely no idea where she was going or even what she was doing.

edited 31st Oct '14 9:39:59 AM by Yomegami

[Entry Hall]

Victoria sat down next to Michael, crossed her arms and stared toward the ceiling, deep in thought.

"All these people," making note of the teenagers that had just arrived and the girl with the robot suit as well, "And nothing. No greeting, no snacks," her stomach growled slightly, "Or anything else that would indicate a party for that matter."

Nel began to shake side to side in anger, a growling noise coming from her.

[Entry Hall]

Not a lot of people were festive here. That robot woman did startle them, though other than that, nothing else happened. And they still didn't know who their host was.

"...Well this sucks already." Jackson said.

"Hey, we probably just need to liven up the place." Nick said, looking around. He had to admit, some of these people put a lot of effort in their costumes.

"I can sing songs." Adam said, shrugging, "Halloween songs. Maybe that'll help. After all, that robot woman wanted more music."

Jackson looked around at the (lack) of guests. "Perhaps. I still want to know who our host is."

Marie lightly swung her sword around. "Well, I'm not gonna stand here and wait. Let's at least try to make this fun." She put her sword back in the toy sheath.

"Well, first off, we should at least meet n' greet people." Nick said, noticing Victoria and Micheal. He briefly heard Victoria complain about the lack of greetings and food. "Like these folks over here."

"Dude, you're dressed as Death." Jackson said, "You'll probably scare them shitless."

Marie crossed her arms, "Relax, it's a Halloween party. Dressing up as something scary is part of the fun." She lightly nudged Jackson. "Come on. Let's try to make some friends."

With a loud sigh, Jackson followed the others. They sat across from Micheal, Nel, and Victoria.

"So," Nick said, setting his scythe down next to him, "I'm guessing you guys got invited too?"

[[Entry Hall]]

Michael listened to Kaguya patiently, considering some things in his mind as she talked. He had a feeling in his gut that there was definitely something off here, but he wasn’t quite sure what. “Suit yourself,” he said to her, as she started to leave to find the host. Just before leaving the room, however, she turned around and said something about a talking fox. Michael just sat quietly in confusion until she left the room.

He didn’t immediately reply to Victoria as she sat next to him and started to talk, but when he finally spoke he said, “You know, I’ve heard stories about the spirits of people who were lost in the woods, wandering around for decades not knowing that they’ve already died.” He looked in the direction in which Kaguya had headed, “Just a thought.”

Michael looked at Nick and replied, “Well, we can’t all have come here by accident; that would just be creepy. Although, if it turns out that exactly ten people have been invited here, I’m bailing the fuck out.”

edited 31st Oct '14 11:37:23 AM by Elfhunter

You do realize that there's a whole castle here? People don't have to all stay put in the entrance hall. Particularly if they're sitting down to talk, since there's a couple of rooms meant specifically for that.

[Path to Castle -> Entrance Hall]

Eventually, after trudging in silence for a little while, the cloaked humanoid and the man in goggles arrived at the castle entrance. They both stared up at it for a moment. "Spooky," the man opined.

They made their way inside and looked around at the crowd. Krajn pulled her hood back, revealing a head similar in its proportions to an alien of twentieth-century human UFO mythology. But instead of gray skin, she was covered in pitch-black scales that seemed to suck in the light, and her large eyes were red, reptilian, and faintly glowing.

"Hi, everyone," the man said, waving at the crowd in a slightly jittery fashion. "I'm Harry, and this is my... uh, this is Krajn. Gnarly decor here, isn't it?"

[Entry Hall]

Priss turned to look at the newcomers, and... What in the name of A Flock of Seagulls is that? Her arms uncrossed but did not drop all the way to her sides, remaining slightly raised. After a moment she raised one hand and waved. The motion was oddly fluid considering the armor. "Priss," she replied. She brushed some of her hair back in a nervous gesture, despite the long arms and mechanical fingers, and humming a few notes of some song or another to herself.

She glanced at Kaguya and Micheal. "Wouldn't worry too much about that. Well, unless I'm the killer." Her grin wasn't entirely kind, but she did soften it a moment later to something more friendly to try and show she was kidding. "I'd say I'm not, but that's not really reassuring since I'd say that anyways..." Now a more introspective quality to her tone. "Oh well. Suppose I'll just have to not kill anyone to prove I'm not the killer."

edited 31st Oct '14 4:34:45 PM by Night

[Forest]

Warren shared a glance with Dakota, who simply gave a shrug.

"Unfortunately, it looks like you're lost just as we are." He ran a hand through his short, messy brown hair and looked around. The sky was impossible to see due to the trees, so using the sun or stars for directions wouldn't help. With a weak laugh, he turned back to the man and said, simply, "We should help each-other. You seem trust worthy enough, and I want to get out of here, and get to that party. Let's start with the introductions, shall we? Warren Riley, at your service."

Dakota held out her left and dominant hand for the man to shake, a small smile on her face. However, she was a bit hesitant to actually shake. Both her hands were hidden by black gloves as part of her costume, but her left one was never without the glove. She was just hoping that when he shook it, he wouldn't notice how strong and metallic her grip was. In an effort to hide her worry, she gave him a grin and tipped her witch hat playfully. "I'm Dakota Spicer. Nice to meet ya...sir."

"So now that that's out of the way, who are you, sir?" Warren asked, facing the strange man directly.

edited 31st Oct '14 7:14:36 PM by Sibuna

[forest]

Hesitation before 'sir'? Was he really that androgynous-looking?

His smile turned calmer, more genuine. "Henri Mossard." He pronounced it the French way, accepting her handshake. Ooh, that wasn't human, but weren't we all? "It's a pleasure, both of you." Well, this was going okay, even though telling someone that they seem trustworthy seems to result in the opposite.

They turned back onto the path. "So, uh, there's going to be a costume party all the way out here?"