WEEK 2 CYOA: Reigen, Nico, Will

[becomemod]

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INTRODUCTION

[sharkgirl]

[Good morning! Wake up, sunshine. You can hear birds singing outside.

You are in a house. It’s very cozy! The wainscoted walls are a dark mahogany on the bottom and a very billiards-esque deep green on the top. The floor is paneling to match the mahogany on the walls. A large, blue-patterned, plush rug is directly in the middle of the room. On that rug are two leather couches, facing the front door, with a coffee table in front of them; the coffee table has a bottle of incense on it, as well as a lamp. A bookcase lines the far wall, next to an old grandfather clock. Along the walls are various art pieces that look familiar.

There are three archways, one to the left, one past the couches in front of you, and one to the right. There are stairs that lead to a basement and stairs that presumably lead to a second floor. There’s also a front door behind you that you can use to exit.

Oh, also, you're animals. A wolf, a lion, and a fox.

What would you like to do?]

[spiritconsulting]

[...why are they animals. where are his pants. he's just a shady looking fox wearing a grey suit jacket and tie.]

What the hell...

[isn't this kind of like that one video game...]

[resumed]

[ these are all excellent questions. reigen is also asking a valid question, he thinks, as a cranky black wolf in an aviator jacket.

he should be more bothered about being a wolf. ]

At least I can move this time. [ grumbling. but he wiggles his lil paws and kicks each of his feet as if to test this theory and does not explain that comment at all. his eyes are scanning the walls, briefly checking the bookcase to see if he recognizes anything.

and then it hits him. ]

Wait, seriously? Again? [ howcouldthishappentome.mp3 ]

[stunwhistle]

[the lion, who has a fabulous blond mane and is wearing a comfortable looking hoodie, looks down.]

Dude, where are my pants?

[BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT BEING A LION.

there's a beat, and then he outright stares at the other two.]

Nico? [there is a brief instant where he looks mad, like - why is the universe doing this to him!! can nico PLEASE just catch a break??? - and then he squints at reigen. suit jacket, tie, familiar voice...] Reigen?

[sharkgirl]

[o i guess ty asked about books so i'll throw a post in to say he doesn't recognize any of them because they're all named shit like (garbled animal crossing noises). the walls are fine though. where are your pants.]

WILL & NICO

[sharkgirl]

[y'all can decide where you wanna go and if you wanna split up, you can still do that in this thread. you're just chilling on the porch of this very pink house. there's a bunch of other houses, and also, animals milling about.]

[resumed]

[ anyway now that they're alone. ]

...so we can pretty much agree this has something to do with Nimona, right? Like. I'm not imagining it. [ he frowns a little as they are likely watching reigen walk off. ] Hopefully he's okay on his own.

[ they are still paw in paw. ] Where do you think we should start? Talk to the neighbors? Or at check out the houses and hope they don't ask too many questions?

[stunwhistle]

I mean... yeah. Animals, transformation... what else could it be?

[he seems worried.]

Do you think she's okay? That blood earlier...

[...]

I think we need to try to find Chiemi's house before it's destroyed. It wouldn't have been mentioned on that note if it wasn't important.

[sharkgirl]

[reigen will be fine and not traumatized when he reunites with y'all

there's a couple houses down the road - they all have signs in front of them, so it'll be easy to tell which is which. there's one that's a little rundown not too far down the way, with a sign that's cracked and falling over. a couple of animals mill about in front of their houses, watering flowers, chatting with each other, doing yoga poses... that sort of thing.

except for one of them, one of them is chained to the front of their house like a dog on a chain - a goat, with a hat. he's watching the others.]

[resumed]

[ great!

okay, well. ]

I don't know. [ at least he's honest. ] Knowing her, she got hurt and ran off without taking care of herself.

[ i'm sure will finds that semi-familiar. but anyway. fine. they can begin walking down the road at least. ]

I don't get why it would be destroyed anyway. Couldn't they just resell it? [ is that how houses work? i guess the shovel is in his hammerspace. he spots the rundown house. he's about to point out the rundown house, but he pauses as his eyes drift to the goat.

quick question does this goat look like the one from the photos? he is staring because it is unusual to see an animal actually chained up like...well. and animal. ]

REIGEN

[sharkgirl]

[there are animals milling about and a bulletin board if you'd like to check those, but otherwise, the raod to main street is open! where would he like to go?]

[spiritconsulting]

[cool he's excited for his fun day out in animal town. he'll check the bulletin board first, sure. what animals are hanging around?]

[sharkgirl]

[yea i bet he is!

the bulletin board is a little hard to see because there's a tree growing in front of it, but it's not a very big one, and it seems to be struggling. still, you can see the board has a bunch of notes on it. he's welcome to read them if he wants! he just has to lean around the tree. or he can cut it down. he's got that axe.

otherwise, right now the green deer and the pissed off mouse are sitting near here - the mouse is reading on a bench, ignoring him entirely. the deer is just watching him from behind the bulletin board, peeking out, eyes wide.]

[spiritconsulting]

[hello little deer and mouse...does he recognize them at all?

he is not a psychopath so he does not immediately cut down a tree. he will lean around it to read.]

[sharkgirl]

[it's kind of hard to tell because they're just little animal crossing guys, but the mouse is in red and has short brown hair, and the green deer has long green hair and a white dress.

he leans around the tree, and reads!

the notes are all messages from the villagers in the town. they're all signed, and he can see some from ace, saya, datz, and nimona, though those are all just scribbled drawings rather than words. the notes are like, stacked a bit? like there's some that are buried, as villagers wrote new notes and put them over the top.

the ones on top are all notices about new things opening on main street, holidays that are coming up, and a couple of cute letters that are like "it's saya's birthday! say happy birthday!" and "everybody make sure to do your part and not litter!"]

MAIN STREET

[sharkgirl]

[reigen is exiting the post office, demoralized, being led by a tiny green deer, and nico and will are racing down the path up to main street, crispy and bruised. or walking, they're slowing down to a walk as they get to the next loading screen.

there's a brisk wind blowing through the street. as nico and will approach, they can see that main street isn't super empty. villagers who have moved out come to visit sometimes, right? which would be why they see a rabbit walking into one of the buildings like any other day. looks like she might be going into the di angelo attire store. the weird thing is, though, she has a shotgun blast through her chest, so they can see clean through her. ew.

it's still spring, but it's cold. the sun is going down.]

[spiritconsulting]

[he's wandering out and then instantly looking at nico and will?]

What happened to you? That explosion - are you both okay?

[resumed]

[ they slow to a walk, and nico coughs to clear some smoke. he stares at this tiny deer though. ]

Rita bombed us. [ flatly. will can explain in more detail because he spots the rabbit and pauses quietly to watch. if the others don't notice soon, he will move them that way.

does the rabbit look...you know. solid. or ghost-like? ]

[stunwhistle]

[he waves at reigen and the saya deer with the paw that isn't occupied holding nico's when they approach.]

Brought the whole house down on our -

[he's paying attention to nico, though, so he notices when nico spots the rabbit and follows his gaze. that's. hm. okay.

he frowns.]

...well, that seems significant. Shall we?

[provided neither of them protest, they'll probably follow the rabbit into the shop.]

[sharkgirl]

[the rabbit is kinda wispy. like she shouldn't actually be there.

if they try to go into di angelo attire, saya will refuse to go in. she digs her little hooves into the concrete and folds her arms. no.

they're still welcome to! saya just won't.]

THE MUSEUM

[sharkgirl]

[ you enter the museum.

it's dark in here (there's no blathers), like all the lights have been turned off. and that whalesong can be heard down below, where the fossils are. the other sections are blocked off, having caved in a while ago. there's also the sound of stomping footsteps, and a woman's voice, distantly, giving directions. ]

[spiritconsulting]

[are all the sounds coming from the fossil section downstairs, or just the whalesong? either way, i guess we're heading there.

trying to be very quiet as they approach? can he hear what the lady is saying?]

[resumed]

[ creepy, actually. can they get a sense of where the footsteps are coming from actually (like in front of or to the side of them?)

he's going to stay quiet, too. this is a stealth mission again, even if he's keeping close to the two of them. is it dark downstairs, too? ]

[stunwhistle]

[stealth mission... the good news is, since none of them are wearing shoes probably, their footsteps are likely to be pretty quiet? just the soft pitter-patter of lil animal feet.

he will make an effort to keep them off to the side/in the dark/have them navigate around as they're following the sounds in such a way that there are things they can duck behind for cover in case whoever is talking and making those footsteps appears suddenly.]

END

[sharkgirl]

[carefully, the little pink cat carries reigen and daisy-chains will and nico out of the museum. it crumbles behind them, and caves in, with a thunderous noise. but you're all out, and you're not crushed, and it seems like the dawn is coming. birds are starting to chirp, and the faintest rays of the sunrise are creeping over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day.

carefully, the pink cat leads you all down main street. the post office, club apollo, and di angelo attire are all closed, but they look like they have been for years, this time. there are no other villagers, or at least, not here. as you pass the entrance to main street, you can't even see any of the houses. like maybe they were never there at all, or, maybe, they were a long time ago, but the wilderness reclaimed them. you couldn't save the villagers, and you couldn't save the people you remember from home, but - was that ever possible?

sometimes, it isn't. sometimes, all you can do is save yourselves, and try again tomorrow.

a train rolls into the station, calm and easy, and the cat shakes reigen awake. she puts him down, and ushers him and the boys onto the train, but she doesn't join. she stays behind, waving a little, until the little village is too far in the distance to be seen.]



CONGRATULATIONS you solved my animal crossing.exe puzzle!

as a reward, you get the following:
- a little pink cat plush: become any animal you'd like for an hour (1 time use)
- a pair of pink headphones: become invulnerable to damage for up to 3 minutes (1 time use)
- a ditto themed switch: make someone believe a lie you told them (1 time use)

which you can distribute among yourselves. also, the mods have given me this to give to you but i assume i cannot see it. you also have all of your wounds and traumas. in addition, you can leave the cyoa as animal crossing characters, and bamf back into your human forms sometime during the cyoa exit.

ALSO, until the end of trial on saturday:
- sometimes, when someone talks to you, all you can hear is animalese
- occasionally you just bleed black from your nose for no reason, i'm sure that's fine
- when you look in the mirror, you can see your cr from home hanging behind you on puppet strings. they are not there when you look in real life.

you can do these as much or as little as you'd like.

THANK YOU GUYS YOU WERE WONDERFUL <3333]