Forum Thread

"Eve?" Lilith turns around and races up to Eve. "You can't run off like that! Not here, please warn me before you decide to go off on your own!" Lilith scolds. Her skin crawled at the idea of anything happening to Eve. Especially today... Something felt off

Eve looked up at Lilith. "I'm sorry, I just went over there." Eve pointed to the food stand nearby. "They got lots of food over there, lots of drinks too. I wanted to get an apple but I didn't have enough money."

Roxy and her spirt crane were sleeping. The crane was the first to wake, stretching its wings out and ruffling her feathers before looking to Eros.

---

Finn was passed out on his back, Charlotte slept on his stomach. Her webs had been strung in the area around him, and would alert her if someone was present. Finn didn’t seem like the type, but he loved to sleep in on the rare occasion he could.

Hayden awoke for his owl, named Tabitha alerting him. She had been flying around and saw strange humanoid figures across the land. He stretched and yawned, sleeping in a tree sure wasn’t comfortable. But it’s better then unprotected.

---

Derek sat up, his mind being the only thing that needed warming up. Jumping down from the tree, he started on his way towards the main area of the water park. He more than once almost brought his foot down on a larger slide, the running water making the back of his throat tingle. "Shiloh! Shiloh?" He called out her name, His mind taking in everything around him. The fading echoes of another voice, the rides starting up with their foul tricks and terrible treats, even the small stand that seemed like perfect fodder for his building rage. "Shiloh!" He swung his foot, driving it through the side and leaving a very large gouge in the corner. "Shiloh!"

---

Lilith sighs. "It's fine.. I'm sorry I snapped. Let's just get you inside" she leads Eve back inside, but she glances back before she shuts the door. Why am I do paranoid today? She wonders
...
"Are you sure there is danger?" Shiloh asks. "I don't really see anything..." Eos growls, making Shiloh trail off. You are going to question my senses? Which are superior to your human senses? Eos asks. Shiloh doesn't respond to this, she is too shocked by Eos' aggressiveness. Eos sits up, hearing Derek's call. Follow me Eos instructs. And stay close, we are not alone out here. Whatever is stalking us is suspiciously patient

Eve nodded and let Lilith lead her back inside.

Roxy woke up with a yawn and when she noted Shiloh gone she felt slightly panicked. Relax, she followed Eos to something. They will return.

With most of the tributes awake and walking, the animatronics slowly came to life. Roxy watched as one of them walked right by her as if it had noticed her but didn't care. A few more followed slightly behind the first, making the animal fairy realize that this group was passive, they didn't want to fight. Good, neither do I.

When observed, it seemed that most of the animatronics didn't want a fight, but rather just go on with their day and enjoy the water park. Though, there were a few that seemed to go out of their way to actively find a tribute.

---

Natsume sat in a corner curled up with Lucifer wrapped around his shoulders. He was awake, yet he kept his eyes shut, the only indication that he was aware of the world was the occasional flutter of his eyelashes and Lucifer's own wide open ones. The cat familiar seemed to be keeping watched as Natsume meditated on his current situation the moment of peace allowing him to simply think things over

---

(Okay, Imma make a post then I'm going to bed)

Eve sat down in a chair a little ways away from Natsume. "What'cha doin'?"

---

"thinKING." Natsume replied evenly, allowing Lucifer to crawl down his arms to sit on his lap where pets were given to his needy familiar. "Mama always said to think on THings, to connect with yourself and the energy around YOU. Basic things for a fortune teller and a magician to keep in miND. My magic is all over the place right NOw, I won't be any use so I need to fix myself firST." Lucifer looked at Eve and rolled its mismatched eyes as if exasperated at it's master.

---

Rusty, if at all possible, smirked a bit at Lucifer's eye roll from Natsume's words. Eve tilted her head a bit and stated lightly petting Rusty, who purred loudly in response. "Energy around us? Like as in auras? You can read people's auras?"

One of the hostile animaronics started heading towards Eve's group with slow even steps, as if not in a hurry to get where it needed to go. It wore a smile, but it wasn't friendly as it appeared to be.

---

Derek was still wandering, calling out to Shiloh and hoping she would either find him or call back. Rounding the corner of a building, he felt something hit him... The face, the stomach, the knees. A simple disabling surprise attack. He stepped back once, then took inventory of what was around him. He glanced over his attacker, then again. "The hell..." It swung again, and he caught the fist, superheating it and snapping it off with ease. Holding the arm, he lunged forwards, grabbing its face and melting it. Gears, tidbits, doohickeys. "An automaton?" He took another step back in surprise, then gritted his teeth and drove a foot through the things chest, shattering its endless energy source, its operations, simply annihilating the gears that never stopped turning. It collapsed, unable to keep itself alive any longer.

---

Derek's calls were getting louder. They were getting closer to eachother. Suddenly a hiss escapes Eos' throat. She turns towards a shack, where a shadow has fallen onto the bushes. I hope you have come to a decision, will you create new roots? Or sink into your old ones? Eos asks Shiloh. There was a sliver of mockery in her tone. A lean figure marches out of the shadows. It's smile fake, and it's eyes emotionless. It appeared to be a horrifying mixture of animal and man. A humanoid chipmunk. Eos leaps at the thing, but she passes right through it and disappears. "Stay back!" Shiloh warns, she backpedals until she feels her back hit something. She was trapped! The thing slowly moves towards her, it's arms outstretched zombie like. She catches long and deadly looking nails on it's hand. This feeling, this fear, the helplessness she was feeling was all too familiar. I could thin the air around it and kill it or crush it down under a mighty swoop of air. She cannot stop these thoughts from spilling out. She had done it once, she can do it again. The red wind has returned, it coils around Shiloh's arms like a serpent ready to strike and kill. The feeling almost felt warm, like returning to an old friend. "No!" Shiloh screams out. The wind turns back to it's usual white. She swipes some wind at it, knocking it out of the way, and takes off running. She hears heavy footsteps behind her, that thing was fast, and quickly gaining on her. She spots Derek in the distance. "Derek!" She calls, her fear growing as she senses the thing getting closer.

Derek heard Shiloh's call. He turned at the waist, then doubled over himself and started sprinting. Gently snagging Shiloh around the waist, he leapt over the best, then let go of Shiloh and whipped around once more. "Are you hurt?" He kept his eyes on the machine, but his question was directed towards Shiloh. The thing charged, slashing at Derek. Ducking, he covered his head with his arms, accelerating into it's stomach and using his arms like a battering ram. Both recovered from the blow quickly. Derek heated up his hands, the palms, finger tips, and knuckles glowing bright red. Silently, he whispered, "Twenty Points of Heat." He went into a flurry of attacks, his legs staying still and rooting him down. Burns started appearing all over it, the impacts leaving dents.

---

"I'm fine" Shiloh assures him. But her voice sounds utterly defeated. She couldn't save herself, can't save Derek. She won't be able to save her alliance. Roxy, Finn, and Derek, if a threat strikes them, she'll ultimately let them down. She can't risk fighting, she can't fight! Not without losing the most important part of herself. This interaction only confirmed it. She is forced to desperately watch Derek fight the... thing. Every hit that Derek may receive felt like a hit that she personally struck upon him.

Derek delivered a final blow to the automaton's face, leaving six burns on it's coverings. It was barely moving, but it moved nonetheless. It took a step forward, Derek having moved back once he finished his attack, and twitched a bit. "It's gears are a mess. Teeth keep skipping. It might keep going though." The thing took another shaky step forward, strange sounds starting to emit from the fake internals of it. On the third step forward, Derek had enough. He sent his foot into it's chest, crushing any remaining power left in it, along with any hope of leaving even a scratch on Derek. Pulling his leg from the mess on the ground, he stepped slowly towards Shiloh, offering his hand to her. "Are you sure you're alright? You look like you're going to be sick."

---

Roxy had followed Derek and Shiloh's shouts, leading her right to them. "Magical Howl!" A bright blue light shot up in the air and after the longest moment, a flock of birds came to her aid, though it seemed unclear as to how they'd help against metal monsters.
---
Eve and her group had been chased out of their shelter by a murderous animatronic as well. Fulminare, Lilith, and Natsume were tending to it. Rattling came from nearby shack for employees only, but the others didn't seem to catch it, just Eve did. As the others in Eve's group finished the animatronic there was an almost sickening moment of tension as Eve put her eye to the crack of the employee's room door, checking for something when her heart stopped.

Another eye was looking back at her.

Eve stumbled back, and the door wavered for a moment before it slammed shut. From inside the room, something crashed over and over against the wall. "Fulminare! Lilith!" Eve cried and a few moments later the door drifted open and a figure glided thought with the grace and care as if trying to not wake a sleeping baby. Eve stared disbelievingly at the duplicate, her mind slowly registering all the tiny differences between her and the doppelganger as she struggled for words.

"You're not me," Eve managed to whisper, and her own face smiled cruelly back at her.

"I'm the only you that matters." The duplicate said back.

(No one try to disturb the flow between Eve's group, I got something planned.)

---

Briar silently shifts her position on the platform. Her eyes fly open when she hears a sound from beneath her. She shivers, starting to get nervous. She hooks her legs around a bar, and swings down, careful not to disturb anything. She attempts to make out the figure stalking her. "Oh no." she murmurs sadly, seeing the second male tribute from five. She waits until he's under her bar. "I don't want to do this." she whispers, as he looks up in shock. She drops down on him, and twists his neck, snapping it. "That was necessary." a voice says inside her head. She looks around the see the brilliant white polar bear staring at her. "What.. what do you mean?" Briar says aloud. "He was a threat." the polar bear murmurs, staring at Briar intensely. "..." Briar says nothing. "I never got your name." she says finally. The polar bear cocks its head. "I am Neva, the mother, the snapper of bones." Neva responds. "Okay,that HAS to be over ally dramatic." Briar responds. Neva barks a laugh.


Emerson collapses on top of the platform. She curls up, and shivers, as if she was cold. She opens her eyes to see a pair of feline eyes staring back at her. "You again." she thinks, not being able to speak. The cat nods. "You are tired. Sleep, and I will watch." it says in her mind. "Please, Atonia, I..I can't do this anymore. I'm so hungry-" Emerson thinks. "Tomorrow we shall see the vendor. Sleep now." Atonia responds. Allowing herself to fall asleep, Emerson closes her eyes and nods off.

---

An animatronic wandered around near Finn, who was still passed out. It raised its hand as a dagger came out, glimmering in the light. It walked straight into Charlotte’s web, and she immediately awoke. Finn! Get up now! she screeched. The animatronic swung the blade down, and narrowly missed Finn’s neck as he jumped back. “What the hell. What is that thing?” He asked as he got ready. Gas wouldn’t work here, he was at a major disadvantage. He would have to fight physically.

Hailey ran, crashing through the trees as she was chased by the animatronic. Her invisibility didn’t help her, because her animatronic was using a thermal camera. She didn’t have the strength to find it.

---

A blast of fire blasted by Hailey and knocked it over; when she jerked her head she saw Autumn and Aurora. "Come on!"

--

Eve's duplicate stared back at the child, looking stunned for a moment, then her face curved into a cruel smile. Eve watched in fear when the doppelganger didn't move, but then the fear received and was replaced with astonishment. That's my face. Eve thought as she touched her own cheek and the other girl followed suit, Eve tilted her head to the side a bit and the other girl mirrored her. Eve couldn't tell if she was being mocked or if the other girl was just as entranced as herself. Eve glanced over the other girl quickly. Eve's doppelganger was wearing the same outfit as herself but the boots had a heel to them, making her slightly taller than herself. But there was this look about her too, her posture was of elegance and grace and sophistication. This version of Eve looked the way Eve wished herself to be: polished, confident, taking space in the world without apology.

Eve gaped at her, and the doppelganger smiled at Eve. "What are you?" Eve finally asked.

The doppelganger just smiled and held a hand out to Eve, who nearly put her own hand in it but flinched away, reminding herself that this person who had her face was dangerous. "Come on, our father's waiting. He wants us to come home."

Eve visibly flinched at the sentence. "My father's dead."

"Would you like another one, a live one?" The doppelganger asked with an edge of mocking tone.

"You can't give me anything, and you can't replace my father." Eve insisted on stepping away from her and to Fulminare, but the other Eve kept the distance between them as she followed them.

“Eve?” Fulminare jerked back to life from her quiet stance; two of her silver orbs fixated with brutish intensity upon the pair; a low snarl echoed.

"Oh, I'm just fine, Fulminare!" Eve's copy replied cheerfully.

The career coldly disregarded the copy's response. "Eve?"

"She said our father wants us to come home," Eve said not taking her eyes off of the copy.

---

"I'm fine" Shiloh lies. She accepts his help, yet again. She turns her head, noticing Roxy. "Hey! It's okay, Derek took care of it" she shouts. "Where's Finn?" Nobody in their alliance should be alone right now, it's too dangerous.
...
"Leave her alone" Lilith growls. "She won't be going anywhere with you" she slowly walks towards Eve's copy. She tenses up, hearing something in the distance. It sounds like a strange metallic call of some sort. I should probably take care of them... But I don't want to leave Eve. She shoots Eve's copy a glare and turns to Fulminare. "Protect her.. I'll take care of those creatures before they find us"
(Lilith is going to leave the group for my mini plot purposes)