Bunyip - A one-shot by Rain Yupa - In Progress!

[Rain Yupa]

GM post: Vash, feel free to give me a Medium difficulty roll to see if there's any power outlets; success means you would find one, and failure means there are not any.

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Player post:

As soon as Rob saw someone approaching him his eyes went wide, pupils dilating. "NO!" he would yell aggressively towards Vash. "Please! Just... just stay back! All of you! No one come near me!" He would hold his left arm out at full extension, flat palm facing Vash, indicating he did not want him to approach.  

[InuVash255]

Looking for an outlet! Found an outlet!

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Vash stayed where he was, his foresty brown eyes locked on Rob's bugged-out orbs. His face was contorted with confusion and apprehension. The young man looked at the fashionable hat in his hand and said, "Dude, you seriously need to chill. Whatever your baggage is, I'm sure we can figure it out, right? It can't be that bad."  

[KytanaTheThief]

Kyt looked around when Rain called her name, rolling her eyes at the nickname. Her expression went to one of confusion when the guy started freaking out. "Hey, Rain, what's wrong with-"

When he went after Lilly, though, she scowled and stopped her inspection of the place to follow him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, what's wrong with you? You don't do stuff like that..."

Cue more freak out. The long-haired girl looked around at the others in confusion before looking back at Rain with concern. "Alright, Rain, alright. We won't come closer. Let's just...talk about this, ok? What's got you all freaked out?"  

[xX_Terei_Xx]

"Geez. I knew Rain was a bit weird, but I wasn't expecting that." Terei would mumble under her breath.

"Color me unamused." Terei said about the whole situation, looking down at her wrist with the lights. Two indigo with a teal center. Hmm. She didn't remember getting inlaid LCDs, much less any tally mark tattoos.
Seven, huh? Interesting.
"Care to explain yourself, Rain? What are these lights? What do they mean?"

Terei took her hand off the doorknob that she had wanted to open just moments earlier. This was probably the best opportunity to learn about what was going on. As much as Terei liked vacations and such, she hated the outdoors AND summer. There was no way she would've signed up for this.

At Rain's last outburst, Terei would stay right where she was.
"Consider it done...."

A concerned look would cross her face, but not for Rain. It was for herself and whatever this trip would spell for the group.  

[Rain Yupa]

GM Post:

I did forget to mention, yes, the door you tried is locked. There were four doors to other rooms in the cabin; the leftmost one closer to the front door is locked. A symbol is etched in the wood above it, as if someone chiseled away at it with their bare nails. The symbol itself is tiny, an inch tall at most.



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Player Post:

"How do you know I'm Rain? I've never met you before. I've only met you," he would say, pointing to Kytana. "I mean, yeah, that's my online name, but..." He trails off, unsure on how to continue. Or, more accurately, unable to decide which paranoid speculation to assume.

"Okay, look. Crap, this is going to sound nuts," he would mutter, kneeding his palms slowly against his face a few times. "Oh crap, there really is no easy way to go about this. Crap crap crap..."

Rubbing his temple with his right thumb, forehead with index and middle fingers, he would wince a bit already. "Okay, I've been in this situation before. It was many years ago, I found myself in an abandoned asylum with my friends. We had these same... these," he would pause, lifting his hands so you can see his lights and tally marks. "Powers," he would say, indicating towards the lights. "Lives," he would say, indicating towards the tally marks.

"Yes, lives. There was this... thing. They called it a Bunyip, they acted like they had been in such a scenario before, but I hadn't been. They were more familiar with how their lights worked. I was a little too... well, frightened, to get a good grasp on what the various colors did. I know no one had yellow, and I said I'd try all yellow if I was ever in this situation again because I felt bad for... for..."

Suddenly he leapt up to his feet, whirling around and looking in all directions. "ERIK! Did you bring me here?! Erik, or maybe Ben! Haha, joke's funny, come on out!"

Rob would pause for a few seconds, listening. There would be no reply.

"Crap!" He would plop down back where he was before, against the couch. "Well, okay, this Bunyip, it's a shapeshifter. It disguises itself as one of your friends, like... well, anyone see The Thing? Kind of like that. It's really this shapless horrible killing machine, but it tries to get you alone, and it... it kills you! You die horribly! And the thing is, you keep coming back to experience it again and again until you've died seven times. But the Bunyip, either there's several and they operate one at a time, or it has multiple lives, or it just can't die, I don't know... it stops killing when either it falls, it runs out of victims, or it's killed as much as it can and it flees before it can be hurt or can't find anyone else..."

A shudder would travel up Rob's spine. "It doesn't kill who it replaces. It waits in the dark, or just out of sight, grabbing whoever or waiting for someone to get separated from the others, and it just takes their place... doesn't kill them, just takes their place... so one of you is not who you say you are. The real... you... maybe grabbed coming out of the car? Who was the last one out of the..."

He looks at the lot of you, and sees Kuro coming back from the van, having stopped to grab her soft drink.

Rob would trail off as he would just... stare at her, with a look in his eyes that he was considering something which was arguably not humane at all...  

[InuVash255]

As Rain spoke, the young man in flannel looked at the glowing dots on his wrist, then the tally marks. Vash closed his eyes took a sharp intake of breath when the de-fezzed one finished his explanation of their predicament.

Vash spoke first, "So... The World Ends with You meets Cabin in the Woods... This is, like, the most bizarre thing I've ever heard." Vash stood up and tossed the hat into Rob's chest, "Come on, do you really expect us to believe that? I mean, who would be behind it to put us in that kind of situation? And for that matter, there's no such things as monsters. Or powers. It's just ridiculous."

Vash paused; nothing appeared to be getting through to Rain. The guy was silent there, with the spookiest thousand-yard stare he'd ever seen. The young man looked into the haunted orbs, and followed their gaze to the door.

To Kuro.

Vash knew that this was all fantastic mumbo jumbo, but Rain surely seemed to believe every word of what he was saying. He may have seemed fine moments before when he was talking about some band, but now he was a completely different person. The look on Rain's face was more than unsettling; it was downright horrifying. Something was ticking in his brain, and it was not okay.

"Dude?" Vash waved his hand in front of Rob's face, "Dude. Dude, no. I think I know what you're thinking, but even if monsters were real, they wouldn't drink citrus soda."  

[xX_Terei_Xx]

Terei looked from Rain to Kuro and then back again. She didn't like where this was going.

"....Rain," Terei said with a sigh, "before you say anything, can I ask you something? This..ah..."Bunyip", was it? How are we supposed to know who, if anyone, is this creature? Do we just wait until it kills someone? This is sounding a lot like Rabbit Doubt...."

Terei kicked the door. "Oh, by the way, this stupid door is locked. Do you have a key or something for it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Terei would go and try all the other doors. "I swear, if we're all locked together in one room, I might as well go to one of the other cabins..."

She stopped when she heard Vash's last statement and gave him a small laugh in agreement.
"Wait. Hey, Rain? You mentioned that you were in this situation with others before, right? How do we know you didn't kill them all and are now trying to kill us as well?"


[[ Also, I realized that I talk to myself a lot... =v=;; ]]  

[Paidi tou Selini]

(( xd No worries. This is the narrative style I'm used to anyway. And thank you. I figured when you said "we know what we know" and "we have no background" it kinda meant we wouldn't remember going on a trip.))

Attention drifted away from her arm and back to the conversation. This was rather peculiar. Emotional, countenance, environment, and pattern recognition was all consistent, but... everything was way too "real". Usually when she became aware of a dream she could tell that she was still asleep, and begin manipulating the scenario as easily as any daydream, but this... this was different.

She quirked an eyebrow at the startled call of her name. She might not have even recognized him if the other's hadn't been calling him by name all this time. Surprised to see her sounded like a pretty reasonable reaction her mind would have come up with, and to be perfectly honest she was a bit surprised to see him too. She didn't see online friends in dreams until she'd actually met them (which explained why Kyt was here as well as why she had absolutely no idea who anyone else was). Still, despite the anomaly of his appearance, his actions fit what she expected.

She was certainly alarmed, but not for the same reason; for as soon as he grabbed her arm her laptop slipped out of her hand at the sudden rough treatment. She tried to kick out her leg and slow its fall, but it still hit the ground with an unfriendly crack. She stared down at it with a great deal of distress, even as Rob made his way across the floor crab-style. Newly freed, she retrieved her computer and held it close, looking back at Rob with a stern/sad expression.

Then the weird stuff started to happen. At first she was legitimately concerned for him. Being naturally empathic as she was it was hard to watch someone freak out like that and not want to comfort. But everyone else seemed to be doing a decent job at that, and since she was the one he freaked out over in the first place she figured it was best to just stay back and watch. That's when the dream theory came back in full swing. The words may have been a bit off but the story, exposition, and logic were all right squarely where she expected them to be. How bizarre... maybe she'd been drugged and was just sleeping really hard?

She took the long-winded explanation as an opportunity to go the rest of the way inside and set her beleaguered laptop down on a table. Though she did take a break from her internal musings to answer Terei's question with a giggle.

"Of course we do. These things stopped having silly-obvious weaknesses after The Thing. There's never a way to tell right from the start." She was a bit surprised at herself, even, for how nonchalant she felt over such a heavy atmosphere. On one hand she couldn't help but feel curious over this "multiple lives" thing, but on the other hand it would probably be impossible to sit by and watch someone get killed... just in case.  

[Rain Yupa]

Player post:

Rob would give an odd look to Terei. "Rabbit Doubt?" Shaking his head, he would address her again before anyone else. "Well, SOMEONE has to be. And... I think the only way we can really reveal it is to confront it physically and force it to transform before it's killed in a weaker form, or, yes, when it transforms and ambushes one of us. There's only one person you can trust not to be the Bunyip, and it's something my friends called an 'Angel'. You can just... tell, by looking at them that they are clean. It's random who becomes an Angel but it's a temporary effect, it comes and goes. It's like, an... aura, but you see it with your feelings, not your eyes."

He blinked, and suddenly he seemed to... loosen up. Looked less "pouncy", if you will. "Aww, balls, I'm the Angel, aren't I? None of you are." He would right himself first, then point an accusing finger at Kuro.

"You, little miss, you definitely aren't the Angel. Everyone, keep away from her. But stay away from me, just in case. We have to figure out what to do about her."

He would glance at Lilly out of the corner of his eye, and sniff once. "The Bunyip DOES have a weakness. But it's... foggy, in my head. I think it did something to block it out. I can't remember what it is. Probably not 'citris soda'," he would pause, looking to the guy, "... if that's what she's drinking at all. Could be a trick."

He would stand tall now, inhaling sharply. "If I prove to you that I'm not lying about the lights being powers, will you trust me about the Bunyip? Just tell me what to use it on..." Having picked up the fez tossed to him before, he would toss it behind him on the couch and reach for his right wrist, holding two fingers against one of his three lights...  

[Einsamwulf]

"Bunyip, Bunyip, Bunyip. That's all you've been calling me, and for what reason, because I came in last?? In case you were wondering why I was late, someone was conked out in the van and was sitting on my blanket." She smoothed out the blanket trying to calm down. After checking her anger she took a deep breath before suggesting, "If you want to make sure it's soda, someone else can try it. If not I'll pour the rest on the ground. If it fizzes that means it's a carbonated drink, right?"

Even though Rain seemed slightly unhinged and kept accusing her of being a 'Bunyip', the whole "light powers" interested her. "Shoot it at something that won't do so much damage, like a bush or rock."  

[xX_Terei_Xx]

Terei sighed and shook her head at the fact that Rain didn't know Rabbit Doubt. It didn't surprise her, but still.

"So this "Angel"...." Terei said, trying to figure out Rain's crazytalk, "isn't the Bunyip and we can apparently trust them? Is that all? They're some beacon of hope or something?" Terei said with a huff. "Well, if so, you've been quite a downer for an angel of hope..."

Terei watched Rain keep pointing his finger at Kuro. Rolling her eyes, she started to wonder if they should just take the van and institutionalize him in an insane asylum.

"How about you shoot your little yellow light at this door and open it?" Terei said in a dry tone, ignoring Kuro's outburst.  

[KytanaTheThief]

Kyt shook her head, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Gods above Rain, you've gone off the deep end. Either that or you're having a right joke." The brunette was not amused, mostly focused on Rain and his (to her) blabbering. The mention of lights caught her interest though, especially the statement that he could show them. She was always interested in "proof", as it were.

Now would be the first time she actually looked at her own arms, blinking a bit at the view of lights and talley marks. "What the hell...." She looked back at Rain, doubt in her eyes now...and then Kuro spoke, and her head jerked around to look at the accused girl. "I....what? Gods..." She rubbed her temple confusedly, squinting as if she expected the image of the others to change or fade.  

[Paidi tou Selini]

Still torn between concern and amusement, Lilly could only sit back and ponder while everyone else had their fill. It was a pretty classic social experiment, so it would make perfect sense that her mind would try playing it out again. Though she got distracted partway through that thought when Kuro managed to get the word repeating in her head until she began analyzing it in search of an anagram.

"Yinpub? Unibyp?" It only took a few more tries before she grew bored of that and moved on to another thought, "If you're really looking for the last person alone near the car, it's probably important to remember that there's still someone alone in the car."

She shrugged. Though she was talking loud enough (barely) for everyone to hear, it was obvious she was still just talking to herself. Almost as if this were rehearsed, "Buut if this really is a survival-horror scenario, psychologically speaking running around pointing fingers right away for unexplored reasons is about the second worst thing you can do. Agitated, defensive people are less likely to think straight and more likely to make mistakes... like the first worst thing, for example: going off alone. If you really think about it, you probably can't remember getting in the car in the first place. Heck, I can't even remember the drive. Who's to say the I.P.bunny didn't switch with someone before we got here?"

She wasn't all that interested in seeing the demonstration of powers. If this really was a dream her mind would tell her how they worked when it thought of something interesting, and then of course they wouldn't work when she needed them most anyway, so... instead she decided to open up her laptop and see if the poor thing still worked.

[Dice] Medium Task: Laptop Survives the Fall?  

[InuVash255]

Vash crossed his arms, "Alright, you want to prove you have powers? Use your yellow power on..."

Vash trailed off as he began to ponder a target for the power. Rocks and trees were boring. Surely there was something more interesting to test a power or spell on than a rock. Once he had an idea, he continued, "Use the power on the locked door that Terei was kicking at. If you're wrong, nothing happens. If you're right, then maybe the door will open."  

[Rain Yupa]

Player post:

"Ungh... you people..." Rob hissed under his breath. "Look, this is only my second time experiencing this scenario. The first time, everyone else who HAD more experience was killed!"

Suddenly and inexplicably, he lit up and half-smiled. "Hey, I'm Kurono!"

Shaking his head, he grimaced again. "The phrase they used for it, 'Angel', is just someone you can... see-slash-feel that they are definitely NOT the Bunyip. That's all. It just means they are clean."

Aiming his upper body towards the locked door, he narrowed his eyes. "Okay, last time no one had yellow so I don't actually know what to expect from yellow, so... be careful, I guess? I don't even know anymore." He slid his two fingers ever so slightly to activate the light while aiming his wrist towards the door.

The door would silhouette with a yellow light briefly.

The first yellow light on Rain's wrist would now glow brightly, while the other two were still dim.

"... wait, that's it? Oh god, please please PLEASE tell me I did not just waste of my lights, oh god please no..." Rob would kind of chuckle uncertainly to himself, and seemed to become that much more nervous.

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GM Post:

Lilly, your laptop fell from a fairly low height, so I'll give you the roll that it, for the most part, is fine. If you want the case to be cracked you can have it be so, but it still operates.

Generally though, you roll tasks when you're doing something, not to see if something environmental happens. Vis-à-vis, Vash's roll to FIND something.

Rain's first Yellow light has been designated.

If anyone tries the door, it is still locked.