Start Ups An unlikely band of travellers

[Dieter]

@Argan; @sableyed;

Plot overview

Spoiler

A group of strangers finds themselves gathered at the house of an old forest guide. All from different background and all with different dreams, they find themselves with one thing in common. Each of them wants to cross the Whispering Woods to reach a small village, called Relic Town, at the foot of the Moonlit Mountains

Upon their arrival at the cottage however, they discover the old guide isn't home, nor is there any indication of his whereabouts.

The group now face a dilemma: do they try to cross the treacherous woods on their own, or wait for the guide to return?

After searching the house and making certain the guide is not there, the group decided to go into the forest and see if he might be nearby. They get attacked by a pack of mightyena however, forcing them to flee. this incident causes them to get lost, and unable to find their way home, they decide to set up camp for the night.

But once they find a suitable place, they discover the body of the guide, who was attacked by an unknown force. he has left behind a single pokeball containing a weavile named Bastet. Rainier's attempts to reason with the pokemon fall short. Eventually, Graham manages to contact the spirit of the guide, who explains a great evil has awoken and send them to find an ancient trevenant, who might be able to help them.

They continue their journey under the guidance of Bastet

[I figure I could update this every once in a while to keep track of where we are and what has happened

Rules&Guidelines

Spoiler

Figured I'd quickly repeat them:

• Obviously all forum rules apply
• Swearing and violence is fine, but don't do it excessively. If it's appropriate in the context of the roleplay, go ahead. And mostly regarding violence, details are alright, but being extremely graphic is probably not necessary
• We can use the sign-up board as an OOC chat, but I don't mind off-hand comments in OOC here either (just indicate it's ooc to avoid confusion)

"I think I see a house over there! Bet I'll be there first!" And off she was, ponytail trailing after her and sneakers causing little clouds of dust to rise on the dirt road. For a moment, Graham’s pace faltered, but then he quickly ran after her.

As usual, Leslie-Ann was right and indeed, there was a small cottage tucked away between several trees. She has already arrived, leaning against the door, the corner of her mouth curled up.
“Les-les-les… Why’d you… make everything a competition?” Graham huffs, clutching his side. He was by no means out of shape, but the absurd speed Leslie-Ann runs at would cause a rapidash to break out in a sweat.
“Oh, c’mon, don’t tell me you’re not having fun.”
No longer holding his side, he shoots her a look, but she either ignores it or doesn’t see it, as she has already turned around to face the door.
“So, while you were still somewhere halfway down that road, I decided to knock and see if anyone’s home.”
“Nobody answered?”
“Nope. But maybe he’s just, like, out chopping up firewood or whatever weird hermits do.”

Graham considered that. To be honest, he really wouldn’t know what weird hermits would do. The people of the town just a couple miles back had said the he’d usually announce when he’d guide travellers, and as he hadn’t lately, he should be home.
“Maybe try knocking again.” He suggested.
But that didn’t yield any results.
“So, our guide isn’t home or he just doesn’t want to answer the door.” Leslie-Ann said, dropping the backpack she’d still been carrying at her feet. “You wanna play a game or something while we wait for him?”

But Graham meanwhile had sauntered over to a window. The curtains were open and he could see right into the room. A large, oakwood table dominated most of the space, but squeezed away in a corner was an old-fashioned stove, a kettle and a frying pan on top. Several cupboards lined the wall with a small sink just right under them. He hadn’t noticed at first, but a plate with half a meal was still standing on the table. He could feel his neck hairs rise.
“Les… I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

 

[Argan]

Rainier was strolling through the woods alongside the dirt road that lead to the old man's cabin- they weren't seriously dense, sparse enough to allow Loveday to slither next to him. Rainier, you should be careful- Loveday began, speaking to her trainer through their telepathic link. We've been over this. I know the dangers, Loveday. He responded methodically, being well-versed in their argument. The milotic eyed him for a while as she slithered and he walked along the forest floor. We have as good a chance of perishing in the Whispering Woods as we do in Relic Town... She added tenatively. Rainier grinded his teeth as he stared at the dried leaves that passed beneath his feet. Is it really worth risking getting stuck in someone else's mind? Their emotional state? Do you need answers that badly? Loveday didn't like to pry... But someone had to be there to second guess her trainer every now and then. Every decision he made that involved his abilities, he had to be sure.

"It is worth it. If we're going to be great, if we want to be Elites- we've got to take risks. Finding out where we can find future team members, getting answers about my family... I know it seems excessive to you but..." Rainier spoke out loud, trailing off in his later sentences. That was his one recurring fault. His ambition. He wanted to be memorable, but not if it meant forgetting the values that got him there. It matters a lot you, I know. Loveday offered kindly. Rainier smiled sadly and nodded. That was the one area of his mind where the trainer never allowed his team members to see- the one with the memories about his parents. Rainier was going to add something, but then he heard swift footsteps running down the nearby road. They'd be visible- they weren't that deep and the trees were too sparse. He recalled his Milotic into her dive ball and stood behind a tree, arms at his sides. The voice of a young woman and then a young man could be heard, and faded a little ways up the road. They were close to the guide's home.

Rainier advanced slowly forward, hunching down as he quietly made his way through the trees. He could see the two of them now from the edge of the treeline- drifting around the house. Rainier climbed a couple branches up the nearest tree and then extended his mind outward, to see if he could get a read on them. Trust but verify, his mother would always tell him. But something hit his mind. Hard. It wasn't the boy now peering into the window of the guide's cabin- it was something else, deep and from within the Whispering Woods. The sudden cold broke his focus, and Rainier lost his balance, tumbling down and falling to the ground below. Nothing was broken- it just hurt like nobody's business.

"Sorry..." He murmured quietly as he stood up, brushing leaves off of his clothing.

 

[sableyed]

"Nope, put it back," Ruby said flatly, without looking up. "I know what you're doing over there."

Purple goblin claws poked up from a tall patch of grass, wriggling to demonstrate their emptiness. Ruby sighed, gave the laces of her hiking boot a firm and final tug, and stood. "Boo, come on. We gotta go."

The sableye poked his entire face out of the brush this time, head tilted and diamond eyes sparkling wildly in the evening sunlight. His grin spread slowly, left ear to right ear, and his perfect, jagged, terrible teeth shone in the most unsettling and adorable of ways. After a brief pause for effect the little ghost stepped forward, dragging his trainer's worn black bag behind him. He stuck out his tongue, on top of which was a sizable - albeit slobbery - nugget.

Ruby held out her hand. "We need that to pay the guide, weirdo. Now spit."

The Whispering Woods had been in sight for a while now, and she could finally hear the muted sound of distant voices. "We'll eat a proper meal soon," she promised, giving Boo an affectionate scratch behind the ear. "I think we're almost there."

 

[Dieter]

Graham quickly turned towards the sudden noise, his hand instinctively going to the premier ball on his belt. But it was only a boy about their age, scrambling up between an abundance of leaves and broken twigs.

Leslie-Ann, two steps ahead of him as always, had already hurried over to the stranger, rapidly firing questions at him.
“Oh my gosh, are you alright? A fall like that can shake you up pretty bad, y’know. Are you bleeding anywhere? How many fingers am I holding up?” She waved a hand in front of the boy’s face. “When I was ten, I broke a leg by falling outta a tree like that, back on my dad’s farm. Couldn’t walk for ages and-“

Graham let her chatter away for a bit, waiting for his heartbeat to return to normal and his muscles to relax. Despite it having been a pleasantly warm day, a chill was now quickly creeping in, even with night still a few hours away.
“Les?” he tried to interrupt his friend, but she didn’t hear. “Leslie-Ann?”
She turned her head, momentarily distracted from her monologue.
“Oh Graham, sorry, I didn’t introduce you did I?” She turned back towards the stranger. ”Well, over there is Graham, and I’m Leslie-Ann, but you can call me Les if you want and” she rattled on, and Graham let out a sigh.
“Les, you’ve got a moment?” he said more forcefully this time. “We still gotta decide what to do, cause if the guide really isn’t here, we might wanna go back to the village and-“

Yet another person had appeared, a teenage girl this time. Leslie-Ann was already on it, taking the stranger by the elbow and grabbing Graham by the arm. With the boys in tow, she already began to address the girl. “Are you here for the guide as well? Cause it turns out he isn’t home.”

 

[sableyed]

Ruby slowed to a hesitant stop - who was this person and what was she doing to those poor boys? - and looked over both shoulders. She glanced down at Boo, who had acquired a handful of pebbles somewhere along the road. He tossed one into the air and caught it in his mouth, crunching as if it were hard candy.

"Who, me?"

Of course her. There was no one else around. There was probably no one else around for a few miles, now that she thought about it, and if the guide truly wasn't home there was little chance of finding him before nightfall. Ruby began moving forward again, breaking into an awkward jog to match the other girl's urgency.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm on my way to Relic Town." She brushed a lock of red hair off her forehead and examined the three of them, her gaze landing on one of the men. "Is that why you're all here?"

 

[Argan]

Rainier, having brushed the last of the leaves off of himself, saw a young woman in front of him, asking him all kinds of questions. I wonder if she was a Chatot in a past life... Storm grumbled from inside of his dive ball. Storm! Rainier hissed telepathically while listening to the woman's rapid fire questions. "No, I'm alright, thank you." He replied kindly. "I don't feel like I'm bleeding anywhere, and, um, five. Five fingers." He trailed, trying to catch up to her questions after she'd asked them. You know I'm right... Storm continued in the midst of her words. She was going on and on about her broken limb experiences and her father's farm, and Rainier wasn't able to get a word in anywhere. I know I can't manage two conversations at once. The trainer curtly replied to his water/dragon-type. The other boy interrupted her for a short moment, and Rainier discovered his name- Graham. She introduced herself as Leslie-Ann- or Les, whichever he wanted. I wonder if she even has a fully evolved team member? Storm piped up again. Do you know how I know that you're a Kingdra, Storm? Rainier began through their link as Graham took a more forceful tone with his friend. How? Storm bubbled smugly.

You have a royal ego.

Loveday began giggling within her dive ball and Storm huffed and puffed but stayed quiet. Graham had been discussing options as for what to do when a girl appeared not too far from them. Rainier didn't even have a chance to tell them both his name before Leslie-Ann had grabbed them both and began pulling them toward the new arrival. The red-haired trainer and her Sableye walked toward them, and she asked a few questions.

"I'm here for the guide, at least." Rainier replied a bit too formally. "Oh and, I'm Rainier. Just so you know." He added on awkwardly, looking around at the other three people.

 

[Dieter]

“Ok, so we’re all here for the guide.” Leslie-Ann said, and having let go of the boys’ arms, she gestured at the cabin. “Who is supposed to live there, but most definitely not answering our calls, so Graham was just like-“
“Well, what I wanted to say was that if we’re going back to the village, we should go now.” Graham interjected. “But eh, I was just looking through the window, seeing if anyone was inside maybe, and there eh, well. It kinda looked like there should be someone home…”

He fumbled some with the bracelets on his wrist and glanced back at the house.

“There was an unfinished meal on the table, and I think the stove was actually on.”
“You think the old man had an accident? And just can’t answer the door? What if he died?!” Leslie-Ann said, concern in her voice. “We should try and get in, just to make sure!”
“But, that’s trespassing. Les, we can’t just walk into someone else’s house.” Graham protested.
“Yeah, but don’t you like, trespass all the time? I mean, you take pictures of random places all the time and-“
“And those are all abandoned places where no one’s living.”
“Well,” Leslie-Ann said, crossing her arms, “there still could be a hurt old man inside, or worse.”
“I’m fairly certain he isn’t dead…” Graham replied. “But, eh, maybe you two want to have a say in what we’ll do? I mean, if you two were looking for the guide as well?”

OOC: I'll be active for a couple more hours, as I still have to read a couple of articles. Just so you know

 

[sableyed]

Ruby stepped backward, a bit overwhelmed, and took in the three other travelers. Ranier, she repeated to herself, Graham, and... what was it he had called the girl?

"I think we should take a second," she interjected firmly, "And get our bearings. I'm Ruby, by the way. Ranier, Graham, and Le-- is it Les? Leslie? How long have you all been here? Are you sure he isn't just sleeping or something?" Ruby began rattling mechanically through the qualifying questions; calculating risks and weighing options was her specialty. "Maybe something happened to one of his pokémon?"

Boo sauntered a few paces away from his trainer, creeping quietly on ghost feet. Sneaking, incidentally, was Boo's specialty.

"Is it even safe to go in there? I mean, if something did happen to him in that house, it could happen to us, too."


OOC: I'll check back in a couple times tonight (or try to anyway... I'm holding a wine glass, no promises), and I'll be around quite a bit tomorrow. Sundays are a pretty open day for me most of the time. :]

 

[Argan]

Ruby. He archived the name in his mind. "I know we've only been here for a short while, but I think we ought to at least take another look inside the house, and then go in. You'd think we're surrounded by Gengar the way the temperature is dropping..." Rainier submitted, taking a firmer stance. He paused for a moment, thinking of how to best say what he had in mind next. "If we check the house, what happened to the guide could happen to us. But if we wait for night to fall, what happened to the guide will happen to us." His tone was slow and meticulous, emphasizing certain syllables and taking pause before key phrases.

"I dislike rushing into a choice so hastily. But given the decision between being thorough and being decisive, I'd much rather be decisive. Besides, if the stove is left alone for too long, that house is a fire waiting to happen." Very direct, Rainier! You know I'd be happy to put out the fire, though, if it came to that. Loveday whispered. Rainier sent a small pulse of energy affirming Loveday's words.

 

[Dieter]

“Then it’s settled! We’ll go in, see what’s up and find the guide!” Leslie-Ann said, already marching over to the cottage. “I mean, if he is just sleeping, we can easily wake him up.” She halted in front of the door, rapidly knocked on it, waited, and knocked again

No reaction.

She spun back around to the group and, with raised eyebrow, said to Graham: “So? Are you gonna open that door for us? He clearly isn’t home. And-” this statement she directed at Rainier, “why would you think if something happened to the guide, the same would happen to us?”

Graham hurried over, his hand gliding into one of the pockets of his cargo pants. When he stood in front of the door, he took out a small bag containing several thin metal tools.
“This eh, well, isn’t eh… I mean, I’m not a thief or anything…” he said to the other two, followed by a nervous chuckle. “I, eh, I just-“
“What Graham is trying to say, is that sometimes these places he wants to take pictures of, like old manors and stuff, are locked up, and apparently rule number one is like never break stuff cause it’s rude.”
“Well, actually rule number one is ‘never go anywhere alone’, in case you get hurt, but…” Graham said, while prying with a thin metal rod in the lock.
“So, what Graham says, and anyway, I can vouch for him, he’s definitely not like a thief or anything, cause he’s also way too sweet for that and-”

The lock opened with a soft click

“Ladies, gentleman, the door is open.” Graham announced, putting the tools back in his pocket. Taking the premier ball from his belt, he added “Lotus will help us scout the place, if anything’s wrong, she’ll warn us.”

The kirlia that had appeared next to him chirped happily.

OOC: I actually have my part-time job on Sunday XD

 

[Argan]

"Well," Rainier began, the question catching him off guard, "You know the stories about these woods. Rogue, uncatchable pokémon that attack without warning or reason. Floating white hands and dark spirits... Creatures like those don't pick and choose when they're angry." Rainier continued on. "I know they're mostly children's tales. People return safe from Relic Town all the time, as long as they have the guide."

"But have you ever wondered what exactly in the Whispering Woods is whispering? Despite how mythic something may seem, it shouldn't be ruled out until demonstrated otherwise." His reason rounded out the statement and changed the tone from that of a secret empath to that of a semi-reasonable stranger.

Graham began picking the lock with a set of metal instruments. Rainier chuckled a little when he heard him stuttering. "No, no, I didn't take you for a thief. Rules aren't made to be broken but... More like tested?" He offered, searching for the right words. He nodded in an understanding way when Leslie-Ann and Graham went back and forth on exploring and what rules there were.

The lock popped open and Graham brought out his Kirlia, Lotus. A psychic-type... Rainier thought. Don't jump to any conclusions. Storm warned. I'm not... I won't. It's merely interesting, Storm. His trainer assured.

 

[sableyed]

Ruby shifted her weight a little restlessly, peering over the lock pick's shoulder. These people, she thought to herself, are certainly an odd bunch. Odd, but brave.

The click of the door brought her focus to the situation at hand. Ruby had been in haunted houses, creepy caves, and all sorts of situations, but typically she had been alone except for her pokémon; the worrisome part was all in the other travelers' reactions to whatever was inside. A hand went to her belt and covered a dusk ball, but she did nothing except for take a half step forward.

"Mind if I do the honors?" she asked. "I've never really broken and entered, but..."

Without waiting for a response, she swung the door open. The hinges creaked softly, and the diminishing sunlight was casting an eerie beam into the quiet little house. There was a sharp glimmer - then another, as the door opened wider - a few feet from the front door, and then the slow, spreading menace of a ghostly grin.

"Boo, how did you even...? Never mind."

She turned to the others and shrugged. "I guess we'll be okay."

 

[Dieter]

Graham was surprised, and to be honest, a little annoyed by the appearance of Ruby’s ghostly companion. If it had gotten in by itself, it could possibly have opened the door for them as well (though to be honest, he secretly did like the challenge).
“Ok, so there is no crazy axe murdered waiting for us inside…” Graham said, adding a strained chuckle. He stepped past Ruby into the house. It wasn’t very big inside, just a dark living area, with a door he presumed would lead to the kitchen on the right, and a narrow flight of stairs on his left. Somewhere in the room a clock was ticking, but aside from that it was absolutely quiet.

“I-eh, I’ll go check upstairs. And, maybe… I think someone should check on that stove.” With that, he went up the stairs, Lotus quickly following her trainer.

“I guess that I’ll go search here then?” Leslie-Ann said, picking up her backpack as she stepped inside. “And maybe you” –she looked at Ruby- “can go with Graham?”

She went further into the room, but soon let out a few choice words. Her silhouette moved some more and another, far smaller figure appeared.
“Serenity, could please light up this room?” A soft light started to emit from the smaller silhouette, revealing it to be a petilil. Leslie-Ann was standing next to it, still rubbing her shin. The room was fairly cluttered and it was no wonder Leslie-Ann had managed to bump into something. Normally, she couldn’t help thinking, when they talk about old hermits they tend to live very soberly in the stories and they really don’t need all that much stuff. But this dude seems to be a serious hoarder…

“So, what is it you said about hauntings and stuff, Rainier? Cause I thought the woods were just called that, because of, you know, the wind rustling in the trees…”
The petilil excitedly waved the glowing leaves adorning its head and the shadows around them shifted and slithered.

OOC: as it looks now, we probably have two options. let em go into the woods at night, or make em wait for the morning. also, feel like up to this point I've been mostly setting up the plot, and now I can focus some more on character interaction, but I dunno if I'm just feeling this way or if it also shows XD

 

[sableyed]

Ruby nodded to Leslie-Ann and gave her sableye a light, two-fingered tap on the forehead. "C'mon Boo, let's see what's up there."

They ascended the stairs quickly. A healthy level of curiosity competed with the dull ache of anxiety, but Ruby was not easily frightened. "Graham?" she called, reaching the second floor and looking around for her co-investigator. "Do you see anything?"

Boo sauntered a few paces ahead of his trainer and picked nosily through a pile of clutter at the far corner of the hall. There was a fishing pole with a tangled line, a worn journal, and - best of all - a beaten, muddy boot. He turned it over to examine it, gave it a firm shake, and delighted in the soft scratching noise as a speckled pebble rolled across the wooden floor. Snacks. Boo loved snacks.

He hobbled after the little red rock, claws extended and wriggling. The pebble rolled quite a ways, actually, and Boo found himself bumping headfirst into the kirlia Graham had called from his pokéball. He stood up straight for a moment, watching her with his head tilted first to the left, then to the right. After a moment of observation (and without taking his eyes off of Lotus), Boo bared his teeth in a grin and reached gingerly around her to retrieve his prize.


OOC: Nah it's well done, we've got the ball rolling! I think this gang definitely has potential for some serious shenanigans.

 

[Argan]

Rainier stepped into the hermit's house as the last of the group finished filtering inside. Graham and Ruby went upstairs while Rainier inspected the bottom floor with Les. He heard the comment about the stove, so he gradually began making his way through the cluttered house. It's like a minefield in here... He thought to himself. How could anyone live like this? Constantly surrounded by things? There was practically no room to breathe with all the items on the lower floor alone.

A delicate light unfolded from a small point in the room- Leslie-Ann's Petilil. Rainier finally made his way to the stove. It was still on, at a low setting, but Rainier switched it off anyways. A thin smile crept upon his lips when he heard Leslie's statement. "If the Whispering Woods were called so because of a few rustling leaves," The monotype trainer began, "I hardly think we'd need a guide."

Rainier scanned his eyes over the stove and around the room to see if he missed anything. "There are strange powers within these Woods... There's some kind of presence here. I've got a feeling, at least."

 

[Dieter]

“You could still get lost, or fall in a river and drown, be mauled by a wild ursaring, run into a swarm of angry beedrill…” The list went on, and Leslie-Ann gladly elaborated on each and every point while rummaging through the contents of a drawer.
“You kinda sounds like Graham, he’s always going on about weird presences and stuff as well. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised he hasn’t said anything about it yet again, cause on the way here the only thing he could talk about were the ghost stories surrounding the woods, like apparently-“

She halted mid-sentence. While talking she had moved from the drawer to some bookshelves, and amidst old paperbacks and several volumes of Pokémon Journal she’d found something.

Everything she had encountered so far had been unlocked and completely accessible. But the elaborately decorated wooden box now standing in front of her was shut tight. In fact, it didn’t even have a discernable lock.

“Just a second!”
A bright light suddenly illuminated the space. Graham let the flashlight’s beam swipe over the floor, checking for any potential obstacles. The first floor was cluttered too, but not nearly as much as the ground floor had been. The light touched some cardboard boxed, bounced of a mirror and caught Lotus, who cast an annoyed look at the sableye in front of her. The pebble it had been about to grab suddenly rolled farther away, rose up, then shot right back in the direction it had come from.

“So, eh, nothing of interest yet…” Graham said, swiping the flashlight a couple more times across the room. Further contents included a metal bed, a set of drawers, a large wardrobe, a chair overflowing with articles of clothing and a ton of small knickknacks placed on basically every available surface.

He took a few tentative steps, carefully avoiding the fishing pole, and his eye caught the worn journal.
“I think I found something…” he called to Ruby, skipping through the pages of the book. The book was old, edges fraying and pages weathered, filled with a neat, even handwriting.
“Eh, let’s see… June 4th -I can’t read the year- …guiding another group to Relic Town… Skies will be clear, no noteworthy issues. No troublemakers either.” He skipped through the pages, seeing similar entries everywhere. “I think it’s some kind of journal keeping track of his trips… But I don’t see any route descriptions or something anywhere… Here, take a look.” He held out the journal to Ruby.

 

[sableyed]

The pebble landed somewhere in the messy corner with an indistinct clatter, and Boo's smile vanished instantly. He would have shared.

Ruby sank down onto her haunches, balancing the journal on one knee and positioning it so that Graham could see. She skimmed over a few short entries that were logged together on one particularly brittle page: April 7th, light rain. April 8, group is in good spirits despite delays. April 10, deep mud in the valley. Haunter population more active than usual, possibly due to...

Mud was smeared over the last few words of the entry, but for all its wear and tear the log book was actually quite legible. She thumbed forward. May 15, ran into the ex-ranger again. Pokémon are in need of rest, but all appears to be in order for the time being.

"You know what," she said, turning to squint against the flashlight beam, "I doubt this is the most recent edition." Ruby flipped to the back of the battered journal, which the guide had indeed filled completely. The last entry had been stretched from the bottom of the final page to the inside of the back cover. Ruby read from it aloud:

"November 18, will be in Relic Town before nightfall. First priority in the AM to replenish all supplies immediately. There's definitely a newer copy, and I'm willing to bet he wouldn't have gone too far without it."

 

[Argan]

"That's true..." Rainier conceded as Leslie-Ann listed reasons. He unwisely leaned against the stove, learning about the 101 different ways to die in a mysterious forest without a guide. She was intent on searching this drawer for something- a clue, an idea as to where the guide went. Rainier figured the man had to be back eventually. His mission wasn't time sensitive, he just was hoping that whatever had sent him that cold pulse of interruptive energy wasn't close by.

"Do I?" Rainier asked in a semi-amused tone as the trainer talked about how he sounded like Graham. He wandered closer to where she was standing, looking through a bookshelf. He snatched a Journal off one of the shelves and flipped to a random page. "February 26," Rainier read aloud. "Group agitated nearby Beedrill. Split up and regrouped, everyone is rattled but safe."

The steady rhythm of Leslie's monologue had stopped, and Rainier set the book down. She was staring at something- this elaborate wooden box. "Well," Rainier said in wonder, picking yet another object off the shelf, "What could be in here?" He didn't want to rattle or shake it for fear of breaking something, but he studied the surface of the box. There didn't seem to be an opening anywhere.

"Could just be something decorative." He thought aloud, staring at the designs on the wood.

 

[Dieter]

Graham plopped down on a nearby arm chair. It seemed impossible to find anything useful in this mess. It would take them days, maybe even weeks, to get search the entire place bottom to top.
“You think so? But if it’s still here, I doubt we’ll find it. And if it’s with him… well, it won’t be of any use either.”

He let the beam of the flashlight swipe over the room once more, but it only revealed more dust and junk. Lotus had entertained herself by searching through the man’s wardrobe and was now, just because she could, levitating several pairs of socks through the room. She clearly wasn’t picking up on anything strange either, or she’d have let him know.

But aside from the cabin being dark and a little spooky, there was nothing amiss. The woods on the other hand… Well, Graham thought, it’s not like forests like these ever lack in supernatural presences, and I’d bet there’s more than one ghost still haunting here. But I don’t think they’d leave the woods, if they even can. Nor would I even know if they have any malicious intent… There doesn’t seem to be any more restlessness than you’d expect…

He abruptly got up, made his way to the stairs and, looking back over his shoulder, said: ”I think we should get back to the others. There’s nothing here. Lotus, leave those socks will you?”

The kirlia made a sound in protest, but let the footwear fall, then disappeared-

-only to appear again downstairs behind Leslie-Ann, who jumped, nearly dropping the box she’d now picked up.
“Oh my gosh, Lotus, why you always have to do this to like, just me?!”
A tinkling sound that could only be interpreted as laughter was her only reply.

“Eh- anyway, Rainier, might be, but I dunno, it like, feels kinda heavy? Like there’s something in it?” She tilted the box a little and was certain she could feel something move inside.

By now, Graham had arrived downstairs as well. “Nothing up there, though Ruby and I did find some old travel journals written by the guide. But eh, they weren’t really useful.”
“That’s a shame, but we found something!” Leslie-Ann replied, eager to show her discovery. ”Like, I dunno if it’s really anything, but we found this locked box and there’s no keyhole or anything so Rainier thinks it’s just for decoration, but I’m certain there’s something in it and we gotta open it?”
Graham took the box from Leslie-Ann, inspecting it more closely. It was perfectly square and almost small enough to hold with one hand. Though the surfaces were all flat, it was decorated with strange inscriptions and symbols of creatures he didn’t directly recognise.
“Can’t you just, like, use your magi-“
Graham shot his companion a glaring look. He really didn’t feel like having to perform some kind of stupid party tricks right now. Plus the box would probably get damaged in the process, he didn’t even know how the mechanism worked, nor whether he would be able to manipulate it properly.

Ignoring her statement, he went on: “It kinda looks a little like that chest my greant aunt has standing in her drawing room.”
“Oh, you mean that puzzle box? Like, that one is so much fun, though I can’t believe it took me nearly three weeks to solve it!” Leslie-Ann excitedly said. “I mean, in that case we just gotta figure out how it works, right? Here, lemme see.” She snatched the box back from Graham, intend on solving it.

Graham turned to the other two. “Well, we’re probably not gonna hear anything from her again until she has solved the thing… Eh, it might take a while, but eh… You think we should maybe… Check out the forest?”

 

[sableyed]

Ruby peered through the window and nodded thoughtfully; it was getting late.

The darkness seemed to be creeping out from forest. Shadowy tendrils crept from beneath the cover of the trees, reaching more and more broadly every minute as the sun dipped behind the mountains. If they were going out to search for the guide, it would be pretty hopeless. Even here at the edge of the woods the trees were dense. The others had their flashlights and she had her goggles, but the visibility probably wasn't better than a few yards by daylight, much less at dusk.

"If you think we should do a quick sweep, sure," she said, "But I think the reality of the situation is that we need to get moving. I don't know what happened to the guide, but if he left in a hurry there's probably a reason."

She looked at Lotus for a moment before she turned to Graham. "Either it's safe to stay here tonight or it isn't; is she picking up on anything out there?"