HALLOWEEN 2017: INTO THE WOODS CYOA

[-Yasha Alchemist]

C. Drop down the the ground!

Oh goodness! She recognized the familiar flutter of the bats wings as they swooped down on the crowd of them. It was best not to agitate them! They were probably more frightened then any of the phonies here. Hunkering down was defienitly the best bet, letting the friendly (tho a bit blind) battles go on by. Buuuut she wondered what spooked the poor things. Maybe there was something further along!  

[Biblioburro]

C.) Drop to the ground- the lower the better.

Oh sweet! Bats!! Now things were starting to get exciting! More exciting than just farting around the woods in the middle of the night. She wanted to rush in and do something stupid but undeniably cool, shame was three steps forward and her companion was already on the ground, getting whacked in the face by bats.

"Augh, come on Boysie!" Riot hedged in the spot, dancing in place between running off to be a hero and maybe not leaving behind her one buddy. One more glance at the woods where they came and she was hitting the ground, shielding Boysenberry's head with a hoof that she mostly tried to wipe off. Much less cool but hey if they were playing by horror movie logic then she wasn't leaving her own last girl behind.

Ugh, that was cheesy.

"Can you be a little less casual about having flying rats get tangled in your hair?"  

[Ac.Wings]

C.) Drop down to the ground!

Golden Doubloon stuck close to the rest of the party as they journeyed into the woods. The deeper they went the creepier it got. A shiver ran down her spine as she looked between the trees. Hooves crossed the trees stayed right where they were. They probably wouldn't be able to grow legs and run after them...right? Augh, great, now she was worried about trees chasing them.

The little flutter was knocked out of her pondering when the loud screech of bats echoed across the woods.

THE TREES WERE COMING! Wait...no...Golden Doubloon's wide eyes narrowed as she realized it wasn't lumbering wood after them but--

"Oooooh no, no, no, no, NO!"

Quickly she dove to the ground to join the other phonies with the same idea.

Bats! Why did it have to be bats?

Golden was all too familiar with them from her many voyages into dreary caves and old buildings. Bats loved hiding amongst beautiful artifacts and shimmering gold. She wasn't afraid of them but she wasn't much of a fan. They pooped everywhere!! Her poor hair had enough experiences with the furry little flyers to not want anymore unfortunate repeats.  

[Luafien]

"You seem to be getting plenty un-casual about it for me," Boysie laughed from under her friend's hoof.

"It was just a little accident, no need to freak out. Our forest carousing has probably stirred up all the insects in the area. The bats are just hungry! For insects. Not us. Our our noodles." Boysie beamed, snuggling the tupperware between her forehooves.

Biblioburro

 

[theCorniest]

C) Drop to the ground- the lower the better.

Friend-Ship wasn't afraid of bats, but suddenly being swarmed by them was certainly surprising. Some phonies' first impulse was to run, but his instinct was to stop it and drop it. Babby phonies are already pretty small, so he didn't have far to go.  

[medigel]

C.) Drop to the ground- the lower the better.


Immediately Hooked dropped to his belly along with some of the others, unconsciously clenching his teeth around the rod. Please don't let any of them get on the hook, please don't let any of them get on the hook... The bats were too smart for that, thankfully. Or too panicked.

A beat after the flock (group? battalion? murder? cloud?) of bats had made their way away, the phony "mm'd" like nothing had interrupted them. "Scary" bats weren't new; maybe someone really was trying to just scare them off with lazy Halloween cliches?

"Would she do stuff like forest scaring?" Hooked asked in a whisper, agreeing with the sentiment regarding sound.

Chrystali

 

[Scaramouche Fandango]

. Round 5: Let's Split Up, Gang! .

Sides heaving, you regroup. The storm of bats was bat news indeed; you weren't really prepared for something like bat, and in the aftermath of the chiropteran onslaught, your party has become discombobulated. Nobody's hurt, so you can be thankful for bat at least- but in the chaos, you realize you're not quite sure where you're bat anymore- and more importantly, there's some faces missing.

This... is bat. Bad. Your group looks substantially smaller, and Skirmish isn't there anymore. Uh-oh. She must have wound up with the rest of the group as you separated in the shuffle. A few phonies try calling for their friends, but all you hear is the wind getting louder and the night noises. Sound doesn't seem to carry well out here. But you came out here to hunt cryptids, and by gosh that's what you're gonna do. So as you dust yourself off and pick yourself up, you prepare to soldier on with what's left of your group.

If you chose A or D, you're in Group 1

If you chose B or C, you're in Group 2


Group 1: At first, the charging phonies moved individually, but you ended up in a stampede. Oh, the perils of herd mentality! Nervously, you shuffle together as a group, quietly taking a headcount and thinking about what to do next. You tell yourself it's all ok- it's still Phonyland, these woods shouldn't be that dangerous- but strange things have happened here, and you find yourself aware of just how little you know. Unless you're Fire Flight, whose night just got so much more complicated.

And then somebody spots it. You're not quite sure who points it out first, but it's... strange. It's a cairn- a small pile of rocks that doesn't for an instant look like it's there naturally. The stones are smooth, but far enough from the water that they aren't some kind of deposit- and an arrow chalked on one proves it. Somebody put this here. But why?

As you ponder it, something rustles in the trees. Perhaps it's the wind- but then you spot... something out of the corner of your eye. A dark shadow flits above your heads- or maybe at your eye level- you're not sure where the shape ended and the darkness began. You're not even sure what you really saw, other than a quick glint of light and the impression of movement. One thing's certain- it's heading in the opposite direction of the arrow on the stone.

You know you should all stick together at this point- but where should you go?

We should...
A: Follow the arrow!
B: Follow the shadowy shape.
C: Move out in a spiral and see what lies in both directions.
D: Stay put and see if the shadow comes back.


Group 2: You hold your position as some of your group flees- while you call to stop them, they don't hear you. When things quiet down, you pick yourselves up and take a headcount. Unconsciously, you huddle closer together, trying to tamp down the uneasiness you feel. After all, the woods are just trees- and the trees are just wood- but you are afraid. The unknown is scary, and this is definitely the unknown.

Taking stock, you consider what you don't have. You don't have a path. You don't have a guide. You don't hear your missing friends.

But you do hear a noise- a strange, new noise. Crashing noises in the underbrush- and a strange glow in the distance. It's faint and winks in and out, but it's there. There's also a strange... hum? Something mechanical?

What's that doing out here in the woods?

You need to make a decision, before the bats come back.

We should...
A: Head towards the noises.
B: Head in the exact opposite direction of those noises.
C: Try to figure out where the others went.
D: Try to find the campsite again.


Please bold your choice at the top of your post and don't forget the RP!

show spoilerhide spoiler

Midnightglow18

Syrcaid

purplerosesbeauty

SilverLutz

Fea Line

Biblioburro

Astraea Pandora

zippedsiren

Strawberri Stardust

Byagane319

cursedandwandering

lux_rayne13

Ruriska

Huni Pi

Kitty Sprightt

Chrystali

Tristam Lockhart

ex o ex Snoof

LizzyMoo

Luafien

Yushika

medigel

FrostyPeaches

Rapidashtrainer

-Yasha Alchemist

Jun D

Maxx D

Gl!tch~

Ac.Wings

thyPOPE

 

[Rapidashtrainer]

A: Head towards the noises.


Footnote wiggled out of the bushes once the bats were gone and was surprised to find Hybrid close by. "You okay?" the foal asked curiously. "No bat bites or anything? I would have to make a stake if you plan on being a vampire,"

Swiveling his ears, Footnote then noticed a strange mechanical hum followed by crashing in the distance. Looking at Hybrid, the foal asked "Want to check that out? The others seem to have gone,"

LizzyMoo

 

[SilverLutz]

A: Head towards the noises.

After picking herself up and dusting herself off, Rising Sign noticed their group had shrunk drastically. Those that hadn't dropped to the ground were gone, as well as Skirmish. Oh well...their group, although smaller, was still decently large and she'd rather be with those that had also hit the deck.

The strange noises and the odd light made her tilt her head, curious and ready to leave the possibility of the bats coming back behind. There were a few other Phonies already heading in the direction the disturbance was coming from, so she hesitantly followed them.  

[zippedsiren]

Group 1- A) Follow the Arrow

As the running herd bolted away, something crept up to Torchwood and suddenly he was faced with another pair of eyes glancing back at him. He took a deep breath, was this it?! The creature? As his eyes adjusted, the unicorn realized that it was just another phony, yet this one was new and seemed rather scared.

Torchwood listened to the ramblings and mantra. “Bats? Yeah, they’re pretty harmless unless you are a bug. And fires, they are safe most of the time, as long as you keep watch. Just don’t play with fire.” Always on the job, Torchwood’s life as a forest fire ranger was never really done. He shed his sleeping bag like an old skin and rolled it back up now that the threat of being pooped on seemed to have passed.

Upon regrouping, Torchwood did take it upon himself to count out who was there. Himself and his 3 cohorts from earlier, plus several new phonies he had not had the chance to get to know better.

Upon seeing the towering rock structure and arrow, Torchwood reasoned out why it’d be there. “You know, that’s just the kind of thing hikers’ use to mark trails.” Then the shadow, what was that? Ghost? The creature they were after or just a bird flying in the night?

As much as Torchwood wanted to investigate the shadow, he felt pity for the grey phony who seemed scared despite what he said. “ I’m sure if someone were to follow the arrow, you’d wind up in a safe place at the end. The night is dark and full of all of sorts of things. “ The unicorn gave a little sigh, the shadow intrigued him but he was genuinely concerned about the safety of others. If he could take someone to a safe place, he’d feel accomplished. Not to mention he trusted that an experienced adventurer like Labyrinth would be capable in the dark with whoever followed her. “I’ll walk that way with anyone that wants the company.”

lux_rayne13

 

[Ruriska]

D: Stay put and see if the shadow comes back.

Banshee huddled close to the group as they came to terms with being split up from the others, their friends lost somewhere behind them in the dark. She wasn't scared, simply concerned, and a little distressed that she’d lost her chance to find her poor lost soul. That fear was short lived, as clues appeared, the stone cairn and the shadowy form flitting away into the trees.

Almost immediately the group began to split up again, Labyrinth running off one way, Torchwood another. Fright Night had yet to decide and she shared a smile with him, as well as any of the young foals who probably shouldn't be lost in the woods looking for monsters.

Banshee wasn’t sure what to do. She walked in circles for a moment, giving a soft, distressed hum, and then sat down heavily on the spot in front of the cairn. It would come back. The shadow would know she was trying to help and would return, and she would be waiting for it.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

C: Move out in a spiral and see what lies in both directions.

Torte took a sip of her coffee as she thought about what to follow. The arrow was obvious, but she felt compelled. She wanted to see what both options had, if that shadow was maybe the monster! Maybe she should have been a bit more concerned they'd been split off from the others, but it was just a night in the woods.

"Did anyone else see that shadow thing?" she asked, and quickly spiraled as she flew. Maybe she could see what was in both directions.

 

[NymiiNym]

C: Move out in a spiral and see what lies in both directions.

While the idea of following the shadow was her first thought, Kiwi had enough foresight to stop herself. Sure, it could be what they had been searching for, but there was so much going on currently that it'd be downright reckless to not examine her surroundings, first. Light, shadowy movement, a cairn; she really ought to look around and make sure there wasn't anything else they were missing, too!

At Torte's question the flutter floated a few centimeters from the ground, joining the pegasus in their search. "What do you think it could be?"

purplerosesbeauty