Romans 6:23

[Dr Adjective]

[Bethany Lyon is in Hell.]

There was no other way to conceptualise it. Perhaps it was sinful to liken her mortal situation to that of the Lord's divine punishment, but what else could this possibly be? Thinking back, perhaps it should've been obvious all along. Bethany had had no desire to go on a ski trip, her last outing to Mount Washington with her father had been nothing short of torture after all. But that same father had insisted, she'd enjoy it, it'd be a worthy farewell to cap off her time at JEM, it was one last chance to see her classmates all together in a leisure setting before they went their separate ways. Before she became Bethany Lyon: College Student. Well, now that seemed to be something she would never become.

No, instead she was in Hell. The Devil had chosen some truly cruel irony for her, too. Her worst recent memory, and an emblem of everything else wrong with her relationship with her father, had been forged in the blistering chill of a mountain trip, now vicious fate chose to put her back in much the same place. They'd even provided her with skis.

She felt a little sick, a little angry, but most of all Bethany felt despair. The niggling feeling that perhaps she deserved this. Why else would it be such poetic justice? Waking up aside a warm hot spring, a nice little reminder that the rest of the island would only be worse than this, colder than this. Waking up aside boots, poles, and skis, a reminder that she hadn't really made the effort to learn what her father had tried to hard to teach her, hadn't become the son he so clearly wanted her to have been born as. Perhaps the spiky poles could be used as incredibly bad spears, but besides that, she was defenseless, cold, and could swear she heard some motherfucker laughing at her in the intermittent howl of the icy wind.

"Calm, Bethany." she chided herself internally as she felt the anger rise above the hopelessness for a moment.
"Composure."

Composure was perhaps the one defence she did still have on hand. She'd always been cool under pressure before, why break that habit? So instead, Beth took the only sensible move she could think of at the time. She changed her impractical heeled boots for the ski boots she'd been given. The right size, mercifully. When had the kidnappers made the time to find out what size she was? Or was it just a convenient coincidence. Impossible to say. Unimportant to know. The teen let out a long, deep sigh she seemed to have been holding in for several minutes. It didn't feel good, exactly, but it was a relief of sorts. A deep breath back in, chill air stung her lungs, and she was in the moment, on the island. She wriggled her toes in her new footwear, hugged her parka tigher around herself, and tried to think.

"So it begins. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Whatever happens next is His will. Faith, Bethany. Have faith."

[DerArknight]

Bethany Lyon might have found hell, but the boy who just made his way uphill to the Hot Springs found salvation.

((S106 Ethan Kemp - Start))

He had known that the trip would be cold. And he had prepared accordingly: His suitcase had been three times bigger than the ones from other students, and it had almost exclusively been filled with clothing.

What Ethan hadn't prepared for was some terrorists throwing him on an island without his suitcase, leaving him with the meager clothes he wore during the bustrip.

It couldn't have been a full hour, and he was freezing to death. Even the whole killing each other felt trivial in the face of the cold. Which was why seeing the words The Hot Spring on the map had been a godsend.

And now he had made it. Probably the only place on the island that could be called the natural habitat of someone like Ethan Kemp. His requiem. His home base.

When he felt the first wave of warm air hit him, Ethan relaxed his entire body, almost falling into the dirt as a result. Barely keeping on, he ventured forth, soaking in more of the healing heat, of earth's miracle.

It was only a few meters before the spring that Ethan realized he wasn't alone.

"Uh... hi?"

[RC~]

((S072 Przemyslaw Ziemiak, START))

Instantly opening his eyes, as a result of waking up. He was conscious again.

Przemek didn't wake up in his bed. As he opened his eyes, he felt the light flooding him with the picture of the sky. This wasn't the first time he woke up outside. He loved the nature. Sure, while it can be uncomfortable sometime to sleep outside, it was always nice to have the experience. His back didn't seem to hurt from the sleeping position either. Why was he in nature?

This was a pretty place. He was on a mountain. There was a hot spring, as well and he saw a girl in the distance. Przemek slowly stood up. He recognised the girl...Bethany? Was he at a trip with WAP? No. Trip! The school trip he was at the ski tr-

Oh. Right.

Przemyslaw touched his neck to feel the metallic collar. Yes, he was in that thing. Przemek's gut emitted a feeling of sickness. He wasn't enjoying the sight anymore. He took some step forwards, ignoring the bag lying next to him for now, waving in a fast motion.

"Hey, Beth! I'm here!"

He shouted, while he had a worried face. Przemek liked Beth. She probably had a better plan as to what to do than him. Some people don't like Beth, especially with her being outspoken for being Pro-Canon. But Przemek didn't mind, that didn't mean she was a bad person in any way. Kanye West supported Canon and that didn't make him a bad person either. He just had a troubled past, and Przemek could understand that. And indeed, Beth was really a great person at WAP meetings, so it didn't matter what other people told him about her.

[Dr Adjective]

Her thinking hadn't gotten her very far by the time Beth heard voices. Actual ones this time, not pareidolia on the wind. Just as well, her train of thought had only really taken her back to Mount Washington again, shivering despite her many layers, weathering not just the cold but the withering disappointment, bottling up her resentment for yet another year... Just as well, yes.

She looked up, regarding the boy who'd approached. Involuntarily, a large part of this was sizing him up: he was about her size, but just being in the same weight class probably didn't make them even. He had testosterone, but no visible weapons. She had ski poles, which she assumed could do some puncturing damage, but couldn't be sure. She decided that fighting wasn't in either of their best interests in that case, unless of course he did in fact have a concealed weapon. So she erred on the side of wariness, and crouched down swiftly to scoop up one of the pointy sticks, holding it out in a stance she hoped portrayed defensiveness rather than aggression.

"Ethan, right?"

She was fairly sure she recognised him. She was not a member of the chess club herself, but having a grandmaster for a dad could afford a kid a certain level of celebrity nonetheless. The telltale sight of the matte-black collar around his neck brought Beth's attention to the gentle weight around her own, and brought memories back to the fore that she seemed to have automatically repressed. Falling asleep on the bus. Waking up to screams and expletives. One teacher shot, that was bad enough. Then the other, throat crudely ripped open by explosives. Her fate, should she fail to play by the rules. Not one she relished the thought of.

Next came Przemek, the walking tongue-twister. A familiar face from the school's Christian Club with the now-unfortunate name. Weird kid, with the sort of look that might come off as intimidating were he not so scrawny besides. He seemed pleased to see her, too.

"At least I'm among friends?" she wondered aloud, but held her ground relative to Ethan. He was still somewhat of an unknown quantity to her, and she herself remained justifiably paranoid, with images of shovel-based throat-slitting still playing in her mind's eye.

[DerArknight]

It appeared his paradies was quite lively. Merely seconds after Bethany had asked for his name, which he responded to with an affirmative nod, another person made their presence known.

Przemyslaw Ziemiak. Ethan had actually learned to speak this name, just so he could say that he did.

Thankfully, the boy seemed chill. Bethany on the other hand was clearly on edge.

"Hey," Ethan said, slowly raising his hands. "I know it might have looked weird how I ran up straight to this place, but I just wanted to get somewhere warm, okay? I didn't want to scare you.

"I just wanna enjoy the warmth because honestly, its pretty freezing everywhere else."

[Deamon]

It was a big drop.








That was her main thought really. At least from where she stood at the edge of the pathway. It wouldn't have been difficult to just step over. In fact, one of her feet was halfway off the rocks anyway. Most of it was over open air. And that didn't feel like the worst thing in the world. She could have just leaned forward or taken another step, she was basically there already. Yet, she stood frozen, staring at the drop, and the trees below her. She closed her eyes, stepped back and instead sat down.








((S083 - Aracelis Fuentes - Game Start))

It was a hell of a thing. Her hand rubbed at the collar around her neck. Then Aracelis sighed and stood back up. Looking around her eyes settled on a smaller pathway nearby, less obvious and it seemed to have worn down steps. So in terms of finding civilization nearby, it looked like the best bet. She stepped back over to where she had left the baseball bat, the nails were crudely hammered into it. As tangled as some of them were they looked like a bunch of thorns. The bat itself was weighty in her hand, heavy almost. Aracelis dimly realized she had never really held a proper baseball bat before. She didn't know what one actually felt like.

After setting off and climbing the steps, narrowly managing to avoid slipping over as she came up to the hot spring. There were already three people there, she recognized them but couldn't place names to the faces straight away. She bit her lip as she realized it was probably because she hadn't cared about them at JEM. They didn't seem to be about to make any sudden moves though, which all things considered was what she preferred. One of them was stood away from the other three, closer to her, his back was facing her.

"Uh, hey," She called out weakly. "You guys friendly?"

[RC~]

There was a boy close to Beth as well, Przemek forgot his name, but he recognised his face, now that he inspected his face closer and heard the voice. Dude's always been friendly and nice in school, he was definitely trustworthy. Whatever his name was. Nice guy from school.

He decided to get closer to Beth and Nice Guy, and took some steps until he stopped when he heard a voice come from behind his back. He turned around.

It was Aracelis. Przemek used to hang out with Aracelis, back when he went to parties, but since bettering himself, he had nothing to do with her no more. She was a bad influence on him and lived a bad lifestyle. A lost soul. Of course Przemek wished the best for her, and hoped she'd one day also realise that her hedonistic way of living was no living, and that she'd find enlightment one day, but considering the situation... yeah. All he could do now was pray that God would forgive her for her ways. Przemek forgave her that she owed him money and weed. There was nothing else he could've done to help her. He tried convincing her to change her ways and told her that living without partying and being clean is the way to go, but now he was blocked from her social media.

"Oh, hey Aracelis, nice to see you. Yeah, we're friendly."

He smiled at her.

[Dr Adjective]

Aracelis, another one Beth recognised. Toting a vicious-looking baseball bat studded with nails to serve as a makeshift mace. Had she done it herself? Unlikely, and more importantly, it didn’t matter. She was smaller than Beth, but fitter by far. Another tally mark for people she should maintain a healthy caution towards.

“Quite friendly. Make yourself at home at our little oasis.”

With her left hand, Bethany gestured towards the source of the area’s comparatively mild heat, her right remaining firmly on the ski pole it gripped. By that point, her knuckles were visibly white, though that could just as easily be put down to the chill air as it could her death-grip around that which represented safety to her.

“Though I’d take it as a kindness if you put that bat away.”

[DerArknight]

Ethan probably should have expected people swarming to the warmest place on the island. But whatever. He felt included in Bethany's "our", so he took the final steps and reached his destination.

His first instinct was to get naked and jump in, but he knew better than that. His second instinct was to jump in fully clothed, but he knew better than that as well. His third instinct was to just sit down on the edge of the hot water, putting his backpack down next to him. That appeared to be an appropriate course of action.

Now that his brain was slowly unfreezing, he could worry about the bigger picture. He and everyone else were still trapped on this island. He knew just a bit about SOTF, but the picture was clear: rescue from outside was very unlikely. They had to assume that unless they themselves did something, everything would play out exactly like Danya wanted it to. Something had to be done.

But not right now. Right now, everyone was still on guard against each other. Ethan would wait until the situation calmed down to then unite those willing and able to help.

For the moment, he just enjoyed the hot spring while keeping an eye on what the new girl would be doing.

[Deamon]

It turned out one of the people was Przemek, he had formerly been involved in the same party scene as her. But then he'd found god or something and stopped attending. She hadn't really talked to him since then, outside of the parties she had never run in the same circles. She was also definitely not talking to anyone about god.

The other two, who she had remembered were called Beth and Ethan, were nothing to her back at JEM. She didn't really know anything about them. Ethan seemed to be more focused on the hot spring than on her. While Beth was actually addressing her. All she knew about Beth was her name, her love of President Canon and that she may have been in that Christian club. Aracelis had no real idea. Regardless, when Beth asked her to put the bat away, her back stiffened up and her eyes narrowed. She looked between the girl and Przemek in an attempt to gauge their body language.

"I think it's fine," Aracelis said slowly, "Plus I don't exactly have anywhere to put it."

[RC~]

Well, if she wanted to carry that heavy-looking thing around, it wasn't any of Przemyslaw's business. But...Przemek looked around once more in the area, and it seemed like she wouldn't need it any time soon. For now, it looked like the coast was clear of any danger.

"You can lay it on the ground, if you want. I don't think there's any use for it," he said with a smile, gesturing at Ethan and Beth, "they are trustworthy and friendly.". He continued moving forward to the direction of the hot spring, in an attempt to join up with the others.

[Dr Adjective]

Bethany’s caution was by no means sated, but evidently somebody had to make the first concrete move towards making peace. So, with a not-insignificant application of willpower to overcome her fears, she released her vice-grip on the ski pole and gently set it down next to the skis and it’s twin. Looking down, Beth felt a little foolish in the boots that had come with them, looking extremely out of place as they did below her skirt. But they were very warm and comfortable all the same.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” she said aloud, to nobody specifically. Partially to herself, in fact. Her fingers made their way to her neck, feeling for the crucifix there. Perhaps she was in figurative Hell, but not literal, so there was still time to make up for what she was being punished for, or pass whatever this test was.

“Neither let it be afraid.”

She approached the water’s edge, close to Ethan. For a moment she considered sitting, but ultimately decided against it.

“We’re all trustworthy and friendly I’m sure. Why would any one of us with the other harm?”

God willing, her gamble would pay off, and she would have four allies to share the warmth of the spring with rather than fighting over it.

[DerArknight]

Ethan wasn't a big fan of Bethany's jesus-speak. It sounded overblown and unnecessary complex. Even if he agreed with the content.

For a moment, he considered interfering. Maybe repeating Bethany's speech in simpler words. But while still holding onto the bat, Aracelis did not excude much danger, so Ethan settled on letting Bethany and Przemyslaw handle it.

[Deamon]

Aracelis looked over at Przemek and her grip on the handle of the bat tightened further.

"No." She said. "It's fine where it is."

She grimaced at the Jesus speak too. It reminded her of her grandma who'd died about a year and a half prior. She’d been caring and loving, but had always been quoting the bible at her and saying she was praying for her soul. It hadn’t been the best environment. So Aracelis was regretting going down the path she had. It didn't seem like the three of them really offered anything for her.

But that said, all three of them seemed non-violent. Beth was armed with some skis. In fact, Beth and Ethan were both pretty far away from her and Przemek. It was running distance but she didn't see Ethan doing much. He had been silent the entire time anyway. Beth, Canon lover that she was would eventually take their situation as an excuse to act out deep-held fantasies anyway. Przemek, well he was fine she guessed. But he was also the closest.

There was a way she could get something out of her time at the hot spring she supposed.

[RC~]

Man, Beth was at it again. Always finding the perfect words for the situation, comforting to Przemylaw. He looked at the beautful sight of the hot spring.

"If I had known about this place, I would've brought swimming pants with me!," he said with a smile to the others.

Aracelis still refused to drop the scary-looking baseball bat, but that was fine. His own weapon? He wasn't sure. He still has his bag lying on the ground, he'd just woken up a couple of minutes ago. He was on the way towards Beth and Nice Guy, but his bag still was behind him, so he stopped and walked back a few steps to pick up his bag from the ground.