Gold Slouch

[Salic]

The fourth day, though certainly starting out strong, plateaued near the end. There were less than one hundred people now, and although that was still quite a bit, the island certainly felt more empty than it once had. The island already felt empty, but knowing that around a third of her entire class was gone made the island seem much more desolate. This trend would only continue as the days went by until there was only one. It was how it always went.

When the next announcements came, Lara made sure to compile a list of all the killers in her head and put that list in a mental safekeeping space. Now, however, she was not sure what to do. She had no plan for what to do next. All that was at the campground was herself and the smeared charcoal.

Thus, she waited in the cabin, wondering if something, or someone, would come along and break this silence for her.

[Applesintime]

((An empty shell broke it.))

Madeleine didn't know why she'd come here. Maybe it was just that this was where she'd met Cassie. Her in the toilet for some reason, Madeleine outside, and from there they became friends. Partners. The memories were too bitter. Too painful. Her heart was still empty, and thinking of Cassie just made her aware of how painfully empty it was. Maybe it'd refill itself one day. Maybe she'd come here because that's where Madeleine's feet took her. As far away from that bar as she could get.

The Aztec sword trailed behind her. She'd never wanted to use it, but now she couldn't stop imagining using it on that man with the gun. Burying it deep inside him. She'd seen what it had done to poor Tenshi's arm.

She wondered what it could do to a head.

Stepping into the cabin properly, Madeleine didn't care enough to worry if there was anyone inside. If there was, she'd talk her way around them if they were hostile. If that man was there...

She'd die trying.

[Salic]

Ah. So the silence had come to an end.

The door had opened, and a girl covered in blood dragged herself into the cabin. She looked like an absolute mess, and Lara did not have to view her face to tell that she was deeply upset. She was no empath, but connecting her posture and the fact that she was soaked in blood led to a fairly simple logical conclusion. Maybe there were some people in her class who enjoyed being bathed in the blood of their classmates. Kitty certainly seemed to fit the bill.

The sword that the other girl was carrying looked awfully sharp, and Lara assumed that the other girl, if she didn't know how to use it, had used it anyway. Lara did not want to learn the capabilities of the sword firsthand, so a little politeness was in order. Judging by how she looked, she could use it.

"You look like you've gone through quite the journey down some difficult roads. Fortunately for you, you've found somewhere safe."

[Applesintime]

Someone popped out of the darkness of Madeleine's mind, and the sword reflexively pointed in their direction. But it wasn't Josh. It was... Lara, she thought with a delayed satisfaction at remembering names. She was friendly. At least, she hadn't started killing people yet, and Madeleine doubted that she would try on the bloody girl with a sword.

"Safety." At that word, Madeleine paused, mumbling it to herself. Was anywhere safe when people could just... kill their fellow classmates at a whim? When madmen with guns could just walk in, gun down someone who'd done nothing wrong and walk out like nothing happened.

She shook her head.

"There's no safety anywhere." She mumbled again, this time loud enough so Lara could here. She almost hoped that she would try and prove her wrong somehow, but she didn't feel like she could be convinced right now, when Cassie's blood was still warm.

[Salic]

"You are right about that," Lara concurred, still eyeing the girl in front of her. "On the island, safety relative. You are relatively safer in this cabin than if you were still outside, wouldn't you agree?"

Lara shifted, getting up from her sitting position and leaning back against the wall of the collapsing cabin. She never took her eyes off the newcomer in the process. She was obviously unarmed, which Lara hoped would get the other girl's nerves to dissipate. She figured that she wouldn't get anything out of her, and thus it was best to keep the interaction with someone who may be unstable short.

"So," Lara stated simply, referencing the elephant in the room. "What happened?"

[Applesintime]

Sinking to the floor, Madeleine stayed there for a few seconds as Lara talked, quietly listening. Everything just didn't feel real. It felt like... like a movie or something. Like the real Madeleine was sitting on the other end of a screen, munching on popcorn and maybe tossing it over at Klinton while this fiction version of her suffered. But it was real. Cassie was real. This was real. Everything was real and Madeleine so desperately wanted it to be fake.

Using the sword, she eventually pushed herself up, the tip of the obsidian digging into the cabin floor. Standing there, she wobbled a little, before moving over to some furniture, sitting down on it.

"Me and Cassie were in the bar. Looking for Katelyn's meal." She mumbled quietly at first, but as the story was told, she got a little louder. "And her stuff, in case she hadn't taken it yet. I was in the back room, and this man came into there when I wasn't looking. And when I came out, he must have been doing something because she slashed him and screamed for me to run, and then she threw a smoke grenade and the man shot her. I dragged her out the back, and then I tried to fix her but it was too late, and..." She couldn't bring herself to continue for a few seconds, letting out choked sobs.

"I don't know who he is, but I'm going to kill him or die trying." Madeleine vowed, looking up at Lara with bloodshot, determined eyes.

[Salic]

She watched silently as the other girl slouched, recanted, and got back up again. Every part of her could be considered bloodshot, both figuratively and literally. Her eyes, her clothes, her hands, her spirit. She was going on a revenge quest now, a supposedly valiant attempt to avenge a fallen friend. Perhaps Lara could use this to her advantage.

"Oh. That's awful. I... apologize for the loss of your friend," Lara told the girl, with a somewhat genuine inflection. Politeness was key in this situation. It did not matter whether it was real or fake, all that mattered was that it made the smaller girl more compliant, more willing to listen to her reason and logic.

Lara thought about the conflict. From the way the girl described it, it sounded like an intentional attack, though of course her perception of the whole ordeal was tinted. However, while accidents certainly did occur on the island, this one seemed to be a little too spirited to be an unfortunate accident. Hm. The killer was obviously dangerous, and this girl wanted to go after him badly. Perhaps she could turn her into a remote attack dog. Even if she did not succeed in taking out the lethal competition, it was obvious she had no intention to go down easily. The injuries she could, or would, inflict on this unknown killer would certainly hinder his effectiveness.

"Could you give me a description of this man? Perhaps I can give you a name, give you a lead to go off of."

[Applesintime]

Madeleine shook her head. Everything was a blur, and she barely got a look at the man before Cassie detonated the smoke grenade. All she knew was the rifle he had. With how he fired, he could have easily killed her as well, and then there'd just be two dead people lying in a bar, joining the rest of the ghosts hanging around here in the last few days.

"No, but, uhm, he had a big rifle. One of the black ones. He should be on the announcement, though..." Cassie's name being spoken from that evil man Danya's lips was only going to bring her back to how everything had happened, but if she could find out his name, she could figure out who his friends were and what he liked to do. Maybe from there, she could... she could what? Madeleine didn't know herself. She wanted to kill him, but she wasn't going to kill anyone else. That was final.

"I'm, uhm, Madeleine. Molliqaj. She was Cassie. And you're Lara, right?" She asked wearily, looking down at the floor as she twisted the sword to and fro. Maybe it would be clearer in the morning what she wanted to do. Maybe she'd wake up even more confused.

[Salic]

"Yes, that's right. I'm Lara," she stated flatly. "My apologies about Cassie."

Lara couldn't hide the sting of disappointment at Madeleine not being able to give at least some kind of descriptor to her attacker, but now that she knew who died, she'd hear who killed her after tomorrow's announcements. That was good to know, at least. The chances of Madeleine finding them were slim enough, not to mention the chance that she'd even kill him. Rough him up, maybe, but then again, he had a gun.

"You mentioned he shot Cassie. While I am fairly certain I know what your intentions for him are, the fact of the matter is that he can probably shoot you before you even get close to him. Similarly, if you get close to him, do you even know how to use that sword? Using it in a way other than flailing wildly with it, I mean. You'd be more likely to harm yourself rather than him."

With that, Lara took a glance over to the blood-soaked sword. She acknowledged it with a nod.

"While the sword is certainly different from a lacrosse stick, I could show you how to swing. Any bit of training will help you immensely should you get within close quarters of him."

Maybe this could work. A kindness here leading to the removal of an obstacle later. On the off chance that Madeleine actually survives her encounter with her assailant, she would be much more trusting of Lara should they meet later. The only downside was losing time, but an investment of time could bring her bounties later.

[Applesintime]

She was still quiet as Lara spoke. Still coming to terms with what had happened. After all of this, she'd need to go and get a shower or something, but they didn't exactly have any hot water here. Or cold. Or a shower. Cassie's blood was cold now, sticky and unpleasant. But she almost didn't want to wipe it off, because then she'd have nothing to remind her of Cassie, nothing to remind her of how she'd been killed by that man.

Madeleine did perk up at the idea of training with the sword, though. Lacrosse and swordfighting didn't seem like they'd be the most connected, but Lara did have a point. If she tried to rush Josh with the sword, all she'd do is probably swing madly and flail at him, and even then she'd get shot like Cassie did. If she could even give herself a little bit more of a chance to avenge her, she would take it with both hands.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Madeleine smiled at Lara, half-focused. "I, uh, I don't really know how to swing this thing, yeah." To emphasise, she sorta swung it around a little, bringing it up with two hands and half-heartedly slashing at the air around her. "Like, uh, I don't think it'd be hard to hurt someone with this thing, though... yeah, no, I'll take any hep I can get with it. Thank you." A little bit of cheer had re-entered her body. It wasn't a gun like the man had, although Madeleine didn't like guns and she'd probably be a horrible shot anyway, but she could still use it to full effect.

"But, uh... maybe we should go outside for that." It was a little cramped in here, and she'd already lost one of the blade things when it was used for Tenshi. She didn't want to lose any more of them.

((Madeleine Molliqaj and Lara Bullock continued in The Forthcoming Tragedy))