Island, Round Six: By a fallen stake...

[Avery]

Melanie Baruch was a technology lover.

Or, more accurately, she was dependent on technology-- iPads, iPhones, Blackberrys, laptops. She's brought an entire cache of gadgets onto the cruise ship, and dragged all of them onto the lifeboat, too, when the S.S Unsinkable sank. All of the electronics were out of battery now. Some of them were irreparably damaged from the salty seawater. But Melanie did not care. Melanie needed her technology, her brands.

She spread them artfully, stroked and talked to them, crafted them into the shape of a tent. At night she stared up at the dangling gadgets, reassured by them. She might be stuck on a deserted island, but the gadgets would not leave her. No, they would never leave her!

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her life itself. Her life-- her breath, her beating heart-- was on its way out, the night after the islanders hanged Mina Saelune. That was when four shadowy individuals crept into her tent of technology and slashed her throat with a primeval blade. No batteries or WiFi necessary or anything!

Melanie Baruch was an innocent islander.

[Celestial]

She had returned from an early morning fishing trip and another visit to Q's boar carcass when she saw several people, creeping into the bush. Shani swooped down, dropping the spear with the fish down onto the sand but they, as if seeing her, ran into the thick foliage where the angel would have no advantage. She cursed and, with a forbidding feeling in her body, Shani traced their steps towards the tent which they had exited. She knew how bad it would look that she was at the crime scene first but nevertheless, she had to know who was dead. Besides, the fish were proof enough of her alibi.

She looked in and sure enough, there was Melaine, lying there with her throat slashed. Shani ran out as soon as she saw it and took several breaths of fresh air, walking away from the tent as hurriedly as she could to go fish up her breakfast. As she ate, she thought and her thoughts grew sad. Melanie, although relying too much on her technology and seeming very rich and spoilt nevertheless did not deserve her death. There were only four people in Shani's humble opinion who did.

Well, them and Thomas. But that was irrelevant right now. If only she had been there earlier. If only she had seen their faces. As such, there was nothing there but blankness. She did not even get a proper look at the shape of their bodies. Useless.

Shani figured it might as well be her who broke the bad news to the rest of the islanders. It wasn't like they were not expecting it. She finished the last of the fish, throwing the bones and the spear on the ground in a neat pile and took off into the sky.

"Wake up!" she shouted, "there has been another murder!"

[Robyn]

For the second time, Moonflower was awoken by the sound of screams.

She blinked wearily, yawned, and crawled out of her shelter, the stray fronds of her thatched roof tickling her nose as she pushed past the dry vegetation. A quick look around showed her that a good number of the survivors had gathered around a construct she hadn't bothered to notice before-- and it was frankly a blessing she hadn't. She'd never seen such a gross display of dirty corporate technology all in one place before...well, except for the cruise itself, but she'd been doing her best to push the memories of that awful time out of her head.

But an equally horrific sight laid in wait underneath the cellular shelter-- Melanie's mangled body. Moonflower couldn't sense the girl's ghost anywhere nearby, but a strong dark energy pulsed around the campsite. It was powerful enough to make her dizzy.

She took a few stumbling steps back and said aloud, "Oh, man. This is too wild, man. This isn't the kind of harmony this island deserves."

To be fair, Melanie had probably tainted the natural spirit of the place by choosing to dirty it with all her machines, but the vengeance would then be in the hands of the island's protectors, not any of the survivors. Moonflower didn't understand why or how anyone could do this.

[Lizzie]

Sam jolted awake with a yelp, curled up in the sand. She hadn't exactly made a shelter, and she wasn't one of the lucky ones who had grabbed a tent. She was planning on asking someone to share...

She hopped up and ran toward Melanie's tent, ripping off the tent's front flap. Oh, man, this was not good. All of the younger ones seemed to be being picked off first. That, and the Mina girl. She hadn't even really noticed...

Murmuring a few choice words, Sam buried her face in Moonflower's back.

"It's not fair..."

[Avery]

((Just a heads up, later today I might be kablaming the subboard and making the whole Island thing into one neat RP thread in Splatterboard. :3 Just cos right now I'm not sure the activity level warrants a whole subboard and it might be easier to just have one thread. xD))

[Avery]

((M'kay, subboard axed, RP merged into one big, happy thread. From now on, all updates will be made in the first post on this thread via spoiler tags. That means roster updates, execution deadlines, recaps-- everything will be there, so check back after each round and lynching. ^___^ Now, for an actual post. xD))

Nelly had just finished cutting Mina's body down from the tree, with help from her lovely Christopher, and had begun to butcher it, when night fell. She hated leaving fresh meat, but the island was so very dark, and she didn't want hack the body beyond repair, so she retired to her makeshift shelter. She awoke early the next morning, however, to the sound of screaming. The angel. Shani.

"Wake up!" she shouted, "there has been another murder!"

Nelly groaned. Another murder. Of course. For a few moments she was simply bitter, angry at being woken up so early, but then a horrible thought came to her. What if it was Christopher, her little protege? She stiffened. Her stomach dropped. Frantically, she flung herself out of the tent to see who had been killed.

Her relief was palpable when she discovered the deceased was not her little orphan boy, but instead the spoiled technology lover, Melanie. But still, Nelly was rattled. Christopher would have to stay in her paltry tent from now on, she decided. He was such a good apprentice. She couldn't risk losing him.

"Christopher!" she called out into the gathering crowd. "Come to Mummy Nelly! We have work to do!"

[Deleted]

For the last night, Mina had been watching Q until she was bored. Then she'd floated in the sky, looking up the stars. It was like flying. Oh my, it was fun.

She came out of her trance immediately at the sound of Shani's screams. Immediately she flew down to see...the techno girl. Melanie, was that her name?

"Oh...oh no..."

She flew right back to Q.

"There's been another murder," she said. "Where were you last night?"

[Draco]

Q moved over to the populated beach, dragging his trunk and things with him. He built himself a new shelter.

For the last night, Q had been watching Mina watch him until she was bored. He watched her fly into the sky. Then he heard that winged person scream, and the ghost come flying to him questioning him. He waves.

"Right here watching you of course! Now I do believe there has been a murder. Have there been others since we've arrived on this island?"

He wanders over to the newly dead body and leans down for a closer look.

"It looks like she," he takes out a pair of sunglasses he found on the beach and puts them on, "lost her signal."

He stands up and walks back to his newly re-made living area.

[Rosalie Dylas (Maddy)]

"Wake up!" she shouted, "there has been another murder!"


Another. Christopher had been informed of Cassie's murder by Miss Nelly, and now... another? The Captain, Cassie, Mina... and now someone else? Why? Why was everyone dying? What was the point?

Christopher opened his eyes. He had slept on the ground, not in a tent. It hadn't bothered him, he was actually quite comfortable. He got up, and tried to find the direction of the voice. It was.... up? That was strange.


"Christopher!" she called out into the gathering crowd. "Come to Mummy Nelly! We have work to do!"


"Miss Nelly?" He asked, suddenly realizing that it could of been her who had died, the possibility hadn't even occurred to him. If that had happened... No, he mustn't think that, perhaps that is why he didn't at first.


"I'm coming." He assured her, and then followed the sound of her voice. He was sure he bumped into plenty of people and palm trees, or just people, or just palm trees. He stopped at the source of her voice.

"There was another murder! W-w-who was it? Was it Moonflower... or Thomas? It wasn't you though. I'm so glad." he told her, almost panicked as the murder sank in.

"Oh... I'm sorry.... I'm rambling and... What is it you need me to do?" he asked slowly, wanting to help Nelly. He really liked her, he felt so safe around her.

[Jayeee]

Thomas climbed out of his shelter absent-mindedly; a different one from last time. He’d spied a family-sized tent not too far from his singular one, so naturally it was deservedly his.

He picked up some chewed bones. “Oh, how funny. Some people have decided to throw some old animal bones into my tent. How glorious; this will be perfect for making some kind of hair brushing device. If only the maid were here to do the heavy lifting and what not. But nonetheless, I must be well-loved on this island if I’m being showered with gifts. HOW THOUGHTFUL OF YOU ALL!”

It was then that he’d noticed the crowd that had been gathering around the shelter made of mobile phones. He’d considered stealing it from the girl who had made it, but decided against doing such a thing – if there was lightning he wanted to be as far away from that hazard as possible. “What’s this, everybody forming a little coup de tat against that spoilt young lady, to get all that technology she’s been hoarding? Good show! Can’t have anybody outshining the rest of us now can we? You know, once at boarding school, there was this spoilt little girl who was absolutely detestable. I really do despise those children who are just given everything from their parents without any resistance whatsoever. Can you believe them?! Oh to watch them sporting all the new models, and they’re all so obnoxious. I just can’t stand it! Before I was mercilessly stranded on this horrible island, did you know that I had to ask daddy three times before he’d buy me another car? Oh it was a bad day! After the third time I practically screamed the house down, so daddy relented. But, you see?! I have to work for my things. AND I WORK HARD! But yes, anyway, back to the spoilt girl. You’ll all be pleased to know that it had a fabulously happy ending! It turns out her father owned a very wealthy company, which daddy made bankrupt. After we took all of their money and their things, they were forced to move to a common school. Oh, it was funny. I waved goodbye to her as she drove away and we set up their mansion as our summer home. Serves her right for being so darn spoilt if you ask me!”

He looked around him at the sad faces and raised an eyebrow. “Oh I feel your pain, I really do! That hanging was just excruciating. Did they really expect me to stand for fifteen minutes?! I mean, REALLY, if that’s the way…”

Thomas trailed off as the flap to Melanie’s shelter was thrown open and he caught a brief glimpse of the corpse. He collapsed onto the sand. “Oh, again? AGAIN!? Whatever is the matter with the people of this island?! WHY DO YOU ALL GAIN SO MUCH PLEASURE FROM MAKING ME SUFFER? Daddy would be absolutely distraught at all of this! WHY AM I BEING PUNISHED FOR PROVIDING SOCIETY WITH THE WONDER OF MY COMPANY? I can do no wrong, and yet, EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING TO ME!” He rolled around in the sand in despair, until he spotted Shani. “Get away, you fiend! GET. AWAY! You cannot pick the flesh off of this poor young girl. YOU CAN’T. I WON’T LET YOU! I WILL PROTECT EVERYBODY FROM YOUR PREDITORY BEAK! Oh this is horrible. Truly horrible. THE HORROR! You vulture!”

His eyes widened and he sat up. “An EPIPHANY,” he screamed and pointed at Shani. “I have finally figured it out. It all makes sense now. You’re a vulture! A VULTURE! Well how disappointing; I already have one of those. I used to have two, but mummy cooked it for breakfast. I must say though, it did not taste very good on toast. I was most disappointed. So I’m afraid I shan’t be needing you for my zoo after all. So sorry, but you understand, I’m sure. And besides, we only accept the most pedigree animals, and you’re just not up to standard. Must be some kind of mutated monstrosity. I suspect you may have eaten some primordial ooze or something of the sort and regressed through evolution. Quite a specimen. If I ever acquire some scientists who wish to do tests, I’ll be in touch.”

He nodded his head with a gracious smile, before spotting Moonflower. Thomas ran up to her, briefly glancing at Sam who had latched herself onto the hippy’s back. “You really should get that looked at,” he said and burst into a fit of laughter for a good few minutes. After wiping a few tears from his eyes, he said, “Oh, sometimes those jokes just hit me and I cannot stop myself from uttering it. That young lady there, get her looked at, because she’s on your back. OH, sometimes I just kill myself!” He shook his head and chuckled a little more. “Aside from fun and games, the reason I’ve come to talk to you today is of the utmost importance. You see, this string of events has been truly disastrous. All of these murders, all HAPPENING TO ME! Isn’t it a horror?! Everything has been plaguing me since arriving here. Affairs, murder, CIA plots, illegitimate children, rabid mutated vultures. You know, I’ve even heard that there’s somebody around here called Calista, who apparently used to be married to that old mathematician loon who’s always babbling, and that he is out to finish her off for leaving him. OH, HOW HORRIBLE!” He shivered violently. And then stopped. “Well, the reason I’m here to speak with you is because it’s become very apparent to me that I am cursed. OH ISN’T IT TERRIBLE?! Some vile creature has decided that somebody as upstanding as me should have all of these horrible things happen to them. Probably that vulture thing, but that’s beside the point. Now, I’ve heard that you’re some kind of voodoo lady. You know, hippy, voodoo, it’s all the same, am I right?” he nudged her playfully. “So anyway, yes, I’m in need of something to fix this. If you can help me, then everything bad will be stopped. Usually I wouldn’t trust something so important to somebody like you – you understand – but these are desperate times, and desperate measures are called for! You know, a fortune teller once had the cheek to come to my mansion and try to read my palm. I was appalled. Absolutely appalled. We set the dogs on her immediately, but those silly things just sat there staring at me. I had the gardener lock them up in the shed after that, but as for the fortune teller, daddy showed her to my collection of tigers, and then she never came back. OH, isn’t that a delightful story? You see, I’m not much a fan of all this supernatural stuff. Believing that trees are real, and that animals have feelings and what not. All a lot of nonsense if you ask me, but I said to myself, ‘Tommyboy, what else could it be? You’ll have to lend your faith to that strange woman, who’s verging on lunacy. What have you got to lose? After all, it’ll make a wonderful chapter in the book.’”

[Avery]

((Everyone, remember to vote. Pls. >__> *has no votes*))

[Celestial]

Most of the islanders had gathered by now and were lamenting on the murder, including, to Shani's great anger, Thomas. And it took him no time at all to begin talking. He had some wonderful gems about her being a vulture and a mutant and rabies. The standard stuff. But then he mentioned scientists and tests. It was like the last drip into a glass that was already overflowing. Shani saw red.

She hovered over him as he went to Moonflower. As soon as Thomas had stopped in one place, the angel swooped down and knocked him into the sand. She punched him brutally in the face and kicked him in the stomach while beating at him with her wings.

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! DON'T YOU RECOGNISE AN ANGEL WHEN YOU SEE ONE YOU SPOILED BRAT?!" Shani screamed at him in between punches and bird-like screeches. She had completely lost control of herself. She would not even normally pull the 'angel' card but these were exceptional circumstances.

[Avery]

"There was another murder! W-w-who was it? Was it Moonflower... or Thomas? It wasn't you though. I'm so glad."

"It was the spoiled brat, Melanie," she said derisively, and wrinkled her nose. "The one with the stash of cell phones."

Nelly wasn't glad that the girl was dead, of course, but at the same time-- well, if someone had to die, it might as well be one of the delusional survivors, eh? The ones who weren't contributing any. She glanced at Thomas, who was in the middle of yet another diatribe. Darkly, she hoped he might be the next to go.

"Oh... I'm sorry.... I'm rambling and... What is it you need me to do?"

"We must take away Melanie's body," she said, "and take it to where we took Mina yesterday. Be a dear and help me drag it, ok?"

She wrinkled her nose as they hauled Melanie's corpse to an isolated part of the island for butchering. Rotten girl wouldn't taste very good, she figured. Ah well. Meat was meat, and Nelly was not about to turn down meat. The two of them were getting away from the crowd just in time, too. The angel, Shani, was screaming about something or another. Oh, the drama with these people! Nelly could hardly stand it.

[Robyn]

Moonflower straightened up as she felt someone crying into her shoulder blades. She turned around and gathered Sam into her arms instinctively.

"Hey, no tears, no tears," she murmured, "You're letting the sad energy squeeze them out of you, man. Try to get back in balance with your self and spirit."

Concerned, Moonflower saw Sam's magenta aura thrashing and pulsing. It was quite distressed. She hoped she could help the girl get back in order.

However, just as she was contemplating how to better do this, another one of the islanders came to her in search of help himself. Thomas Everington of Everington Cakes Ltd., to be exact. Moonflower's eyes narrowed as he went on and on in a spiel she was barely listening to. She'd known about him long before this whole business had gone down as well, perhaps even longer than she'd been a fan of Mina's, and that was saying something.

His father's company was one of the grittiest, glaringly evident examples of what Moonflower believed was killing the world's purity. She'd researched its inner workings and found out things that compelled her to stay up late into the night pleading penance from the nature gods on the corporation's behalf. And they didn't even deserve that, in her opinion.

There was no way she was going to do anything for this vile man. But before she could even tell him so, Shani suddenly went into a feathery, fist-happy rage. She was a blur amongst her aura, which was mahogany-rich and flaring deep shades of red as she screamed. Moonflower felt rather fearful of her, for the first time. Perhaps this was karma's way of getting back around to Thomas, but goodness gracious, karma was terrifying to watch in action.

[Yoyti]

"Well," said Gregory, "I've been shockingly absent for some time now, and I thought it wise for me to make an appearance. Just so you know that I'm still alive and you should suspect me. In turn, I will suspect each of you. As of yet, I am suspicious of the good captain, Dean Comwell. I should not see him executed, but I'd like to hear something from him that may make me less suspicious.

And winged lady, please do not kill the cake man. I'm fairly certain we don't learn his identity that way. Oh just listen to the way I'm talking. It's almost as if I thought we were playing a game!"