Ratio Decidendi

Dark, dank, and dreary, the caves snake across the island, leading deep down into the depths and surfacing in multiple locations. Some areas have been declared hazardous, while others are just downright scary. Forty years ago, the soldiers used to tell ghost stories about these caves, saying you could hear children crying if you ventured far enough into their depths. Of course, they'd always make good shelter, but you'd better not venture too far underground lest you never return.
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Ratio Decidendi

#1

Post by Pigeon Army† »

{{G66 start.}}

She had seen her father run to the house from the north-eastern boundary of the property. His arms pumping, his breath heavy. Sweat was pooling a little on the front of his grey polo shirt. He stopped in front of her, puffing slightly.

"Get your law books. They're back."

She did as she was told, running inside, grabbing two or three books about property and criminal law, and running back outside to her father. She was always prepared for when they arrived. They arrived at any time, and they were almost as relentless about this as she was about her studies. Her and her father walked out to the north-eastern boundary.

On their side of the fenceline were five men. Two were wearing suits and carrying briefcases, and she recognised them immediately. Two were surveying the land, measuring out distances and such. And one was sitting in a large digger, the engine idling.

"Ah, I see you came back. And you brought your daughter! How cute. What exactly do you intend her to do?"

The young man in the suit who was speaking looked classically handsome, but she had never seen anything more ugly in her life. A disgusting, parasitic freak of corporate America. She stepped forward and began to speak, her voice stern and cold.

"If you don't get everything off our land in five minutes, Mr. Astle, and I will call the police, and have you done for trespass, intent to wilfully damage private property and harassment. Unless you and your friends want to be sleeping in a cell tonight, leave. Now."

"Oh, she talks! For you! You have to get your daughter to fight your battles. Nice. You can't pin me for trespass, cutie. It's my property."

"That's for the court to decide in a few months, Mr. Astle. And if you call me cutie again, I'll have you nailed for sexual harrasment as well, and I'm pretty sure that won't go down well when we present our case to the court."

The man with the pencil moustache looked around at his cronies and gestured at them to leave, then turned back to the girl.

"Very well. We'll see you in court. And next time, bring your..."


"What?"

Kathy Holden, Female Student number 66, snapped out of her sleep and looked around. The cave was dark, and while there was sunlight trickling in from outside as the morning arrived, the thick sheets of rain diminished the effect. She rubbed her bleary eyes and glanced at her digital watch.

"Two hours. Right."

Ever since she'd woken up on the island, Kathy had been ducking and weaving around, avoiding even the smallest possibility of human contact. She didn't want to end up skewered, and she certainly wasn't going to be defending herself with the umbrella she'd been given. It was thick, coloured black, and had a nice wooden handle, but it wasn't enough to protect herself against a gun or something like that, and Kathy had worked this out fairly quickly.

"What do I bring?"

The remnants of the dream she'd just had lingered with her. She remembered Mr. Astle all too well - a man straight out of a cartoon, right down to the facial hair and slightly sinister English accent. He'd been intruding on her family and trying to intimidate them ever since he laid a false claim to their land two years ago. After negotiations had fallen apart, Astle had taken the Holdens to court for possession of the land. The process had been slow, and Kathy had been worn down by working on both that and her high school studies. And now the chances of her seeing either through were slim - something like one in two-hundred, or less, Kathy had calculated on the first day. She was going to be leaving her family in a state of turmoil, and her schoolwork in a state of stasis.

"Well, they aren't all that important now."

She got up and grabbed the bottle of water from her daypack. Taking a small swig, she sighed and threw it back in the pack.

"And I should've been getting Dux Litterarum this year."
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#2

Post by Mimi »

(Marnie Yaguchi continued from The Long Walk)

Rain was still pouring down all over the island and Marnie was sick of it. Her dress was sopping wet and her back was covered with covered with the mud that Dante tackled her into. Her one tan boots had turned a disgusting color of brown. Strands of her strawberry blonde hair were attached to her face and back. There was nothing she wanted more than to get out of the rain and dry off and the caves were the perfect place.

Dante and she had talked for quite a bit while traversing through the jungle and it wasn't half bad. She didn't know if he was just trying to play around with her head or not, but he was good for a nice conversation at the most. That was, however, until she decided that she wanted to go and run ahead a bit to see how close they were.

And boy where they.

The second Marnie emerged from the tree line; she saw the wondrous site of the caves. Shelter at last! She couldn't wait to be nice and warm and dry. It made her homesick, really.

Auuugh, what I wouldn't give to home. Nice and cozy in my bed.

It was worthless it think about those kinds of things, though. It just made her more homesick than she already was and being more homesick just meant that she'd be more miserable. Good things didn't come from those thoughts when you're on a place like that.

Shaking away those thoughts, Marnie focused back on the cave. Oh that sweet, sweet cave. It was a lifesaver. It'd be smart to wait for her 'bodyguard' to come, but they were just so tempting. She did have a weapon, after all. If someone was in there, she could hold them off at least until Dante arrived. With that, Marnie walked into the unknown; spear clenched tightly in her hands.

"And I should've been getting Dux Litterarum this year."

Marnie's whole body froze as she heard the girl's voice. It had startled her, but she was in no way frightened for her life. The voice was unthreatening sounding and hopefully they'd have a fire going or something, because the cave wasn't quite as warm as she'd expected.

Marnie followed the voice deeper into the cave until she saw the voices owner sitting on the ground. Katherine Holden. Kathy. Her mom owned a coffee shop in Highland that Dorian and she occasionally went to.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see a sane person," Marnie sighed as she approached Kathy. Things were looking up for her.
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#3

Post by Pigeon Army† »

"You have no idea..."

Kathy had sat back down and was grabbing a cracker when the voice echoed quietly through the cave. Shocked, and with the cracker in her mouth, she tumbled back, grabbed her umbrella, opened it, and shielded herself from the figure. Kathy began panicking, bits of cracker flying everywhere.

"Please don't kill me! I wasn't doing anything! I'll leave now if you...oh, hi, Marnie."

Kathy had peered over the umbrella brim, and was staring into the large, innocent eyes of Marnie Yaguchi. Kathy lowered the umbrella and swallowed. She knew Marnie fairly well. She'd seen her fairly often both at school and at her mother's coffee shop, and she knew Marnie was a balanced person - well, at least, balanced enough to not kill anyone. Kathy began speaking, her voice speeding up as she continued.

"I thought you were going to kill me. Lucky it was you and I wasn't getting attacked or raped by a psycho. You aren't playing, right? Speaking of which, that spear, can you stop pointing that at me please? It's freaking me out just a little. It's like the teacher throwing dusters in Geography. So...why'd you end up here?"
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#4

Post by dinah_shore† »

((Becky Holt continued from Where Idols Once Stood))

The northern shore was further than Becky had remembered. She approached the mouth of a cave, and upon hearing voices inside, she quickly ducked out of sight and listened intently.

The voices were familiar to her. Marnie Yaguchi, the all-around sweetheart, and...Kathy Holden. Becky didn't know anything about the girl except that she was really, really smart. It sounded like the girls both weren't playing, so Becky decided to take a chance. She needed to rest her feet, which were the worse for wear since she left the cliffs with Ryan. Speaking of Ryan...where was he? Had he stopped to relieve himself without telling her? Looking down at her stinging, infected feet, she knew that she needed to get off them for a while.

Stupid cheap Wal-Mart sandals!

Becky ventured into the cave a little. No use sitting outside where someone could come along and pick her off if they so pleased. Timidly, she called to her classmates.

"Hello? Marnie? Kathy?"
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#5

Post by Mimi »

"Ack!"

The near-grunt escaped Marnie's little body as the umbrella flew open in her face. The shock triggered her reflexes and her spear shot out defensively in front of her. She hadn't expected Kathy to be so jumpy, but Marnie understood why she would be.

"Please don't kill me! I wasn't doing anything! I'll leave now if you...oh, hi, Marnie."

Marnie attempted to stifle a laugh, but failed miserably in doing so. It was pretty funny that Kathy went from begging for her life to greeting her.

As Kathy rambled on Marnie sighed a bit. It was nearly impossible to get a word in when talking to Kathy Holden.

"Slow down, Kath," Marnie sigh, "Of course I'm not playing!"

The minute Kathy mention her spear, Marnie felt a tiny bit dumb. She had completely forgotten about it when Kathy talked. As she lowered the spear, she answered more of the questions Kathy threw out at her.

"Well... I'm lookin' for Dorian, but I needed to get outta the rain."

Marnie finished just as the voice echoed throughout the caves. It was familiar but she couldn't put her finger on who it belonged to...

"Is that Becky?"
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#6

Post by Pigeon Army† »

"Well... I'm lookin' for Dorian, but I needed to get outta the rain."

Kathy knew of two Dorians in their school - one was an oddball in her English class, and she wasn't entirely fond of him. The other - Dorian Ibanescu - every girl knew, and 83% of them (as in, the ones who weren't lesbians or the real prissy cheerleaders) felt some sort of physical attraction to him. Kathy knew this, she'd done the math based on her own observations. Kathy was pretty sure Marnie wasn't searching for the first one - Kathy doubted he'd still be alive, let alone allied with anyone. Mr. Ibanescu, on the other hand...

Before Kathy had the chance to ask which one Marnie was looking for, another voice echoed through the cave. Kathy's umbrella shot up, shielding herself the best she could.

"Hello? Marnie? Kathy?"

Marnie turned and, after a beat, asked the darkness, "Is that Becky?"

Kathy suddenly recognised the voice. Becky Holt, from the biology classes. Kathy knew of her, and she was apparently no slouch.

"Becky! You're not playing, are you?"
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#7

Post by dinah_shore† »

Kathy's voice echoed back to her. "Becky! You're not playing, are you?"

Well, that's a dumb question...

"I dunno, do you trust me to answer you honestly?" After a moment she went on, sounding defeated and tired. "No, I'm not playing."

She walked labouriously into the caves, stopping short of the girls when she was close enough to speak quietly. "I don't even have a weapon."

Becky was aware that she must have looked awful. She had no shoes, and dust from the rock floor was getting in the cuts and sores on her bleeding feet. Her hands were out before her, palm up, indicating her lack of any weaponry. Some of the lettering on her "LOVE" shirt had peeled off, it now said something along the lines of "LU\ F". The jeans she was wearing were a light blue once, but now they were a mud brown from the hems up to the torn knees. The original size of the knee holes was tripled. To top it all off, she was soaked through to the bone.

"Ryan's with me, but he's fallen behind. I just can't walk on these anymore," she gestured at her feet. Making sure that she could see out the mouth of the cave in case Ryan came along, Becky sat down.

Besides her boyfriend, these were the only non-hostile people she'd run into in six days. There were so many questions that she was itching to ask. Were they well? Had they been travelling with someone else, and were they okay? Had they seen Neil Sinclair? What exactly was he doing to piss Danya off? What was everyone doing?

She only managed to get one out: "Um...is there anyone else with you?"

Becky was dying for human contact.
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#8

Post by Mimi »

Becky looked awful. The island had really taken its toll on her. It had beaten her down to what she was now; a bloody, dirty mess. Marnie could tell Becky was in a good deal of pain, but somehow she was able to go on. It was inspiring, really.

She had become the silent observer as Kathy questioned and Becky answered. It was something that didn't happen often, but she wasn't really in the mood to chit-chat. Dorian was first on her list. She had to find him. Alive, preferably.

"Ryan's with me, but he's fallen behind. I just can't walk on these anymore,"

A sudden jolt of envy passed through Marnie. Becky had found Ryan. They were together again and could spend their time together. Sure, she was happy for them, but she wished the same could happen for her.

"Um...is there anyone else with you?"

Crap. She had forgotten all about Dante being with her and she really didn't want to share that information with the other two girls. He was a prick and he'd most likely turn them against her. Unfortunately, she'd have to tell them or they'd be hostile when he finally showed up.

"Dante," She started, "I'm not sure where he is, but he'll probably be here pretty soon."
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#9

Post by Pigeon Army† »

Becky looked horrible. Kathy tried not to glance at her feet, cuts and dried blood everywhere. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Ryan's with me, but he's fallen behind."

"That's great," Kathy had said quietly. She knew Ryan - she'd been in his English class once - but she found it hard to muster any spark while trying to avoid looking at Becky's feet.

"Um...is there anyone else with you?"

"There's no-one with me," Kathy blurted out. Marnie followed suit, but her revelation was slightly less welcome.

"Dante, I'm not sure where he is, but he'll probably be here pretty soon."

Kathy's head snapped up. That neanderthal? It's highly unlikely that he'll be able to help any of us, and he'll probably kill us first chance he gets. What could you possibly see in him to buddy up with him, Marnie? Are you insane?

At least, that's what Kathy thought.

"Dante. Huh. That's...not...good..."

This was the first time Kathy had been close to speechless in quite a while.

Kathy never liked to revisit that feeling.
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#10

Post by Slayer† »

OOC: Dante also continued from The Long Walk. It ain't much, but to be honest it's all I can really muster up at the moment.
IC:

Okay, fuck this, she's taking too long, I'm going after her. Bloody lucky it's muddy enough to leave visible footprints or I'd never have caught up.

At first, when Dante Cooper had elected to wait for Marnie to come back after she volunteered to go on up ahead to see if there was anything there, he hadn't thought she'd be gone long. A few minutes at most. They'd made pretty good conversation as they walked, and despite the bad first impressions she'd proven she was much more than a pretty face. Did he trust her? Hell no, it was stupid to trust anybody in SOTF, even yourself, but she wasn't as bad as he first thought. There was still that suspicious vibe she gave off, but she was good company, much better than just thinking to himself for six days. He hadn't been bullshitting when he talked about how boring and lonely it got in the jungle when one was on their own.

The rain had showed no signs of stopping, and though it was getting on his nerves he paid it no mind. Couldn't afford to show signs of weakness in front of the girl. Still, after a while his white hoodie was starting to get soaked through, even to the point where he almost thought he felt like rain was hitting his head through the hood. Overall he was starting to get really cold, and if they agreed on anything it had been that they needed to find shelter. That had been what caused them to stop that afternoon, as Marnie rushed ahead to see if they were near anything. Leaning against a tree, he figured that she'd be right back and that they'd be able to move on.

Needless to say, he had been wrong, and when even after a few minutes had passed with no sign of Marnie, he started to get annoyed. He hated being stood up, and he got the creeping feeling that either she ran off to get away with him, or someone had gotten her on the way to the caves. Of course, he hadn't heard anything, but still. After waiting a little longer, he gave an exasperated sigh and walked on ahead after her.

As he'd expected, the trip had been fairly short, a couple of minutes at most. Going straight ahead, he eventually found himself in front of the entrance to the island's cave system, and barely suppressed a laugh at his good luck. They'd be perfect for at least temporary shelter, especially with so many of the buildings being danger zones. Pulling out the dagger just in case, he stepped towards the entrance.

"Hey, Marnie, you in there? Decided I didn't feel like waitin' up for ya in the rain!"

In retrospect, calling out was stupid if anyone else was in there, but he didn't want to walk into any traps, and had to make sure Marnie was even in there.

Stupid Japanese broad...she better be in there.
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#11

Post by Ares »

((Ryan continued from Where Idols Once Stood))

Ryan was exhausted. Becky had kept up a blazing pace since they'd left the sea cliffs, and though Ryan was in great physical shape, he was not enjoying navigating the obstacles the jungle was throwing his way. Becky god a ways ahead of him. He took one last turn and was able to see her disappear into a cave. Ryan figured she was just making camp, when he saw a boy approached the entrance of the cave and call into it.

Ah crap.

Ryan booked it over to the cave entrance, drawing his steel mace just in case. As he got closer and closer he could see the boy, Dante, was calling in to see if Marnie was in the cave.

"Oi, Dante. You playing? My girlfriend just went in that cave a few minutes ago, and well, you know, protect the ones you care about and stuff."

Ryan tried to sound as tough as possible, but he knew he probably just came across as threatening as a puppy.
Stuff. Things. Stuff and things.
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#12

Post by dinah_shore† »

Before Becky could also voice her concerns about Dante, his voice came echoing down to them from the mouth of the cave.

"Hey, Marnie, you in there? Decided I didn't feel like waitin' up for ya in the rain!"

She sucked in her breath sharply and looked at Kathy.

Do you trust her enough to trust him?

A second voice, vaguely recognizable, addressed Dante. Sure enough, a second figure was at the mouth of the cave with him. A very distinctly Ryan-like figure. Instantly, Becky felt safer, confident that her boyfriend would keep Dante in line if he wanted to try anything funny.

"Oh, its Ryan!" she said, happy that he hadn't been lost after all.
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#13

Post by Mimi »

"Dante. Huh. That's...not...good..."

To say the least, Marnie wasn't surprised. She knew most girls in Southridge weren't to fond of him, hell, girls in other schools didn't even approve of him. He was good for protection and that was what Marnie needed at that point in time. It was the only way she'd get to Dorian, but she knew she couldn't trust Dante.

"Hey, Marnie, you in there? Decided I didn't feel like waitin' up for ya in the rain!"

Dante's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He had finally caught up. Great. No matter how much she needed him, she was by no means happy to see him. Before Marnie had a chance to yell back to Dante, Ryan Gilbert's voice sounded out.

"Yeah," She meekly called to Dante, "We're in here."
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#14

Post by Pigeon Army† »

"Hey, Marnie, you in there? Decided I didn't feel like waitin' up for ya in the rain!"

Dante had arrived. Kathy looked to Becky, who was looking at her. She breathed in hard, and gave her a look as if to ask, Can we trust them?

After a brief moment of silence, Kathy shrugged and sighed lightly. It wasn't a time for lots of words, especially when the intended subject was standing around 75 meters away.

There was another voice, and Kathy looked up at the cave entrance.

"...cave a few minutes ago, and well, you know, protect the ones you care about and stuff."

Kathy knew she recognised the voice from somewhere...

"Oh, its Ryan!" Becky had said, ecstatic.

Of course, Ryan Gilbert. Becky's boyfriend. Kathy had known him from English as well, but had never really talked to him. He was a talented poet, though, that much Kathy knew, and had been a threat to Kathy's claim for the English prize for the last two years.

Unfortunately, the next thought Kathy thought slipped out a little too audibly -

"Ah, good, a guy we can trust."

Kathy's hands shot to her mouth immediately and her eyes opened wide, and she began quietly repeating, "Please don't let Dante hear that, please don't let Dante hear that, please don't let Dante hear that..."
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#15

Post by Slayer† »

Turning around to face Ryan when he heard the man's voice, he couldn't help but smirk slightly. He'd gotten careless, if Ryan had been playing he could've caved his skull in with that mace he carried and Dante wouldn't have known until it was too late. Ryan asked if he was playing, saying that his girlfriend (who was that again, Becky Holt? Dante didn't remember.) had gone into the caves earlier and he had to watch out for her. It was amusing, in a way; Ryan tried to sound tough, but Dante knew that even with the mace Ryan had he could probably break the guy in two in a few seconds. Well, maybe not literally break him in half, but his MMA training would make the fight easy, the guy was about as intimidating as a puppy and even if Dante were gay he'd still think Ryan was nowhere near as cute. Still, a couple seconds after Ryan asked him that, Becky herself spoke out from the cave.

"Well, considering we're all contestants in this game, aren't we all technically playing, even those of us who don't kill? Anyway, I was gonna tell you that I killed your girlfriend, just to fuck with your head and see how you react, then show that she was alive and well, but she's kind of made that impossible now. Ah well, that would've been hilarious."

A small shrug and a chuckle would come from him after this, his eyes still on Ryan to see if he flipped out and attacked. Some folks had no sense of humour. True, it would've been cruel to do that to Ryan, but still. Marnie's voice echoed out soon after Becky's, though then another voice blurted out something that sounded like "Ah, good, a guy we can trust." He couldn't put his finger on who it was, but he was just glad for an excuse to get out of the fucking rain. The smirk turned into a grin as he called back into the cave.

"Great, an excuse to finally get out of the storm! You really are good for something, love! These caves will be great for shelter, just give me a second so I'm sure this lug over here isn't about to bash my head in."

Looking back to Ryan, he gave a quick wink to the other man, before stepping aside and gesturing to the cave entrance with his free hand.

"You first, they'll be happier to see you."

With that, he'd wait for Ryan to move into the cave. Once he did Dante would almost instantly follow behind him, eager to finally be "indoors" for lack of a better term. It was just that with the rather vicious barb he'd thrown the boy, even with his certainty he wasn't a killer, he didn't trust Ryan to not attack him the second he turned his back.
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