Thomas Redpoint's Story

Tom logged in, and felt sand beneath his feet. Ugh, he hated sand. It got everywhere, between his toes, in his clothes... He looked around. It was dark, and he couldn't see much except for a couple of torches. He wandered around for a bit until he came across two avatars sitting, drenched, on the beach. They were looking a bit bewildered.

He walked over to them with an amused look on his face.
"Hi... what are you doing?"
Looking around and noticing the boat, he went to it and looked. Just an ordinary boat. He peered across to the other shore and noticed some dark shapes, but couldn't make out any details.
"I'm Tom, by the way," he said, turning back to the others. "I wonder what sort of puzzle this is?"

Andromeda squeezed the water out of her hair, then out of her clothes. It left a dark wet spot on the dry sand.

Some guy named Tom asked about the puzzle. She introduced herself and explained "It looks like we're not allowed to use the canoe yet. I found a key and a matching chest, but there must be something else." She looked at her surroundings. "Let's see, there's a vase of flowers next to the path to the town square, there's a panther mask on the right end of the beach, a deer mask on the left end, a torch marking a buried chest over here, and a canoe for two people over there. And Raith found a paddle somewhere." She sighed. "Eugh, I can't think like this". Andromeda took off her hiking boots and poured the water out of them.

The dry sand felt much better than wet socks and boots, but now she wasn't sure what to do with the wet footwear. After staring at them for a while, she wrinkled her nose in disgust and stuffed the wet shoes and socks in her backpack.

Tom looked back around the beach when Andromeda mentioned the masks, which he hadn't noticed before. Sure enough, there were the two animal faces, both peering out across the river.

He walked up to the panther mask, picked it up, and then collected the deer mask from the other end of the beach.
Making his way over to Andromeda and Raith, he mumbled his thoughts.
"A panther and a deer... predator and prey." He paused. "Am I right in thinking that the puzzle is to get the boat to move?" Holding up the masks, he gestured to one and then the other as he spoke. "Because if so... surely the deer would try to get away from the panther?"

He sat down and sighed. "I dunno. Maybe I'm over-thinking it."
He dug his fingers into the sand and let it run between them.

"Maybe a few more players would help to get ideas rolling," he mused.

A big smile appeared on Andromeda’s face, she forgot about her wet clothes. Tom was talking about biology, the food chain. “If the deer wants to get away from the panther, it would want to get in the canoe, but then we may have a problem. There are already three of us, but the boat is only just big enough for two. It would have to cross the river three times, but the deer doesn’t want to go back to the panther. Maybe the puzzle will reset and the masks and boat will go back to where we found them, or maybe there is something we should bring that does want to go back to the panther...”

She intently looked around. “Well I don’t see a mask that looks like anything that eats panthers, but I’d like to be sure of this. I’m not in the mood for another swim.”

Stumbling upon the beach after quite a walk, Corki noted the conversation being held. No one seemed to notice her presence at first, which helped. Listening to the conversation without the interruption of introductions revealed a puzzle was at hand, and puzzles she adored.

Grinning with her purple lips, charm gleaming, she tapped the one with cat ears on the shoulder. "Are there masks on the other side?" she wondered, glancing across the river, then to the other two present. "If it resets, then that'd be easy." Walking to the edge of the water, she tapped her chin, then twirled a thick strand of orange hair. "Or, perhaps the panther's predator doesn't need to be something that would eat it." Turning back to the group, she smiled wider, fists on hips. "Maybe its just something that hunts it...like...someone with a knife. A Hunter."

She felt good about her findings, but also wondered if anything of what she said seemed logical to everyone else.

"I'm Corki," she added, blue veins a bit more prominent as her heart rate increased from the excitement.

Andromeda jumped when she was tapped on the shoulder. Another avatar had been watching them from the shadows, and now chose to introduce herself to throw in her ideas. Feeling a bit disturbed, she listened to what Corki had to say. She got the impression that the skipper woman was presenting herself as someone who hunted big cats, and after Andromeda being the one she gave a little scare, that was a bit... she couldn't decide if it was creepy, or a strange but clever and subtly made joke, or just coincidence.

If it was coincidence, she might just as well make the joke herself. She pulled the torch out of the ground, held it high above her head, and tried to see what was on the other side of the river. "I still can't tell if there are masks over there or not, but I guess we won't be needing any of those from over there. We've already seen that Corki likes to sneak up on big cats." She drove the torch back into the sand to mark the punchline.

After pausing to smile, thoughts began to try to fit together in her head. They were guessing there might be an unseen puzzle part, something representing something that hunted panthers, but then to keep the boat moving there would also have to be a hunter of hunters, a hunter of hunters of hunters, and so on, an infinite food chain half of which was supposed to be on this beach. Actually, that half chain that wasn't to be seen here would be only a quarter of the real one, because everything eats something. She wondered aloud "What does the deer eat?".

When Orion logged in, he found himself on a beach. To his disappointment, he found no ladies in bikini, cafes or anything else equally entertaining. Still, it was a step up from last time. Pouring rain, a harsh wind and locusts were definitely at the bottom of his list of things in the universe. Then he spotted the other people, seemingly trying to solve the puzzle. With a slight smile on his face he approached the group, grateful for the company. In his mind he was already preparing an introduction. Charm and strength 5 were really fun, but having an audience made it a lot better. He couldn't help it, he was a show-off. Besides, social activity was always refreshing. He made a quick bow for the rest of the group and gave them a roguish grin.

"Orion Dahlberg, at your service. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Now if I may get down to business and state the obvious, I see we are dealing with a puzzle? Well, I'm sure our wondrous group will have no trouble whatsoever finding the solution, given sufficient thought of course. So what have we got?" he asked. As the rest answered and explained their theories a frown appeared on his face.

"I see, those are some good finds," he placed his finger against his chin, "is that thing part of the puzzle too?" he asked, pointing at the pirate flag, "or is that just the latest trend? Regardless, I can't imagine how it would help solve this puzzle," he shook his head, this stuff was hard, "the flowers also make me wonder. A deer would eat flowers, right? Maybe we could lure it back with them? I don't know,I'm just guessing,” Orion suggested, glad he could at least make a suggestion. The last puzzle had ended in him smashing half the items in a fit of rage before tripping and falling down a cliff.

Corki giggled at the cat girl's reaction, but couldn't respond when a newcomer presented his own idea. For a short moment, her shoulders slumped in disappointment, her thoughts not delving that far into the puzzle just yet. But the quicker they figured it out the better, and she pasted her smile back on with renewed vigor (throwing a wink to the cat girl). "I suppose flowers are a bit less harmful than a hunter."

She hoped she wasn't offending her, but loved the joke, so couldn't help but keep it going. Still, she had to focus. Turning back to river, she wondered what was on the other side, fingers rolling against her hip and lips pouting out in thought. In truth, she should have figured out the puzzle already, but an itch in the back of her mind prevented such luck.

Ignoring it as best she could, she picked up the deer mask saying, "So two across, one back, two across, one back? Something like that? The deer and panther on the same boat though...doesn't seem safe."

Was that a wink? Now Andromeda was almost sure the woman was playing a game with her. She didn't want to show that she was intimidated, and by her own strange logic the way to do that was to think of the thing that would have made her blush most if said to her, and then say that. "Sometimes flowers are the best tool to catch a large cat."

The game of words had distracted her, the moment of inspiration she experienced a short while ago had gone. Trying to bring it back, she thought aloud. "Yeah, two in one boat... doesn't seem safe at all..."

Suddenly blushing like a tomato, she pointed in a random direction. "Um, I didn't mean that like... like... I'm just going to pace back and forth over there for a while, okay?"

This was not good. This was bad. She wasn't sure if Corki had meant to be suggestive, or if those interpretations were only in her head. The bigger problem now was that those things had come out of her mouth in a much less ambiguous way, and the last thing had been spontaneous instead of a joking response... it had not been what she meant, but those people didn't know that... did they? Why did she have so much difficulty figuring people out?

Andromeda changed the direction in which she was pacing. What was going on here? It was all in her head, wasn't it? But why then was it in her head? She didn't even like girls. She didn't like anyone that way. Right? She stopped to look over her shoulder at Corki. There was something awfully familiar about all this. How very strange.

She continued walking like an animal in the front of its cage. Had she and that woman been together in a previous game? Had they done anything? No, not possible, anything inappropriate for children would end a game. She exhaled. She told herself "Andromeda. Stop being silly and go back to the group." She took another deep breath.

When she returned, she tried to act neutral. "So, have you guys figured it out yet?"

While Tom was sitting and thinking over their progress so far, two others joined the group, both of which he only noticed when the second, a young man about his own age, made himself known.

He stood and greeted the newcomers. "I'm Tom. Nice to meet you." he said, offering a handshake to each of them in turn. "That was an interesting idea you had, Orion, but I have a feeling that not even the promise of food would tempt a deer if it was under such a threat as that of a waiting predator."
He gave Corki a smile, trying to make sure she didn't feel as though he had completely ignored her. Then, at a loss, he sat back down, crossed his legs, and propped his head on his forearms. This was his thinking position. Although it did occasionally become a daydreaming position...

Now she was standing with the others again, Andromeda noticed Orion. “Oh. Orion. I didn’t say hi to you did I? I’m sorry, I got... distracted there. I think the little flag is just a random prize.” She looked at her left foot, then the right one, then the left again, right, left, right, left, right... Left. They must all think I’m a weirdo. Right. I don’t care what people think. Left. That’s not true, I care what I think about my mind. Right. Why??? Left. I want friends. Right. Animals don’t have friends. Left. I’m not an animal. Right. It’s why I prefer them over humans. They don’t try to control each other. They don’t play mind games. Left. That’s not friendship. And even animals can know that.

She looked back up, trying to catch what the others were saying. If she wanted to make friends, she could start by not assuming everyone who interacted with her must want something. If there was any reason Corki chose to surprise her instead of the others, it could be that they were both female. People often preferred to make friends with the same gender.

An image appeared in her mind. Rows of white, round chestlike things, some of them with people in them, but most of them empty. What kind of place was that? One of those chests was for her, there was a girl of about her age and height in the one opposite to it, a girl with ink stains on her arms and an unique smile... the same smile that was now on the face of a Skipper named Corki. The lid closed, and she entered a world called Sunnyside.

The realization hit her like a landslide. This was not real life, this was just fantasy. An escape from reality.

((OOC It looks like you guys figured out what this puzzle is. The next ones will be easy, but more and more original and crazy.))

A shade passed across Orion's face briefly. The man had a point, there was no denying it. Still, his remark had made him slightly uncomfortable. They were all cooperating here, yes, but still, it sounded like critique. Orion didn’t like critique. He shook his head and forced himself to smile warmly once more. At the very least he wasn’t going to show his annoyance.
"I suppose you're right Tom,” he spoke, as amicably as possible, “ nly a human would risk going for food near a predator. Animals are usually smarter. Still, I'd love to get to the other side, “Orion paused briefly when he saw Andromeda's expression change.
She was definitely a strange one, he had noticed that on first sight, but this was even odder than her actions before. It was even odder than the whole staring at her feet act. For a second she had seemed completely confused and disoriented. Orion tilted his head slightly, but decided to not press the issue just yet. They had only met a couple of minutes ago. Already trying to get inside her head would do more harm than good. Besides, it was very well possible he was jumping at shadows. In fact, that seemed more likely. It was probably just her being weird again. Or maybe she just felt cold after her swim.
Someone had called him paranoid once, but he couldn’t recall who or even when. It seemed decades ago, but he was still young. It didn’t make any sense. He forced himself to focus again, realizing he had been silent for a minute or so. Some were now giving him strange glances.

“Sorry everyone, something just crossed my mind. But it turned out to be of no importance whatsoever,” he laughed briefly to hide his discomfort and quickly changed the subject, “okay, I'd say we give it a go anyway. There's no harm in trying right? Besides, if the flowers don’t work, we can resort to Corki's idea. If we would somehow be able fashion the threat of a hunter or something similar that should do the trick, right? Waving a knife around, or I could try to produce some rather feral growls… So who would like to volunteer for the first trip? Once we get two people to the opposite side, I'll start presenting these flowers as appetizingly as possible. If my seduction skills don't work, I'll just start flexing some muscles in the hope that it will scare the panther away. Hell, with my strength and charm those things shouldn't be too difficult, right?" he concluded after his exposition. He hoped the distraction had succeeded. Act with confidence, authority and speed. That way, people can’t think too much about the actual matter and will just fall in line. He wondered how he knew that, it had all come so natural to him as he had spoken. As if he had been doing things like that for a long time...

Listening to Orion's long proposal, Tom realised this man was used to leadership.
He stood when Orion suggested they try the current theory, and with a sigh and a mumbled "Oh, what the hell...", he cleared his throat. "I'll go first. I don't mind getting wet if this theory happens to be wrong."
He walked over to the boat and was standing there for a few moments when a thought crossed his mind.
"Hang on guys... how do we get the last player across?"

Andromeda tilted her head. “What do you mean, how do we get the last player across? If I understood Orion correctly, we should put the deer on the boat, and show it the panther on this shore to get it to move away, and show it the flowers to make it come back. I’d guess that ‘showing’ means to put the object on the beach, and ‘hiding’ means to put it in the place where we found it. So the last of us could drop the panther on the beach and that should do it.”

She paused and rubbed her forehead between her eyes, her involuntary gesture when thinking. “Oh, I see what you mean, masks are supposed to be worn. Wait... Someone who wears a mask is an actor, someone who becomes the thing the mask represents. So, if we are the masks, then the masks are us, and since we all want to go to the other side, that would mean both masks want to cross the river. If Corki is right, then things that eat each other should not be alone together. I’ve never seen a panther or flowers row a boat, so the first should be the deer and someone who can row... which puts us right back where we were, except two people will get wet if putting the deer in the canoe is wrong? ... Sorry, I wasted your time, didn’t I?”

Trying to be more practical, she suggested “Maybe there’s something on the other side that can help us figure out what to do after sending the deer.”

Everyone's ideas were helpful, thoughtful, coated with some sort of stickiness that Corki found fascinating. Just clinging to each word brought a smile to her face, a curious bend that had her eyes skipping around the group like a bug, zipping to each face and smiling wider. Her fingers itched and she wondered how she could capture this moment...

But the reality was, they needed to get across. Well, needed wasn't the term. Wanted to, desired. They were simply curious travelers and curiosity killed cats, apparently, and speaking of cats...

Corki caught Andromeda's eye briefly, well, almost. She was switching her gaze left and right over her feet with a nervousness spilling from her. Corki giggled to herself, wondering what had the feline girl in such a fuss, before facing the river again.

"There must be something on the other side," she agreed with Andromeda. Corki's mind spun with too many ideas, images of pens spilling from bags like snowflakes, each distinct and colored, each bitten at the ends in different patterns or caps broken off in strange pieces. "Two at a time...I suppose the panther and flowers wouldn't kill each other." Facing Tom, she smiled wide. "Which do you wanna be partner?"

Surprise was visible on Andomeda’s face. Corki started out agreeing with her, but then suggested to do something that was obviously wrong according to her theories. If the Skipper wanted to go for a swim, why not just jump into the water? She wasn’t doing it to tease Tom, who had said he didn’t mind getting wet.

Maybe she was using the scientific method. Something happening as predicted by a theory did not prove that theory, instead one had to make up experiments that could prove the theory wrong. Andromeda wasn’t sure the principle worked the way Corki might be applying it - if sending the deer was wrong, that would disprove the theory, and if the random guess of sending the panther and the flowers would be wrong as expected, that wouldn’t prove anything.

This stuff was confusing.

Andromeda wasn’t in the mood to debate, pick sides and vote. As long as she wasn’t on that boat, the others could try out whatever they liked, though she did want them to make up their minds already and get everyone to the other shore.

Noticing Andromeda's face, Corki's own smile fell. Impatience wasn't really a nice thing to see, and Corki hated causing it. Biting her lip briefly, she glanced out to the water with a sigh. "I suppose...we should just find out what's over there first..."

Turning back to the others, she wanted to apologize for her suggestion. She knew it was silly, but no one seemed to in a silly-accepting mood. Well, at least not Andromeda and if Corki was going to befriend the only other female of this group, she wanted to keep on good terms.

Scratching her arm where her deep blue veins showed through her skin the boldest, she then said, "Doesn't there need to be two people in the boat at a time? Can one have a mask and one not?" Her eyes switched to the water again. "I think we're overthinking this. We should just do something."

She took the deer mask and glanced to Tom. "You wanna wear it, or should I?"

Tom was only halfway out of a daydream by the time Corki's two questions registered.
"Oh hi, er, yes...? Wait, that doesn't answer the question. Um... I'll wear it." He stammered, while his brain worked a little too hard on waking up rather than the question in hand.

He took the mask from Corki, and fumbled about with it, finding the leather straps and lifting it to his face to tie it on. He made a few attempts at tying a bow with no avail, so he gave up and asked for help.
"Erm... can someone tie it on for me? For some reason, I can't tie bows when I can't see what I'm doing..."
He would've tied a normal knot, but he didn't want it falling off and ruining the puzzle, and a double knot would mean he'd be stuck with it on his face for god knows how long.
He shuffled awkwardly as he waited for someone he couldn't see to tie the mask on.

Corki silently helped him into the mask, tying the leather strips before checking her bag at her side with nothing but a few collected flags and flowers. If it got wet, it probably wouldn't make a difference, so she kept it on.

She gave a salute to everyone, before sighing. "I wish I could just Skip over there. I don't think the I'd be allowed though, would I?" she asked Tom, smiling. "Probably kill me off."

Climbing into the boat, Corki remained standing, waiting for Tom and eyeing the opposite shore. If there was anything, she didn't see it.

"Hope this works," she teased, though she was a little nervous. Still, swimming wasn't terrible. She distantly wondered when the last time she showered was, taking a dip in the river not exactly comparable but water nonetheless. But wait...showered? Such a word felt off on her tongue yet she remembered it...

"We're off!" she exclaimed instead, bringing her back to her senses. "Charge!"

Andromeda stepped forward to help by giving the canoe a little push. This allowed her to inconspicuously put her face near Corki’s for just a second. “Talk to me, later” she told her, quietly. If she was going crazy, sharing that information with one person would be bad enough.

Speaking aloud, she waved at the two avatars in the boat. “See you soon! Or very soon, and very wet!” She laughed. Wading back onto the beach, she muttered “ew, wet” and “ew, sticky sand”.

The boat crossed the river without any problems. The only purpose the paddle appeared to serve was to make it go a bit faster than the boat was already moving by itself. A torch lit on the other shore, making visible two empty poles like the ones the masks had been on, and an empty vase next to the beginning of a path into more forest. Even the avatars remaining on the first beach could see all of those objects, with some difficulty, and draw their conclusions.