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It's night. You'r
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
It's night. You'r
It's night. You're sitting in your bed, staring out the window, searching for something lost. But you can't remember what it is, or was. All you know is that it's out there...it's important...and it was once yours.
Perhaps you never used it, perhaps you did--once, maybe twice. Or more. But for some strange reason, you can't remember if you did or didn't. Or what effect it had on you. Or...where it is now.
As you awoke from a particularly bland and boring dream, the memory that you were missing this...thing slid into your head. As you sat in a haze between asleep and awake, you stared outside, scouring the landscape that, for one fleeting moment, was no longer the familiar world you saw every day.
So here you are, staring outside, searching.
And then you finish waking up.
And here you are, trying to remember what you were just doing.
Hm, you think, smacking your dry lips. The covers rustle as you reach for your water glass, which sits by your lamp on your nightstand like it does every night. That's really wierd...I can't remember my dream. It seemed important--almost real. Your hand meets cold glass and you close your fingers around it. You bring it to your lips for a satisfying sip, but you realize that it's empty.
"Darn," you whisper. You'll have to get out of bed to fill it up--but it's really cold, and you don't have socks on.
Eh, it's no big deal. You'll fill it up.
Throwing the covers to the side, you haul yourself out of bed. With every footstep towards the kitchen all memory of strange dreams and searches leaves you, and by the time you return to your comfy nest of blankets with your full cup of water, the night seems almost normal. That is, until you glance outside the window.
Something moves across the front of the moon, which is full and shines right through the middle of your window, lighting up your comforter. What could it have been? It seemed familiar...And perhaps it's the fact that you're still half asleep, half awake that you can sense it, but a powerful force beats from it. Calling you. Presenting opportunities that you absolutely cannot miss.
Without any hesitation you get back out of bed, but before you can even leave your bedroom you notice a puddle of water near your nightstand.
So that's where all my water went, you realize. I must've knocked it over. Upon closer inspection you realize that there's writing on the carpet, glowing faintly yellow from under the patch of wetness.
The writing is so interesting you don't even realize how strange it is that the puddle isn't soaking into the carpet, or wonder how the words got there. In fact, the words don't even seem scary to you, despite their suspicious nature.
Hello, person! You are one of the lucky few CBers to be chosen to go on a nice, relaxing, beautiful vacation over Lake Lelillo! (Lay-LIH-loh) If you do indeed come, and we absolutely hope you do decide to, you will be given a free getaway from work, school, and empty water glasses! Here at Lake Lelillo, you will have all-day access to the lake itself, the fun attractions, the ice cream stands, the hot dog stands, the hamburger stands, the steak stands, the spagghetti stands, and any other stand marked with a silver star. (Which is all of them, so please don't forget!) Your rooms will be huge and most of them will even overlook the lake! They will of course be inside our one and only Luxury Lake House, which you will live in until your stay comes to a close. Remember this is all completely free, free free! Please pack your things, bring an AE and/or CAPTCHA if you'd like, and wait with them by the nearest stream at sunrise tomorrow morning. As we always say: All inlets lead to Lelillo!
~Your Soon-to-be Chaperones,
Cassy and Lily of Lake Lelillo
How you read all that small print was beyond you. Will you go? It certainly seems relaxing enough. The choice is yours to make.
-------------------------
I'll tell you all when the spots are closed, so join while you still can!
Please note that this is my second ski lodge, and it's kind of linked to my first. In a sense, it's the next part. I don't know if I should call it a part two, or what, but some things might reference the first ski lodge. Don't worry--I'm not going to make things super confusing. I'll explain things as I go--and I really need new CBers to join in. But I also need some CBers from my previous ski lodge to come. ('Course, they don't have to join if they don't want to; I'll understand.)
Here's another clue (if you didn't catch the others...) for the CBers who were in my first ski lodge, or read it, and wanted to be in this one:
What do you get when you cross a scorpion and a sloth?
Hehe, my alias isn't going to last the day. :D
submitted by Your Chaperones, Cassy and Lily
(January 1, 2017 - 11:51 am)
(January 1, 2017 - 11:51 am)
The only people I know for sure aren't the murderer are Brooklyn Newsie, Moonfrost, Ariel, and obviously Jayfeather. That's not very many, though, so I'll have to look through again later and see if I find more non-suspects.
I have a feeling that this whole thing is going to get even more meta soon. I don't know why Cassy's working with the murderer and I don't know what the murderer's trying to accomplish, but I feel like it's something necessary to maintain stability, if that makes sense? Like the murderer is obligated to kill or else even worse things are going to happen? One of the most interesting things so far in my opinion was on Page 18, when Brooklyn made the correlation between Tom Noodle and T.O.N., inventor of the Ski Lodge, causing Cassy and the murderer to both black out, even though Brooklyn never said anything about it out loud.
The first couple sentences of the part where the murderer got ""food poisoning"" (also Page 18, directly after the updated guest list) are quite similar to the second paragraph of the introduction (Maybe you've used it, maybe you haven't). Exactly what "it" is, I'm not sure. The whole bit in the introduction about reality seeming different for a moment after waking up from a very realistic and possibly important dream probably holds some weight, but again, exactly what it means, I'm not sure.
I see Wren's name and the abbreviation for Clouded Leopard in that sequence, but neither of them are in this ski lodge. Perhaps referring to past ski lodges they were in? I also see SI, which could be an acronym for Secret Identity or Silvery Ink, Shadow Dragon's old AE. SD is in there too, which might be referring to Shadow Dragon herself (Shadow ran two ski lodges in the past, Hotel L'Faye parts 1 and 2.)
Fairly certain these are all acronyms for something, except maybe Wren and Icy. The things I think they're acronyms for might be wrong, but I don't know what else they'd be. I'd also like to figure out what DTHEA and CtD are, but nothing comes to mind immediately.
Also, I know who the murderer is.
(May 3, 2018 - 2:58 pm)
Ooh, excellent observations, Hotairballoon.
But more pressingly...you do?! How did you figure it out? (Wait, you don't have to answer that in case you want to keep it a secret.) But CONGRATULATIONS; you're the first person so far to figure it out!!! Does it make the story more or less exciting knowing?
(May 3, 2018 - 8:22 pm)
Thanks, I'm pretty sure Ice Wolf figured it out before me though. I'll keep it a secret for now so other people can figure it out for themselves, but I'll say it was a series of clues and process of elimination. It's still very exciting, to be sure, and I find it interesting that you gave us the opportunity to figure out who the murderer was halfway through. Makes me think the killer isn't actually the most important thing here, and for once the "twist," if there is one, will be about more than who does the killing and who gets killed.
Also, one more thing I found:
([/ErR/]6^--+rTTlbrb=`1!{}_UR)__Mystery GDLFANA SRTYO FRMR CAPA__...{/"Watch..." [she] snarled,"as ...[he]...suffers his well-deserved fate!(34//post:3)"/} {"You are..." "You were..." "It's night..." "Come back..." "It is..." You wake..." "GiiRTTGnnd...//"{}]}=TTYLBRBGTG DTHEA.................
(sorry if that's formatted weirdly)
The above sequence, also from page 15, is quite interesting. Just before "DTHEA" you have a string of texting slang (talk to you later, be right back, got to go). Before that you have what looks like the beginning sentences of ski lodge introductions ("It's night..." is the first sentence of this one, and I think "Come back..." was the first sentence of the farm story.) The other ones seem more generic, and I don't know what they're from.
"Watch... [she] snarled as... [he] ...suffers his well-deserved fate!" is an excerpt from the farm story, the ski lodge that came before this one. This is what "34//post:3" is referring to as well. The aforementioned quote is said by Autumn Leaves in the farm story, in the third post on page 34. Here's a link (yes, I know it says page 33 but Cricket numbers pages weirdly, ok?). Don't click if you don't want mega spoilers for the farm story.
http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/192112?page=...
So there's yet another reference to this story's prequel of sorts. Muy interesante...
(May 4, 2018 - 7:58 am)
@HAB - Well, Ice Wolf and I know each other in real life, and since I'm bad at keeping secrets in real life...I actually ended up just telling her who the murderer was. xP
Here's the next part!
---------
The CBers sat in silence for a few moments, unable to fully wrap their minds around the scenario. Vague ideas flitted in and out of their heads of their own accord, tantalizing whispers of safe solutions that floated just out of reach...
Nighthawk caught her vague idea before it could return to the depths of her subconsciousness. She let it develop, scrutinizing it with interest...and suddenly she had an inkling of what to do.
“Guys, so what if Cassy is setting a trap,” she blurted. “We can’t waste this opportunity! At least some of us have to go. We don’t even have to let her know we’re coming. Part of us go and the rest of us stay and scout--maybe even provide backup.”
Hotairballoon frowned. “Are you sure, Nighthawk? You know what happens every time we do something risky.”
“We don’t all have to go,” Joan suggested, drawing inspiration from the little figment that had appeared out of her confused and tired brain. “Some of us can go and some can stay behind. I agree with Nighthawk; we can’t waste this opportunity.”
“I think we should mention this to Lily before we do anything,” Hotairballoon cautioned with a frown.
“No, Lily can’t know about this yet,” Joan responded, her idea growing rapidly. “We can’t let her know what we’re doing. What will happen if we do end up getting trapped by Cassy? What will happen to Lily then? We should only mention this when we know more...”
“Uh, my point exactly. What happens when we all disappear and Lily is none the wiser? Do you really want to do that to her?”
“That’s why part of us stay and part of us go,” Poetic Panda said, agreeing with Joan’s idea.
“Yes, and some of us should confront Cassy, but not without scouts,” Nighthawk suggested.
“Oh, yes; Puck can scout!” Joan exclaimed. “Right, Puck?”
Puck opened her mouth, almost as if to object, but Ariel interrupted her. “I’ll go with her,” he said, tossing his arm over Puck’s shoulder and waggling his bag of the four winds in front of her face. “This might come in handy.”
At this point, those CBers and AEs who had been napping had awoken and emerged from their bedrooms to observe the commotion. Cinderpelt brought them up to speed while the others talked.
Hotairballoon frowned and rubbed the back of his head. “Okay...in the event we do go through with this. And we do try to keep this secret from Lily. How...are we even going to do that?”
“Some of us should stay to watch Lily,” Booksy Owly said, rising. “Keep her suspicions low. I can do that. Anybody want to help?”
Briar, Brooklyn Newsie, Cinderpelt, and Wordsy raised their hands.
“Oh, but we’re going to have to wait until after Lily and Pierre’s surprise before we can go!” Elvina exclaimed, slightly disappointed.
“That’s okay,” Winter Lilac said. “We can tell them we’re going out for some exercise. And if either one of them asks, we’ll assure them that we will keep an eye out for Cassy.”
“Good plan, guys,” Joan said.
“We are going to CAPTURE Cassy, right?” Hotairballoon asked. “Not just have a conversation with her.”
“Oh. I forgot about that,” Nighthawk said.
“How could you forget?!” Elvina exclaimed.
“We should at least hear what she has to say,” Winter Lilac suggested. “Before, you know, we catch her.”
“Unless it is a trap,” Nighthawk reminded her.
“Right,” Poetic Panda asserted. “So, let’s organize this plan. We’re going to head out right after Lily and Pierre’s surprise. Puck and Ariel will scout ahead while Booksy, Briar, Brooklyn Newsie, Cinderpelt, and Wordsy stay here to distract our chaperones.”
“Puck and Ariel, you two will need communication devices,” Nighthawk realized.
“I’ll go get some,” Autumn Leaves offered, getting up.
“The rest of us,” Panda continued, “will follow behind the scouts. I think Puck should fly over the cabin area as a crow just to see if Cassy is really there. Once she’s confirmed it, she and Ariel can take us on a route free from traps. I think that the group on the ground should split up at that point--some of us should circle in from the back, and some of us from the front.”
“Those of us in the back should stay hidden,” Joan suggested, “and surround the cabin area in case Cassy decides to flee.”
“Good idea,” Panda said. “The ones coming in from the front will then approach Cassy, hear what she has to say, if she’s going to say anything, and then…”
“...we catch her,” Elvina finished.
It was then that Brooklyn Newsie, Booksy Owly, and Moonfrost simultaneously frowned. They weren’t sure what exactly Cassy was planning on telling the group, but if it was anything like what Cassy had told them...then they suddenly weren’t sure if it was a good idea for everyone to know.
“Uh…” Moonfrost began, but trailed off, her voice unnoticed. What could she say?
There was no guarantee that Cassy was going to tell everyone all about the Mystery. Maybe she’d just tell them about what the murderer was doing--controlling her and such. Maybe Cassy would make the explanation vague. But Moonfrost couldn’t take any risks. She wasn’t fully sure why she felt this way, but Moonfrost wasn’t ready for this secret to get out yet.
Brooklyn Newsie bit her tongue. She’d volunteered to stay here before she had realized the full magnitude of the situation.
Moonfrost was stuck in a loop of thoughts, sidetracked from the current conversation, desperately trying to think of a way she could turn the situation for the better.
But Booksy’s focus was sharp. Taking in the scene with eagle eyes--mainly observing Moonfrost--she interrupted. “Okay, how about Moonfrost leads the main group going to Cassy. It’ll look weird if she doesn’t, because Cassy specifically said that Moonfrost would know the way.”
“You’re right,” Panda said. “Is that okay with you, Moon?”
Moonfrost glanced at Booksy, marveling at her luck and also slightly disconcerted by it. “Oh--sure! Booksy’s right, we don’t want to make Cassy suspicious.”
“Yes, I like that idea,” Hotairballoon said, nodding. “I would also like to be in the main group, if that’s alright, and I suggest that Winter Lilac, Poetic Panda, Elvina, and Nighthawk--as well as Ariel, once he’s done scouting--be in the group that surrounds the cabin area. You guys have good reflexes and we want people like that ready in case Cassy decides to bolt.”
“Oh, good call,” Joan said. “But who does that leave to be in the main group?”
Autumn Leaves returned with the bowl of communications devices. “Back! Sorry, they took me a while to get to.”
“Oh, I’m glad you could find them,” Cinderpelt said. “I say we should all take one--just for today.”
Hotairballoon responded to Joan. “Well, that leaves you, me, Puck when she’s done scouting, Moonfrost...Hm, we’re a little unbalanced. Hey, you guys that are staying here to watch Cassy--could like three of you come to the main group with us instead?”
Brooklyn Newsie raised her hand. “I’ll go.”
Cinderpelt did likewise, though hesitantly. “Me too. But I think that’s all we can sacrifice from this group.”
“Two’s fine,” HAB said. “Now we have six people going up to Cassy. It should work.” He still didn’t look happy about the plan, but the others assured him they would be as careful as they could around Cassy. And honestly, it was CASSY they were dealing with. What could go wrong?
Joan picked up the walkie talkie, glancing at her peers, who nodded. The room fell silent, and Joan pressed the 'talk' button. "Alright Cassy. We're coming."
(May 6, 2018 - 12:34 pm)
Okay, so I've been rereading and a list of who's still alive would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you post a list, could you add their status. (Like, AE or CBer). Also, great job! Keep writing!
(May 6, 2018 - 7:10 pm)
Alright! Will do. And thanks! :)
(May 7, 2018 - 8:08 am)
(May 6, 2018 - 5:41 pm)
A list of who is still alive, sorted by which room they were assigned to.
IN THE LAVENDER DEROMA/CRYSTAL SHORE ROOM:
Hotairballoon (CBer)
Moonfrost (CBer)
Joan B. of Arc (CBer)
IN THE JAMES B. NELLY/WINDOW OF GOLD ROOM:
Cinderpelt (CBer)
Booksy Owly (CBer)
Elvina (CBer)
IN THE TABITHA TUCKER/EMERALD AISLE ROOM:
Brooklyn Newsie (CBer)
Autumn Leaves (CBer)
Wordsy (Booksy Owly's AE)
Jayfeather (Cinderpelt's AE)
IN THE JONNY JOHNSON/HIDDEN TROVE ROOM:
Nighthawk (CBer) (Formerly known as Ember)
Briar (Nighthawk's AE)
Poetic Panda (CBer)
Winter Lilac (CBer) (Formerly known as Dragonrider)
Ariel (Joan's AE)
Puck (Joan's AE)
---
TOTAL CHATTERBOXERS REMAINING: 11
TOTAL ALTER EGOES REMAINING: 5
TOTAL CAPTCHAS REMAINING: 0
TOTAL GUESTS REMAINING: 16
(May 7, 2018 - 8:25 am)
*scribbles down suspect list* And we have... 8 suspects remaining! Dangit. This is where I hate being new. Who has AEs and who doesn't? Sigh. Guess I'll have to figure it out the hard way, then.
(May 7, 2018 - 3:45 pm)
Here's the original guest list: http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/283794?page=1
(It's continued on the next page as well.) Hopefully it helps with who has AEs and who doesn't.
(May 7, 2018 - 5:17 pm)
Okay narrowed down to six. I found the guest list on my own, because the link wasn't linked and I have this glitch where some of it gets cut off so yeah. But hmmm... off to see who's AEs died before that comment (considering who my AE IS. IS, not WAS.)
(May 8, 2018 - 5:25 pm)
Wait, Winter Lilac is Dragonrider? Huh, I didn't know that. Thanks for the list.
(May 9, 2018 - 7:01 am)
OH! I know who the murderer is! Even though you probably told me months ago...
(May 9, 2018 - 5:51 pm)
(Whoops, I just realized I made a typo: Hotairballoon asks those who are 'staying to watch Cassy' to sacrifice three team members. It should say ' staying to watch Lily'. Sorry if that confused anybody!)
(May 9, 2018 - 9:22 am)
Top!
(May 11, 2018 - 6:31 am)