Whoo, teakwood! I hope there's no bugs. 

How many bananas are in my room?

Are there any at all?

There had better be. 

I have no idea what the reference was. Yes, I'm weird. 

Thank you for your feedback, everyone! That reference was very intentional.

@Soren: So sorry about that! Boo is staying in the Curtain Fig Room.

~~~

"Good morning, everyone,” said the Toucan Keeper. The residents of her treehouses had all filed down for breakfast, most of them sobered from the food fight the night before, but still excited to see what the next day would offer. Only the residents of the Kapok Room were anything but cheerful. “I have some bad news,” she continued. “It appears that, even though I had so carefully installed my toucan guards in all of your rooms, a murder has still taken place.”

Everyone gasped.

“Alizarine’s AE, Brynn, was murdered last night by the means of poison. I understand she came here alone, so her body has already been shipped back to her home.

“In light of these events, I have increased the resort’s security by bringing out my snakes. While they are superb guards, they are easily offended and very quick to attack. Their bites will kill. I would recommend avoiding them as much as possible while you go about today’s activities.” The Toucan Keeper looked around and raised her eyes at all the somber faces. “Well, come now, it won’t happen again. Cheer up! We have a lovely day planned.”

“Does she seriously expect us to be excited after telling us this?” Soren whispered to their AE, Dewy, as they sat down.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” replied Dewy, shooting her CBer an optimistic smile. “The Toucan Keeper said she added extra security, remember? I wonder if I’m allowed to hold the snakes.”

She pulled Boo onto her lap and fed her a piece of cake.

When everyone was done eating, The Toucan Keeper clapped her hands, and the seven toucans guarding each room flew into the dining hall and perched on the table. “My toucans will be escorting you all to the river. We’re going swimming today.”

A few people cheered. The toucans fluttered up and, one by one, the guests followed them down the rope ladder. But, as they walked down the path towards the water, Dewy lagged behind. “What a beauty,” she whispered, crouching down. There was a coiled-up snake there, scales mostly tan with a pattern of black diamonds. “What are you? Are you venomous?” She reached out a hand to its head. The snake snapped at her finger, hissing menacingly. “Oh, all right,” Dewy murmured, stepping back. “I should catch up with everyone else anyway . . . ”

While Dewy was turned away and rejoining the group, the murderer slipped out of their hiding place and approached the snake. They were flipping through a book. “You’re a bushmaster, aren’t you,” the murderer said, pausing at a certain page. “Well then. The Toucan Keeper really shouldn’t be so irresponsible, leaving incredibly venomous snakes unmonitored like this.”

And with that, they scooped up the snake, one hand supporting its long body, the other clamping its jaws shut. They moved to the back of the crowd and tried to figure out what was happening.

The Toucan Keeper was giving a speech about safety and how to not drown other people. As if that would stop the murderer, they thought with a malicious grin. Their attention was drawn to the far right of the crowd, where Bela was throwing a fit.

“I want to get IN the water! Tell her to shut up!” the CAPTCHA was squealing. Silvern was standing next to her, a no-nonsense look on their face.

“If you don’t shut up, you won’t be going into the water at all.”

“You can’t tell me what to do!”

“Oh, I wish she would be quiet,” sighed the murderer. “I suppose it’s good I’ve got you, then, eh?” They asked the snake. “Time to kill.”

The bushmaster was furious. After being pestered by an all-too-cuddly AE, it had promptly been picked up and carried around like a sack of potatoes and not the elite security guard it was. By the time it was released, it was ready to bite every ankle it could see in front of it. But there was one ankle it particularly wanted to bite: the stomping one attached to that squealing voice that was boring into its head. It slithered through the crowd of guests and, with gusto, sank its fangs into Bela’s ankle.

She let out a loud, pained shriek. The Toucan Keeper stopped talking and turned towards the CAPTCHA. She was going pale, crumpling to the ground. Before anyone could do anything but stare, Silvern unsheathed their fencing sword and stabbed the snake through the head. It fell motionless.

“Th - thank you, Silvern,” said The Toucan Keeper, very shaken. “Clearly I made a mistake when I stationed my bushmasters as security guards. I’ll have them rounded up immediately. Peanut? Cashew?”

The two toucans flew off to hunt down the remaining snakes. Silvern rinsed off their sword in the river.

“Well, I think that’s all I had to say. Everyone, you may go swim.”

Nobody seemed particularly excited to swim, but they all went into the water anyway. Waiting in line to enter the river, the murderer glanced at the dead body of their snake. I was only going to kill one person today, they thought, but I can only allow one murderer in this Ski Lodge . . .

They slipped into the water, and, after doing a few strokes, swam over to Silvern. “Oh, hel - ”

Before Silvern could finish their sentence, the murderer had grabbed their head and dunked it under the water. To be fair, they put up quite a fight before their body went limp. The murderer swam back to join the others and waited patiently for the scream of discovery.

~~~

Rest in peace, Bela and Silvern. Nothing like a double murder to start the day off right.

*solemnly* My dear CAPTCHA, perished. Silvern perished. May you Rest In Peace. *lowers head to the earth* 

See Silvern! It WASSSNNTTT me! 

Uhhuh, and how do you know that? 

I-uh...*glares* Rest In Peace. 

*a squeak* Bela? Silvern? *a crie* w-who d-d-did t-this?

Raves’, they aren’t actually dead, just in the Ski-Lodge. 

I-I know...

Now, I may soar. 

What? 

Hmm? 

Nevermind.

#zwei#

what? Bela?

#zwei#

..?

@Toucan Keeper, are you GW or Starseeker?

(Inex)

How can you be in an X ? 

Just a quick update, because I know I haven't posted in a while!

School recently started up for me, so I have a lot less time to write now; I'll try to get to this over the weekend, but if I can't, expect a new update on Wednesday.

In response to your comments/questions:

@General Waffleson: Purely a coincidence, old bean!

@Soren: Glad to hear! I portrayed her to the best of my ability.

@Darkking: Perfect RWBY reference! I approve.

@Soren again: I am not either of those people! Thank you for guessing, though, and feel free to continue! You all can be guessing the murderer as well, remember. :)