Next part out! I may have taken a bit of creative liberty with exactly how much Rose likes trains...

~~~

Rose’s Intro, Day 0, 9:10 AM
Rose watched suspiciously as Lux swallowed the scroll in one gulp. He pinched himself just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. They reached out and poked Lux gently. Lux gave him what could only be interpreted as a glare, so he turned away to go pack. He had already submitted the form. There was no backing out now (well, maybe there was. But they didn’t know that).

They neatly packed their stuff into their bag, giving their scented candle a sniff before sticking the little cap on top and placing it carefully in a side pocket. He zipped it up, slung it over His shoulder, and turned to face Lux.

Lux gave them a Look, then turned, and flew away out of Rose’s room and into the hallway at the pace of a brisk walk, pausing and glancing back in what seemed to be annoyance when Rose wasn’t following. He hurried to catch up, and Lux, seemingly satisfied for now, went on. Down the stairs and out the door the two went, with Rose glancing back over their shoulder for one last look at the mansion. Before he left, he fired off a text to Sterling about where he was going, asking if they just happened to get a letter as well. But after a few moments, there was still no response, and they put their phone on vibrate and stuck it in their pocket. Perhaps they didn’t have very good cell reception in the Rnaisauce (alright, I’ll admit that one was intentionally misspelled, but I would have misspelled it anyways, just not as badly (heh heh, spell check wants to correct that to “Rnai Sauce”)). Lux sped up and he grinned, jogging along beside his dragonfly.

He couldn’t have been running for more than a minute before he rounded a corner and came up on a train station. They came to a halt and stared at it in wonder. This hadn’t been here before, and he knew all the land around for at least a mile. There should just be more empty sand here.

Lux circled back and bumped into their shoulder in what was probably annoyance (I can’t spell annoyance either–hang on a sec, lemme look it up. Huh. Apparently I spelled it right. I guess I do know how to spell annoyance). Rose startled out of his reverie and followed Lux into the train station, down the stairs and onto a platform. Lux landed on a nearby bench and Rose sat there too (although to be honest, he probably shouldn’t have. Everyone knows train station benches are grody, and I have it on good authority that that bench hadn’t been cleaned since five years ago, when somebody died on it and we had to wipe up the blood stains (that definitely (also can’t spell definitely, but I’m just using spell check for it) wasn’t foreshadowing) (wow, I have a whole bunch of nested parentheses. I’m impressed with myself. This is the most I’ve had in five years (ever since that one person died on the bench–how rude–and I needed a whole bunch of parentheses to explain it)) (heh heh. At this point I’ve lost track of all my parentheses (you would too), so if I’ve made a mistake you’ll have to excuse me)).

They waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited (at least that’s what it felt like to Rose. It was actually only 30 seconds). And at last, there was a the rushing sound of an approaching train, steadily getting louder and louder and louder until all of a sudden, there it was in front of Rose, accompanied by a screech of brakes, all gleaming steel and iron and beautiful clear windows and steam and things that chugged and rotated and went about doing work to make the whole wonderful contraption move. It was magnificent. At some point Rose had stood up and walked over to it, and now he stared up at it in awe, reaching out to touch its side, and pinching himself to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. The doors slid open with a quiet chuff, and still Rose stood there. The last warning bell rang and still he stood there. Lux buzzed insistently and still he stood there. And then the doors snapped shut and the train moved on and Rose startled awake, racing after it, but it was already gone. Lux buzzed in annoyance and slammed into their shoulder, then turned away and settled on the bench again.

They waited for what felt like another hour, but was actually only 30 seconds (actually, it was both. Time dilation. It was an hour for Lux and Rose but only 30 seconds for the rest of the world. I did that because I was annoyed about sending another train–trains can’t just make a U-turn, you know–but I still needed him to arrive on time. I can do that. I am both your author and your host, so I can do whatever I like), and eventually another train came. This one was just as magnificent as the last. He still wasn’t over the shock and wonder, but this time Lux insistently bumped their shoulder and herded them onto the train before it could leave again. After stepping through the door, he looked about in awe at the inside of the machine. There was a red velvet floor and red velvet chairs and red velvet everything. They explored the compartment, and were sad to find that there was nothing but the one passenger car and the locomotive (the first train had multiple dining cars, a sleeping car, and a movie car, but I was annoyed that Rose missed the first one, so they only got a passenger car). But it was still incredible. He was in awe.

With a gentle bump, the train started moving, and Rose sank into a seat. The train picked up speed, going faster and faster. So fast that Rose was squished back in their seat, and still it was going faster. It was probably faster than he’d ever gone before. The train was going so fast that the g-forces were making their vision go black. The last thing he thought was ‘This isn’t good.’ They were pressed against their seat so hard they felt like a pancake, their vision gradually getting dimmer and dimmer. And then he passed out.

When they awoke, the train had reached a stop. Lux was buzzing nervously around him. He blinked a few times, and then carefully stood. He picked up his bag. The doors slid open again. And they stepped out into the bright, new world, unknowingly squishing a Spotted Lanternfly beneath their foot.

~~~

Welp, that isn't exactly how g-forces work, but it's close enough for me.

Rose's Intro is out!

Hoping to have Opal's Intro out tommorow, or at least by Wednesday. Perhaps Thursday if I'm very slow, but it's mostly done. I'll try to notify you if anything changes, but I might not be able to.

The first person to die and the murderer have both been selected by now. Early plot is being hashed out. You may want to pay attention to your intros, as they might provide clues and/or insights to how you will die.

@Eirian, please post your intro soon. I know I said you needed to fill out your intro within 5 days, but I'm not going to actually kick anybody out. But if I don't get your form in time to make your intro, I won't be able to include you in the story.

Name: Eirian

Age (must be 11-16): 11

Gender/pronouns: non-binary

Appearance: a young teenage girl on the smaller side, sort cut sliver hair, darker tan skin, lots of freckles, pale blue snow leopard tail and ears with darker teal spots and bands, two sets of pale blue and darker teal freckled wings smaller set on the hips and big ones on the shoulder blades, snowleopard like digi feet, finger nails claw like, one blue eye, one green eye

Favorite color(s): blue and orange

Luggage: a little dragon pendant with a small dark blue crystal in its belly and hung from black leather string. small pocket knife.

Please name your dragonfly:quiteliterallythenamewhatever

Personality: a cinnamon bun but will kill you :3

Largest fear: suffocated alive

Where you live (your character version of yourself, not you in real life): A cabin on a mountain top

Favorite mode of transportation: any type of flight

Likes/Dislikes: (+) honey, milk, sunrises, swimming, sunsets, music, chocolate, icecream, plushies, coconuts, feathers (-) essays, bullies, moist summer days, really loud noise, most chip favors, popcorn, long waiting lines

Allergies/Food Aversions: cant have spinach

Opal’s Intro, Day 0, 9:20
Opal had watched the scroll explode in colorful glitter, and read the whole thing. And then she had sat down and finished eating her breakfast, which was most certainly not bran cereal (it was waffles. And hot chocolate). She sipped the last of her hot chocolate, keeping a careful eye on the dragonfly, who was a beautiful shade of blue. After completing her breakfast, she gingerly picked up the scroll. After eyeing it for a second, she figured why not, and filled it out. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

She finished it with a flourish, handed it to her dragonfly, who was now named Ender, apparently. Ender noisily chomped it down. Alright. Sure. Dragonflies ate scrolls now.

She stuck her dagger in its sheath in her pocket and chucked the rest of the items in a bag, and turned to face Ender. Ender floated there for a moment, and then turned and buzzed towards the entrance at a nice walking speed. Opal followed her dragonfly.

They exited her cave, and walked through the woods for a while. Opal didn’t know where they were going, but she enjoyed the nice stroll. After maybe ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a city. Curious. She knew there was a city in this direction but she had thought it was much farther. Well, the dragonfly had eaten a scroll, so it seemed there was magic involved, and perhaps it had helped them along a bit (It did. Opal was already behind schedule because of the time she took to eat, so I hurried her along a bit).

Magic aside, they were now entering the city. They started off in the suburbs, but quickly came upon the city center. Again, it took less time than it should have (magic again). Soon they arrived at a train station, and Opal paused outside to squish a Spotted Lanternfly. They then went inside and boarded a train. It just happened to be an Amtrak one. This was good. Opal liked Amtrak (So do I. They are rather understanding when I commandeer their trains for my own purposes. It helps that they have no idea I’m doing it).

She boarded the train along with several other passengers. It was now around 9:32, according to the train station clock.

The train was busy, and there were no seats available except for one with something that looked suspiciously like syrup on it (It was actually blood). Opal made the wise choice not to sit on it, but she had to stand instead. How rude. Opal disliked standing for long periods of time, just like everyone else. Ender landed on her shoulder. How come Ender got to sit and she didn’t? The answer to this question is because Ender is a very small dragonfly who could fit on her shoulder. But Opal ignored that very logical question and swatted Ender off. Ender huffed in annoyance and landed on the little bar that the handles hung from. Speaking of the little handles, Opal grabbed one of them, because the train was moving now.

The train seemed to arrive at the next stop in only a few moments (time dilation again–the train only took a few moments thanks to ✧magic✧, but to avoid confusion among the other passengers it felt like a normal amount of time to them). The other stops flew by in a similar amount of time, and soon Opal was the only one left in the car, and most likely the whole train. Looking out the window she could see green, but they were moving so fast she couldn’t tell what it was. Huh. It felt like a normal train speed to her. That's because of more magic (Why couldn’t I have done that for Rose, you might ask? Well, I have my reasons. For one, Rose missed the first train. A little temporary unconscious-ness never hurt anybody. For another reason– actually, I better not tell you that one, it would give away too much).

She figured there was no point in wondering why they were moving so fast when she didn’t feel it, and just chalked it up to magic. Opal was very smart in this way. So she sat down in one of the now-empty seats and enjoyed a tuna salad sandwich she had packed (Opal, do you like tuna? I hope so, because if not, you do now. I rather like it myself). As soon as she had finished her sandwich, the train stopped. Huh. Perfect timing.

So she picked up her bag and disembarked from the train, because she didn’t see what else there was to do, and she stepped out into a lush forest. She looked around, seeing vibrantly green trees, violently colored flowers, and brightly plumaged birds. Behind her, the train hurried off in a rush of steel and sound. She glanced at Ender, who was hovering next to her. Ender took off through the trees, and Opal jogged after her, ducking under branches and jumping over logs. She arrived in a clearing, where, sitting on a log, was a CBer with large black dragon wings, who looked up as she entered.

“Who are you?” they asked.

~~~

Things are coming together! People are starting to meet each other! Foreshadowing is happening and hints are being dropped!

I'll post a comment with information on Spotted Lanternflies soon.

I'd like to add one thing to Friendo's bio!

Friendo always has oreos in his pockets. Always. It's magical. He could empty his pockets of oreos and then he'd put his hand back in his pocket and there would be another packet of oreos. If he doesn't have any pockets in his clothing, they'll show up somewhere else like in  his backpack or in his hood or even in his shoes somehow.

:D