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Ski Lodge
*Warning: This is a typical ski lodge, in which there will be a murderer who slowly ticks off the other people. Some people will die, but there will only be mild descriptions of death and no gore. If these things bother you, I would recommend clicking off the thread.*
You sit on your bed, a book resting on your crossed legs. You stare out the window, where little waterfalls of crystal drops streak down the glass, lit by moonlight. The constant drumbeat of rain on the roof is soothing, along with the soft rumblings of thunder. You open up your book, which is an exciting fantasy tale, filled with adventure and mystery and begin to read. You jump as a quiet tapping comes from your window. You glance up, looking towards the clouded pane of glass. At that moment, lightning flashes and in that split, bright, glowing second, you see a face in the window, with black, empty eyes. Then the window bursts open. You fall off your bed, a failed attempt to leap off. You press your back against the side of the bed, the wood frame digging into your spine. Your breath comes in rapid gasps, almost drowned out by the pounding rain. Something lands beside you and you start to scramble away, then realize it’s an owl. A fluffy, brown barn owl sits beside you, a small bag around its neck. It hoots quietly and ruffles its feathers, tilting its head. Slowly you reach out and touch the bag. It suddenly falls off the owl’s neck easily and drops into your hand. The owl hoots approvingly and in a burst of feathers, it swoops over your head. You stand up just in time to see the owl fly out the window. The window slams shut behind it. You blink, not sure if that really just happened. You carefully open the small leather bag. Inside is a diamond shaped gemstone and a tiny rolled up piece of paper. You set the jewel carefully on your bed and unroll the paper.
Hello, my friend!
You are formally invited to spend this autumn in Crowild Woods. You will be staying in one of our small, lovely cottages, tucked deep in the forest. All expenses paid, of course. How long you’ll stay is up to you! We have all you need to feel comfortable, so we hope you’ll come join us. Please note, there are only ten available slots for guests. Transportation will be arranged. Please fill out this form so we know you’ll be there.
Name:
Pronouns:
Appearance:
Personality:
What’s in your bag?:
If you could transform into any woodland animal, what would it be and what would you look like?:
Favorite color (describe it without saying the name of the color):
Ravens or crows?:
Find or be found?:
Are you afraid?:
Notes: Each CBer may only enter one person.
Please bring your gemstone. And don’t forget to take a look at it.
Thank you.
Sincerely, The Crow Keeper
submitted by The Crow Keeper, Crowild Woods
(July 5, 2023 - 1:11 pm)
(July 5, 2023 - 1:11 pm)
Ooh, this is so good!! And we all transformed!! I AM A SQUIRREL NOW!!! But yeah. And take however long as you need, this is amazing! :)
(August 1, 2023 - 9:32 pm)
Oh wow. Ominous and interesting so far. The shape-shifting is an interesting touch! (Also yess I'm a wolf now!)
(August 2, 2023 - 12:43 am)
Ooh that's such a cool twist! I wasn't expecting that at all. Interesting, it would be kind of hard to kill someone as a little gray squirrel, but then again, we might not stay animals for the entire thing. I love this lodge so much so far, can't wait to see what happens next!
(August 2, 2023 - 9:19 am)
Oooo! This was a VERY interesting twist. Was not expecting that! Great job so far, can't wait for more!
(August 1, 2023 - 7:50 pm)
EEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!
(August 2, 2023 - 4:58 pm)
Any more room? SUPER cool, btw.
(August 13, 2023 - 2:28 pm)
Wow, this is so interesting!
(August 16, 2023 - 2:35 am)
(August 21, 2023 - 8:31 pm)
(August 23, 2023 - 8:01 pm)
Whens the next story?
(August 28, 2023 - 10:13 am)
(September 5, 2023 - 10:44 pm)
Hello, friends! *Panicked sounds* It's been a while, huh? *Laughs nervously* Um, anyway...
Hello Starr Brighte! Lovely to meet you! Unfortunately, the guest slots are full and the plot in my head doesn't really leave any room for more guests. I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for the EVEN longer pause. Gosh, I'm so bad at this. Anyway, let's get into it:
Part 3, day 2
Artemis hopped along behind Silver as the group followed Hawkstar, who seemed to be wandering somewhat aimlessly. Artemis was still unsteady on her new legs and almost tripped several times, stumbling over small sticks and rocks.
"Everything's so big," she muttered under her breath, looking briefly up at the towering trees. Silver glanced over her shoulder at Artemis and gave somewhat of a smile.
"Not what we imagined this trip being like, huh?" She said in a joking sort of way.
"You mean turning into animals and getting abandoned in the forest? No, I totally knew this would happen," Artemis deadpanned, attempting to hide her nervousness. Silver chuckled, a squeaky, squirrel sound, like a door in need of oiling.
"Yo!" Hawkstar suddenly called from up ahead, stopping. Sam, who'd been close behind, crashed headfirst into Hawkstar's back, knocking the small hawk over.
"Sorry about that," Sam said quickly, stepping back and accidentally dropping the bags they had in their mouth.
"Eh, it's fine," Hawkstar replied, struggling to get back up.
Artemis gave a quick glance around where they'd stoppped, her head moving almost robotically, jerking around quickly. The trees here all seemed to take a step back, the sky overhead shown clearly, gray and cloudless, with just the hint of sunset. There were small hills sloping around the edges of this clearing, several burrows dug into them. A few trees had long branches that reached out, empty bird nests balanced on the ends.
It looks like a bunch of animals could live here. Is this meant for us? Artemis wondered.
Hawkstar had gotten up and stepped to the side so everyone could see her, although by now everyone had started to wander a bit. "Maybe we should stay here? There's plenty of places to live," She looked around briefly. "It honestly kinda seems it's here for us."
"That's what I thought!" Artemis called.
"Before we get too comfortable, let's quickly take a look around," Parody said, as everyone began to mutter amongst themselves, agreeing with Artemis. "We should make sure no animals already live here. The smaller of us should check the dens and if you, uh, birds can try to check the nests."
The clearing was suddenly filled with activity as everyone began to move. Moon Wolf poked her head into one of the dens, while Celine bounded into another. Parody dropped the bags she was carrying and strode around the clearing with long steps, peering around the trees.
Artemis hesitantly flapped her wings and her light body began to hover off the ground. Somehow, by flapping wildly and attempting to steer her body, she made it onto one of the tree branches. She gave a tiny squeak of delight. "I just flew!" She breathed, fluttering her small wings with excitement.
She examined the nest on the branch with her in quick, twisting head turns. It was empty, the sticks perfectly interlocking with each other and the bowl shape was flawless. Artemis wasn't an expert on birds, but this seemed human-made. Odd.
She carefully fluttered down from the tree, her feather light body gracefully landing beside Pangolin. "From what I can see, the nests are empty," Artemis said, craning her neck to look up at Pangolin's foxy face, who nodded thoughtfully.
"All the dens appear to be empty too. I don't think any animals have ever lived here."
Parody called over from where she was standing in the middle of the clearing, one hoof raised. The soft evening light reflected on her coat, giving her an ethereal, autumn look. "Everyone gather around, please."
The others did so, crowding around her. Parody glanced up, where the sun had almost left the sky and dim blue was settling over everything, "So," Parody began, her voice seeming to tremble just slightly. She cleared it and continued. "I think we should stay here, at least for tonight. There's plenty of room for all of us to sleep. Now our biggest concern is food."
Sam stepped forward, golden eyes glowing. "Some of us have to eat meat. That means, er, hunting animals, doesn't it?"
Moon Wolf let out a panicked yelp and flattened her ears. "What? NO! I'm not doing that!"
"But you'll starve!" Sam protested, tail swishing.
Parody shut her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them. "Nobody has to eat meat. Shapeshiftering is a confusing thing; I don't really understand it to be honest. But I've been plenty of carnivores and I could eat whatever I wanted." Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief all at once.
"Thank goodness," Moon Wolf muttered, while Peri took a calming breath.
"Then what are we looking for?" Sam asked, tilting her head.
"Berries, I suppose?" Parody said. "But do not eat any until we've examined them. We should probably split up, cover more ground. Just be incredibly careful and scream if you need help."
Artemis felt a surge of hot fear bolt through her, but quickly remined herself that she could fly out of harm's way.
Slowly, everyone separated. Perine slid silently into the forest, while Celine scampered in the other direction. Artemis randomly chose a direction and headed that way, hopping slowly through the forest.
It was almost totally dark now, but she could still see fairly well, skirting around small sticks and rocks.
As she went, she became vaguely aware of a strange humming in her head. Artemis stopped, but the feeling continued, a vibrating pull. A few blinding flashes of dark light blinked across her vision, seeming to come from inside a nearby bush. She stood silently, listening fearfully, her heart pounding rapidly. Should I call for help now...? No, this is probably nothing. She took a few cautious steps toward the bush. The humming got stronger and the blinking lights set off again. Three flashes, shining in rapid succession. She moved towards it again, suddenly feeling helpless and overwhelmed. Why am I moving closer? I don't even want to! "WHA?" She said loudly, but not loud enough for anyone to hear her, unless they were very close.
As if her body was its own being, she stepped into the bush, dark leaves covering her head. And then she stopped moving.
Sitting in the dirt, glowing like a dark moon flecked with stars, was her gemstone. The one from The Crow Keeper. But as she looked closer, she saw that it wasn't the same. This one still had the crimson bird, but it glimmered too much to be her's, polished to perfection. It was also her size, small enough to fit in her beak.
What..? She carefully scooped it up in her beak. It tasted like earth and tingled strangely. Artemis hopped out of the bush and placed it on the grass. "Are you mine or....? But if so, how did you get so small?"
A twig snapped.
Artemis shot her head up and looked around wildly, stepping a few steps back.
"Terribly sorry, Artemis. But I can't let you have that," A voice said from deep in the shadows. It almost sounded familiar, like one of the other guests, but as if someone else was speaking over their words, making them sound corrupted and strange.
"W - who's there?" Artemis choked out, ready to fly, wings spread.
"A friend, I suppose you could say. Sorry it had to come to this." Another twig snapped, this one even closer.
Artemis whirled, wings flapping crazily, hopping madly. She lifted off, but it was too late. Someone slammed into her back, knocking her harshly to the ground. Artemis had just a moment to scream before sharp pain stabbed her in the back and all went dark.
The last thing she saw before fading away, was a murder of crows land in a nearby tree, watching with black eyes.
A scream echoed through the forest.
Moon Wolf's head shot up from where she'd been sniffing and her ears pricked forward, instantly picking up where the scream had come from. She bolted through the forest, huge paws pounding.
When she arrived, the others were already there, having been closer.
"What? What's going on? Is everyone okay?!" Moon Wolf cried, trying to look around Parody, who was frozen with shock.
"Oh my gosh...." Silver whimpered, backing away, her tail puffed and standing straight up. Parody slowly stepped to the side and Moon Wolf saw what everyone was looking at.
The grass was wet and sticky, glinting in the moonlight. Something small lay still and silent, wings splayed and reaching. A black streak in the grass. It was Artemis.
She was dead.
Alive: 10
Dead: Artemis
May the crows leave her to rest in peace.
(September 6, 2023 - 2:59 pm)
Nooooooo Artemis!!!
R.I.P
(September 6, 2023 - 5:24 pm)
oh noooo rip artemis
(September 6, 2023 - 8:37 pm)
Ooh, this is SO GOOD!! I love the murder of crows :) (though, what did crows, and an unkindness of ravens for that matter, ever do?!?)
NOO ARTEMIS!!! May the crows leave her to rest in peace (which is awesome too btw, just a satisfying and right thing to say)
(September 7, 2023 - 7:33 pm)