The edge of the woods.... [Final Results Up!]

[riddlestyx]

Ooooh, spooky!
username: riddlestyx
link to roll call post: yeet
link to previous form: yeet
prompt response:

zell awakened with a jolt. he shifted to remove the sleeping mask from his eyes, his movements sluggish but his senses on complete alert. he could vaguely recall hearing loud, imposing thumps upon the forest ground just outside the cabin. footsteps, perhaps? he briefly considered the possibility of it being a wayward counselor or simply a camper unable to fall asleep. but the sound was too heavy, too intimidating to be another kalon. eagerly, zell rose from his bed and peered out the window just above his sleeping spot. the light of the half moon barely illuminated the woods beyond, and as far as zell's eyes could see, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. but i certainly heard... something.

the potential for a brief adventure was too great for zell to pass up by simply curling back up under his blankets and falling back asleep. he cast the sheets aside and hopped onto the floor from the top bunk of his assigned bed. he landed with a gentle thud before proceeding to tiptoe his way out of the cabin, ears perked and eyes widened to make sure he didn't miss a single thing.

once he'd emerged from the hushed interior of the wooden building, he withdrew his phone from his pocket; immediately, he rang up his twin brother wysp. at first, there was no answer, but zell was persistent. after about four more unanswered calls, the familiar-- yet groggy-- face of his brother finally appeared on the dim screen.

"what... what could you possibly want, zell? it's two in the morning--" wysp's croaky voice sounded through the speakers. zell grinned at him. his eyes scanned the dense trees ahead, looking for any sign of movement. any sign of a... cryptid?

"i'm goin' squatchin', brother."

wysp promptly hung up.

whatever! when i get video proof of bigfoot, i'll be sure not to share any of that sweet money with you! ... asshat.

[oriole]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: rootgroves
Link to roll call post: x
Link to previous form: x
Prompt response:

(she goes to investigate, and promptly regrets her choice)

[kanadensis]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: kanadensis
Link to roll call post: Donna
Link to previous form: here
Prompt response:
Ugh, what is that? It's interrupting my beauty sleep...no way am I getting up for anything at this time of night...

[Midnightkitkat]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: Midnightkitkat
Link to roll call post: here
Link to previous form: boop
Prompt response

"Have no fear! Captain Duck is here!"

[trans]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: trans
Link to roll call post: xx
Link to previous form: xx
Prompt response: 1142 words

you're sure there's a saying somewhere about curiosity killing the cat or something to that effect, or how you shouldnt go knocking on trouble's door when you hear a scary sound outside and it could either belong to a sleepwalking counselor on the hunt for a pb&j late at night or the monster from the deep rousing from its slumber in the local lake. either way, you dont really wanna see either of those, but curiosity isnt exactly known to cooperate with self-preservation, and against all better judgement and warning signs going off in your head, you rise from the comfort of your bunk bed and quietly pad to the window.

at first glance, nothing was to be seen, only the darkness blanketing kamp completely and faint beams of moonlight that managed to reach the ground. it was almost a relieving sight, if not for the tense feeling that still lingered in the atmosphere. you nearly convinced yourself to hop out the window, but decided against it and headed over to the door, trying to psyche yourself up to open it and check outside.

you end up deciding to just get it over with and carefully open the door without making too much noise (creaky doors will be creaky doors, after all), poking your head out to see if you could spot the source of the noise or anything unusual. once again however, there was nothing to be found except a small group camouflaged against the darkness except for the light of their flashlights.

wait a minute. that doesnt sound right.

pulling on your jacket, the fluffs around the edges tickling your cheeks as you slip it on, you quietly slip out of the cabin and into the darkness, your own flashlight in hand and a stick you just found off the ground in your other. sneaking over to where you last saw the group, you look for any signs they were here or where they would've gone. luckily for you, there's a set of footprints leading away from you, and all you have to do now is follow them.

determined to get to the bottom of the strangeness that's occurred tonight, you quicken your pace to hopefully catch up with the group, and it isnt long before you do; you spot the group, which you still cant identify under the cover of darkness, but their flashlights are visible to basically the whole kamp if they were spotted, which makes it easy for you to follow them. you end up following them for a good few minutes, and end up with more than a few prickle burrs and leaves in your hair and on your legs, but at least you're able to keep up with the chatterboxes ahead of you.

you find yourself abruptly stopping to hide behind a trash can when you accidentally trip over a rock, and someone from the group stops to look behind them. you cant tell who it is, but you do know that it feels like it's about to jump out of your chest. thankfully, after seeing nothing, the group member turns around and they continue on their ways to wherever it is they're going, and you can resume your mission. however this time, you're a little more careful with where you step, and you slowly get better at spotting hiding places when one of the group members decides to look over their shoulder.

it's not long after you pass the main office, and you wonder where exactly they're going until they stop in front of what you're going to guess (it's dark okay?) is a large set of doors. the smell that comes from within the building after they open the doors confirms the location for you; the mess hell, of course, is the only place in camp that would smell like that. but why the mess hall, you wonder, when it's very late at night and most kampers are sleeping?

deciding to get a better look, you sneak up to one of the windows of the mess hall and try to peak inside, but unfortunately whatever has been going on in there has made the windows foggy with condensation. heading over to the door, despite the risk of someone opening it, you peer through one of the windows on the door, curiosity once again getting the better of you. what you find is not what you expected at all.

several kamp counselors are sitting around the inside of the mess hall, or what you can see of it anyways, and there's cookies everywhere, all of different flavors and kinds. it almost distracts you, before you remember why you came out this far in the first place. standing up on your tippy-toes now, you try to get a glimpse of what is actually going on in there, but you can only see the cookies and stacks of thin papers on several of the tables. squinting, you're able to read off some of them, but they're just postcards that people probably wrote to be sent off to their friends and family while they're aware from kamp... then you notice the boxes of stamps and lots of weary counselors holding postcards with no stamps in their hands and looking very exhausted.

you think you know what's going on and you're about to head home, satisfied you got to the bottom of this, right as a hand finds purchase squarely on your shoulder. you nearly jump out of your skin and turn around to see a very not happy counselor staring down at you disapprovingly. you swallow the lump in your throat, but that doesnt seem to help much, and you worry what kind of horrible chore you're going to get stuck with for being out so late at night. your fear quickly turns into confusion however as the counselor starts laughing, clutching their stomach like they just heard the funniest joke in their life.

not wanting to make them change their mind, you say nothing, just remain hopelessly confused until the counselor stops laughing enough to speak to you.

"oh that was so good. anyways, you shouldnt be all the way out here and especially so late at night! i'll let you off this time kiddo, but get to bed! and tell all those friends of yours pretending to be sneaky too to follow you back and stop snooping." they say with a laugh, then send you off before disappearing into the mess hall like the others had before.

unsure what to think and honestly kind of (really, actually) exhausted now that you realize just how long you spent playing detective, you make the trek back to the cabins and immediately climb back into your bunk when you get inside, too tired to even take off your jacket, and that's how you fall asleep, no longer disturbed.

[Marsh]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: Marsh
Link to roll call post: x
Link to previous form: x
Prompt response: 484 words

It was about three in the morning and Tagiane was doodling the squirrel she had bandaged together the previous night in a small notebook. It was way past lights out, so that combined with the fact she was holding the pen between her teeth meany Tagi was heavily struggling to see what she was actually drawing. For all she knew, when she revisited her sketch after sunrise it could end up looking like a series of disconnected strokes on the lined paper.

Tagiane never slept because she hated the way it wasted time, so all her cabin mates had become used to her staying up the whole way through the night. She tried to stay quiet, but every now and then she would have to walk around to stretch her legs and it occasionally woke a few of them up if she tripped over a bunk or creaked her bed too loudly in her usual clumsy way. This made her feel pretty bad, so she tended to try and stay as still as possible to avoid waking any of them up. She hated feeling like a burden or an inconvenience to others, hence why she had taken up sketching in her notebook.

She had just begun working on attempting to shade in the fur when a sudden noise ripped through the peaceful silence in the cabin. After the first initial roar, the sound died down to a rumbling groan in the background noise of the forest and night critters, but despite how quiet it was, the sound was still present enough to both unnerve and excite Tagiane.

“What was that?” quivered a voice from the bunk below hers.

Tagiane crawled across the bed until she had her head over the side of the bed to look at the upside-down expression on Alsei’s face, who was sitting upright with his fists balled on the sheets which had been pulled up until they were tucked neatly under his jaw.

“Oh Alsei...” she chuckled, concealing her own fears to try and make him feel better, “I’m sure it’s nothing, if it would make you feel better I can go out and check what it was?”

Her offer was made mostly because she genuinely wanted to put his mind at rest, but the rest of her was itching to find out what was making that noise and whether it needed her help. Jumping off the top bunk, she spread her wings to make her glide into a softer, almost silent landing. Then, she crept her way over to the door, taking care not to wake any of the kampers.

In the dark, she pushed open the door as quietly as she could and then glanced over at Alsei, offering him a reassuring smile which she was almost convinced she couldn’t see. After a few deep breaths, Tagiane stepped outside, ready to face whatever creature that came across her.

[uηsρεcifiεd ¢ryҏtiɗ]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: Drasheep
Link to roll call post: Here
Link to previous form: Here
Prompt response:

[Bloth Hoondr]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: Lloril
Link to roll call post: Here!
Link to previous form: Here!
Prompt response: 399 words
Zion woke with a start, gripping at his chest. He wasn't sure what had roused him from his dreamless sleep but whatever it was had his heart absolutely pounding. Sweat beaded at his temples and he took shaky breaths to stop himself from hyperventilating and tried his best to cound down from 20 in his head. A few steady breaths later, he waited for his vision to adjust to the darkness and remembered he was in his cabin at Kamp with a handful of other Nightshade kalons. From the looks of it, no other Kalons seem to have been disturbed by... whatever it was. Back home he and his squad would hear things echoing through the fog; grotesque sounds from sources unknown and they prayed it stayed this way. However, if he closed his eyes he could remember hearing something worse coming from the forest outside his cabin.

He was brave, but not so much alone. He should stay safe in his cabin but what if whatever it was out there decided to make snacks of some unsuspecting Kampers? He couldn't have that weighing on his conscience should he do nothing. He dropped to the floor and rummaged around his back under his bunk bed, letting out a triumpthant "aha!" as he found his flashlight. Giving it a few strong shakes he clicked it on and off and gently roused his bunkmate and a few nearby Kampers.

"Hey, sorry for waking you but..uh.. I heard a noise from outside- don't freak out!" He whispered "It could be nothing. Maybe a wild animal or maybe some Sunflowers trying to pull a prank. Heck, maybe it's Beni out being a goof I dont know." He shrugged and made his way to a window, back to a wall and peeking out the side of the blinds. "I'm gonna go sheck it out, just wait here and if you guys hear me scream bloody murder then run and get a counselor." With nods of agreement from the others he clicked the flashlight on and quietly made hos way out onto the porch of the cabin, shining the light around the bannisters and down the pathways. He walked down the steps but stayed close by, shaking it periodically to get a brighter light and focused it onto the edge of the forest, curious and scared as to what was out there.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

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[Softea]

Ooooh, spooky!
Username: Softea
Link to roll call post: here
Link to previous form: here
Prompt response:


" looks like the eyes in the shadows, were real after all. "