yogen | MISSION 2.C

( at first, he does wonder why helena looks towards him even though she's unable to see — it makes it more... affectionate, or something of that matter. she doesn't have to waste her time. besides, even the frown is audible in her voices, and that makes sense... she did spend her time at the meeting with him, and whatever else they've done towards this date.

the moment he's about to respond, natsume chimes in, and he can't help but chuckle. )

I'm surprised, such a positive way to saying you want me kept alive, even when you could have cursed my survival... ( aw... natsume. now, he'll speak to helena with a smile. ) That must have been how it sounded, Adams-san, but I assure you, it's for the best —

( he sighs, continuing. ) Like Sakasaki-kun stated, being around me, the cairn could explode, destroying everything, even you, and him, and... ( he points to hinata, sighs, he's level 1 now... no big hope. ) The same can be said if I came along to the river, it could swallow you all whole... Wouldn't it be better if I stayed and was on guard duty?

( taking a page out of natsume's book! )

[ There are no birds in the sky from the brief moment Komaeda looks up, but in the moment that they're all quiet, rustling leaves can be heard, though it's hard to determine whether it's from an animal or the wind.

The cairn in question isn't too tall, around knee high when standing next to it, and they look like normal everyday rocks, no flashbacks when touched, and when standing next to the cairn and looking off in the direction they found it, another one can be seen off into the distance, just barely visible, like markers on a trail.

This being said, I'm only going to mod one thread, so if they split up, one group is going to wander aimlessly and, idk, get eaten by bears or something. ]

( yay, trail markers. )

...But also like I SAID, Komaeda-san, I'm against leaving you aLONE. Which leaves us with one choice to MAKE.

( he glances down towards the next cairn, then to where the river sounds. hmmm. )

Which way are we goING?

Between the two... cairns would be the safest choice given their symbolism.

( he's finally getting up from where he's sitting, stuffing his hands into his pockets as fingers fiddle with some object he's carrying. only to kill time that is, considering they're about to play majority vote. )

For the undecided... we could climb a tree to find our way back to either.

( could is the key word, but who knows if it'd even work. )

[we're going to pretend that hinata's head was hurting and then he discovered the bag beside him instead of yama forgetting to track the thread. anyway.

As the others discuss, Hinata notices the bag caught in the branch and yanks it free. He feels only slightly bad about opening it up when it could belong to someone else; they've just been through a lot, and any clues this could give them would be a huge help.

But he gasps instead, because inside is...]

Food. There's food in here... [Real food, not vending machine food but actual food. Maybe they should get spirited away more often.] It's not much, but it's better than what any of us have probably been having.

[His brow furrows as he listens, closer this time now that his head's a little clearer. It's natural, probably, that there would come a time that the four of them would have a difference in opinion.]

...I kind of want to check out the river that Helena heard. [No more letters. It's safe now, right...?] It's been ages since we had any clean water that wasn't boiled, but... At the same time, Komaeda makes a good point, too. If what Sakasaki says is true, the cairn is probably marking a safer path. The river could have something dangerous near it, like a sheer drop we can't see.

[He doesn't feel right making decisions for anybody, so he'll just weigh in with that. A bit of an argument for both.]

In any case, I think we should stay together no matter what. Even if it seems like we're in a different place now... I don't want to take a chance on running into that... thing again. [Even now, he shivers at the thought of it.] I don't even know if we can do anything against it, but it seems safer to not split up.

Edited (cries in mobile) 2021-08-13 03:47 (UTC)

Exactly. Wherever we go, we need to go together - it would be too easy to lose each other when we don't even know the way.

[but still, she's frowning. not at Komaeda, just in general - at the choice before them. before her, really - being led or leading again, it almost feels like, but she fully turns back towards the men.]

Mr. Komaeda votes for the cairns. I vote for the river. Mr. Hinata's pointed out the virtues of both. So...it's up to Mr. Sakasaki. What he says, we can consider the winner.

[this is the most fair way to do it, she thinks.]

( raises his hand as he looks towards hinata.

hmmm. )

I change my mind. I'll chime in with Hinata-kun.

...Let me remind you that just because the water is running and looks clear doesn't necessarily make it CLEAN. There's hundreds of microbacteria that can prove harmful to the human body - we'd still have to boil it before consumption just to be SAFE.

( sigh. natsume considers their options though; rivers would certainly have a higher chance of civilization, if there's any. it's generally best to stick with them... but there are the cairns, and more of them proves there's a trail to use...

...maybe it is selfish to turn towards the next cairn because he isn't interested in running the risk of drowning with his negative modifier in swimming but literally none of them know he can't swim and they have enough good reasons to follow the cairns anyway. )

Bring the FOOD, Hajime-kun. I'm sure neither of these routes will disappoint US, and rivers are easy enough to find again anyWAY. They make sound, after ALL.

( there settled gosh )

( NOOO WAIT. raises his OTHER hand as he looks towards natsume.

hmmm. )

I change my mind. I'll chime in with Sakasaki-kun.

Edited (Cuter) 2021-08-13 11:53 (UTC)

( oh he is resisting the urge to murder komaeda.

but he smiles back at him. okay! )

There's no chiming IN. I made our decision for US. But thank you for agreeing with an "untalented person" like ME, Komaeda-san.

( :) :) :) )

Thank you for acknowledging your lack of worth! Now it's known to all of them, who knew a little chime was enough to make you realize!

( he laughs, looking towards helena and hinata. he's surrounded by untalented people, so he has to work a little harder here.

and then he leans towards helena, "whispering" with his hand next to his mouth, but loud enough for natsume to hear, purposefully. )

People get so negative about themselves when someome agrees with them. Don't worry, his bad habit.

Edited 2021-08-13 12:10 (UTC)

( never mind he is going to murder komaeda. he will feed him to the bears. he will discard his remains in the river, or off a sheer drop or something, to make it look like he just fell.

natsume wordlessly shakes his head at helena and just ignores komaeda's new bait, even though it is Extremely Hard to bite his tongue god he should get an award. )

( was dropping bodies + chiaki not enough for you? anyway... bossy, isn't he? not like komaeda doesn't like that, but he'll go on and walk back to the cairn to stand next to it.

you know the danganronpa stand. )

[ You know how I was all "it's an obvious choice bc the cairns clearly mark a path and they can follow it out and then right back here where they started to find the river again and they can do both" and then a dozen comments later,,,

Anyways, now that Komaeda's standing right next to the cairn, he too can see the second one out in the distance. It's like 50 ft out there before the undergrowth gets too dense to see any further. If it helps the decision any, Helena, with her above-average hearing, can hear twigs snapping and the heavy footsteps of a large, four-legged something lumbering towards them from the river side. ]

[when you're all too much of gamers to make a rational decision even when this is what you're given...forgive us Ori

the animal sounds are enough to startle Helena from her place, though, and she steps quickly towards the group.]

Fine, then, but let's be off. It might not be safe to stay here for too long.

[at least no one needs to hold hands? even though it's nice to do, they can make their way through the forest and on the path marked by cairns. if they backtrack, which they can do when four brain cells collide, they'll be able to follow the water. but in the meantime, the vote has been cast.

someone else gets to lead the group now, anyway.]

( excellent. natsume'll lead then, being the person who pointed out the importance of cairns... he likes being in charge anyway. komaeda isn't wrong to think of him as bossy, after all. )

Are we being hunTED? ( how fun. it's half a joke, though it makes him think of how he called himself a hunter, not prey..... sighs god he really can be so embarrassing sometimes. he'll stick with it though. ) I'm relying on you to let us know if anything's coming for US... Adams-san ♪ We'll keep our eyes peeled for you as WELL.

( or he and hinata will, he doesn't trust their fourth (:

as promised though he's keeping an eye out as he leads them ♥ everyone do your part ok ♥ )

( don't be that way, listen when komaeda's luck save everyone's life... you'll see. it may not be now, but you'll see!

so something is chasing them? how interesting, but he also remembers that hinata mentioned something about finding food. ignoring what's going on, while making sure to start walking whichever way everyone starts to go... komaeda is digging in hinata's bag to grab... the cinnamon crackers.

i'm sorry hinata, komaeda has plans.

which happens to be leaving behind a trail of cracker crumbs, he's only used one... so if anyone wants to take what he has... then feel free. )

[ I hope those plans involve attracting wildlife, like the baby bear cub that comes toddling out of the bushes to lap up the cracker crumbs.

The lumbering in the background gets louder, faster. ]

( HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE LET'S SEE YOU ALL GET OUTTA THIS ONE!!! HOPE HOPE HOPE )

[any internal groaning about being hunted, even jokingly is drowned out by what she can hear coming, faster, bigger.]

Follow the cairns, and run! Please!

[stay together and keep moving, or else Helena'll have to outrun you and cry for your deaths later. she's going, she's fleeing. she'll rely on her echoes to truly lead her if the boys can't do it.]

[Hinata is halfway out of a crouch when Helena tells them to run. Part of him almost questions it, but the sight of the cub steals the words out of his mouth - he might not be a nature expert, but it doesn't take much to put together what exactly it is they need to run from.

If either Natsume or Komaeda are hanging behind, Hinata will grab onto their wrist(s) and pull them along with him as he sprints after Helena.]

Come on, as fast as you can! Don't get separated!

( crying ori do you hate us or do you really like us the bear could go either way

natsume won't have to be pulled, worry not - the moment he hears the cub's shuffling he thinks, oh cute it's a bear cub! and then he thinks, more logically, Oh It's A Bear Cub. he's running he's running -- he will slow a little bit to take helena's hand if she lets him so she doesn't, like, smack straight into a cairn or something (he is Thoughtful) but no... he is not interested in being bear food. he's not that kind of twink. )

( komaeda's enjoying himself as he tosses the little crumbs on the ground to witness whatever it is that's following them. what color bear is it ori? apparently only a certain one attacks and one doesn't, i don't know how true this is, i heard it on call last night. OH brown bears and black bears... anyway, since no one wants to take these graham crackers, he'll pull out another to chuck it over until he feels someone touching his wrist without his consent, and he's being pulled —

he didn't need help, more so, he wanted to see their hope for survival, you know... he can't live around people who don't at least try, and then he's never been good at offering people straight answers (thanks natsume), so things had to get a little difficult (thanks ori). he's on the run, assisted, but he's making sure not to trip over anything.

luckily for hinata, komaeda's used to being pulled around, so he doesn't make effort to yank his arm away, but he is breathing hard as they flee. adrenaline rush that he's excited for what may happen, not because their life is on the line. )

[ It's a cute little brown bear that looks up at all the noise, a little wary about following at first but here comes another cracker and it comes trotting after them once again. The creature is slow enough to outpace, but the forest ground is uneven and full of knotted roots and thorned vines, and the forest is home to more than just bears.

A large snake unwinds itself from around a tree branch and bears its fangs and spits at them as they pass, brightly colored frogs hop about their feet to avoid being trampled as they run from cairn to cairn, spider silk coats their hands and faces and maybe something with too many legs itch in their hair.

The trees become denser, trunks thicker, branches spread out like a mesh net that gets tighter and tighter until what they're faced with is a wall. One of the cairns stands right in the middle of the wall of wood, as if the trees had grown over it, the stacks of stone wedged tight under the weight. Looking up, the canopy is only about 50 feet above their heads, with plenty of thick branches to assist, and the line of trees spread left and right as far as they can see.

Twigs snap and leaves rustle behind them. The ground tremors. ]

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visual by enh coz nms asked me to post it here