WEEK 2

[grimgrinningghosts]

[One week. One week spent in the Haunted Mansion, and nothing seems to have changed. The hinges still creak in doorless chambers, strange and frightening sounds still echo through and you still occasionally catch a flicker of candlelight out of the corner of your eye. You might be slowly becoming familiar with the mundanity of this communal life, and we've recognized that possibility.

Something has to give.]

[SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY]

{ooc: Don't forget to turn in your week 1/intro AC! As per murdergame tradition, this begins our new weekly schedule - Tuesday and onwards are locked for the motive. Everybody's just working for the weekend.

Additionally, a few people this week are going to get tagged by...something. If you'd like to opt out of this, please let us know.}

Comments

[capulion]

[You can never have too many hats. Unless you're a lion and don't wear hats, I suppose.

Kiara blinks her eyes open, looking surprised, and stares at Wander for a long moment.

What... is he? He isn't a weird monkey like the others... She makes a sleepy smile.]

Hello. You know my name? [Big lion yawn. What are manners?] Oh it's nice to meet you too.

[folkscallmewander]

Uh-huh. It's on the wall. [He points at the collection of bios.] I've never met a lion princess before, and I can't believe how excited I am to finally get to meet you!

[He balls his fists and--oh, is he actually shaking with excitement?]

Folks call me Wander, and I'm a traveler of the stars!

[capulion]

[Oh wow he's really cute actually. Kiara smiles indulgently, stretching to wake herself up.]

Well, being a princess is only half of the story, but... thank you, I guess.

[Then that last part hits her.]

Traveler of the stars? You move among the stars?

[It's her turn to vibrate with excitement.]

[folkscallmewander]

[The most enthusiastic thumbs up.]

The planets, to use the correct terminology, but yes! I've been doin' it for almost all my life.

[capulion]

[She still has no idea what you are, little guy, but she likes you.]

Planets...?

[folkscallmewander]

Other worlds? [Oh. Is she also one from one of those places that doesn't have space travel.] Y'know, goin' out to space, visitin' orbs of life in the sky where other folks live?

[capulion]

[Just give her a moment, here, buddy. Space. Orbs in the sky.

Look she's from a culture that believes stars are the spirits of their ancestors.]

Have you... have you ever been to an orb that had lions like me on it?

[Attempts to reconcile these realities.]

[folkscallmewander]

[He tilts his head.]

Not ones that look exactly like you, but...lion-y. There's all different kinds of animals out there.

[capulion]

All different kinds...?

[Are the stars made up of more than just the great kings of her past, then? She tries to shake it off a little.]

And you travel among the stars, but aren't one of them?

[folkscallmewander]

[Wander answers with a grin.]

If that helps you understand, then yeah. [Let Kiara form her own fan theory, he's not going to ruin her hopes.]

[capulion]

[She doesn't understand, but she is still excited.]

What's it like?

[folkscallmewander]

Hmmmmm. [Wander rocks on his heels.]

Well, every day is full of new sights, new folks to meet, new adventures...and not just wild and crazy ones, but adventures like checkin' out a beautiful waterfall getting to eat a local dish.

I mean, what's it like livin' on one planet all your life?

[capulion]

[Her face just lights up and she looks like a kitten listening to her parent's stories all over again. Her tail twitches excitedly.]

That sounds amazing! I've barely seen anything beyond the Pridelands...

[She says with the wistful sigh of the adventurous at heart.]

But the Pridelands... they are something special. Lush and plentiful from end to end. There are grasslands for the grazers, and a forest full of trees, and even cliffs at the farthest end, where the cliff baboons live. Any animal living there knows that the Circle of Life is respected and that their life is sacred and honored.

[She realizes she's going off and gets bashful.]

[folkscallmewander]

[There's no reason to be bashful. Wander sits on the log with his elbows propped on his knees and listens.]

Keep goin', it sounds amazin'. What's the Circle of Life?

[capulion]

[Aww he's adorable. Kiara eases back down into a catloaf.]

It's... well, I was never as good at explaining it as my father, but... it's the idea that all of us are part of the same whole. We're all living things under the same sun, and we move through every part of the land in our lives. Like, the lions eat the antelope and the zebra, right? But when we die, our bodies return to the grass, and then those animals eat the grass, and the spirits of our forefathers live in the wind and rain, which makes the grass grow.

[Does that make sense?]

[folkscallmewander]

[Catloaf. She is such a giant adorable kitty with razor sharp teeth and knife-like claws that can tear a man's throat out. But her nose is so cute!

Oh right, the Circle of Life.]

Well, your dad is right. Just because somethin' is over doesn't mean nothin' else is gonna come over it. [Though he would say the dead live on in memories rather than the wind, but he's not here to give a science lecture.] Much like when a flower dies, it's got a legacy lives on through its seeds.

[He kicks his legs.] It's true even for planets and stars.

[capulion]

[She's a soft and gentle top predator! She sighs with a melancholy sort of smile.]

My daddy is usually right, but don't tell him I said so or I'll never hear the end of it.

[Her ears perk up again.]

Plants, too... yeah. Planets and stars? Daddy says the stars are the great kings of our past watching over us...

[Maybe you are going to have to give a science lecture.]

[folkscallmewander]

...They're not totally made from souls. [He's not ready for this.] There's space dust and heat and stuff mixed in there, much like how planets are made from rocks or gas.

[...]

I once met a planet that talked back to me.

[capulion]

[Planets. Made from rocks and gas.

This is going way over her head, dude.]

Space dust... I don't know what that is but it sounds neat.

[You successfully distracted her with that last bit, though.]

Wait, a talking plant?

[folkscallmewander]

Uh-huh. I mean, the planet talked, but she always showed up as a flower for face-to-face stuff, but that's better than talkin' to the ground.

She was [yandere?] very excitable - bein' a new planet and all - and really lonely. So I stayed for a while to chat and help her develop, and soon enough she got her own moon!

[capulion]

[That's... really weird.]

Cool! Does she have... you know, animals living on her?

[It sounds really super lonely if she doesn't.]

[folkscallmewander]

Janet only had plants when we last saw her, but I'm hopin' more folks will visit now that's she's got mountains and rivers. She was pretty nice!

[Wander she tried to kill Sylvia and make you her prisoner.]

[capulion]

[Wander honey....]

Well I haven't met a plant that can make good company before, but after being here... it seems possible. I hope she isn't lonely.