City of IF

[Lebrenth]

Fabled Island, Episode 12, The Truth

“Don’t think I’m not grateful for your ‘services,’” Thomas says to the burnt and bound Carmilla, “but I feel you haven’t been entirely honest.”

“I’ve showed you what you asked for,” Carmilla says defiantly. The tight rope on her burns already puts her in considerable pain. She uses the pain to feed her stubbornness, but she asks herself how long before she breaks. She’s determined to maintain her dignity as much as she can.

“But you’re hiding something,” Thomas says. She stares at some distant star, trying to separate her thoughts from her body. The crew knows it’s true, and Carmilla’s knows she can’t bluff. Faced with the challenge before them, none of the crew can protest against interrogating her, though they have their own ideas of the lengths they should go to in extracting the information.

“Don’t force our hands,” Jim says earnestly. “We just want to know what you know.”

“You’re wasting your breath,” Ross says. “She won’t talk till we burn it out of her.”

“Perhaps she would like to hear the story about her friend from the tavern,” Jenn says.

“Perhaps we would all like to hear that story,” Thomas says. “Where’s the Fables?”

“I didn’t catch her in time,” Jenn says calmly, but she knows her tongue has slipped. “She passed the money to Carmilla’s brother.”

“So what is the story?”

Ethan considers ratting Jenn out before the truth is revealed about his involvement. As the tension mounts, he prepares to pull out the 40 Fables she gave him.

“I fed her into the lava,” she says.

“Even after she didn’t have the money?” Thomas challenges.

“Back off! I wasn’t going to let her make a fool of me!”

“I did my part. Either you’re lying or you are incompetent. Either way I expect my share!”

Juan’s hand grips his machete, when he sees Jeremy shake his head disapprovingly. Thomas holds the rifle in his hands, ready to fire, but Jenn is confident she could throw a knife into him before he could aim, if she acts first. Ethan chooses which side he’s on and also ready to act. Chia just wants to run, but Jim is seeing things Thomas’s way. Ross is entertained and wants blood; he doesn’t really care whose. Naturally, Carmilla notices how distracted the crew has become….

“Let’s calm down,” Jim says, but he already has his pistol drawn. “Jenn, if you have the money, you better say so now before someone gets killed.”

But his peaceful offer is not accepted. It has nothing to do with the money now; even if she comes clean they might kill her. Only it won’t be an open battle, it will be a knife in the middle of the night. No, it all comes down to whoever moves next. Through the entire expedition, they’ve been underestimating her. It’s time Jenn shows them what she’s capable of!

“Carmilla!” Aspi yells. Nobody looks away. Their hands are still on their weapons and they will not be distracted, even by Aspi’s outburst. She continues, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Carmilla cuts the rope on her ankle with the stolen knife. Only Aspi was watching her, and she let her get that far. Carmilla screams violently and thrashes uselessly when Ross grabs her and forces her back on the ground.

“No! You bastards will burn! You’ll all burn!”

“Not before you,” Ross says. But the others remain in their standoff. Aspi walks between them.

“Look at you! You’re so busy killing each other you couldn’t watch a traitorous little island girl!”

“Go to Hell!” Carmilla shrieks at Aspi.

“You’ll have no sympathy from me, girl! You betrayed your people and you deserve to be treated like a traitor!” Aspi yells. She has a surprisingly strong voice, which she turns on the other treasure hunters. “Now can we deal with her first?”

“This isn’t over,” Thomas says, but stands down. “Oh Carmilla, honey, can we ask you a few questions?”

Having freedom stolen from her again has torn down much of her willpower. She cries and begs to be allowed to live. The response is cruel and uncompromising. The part of Jim that respected her strength and feels pity for her wants to help Carmilla, but she is talking without the extreme measures he knows the others are capable of. Then the words begin to pour.

“I’ve never seen the heart. My father showed me where it is but we couldn’t see it because it’s locked behind a door.”

“So you don’t even know it’s there!” Thomas says.

“No! It has to be there! Everyone knows it! The elders put it there and locked it away. The door is a skeleton guardian that will only open when he is complete. That’s why the blind elder said to bring the skeleton’s rib!”

“Where is the skeleton’s rib?”

“I don’t know! I swear it! But I’ll help you find it! I know the island. I know where others haven’t looked. I can also tell you how you can survive the lava.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Kavana Potion. The treasure hunters call it Bulletproof Juice. It also can protect you from fire and lava.”

“Do you think I’m crazy? Can’t you feel how hot the lava is? You’re just trying to kill us so you can escape.”

“No! I’m telling the truth!”

A few drops of blood drip from Ross’s arm where Carmilla nipped him with the knife. The island girl’s blood courses with venom, but the fear in her seems genuine. Is she lying? There’s no proof anything she is saying is true except the correlation to the blind man’s cryptic advice, but she must know something the other treasure hunters do not….

[Chinaren]

OOoh, charged with tension ep! :shock:

Anyway. We get some juice and let her show us how it works, being ready to very quickly follow in case it does of course!

[D-Lotus]

Hmmm, interesting. The conflict is interesting as well. Why do people have to break up...like the Beatles...*sigh*. I think the treasure hunters have hated each other since the beginning, since Aspi and Ethan were locked in the boat. I think this is the time for that to resurface as well, now that Aspi has regained her voice.

Maybe its just the natural mistrust that all of these people have developed throughout their lives that is causing the conflict, though.

In any case, the focus is back on Carmilla, who turns out to be a coward after her tough show- or is she? It seems strange that a stoic who's foot falls in lava but who keeps walking subsequently breaks down in fear after watching the treasure hunters in their moment of weakness.

This Bulletproof juice sounds very much like something I heard occurred in Africa. The Africans (of wherever), trying to overcome the European colonists with primitive weapons, made something up about an oil that would protect their body from bullets. Of course, they were mowed down in one of the greatest massacres at the time.

This juice sounds very primitive, and I don't believe much of what supersticious islanders make up, but then again, there was a giant bird running after us... so maybe it's wise to try it on Carmilla, as Cren suggested, and then shoot her to see if it bounces off.

[Jack_D.Mented]

Why waste bullets? Stab her.

[Draven Bones]

INTENSE!! great chapter Cap´m. but I dont like your wavering writing habits. ¨to write or not to write. That is the question¨
You can´t make us wait forever to get a chap and then slip a short one on us! it kills me!

The chap was pins and needles for me as I was hoping for a battle between the hunters! I like the postponed war to come that will most likely end in a forgiving group therapy bash, in which all will grow and learn from their mistakes!

either way I once again pay my two cents in the idea that trusting some native betraying barmaid is A BAD IDEA! ¨special oil that blocks bullets and lava?¨ rrrriiiiiiiiight! that sounds like a bullet proof idea to me! I say burn the bitch and make her talk! going trudging all over the island for something she has no idea exists is going beyond vain! on top of it all.

WHO is to say that we follow this chick and she doesnt happens to lead us into the ever hostile and growing presence of her native people! they might be willing to forgive her betrayal if she turns over a few wealthy unwelcome guests!

Now lets say everything goes as planned and we happen to find some skeleton mumbo jumbo. lets not forget THE VOLCANO IS GOING TO ERUPT!!! its not like we have the whole hunting season to ourselves here!

Some hokipoki oil that her people believe in just so happens to be the same belief that allowed such hunting foreigners to take over the island! why? BECAUSE THE OIL DIDNT WORK FOR THE TRIBAL PEOPLE! it is obvious she is lying! Or worse, she actually believes this oil will work!

DP: torture her til she gives up more...hell torture her til she dies then get another stranded native to talk! or force her to lead us to the door and see if we cant use some explosives to open it! either way I think we should burn the braud!


Cap´m

Nice emotional content. good pacing, and I find it believable that she was stoic (due to her tribal upbringing) even when she is burned with the familiar magma. I find it rational to believe that she would break thinking that her job was done but finding a situation she was not familiar with hence dificult to cope with. causing her to break down like she did. we must rememeber she is a native (stoic) but also was a barmaid (emotional baggage).
all in all cap´m. good work!

[Lebrenth]

Fabled Island, Ep. 12 subchapter:

"Listen!" Carmilla yells, squirming her pleas into the treasure hunters' argument. "Whether you believe me it will work or not, the Bulletproof Juice is worth money. I can take you! You'll see! Even if you could find it yourself, you could never get out of the bamboo forest alive!"

"Wait, I'm not going back to the bamboo forest," Jeremy says solidly.

"You don't think so?" Thomas warns, and Jeremy reluctantly stands down. "Carmilla, we don't need you to take us. We know where to find our own, right Jeremy?"

"Once we got out of the haunted forest, I knew where we were. I can get us there again," he says with enough confidence, he hopes, that he won't have to return to the nightmare he barely escaped before. He feels obliged to add: "If we can get past the mundies...."

[Lebrenth]

POLLS UP


(read the post just above this before voting. I added a bit to the knowledge divulged.)

[Draven Bones]

WOW I guess I have a deciding vote here! 1 for killing her and 1 for forcing her through mundie territory......I am a gambling man, and I love twists in storries, particularly wicked never thought of twists such as ¨BURN HER TIL HER BLOOD TELLS THE TRUTH!¨

cap´m will hate me for this but my curosity to where will the story take us if she dies, is unbearable!