[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Not a whole lot happened, because everybody was asked
to remain in their quarters after the latest murder.  Once the results of the
autopsy were in, Shiho was saved from arrest only by the intervention of Tulpa,
a Hated Enemy.  Strangely, Tulpa said nothing about his rescue, merely showing
Cara that he knew where the Rose was and leaving after saying only a single
word.]
[We rejoin Our Heroes right where we left off, in the general meeting area,
though all the other fighters have dispersed.]
[Session... start!]
* Daphne frowns. 'S a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
* Shiho folds her arms in thought.
<Daphne> Shit.
* Cara just stands there looking distressed. She seems to do that a lot, lately.
<Rocky> C'mon, Daphne, tell us how you really feel.
<Daphne> There's not enough hours in the day, Rocky.
* Daphne sighs angrily. "There's jus' gotta be somethin' we're nae seein'.
Somethin' tiny, boring, easy to overlook, and really fuckin' important. I just
*know* that's it."
<Shiho> My thoughts exactly.
* There's a flash of light from just behind Cara, and Ichi appears!
* Rocky shrugs as only a 'coon can. "Well, what do we know?"
* Ichi blinks his way back into reality.
<Daphne> 'Lo, Itchi. We know that people are dying, and that whoever's killin'
'em is trying to frame us up for it. Us, an' mostly shiho, since they used the
hokey arrow thing twice.
* Daphne shivers.
* Ichi nods. "Uhm...where'd they get the arrows?"
<Daphne> Hell if I know. There's prolly some kind of evil supply store nearby.
They could smuggle 'em in, or get someone else to, or maybe just make 'em, tho I
doubt that.
<Ichi> Oh.
* Rocky scratches at the back of his ear. "What else? If we're missing something
stupid and little, we can't skip details."
<Shiho> I'm going to check Amy's room.
<Daphne> Not by yourself, yer not.
<Shiho> Wasn't planning to check it alone.  Let's go.
* Shiho heads thataway.
* Rocky does too, 'cause he's on Shiho's shoulder.
* Daphne shrugs and goes with. "We know... no, we think that Amy committed at
least one of the murders, but she'd dead now. Let's hear it for disposable
minions."
* Ichi tries to think and walk, and decides to concentrate on walking.
<Shiho> No, it may not have been Amy.
* Cara follows quietly.
<Daphne> Oh?
<Shiho> If it's an imposter, I mean.
<Daphne> True.
<Daphne> Or it could be brain control, or whatever. Right.
<Cara> We really don't know anything. Anything at all.
<Daphne> Sure we do. We just don't know anything that does us anything good
without being linked to something we don't know yet.
* Ichi nods, "We'll just have to keep looking."
* Shiho mutters, "We know someone's out to get me."
<Daphne> Yeh. 'S not like it's gonna come to us.
* It takes no time at all to reach Amy's old room, and it appears to be
unguarded.
* Shiho takes a look inside.
* The room is mostly bare.  It's been tidied a bit, but it appears that there is
a trail of blood leading from the bed to the door, much like there was in the
very first murder.  The trail is somewhat strange looking, starting as a
dripping, then the drips grow in size.  The rest of the room is mostly clean,
though there are signs of having been inhabited by not-quite-civilized animals.
* Rocky sniffs at the air.
<Daphne> ...that's jus' fuckin' ...*backwards*.
* Cara looks around. "I just don't understand."
* Daphne looks at the door. Don't suppose the inside side has any blood on it?
* Ichi looks at the door.
* Shiho peers at the trail. "Hmm..."
* There is no blood on the door.
* Rocky hops down from Shiho's shoulder to get a closer look.
<Daphne> It doesn't make sense. The trail should get thinner as the supply of
blood diminishes.
<Daphne> ...the door does, tho. Although it may just be wishful thinking.
* Ichi scratches his head, "So, it goes from the door to the bed?"
<Shiho> Looks that way.
<Daphne> Either that or the murderer gets injured and the wound takes a while to
get a good bleed up.
<Daphne> Although if the victim dies of some blood-drainin' attack, throwing
some gore aroud might be an attempt to cover that up.
* Rocky follows the trail, paying extra attention to every drip. "Nope, nope,
nope."
<Ichi> No?
* Shiho takes a look at the bed.
* Rocky peers at the drips near the end.
<Daphne> What's up, Rocky?
* Ichi looks at Rocky.
<Rocky> Thinkin'.
<Rocky> Lookit this.  It's all wrong.  And I think it's because... yeah.  Look.
* Shiho looks.
<Daphne> Because wot?
* Daphne looks. Closely.
* Rocky scampers over to the ones near the bed. "See these? They're drips.
Little drips, like you'd get from a wound. They're random, even."
* Ichi looks at whatever he's supposed to be looking at.
* Rocky keeps going, following the trail. "If you look farther, they become
tracks. They're regular. Bigger, too."
* Cara looks at the blood trail.
* Rocky is correct.
* The drips, after the point Rocky helpfully points out, are about the diameter
of a quarter.
* Shiho peers. "Tracks of what?"
* Ichi waits for Rocky to explain.
* Rocky looks down at his paws. "Something a little smaller than me, maybe. The
wolf or bear couldn'tve made these."
<Daphne> ...huh.
<Rocky> Besides, they're all circular.  What leaves circular tracks?
<Daphne> So, a... cat, maybe? Or some sort of lizard?
* Cara frowns.
<Shiho> Nothing I can think of. A man-made device, maybe?
<Daphne> Prolly.
* Ichi scratches his head, but doesn't manage to dislodge any ideas.
<Daphne> The feet could maybe double as suction cups to get it up smooth
surfaces so it can reach things. Although that sounds pretty outlandish.
<Shiho> Maybe not.  The thing that killed Demeter possibly came through the
vent, remember?
<Daphne> True. And if the vent wasn't spotlessly clean, suction cups wouldn't
have done much good.
<Cara> Something mechanical?
* Rocky keeps looking around the room while everyone talks.
<Shiho> But suction-cups wouldn't be that small, either.
<Shiho> Not if it was humanoid, at least.
<Daphne> True. It'd have to be a really small sucker for that.
<Daphne> Er, the bot, I mean.
<Ichi> Can they make things like that here?
* Rocky runs to the door, looks at the tracks at the end, then follows them
again. He hops onto the bed.
<Shiho> I wouldn't think so, but I don't know much about this world aside from
the tournaments, so...
<Daphne> Damned if I know. I've been at a dojo in the middle of nowhere all this
time.
<Rocky> Changed my mind.  It wouldn't be smaller than me.
* Shiho looks at the drops again.
* Ichi blinks, "So it's bigger than you...but has smaller feet?"
<Rocky> They're too far apart.  Someone taking steps that big would've had to be
human.
<Daphne> Alright. So... a human with really funny shoes?
* Rocky eyes Daphne. "Sure, blood shoes."
<Cara> A wooden leg? Wouldn't that be kinda out of place?
<Shiho> Stilts?
<Daphne> Right, bloodshoes. "Pardon me while I track blood in here."
<Shiho> Could be high-heels.
* Rocky nods.
<Cara> Hmm...yeah.
<Daphne> But then there'd be the part what holds the toes, too. Look for
triangular splotches?
* Ichi looks for trianges in the blood.
<Shiho> Unless the killer managed to not step in the blood with that part.
* There are no bloody triangles.
<Daphne> True.
* There are also no large pools of blood for the killer to have stepped in.
<Ichi> I don't see any.
<Daphne> Neither do I.
* Daphne frowns. "No pool... and I don't think they'd clean that up and not
this."
* Shiho looks at the bigger part of the blood again.
<Cara> Unless they're trying to throw us off.
<Daphne> ...Who, the cleaning service?
* Shiho considers. "This is the same as it was when Demeter died.
<Daphne> That's almost cliche', tho. "The maid did it."
<Daphne> Hm?
<Shiho> Remember? There was no blood there, either, except a few drops from the
bed to the door.
* Ichi thinks for a bit and then nods.
<Shiho> And didn't Amy say the goat smell was too strong, too?  And we can still
smell Amy's animals here.
<Daphne> ...right. Like it was deliberately left there.
<Ichi> Uhm...how do you deliberatly leave a smell?
<Daphne> Spray can.
<Ichi> So who ever did this has canned bear, wolf, goat and eagle smells?
<Daphne> Somethin' like those air freshener sprays. Only this smells even worse.
* Rocky looks around. "Well, there's no pool of blood from where animals nibbled
on the corpse."
<Daphne> That or they took fur an' feathers and rubbed 'em all over the place.
<Ichi> Oh.
<Shiho> Damn.  Where did Amy's animals get to?
<Daphne> Dunno. I think we asked the ref, but he woultn't tell us.
<Daphne> No, wait.
* Ichi looks at Daphne.
<Daphne> He said none of 'em were there when the body was found.
* Cara sighs. "I wish I knew how to scry."
<Daphne> Which means... the murderer took 'em along?
<Rocky> I've got a question.  Where were they when Amy was murdered?
<Shiho> Or they might be responsible.
<Ichi> They wern't here?
<Shiho> I wonder if Amy could change shape...?
<Cara> Changing to an animal form would make a sort of sense.
<Cara> Hm. I've got an idea.
<Ichi> What is it?
<Daphne> Ideas are good. What is it?
<Cara> If I can get a map of this whole complex, I just -might- be able to
figure out where they are, if they're here.
<Shiho> Then let's go find one.
* Cara nods.
* Ichi nods as well, "Who do we ask?"
* Rocky hops onto Shiho's shoulder.
<Daphne> Huh.
<Daphne> Well, would a fire escape map or somethin' work? Or do you need one you
can mark all over?
<Shiho> Information desk.
<Daphne> Sure.
<Ichi> Oh, right.
* Daphne heads for... the Information desk!
* Ichi follows Daphne.
* Shiho heads there too, 'cause it was her idea.
* Cara follows Shiho.
* The information desk is, as befitting its name, full of information, and since
its location must suit its purpose, it is large and easy to find.
<Clerk> Can I help you?
* Shiho nods. "Do you have a map of the complex?"
<Clerk> Oh, of course.  There are also convenient "You are here" maps all around
the arena.
* The clerk hands over a handy folding map of the arena's public areas.
* Daphne nods.
<Shiho> Thank you.
<Cara> Thanks!
<Ichi> Thank you very much.
<Clerk> Oh, it's no problem at all.
<Daphne> Well, thank you anyway. ^_^
* Shiho nods heads a bit away, then hands the map to Cara.
<Cara> Alright. Let's get back to the room, and I'll see what I can do.
<Daphne> Right.
<Ichi> Okay.
* Daphne heads that way.
* Shiho goes there.
* Cara goes.
* It takes little time to return to your room, and you are soon alone.
* Ichi goes to the room.
<Cara> Okay...here we go.
* Cara lays the map flat out on the floor and sits down in front of it, taking
her sketchbook and pencil.
* Ichi takes a seat on one of the beds and watches Cara.
* Daphne stands off to the side, glancing around idly.
* Shiho stands there and waits.
* Cara begins to draw a sketch of the map, then a picture of one of Amy's
animals, picking the wolf at random. She then draws another sketch of the map
with a little wolf's head indicating it's location, and focusses her power.
* Cara frowns, and closes her eyes, concentrating.
* Cara opens her eyes and sighs.
<Cara> Someone's blocking me.
* Shiho raises an eyebrow. "Blocking? How could they do that?"
<Cara> They've got a lot of power, too. I've felt this before, but it's not like
Tulpa.
<Ichi> Wow.
<Cara> I don't know how.
* Daphne frowns. "What *is* it like?"
<Daphne> Or who? Could you tell if you... I dunno, were near them or somethin'?
* Cara shakes her head.
<Daphne> Damn.
<Cara> Only if they were casting a spell at the time.
<Daphne> Well... I dunno. If you feel it during a match or somethin', let us
know.
* Ichi nods.
* Shiho frowns. "We need a way to find those animals."
<Cara> I'll be paying attention, for sure now.
<Daphne> We could just walk around and wait for Rocky to smell a trace of 'em?
<Rocky> That's me, Rocky the Wondersniffer.  I'll beep faster when I get closer
to the animals.
* Shiho considers. "Maybe. I need time to think anyhow."
<Daphne> Ha. Good one Rocky.
<Daphne> Alright. Wanna think here, or shall we go walking?
* Shiho shrugs. "Let's circle the complex. We'll cover more area that way."
* Ichi stands up.
* Daphne pulls out a flash, unscrews the top, puts it to her lips, makes a face,
puts the cap back on and tucks it away.
* Shiho heads out of the room to do that!
* Cara stands up, unconciously checking to make sure the rose is safe, and
returns her sketchbook and pencil to her backpack.
[Session... end.]