[That announcement was a bit unsettling, really, but it wasn't permission to stop trying. Shortly after hearing those words, Akane left the cavern camp and began her trek across the island and toward the waterfall camp. It's not so much the camp she's interested in but in the waterfall itself. As she approaches, however, she finds that she isn't alone and spots a familiar figure ahead.]
Dimitri, wasn't it? [She offers a friendly little smile though it's a bit hesitant given...you know. Murder island.] How are you doing?
[ He's made the journey out to the waterfall many times, whether to check on Flayn or stare out against the water, left to his own thoughts. This time, it's the latter. But it seems he's not the only one who'd sought this place out again. ]
Good day to you, Akane. [ He's pretty sure that's her name, though introductions were a jumble during the trial. He answers with a polite nod, his shoulders dipping with it, though his expression doesn't clear its clouds enough to smile. ] I'm faring as well as anyone can, I suppose...
[ It's been a trying weekend. ] Though I shouldn't complain. We've all suffered the same losses.
[Given the fact that her eyes light up a bit, he's at least gotten the name right. She doesn't expect anyone to be happy at the moment, so the lack of a smile doesn't bother or surprise her in the slightest. She'll settle for walking closer though.]
Funny. I said almost exactly the same to someone who asked me yesterday. [Her gaze drifts toward the water then.] It's...difficult to know what to think. Even if we've suffered the same losses some of us were a bit friendlier with the group than others.
[Like Marie, or Anaido at times. People will experience loss in different ways.]
...Yes, I suppose pain cannot be measured in such a simple way.
[ Sadness crosses his face, and he doesn't make much effort to hide it. What was the point in pretending this wasn't awful? He had only spoken to most of the dead in snatches, but they had all been pleasant. Anaido had called him brother, and they are not that far from where Marie had fallen, water tumbling peaceably over the stones now.
[She seems to think over that question for a moment. What would one define as "well", really? Especially for such a short amount of time.
Then again...she had only known Carlos for less than a week's time and she had trusted him. Perhaps you could, truly, know someone in a short span.]
Not well, no, but all of us had spoken. None of them deserved what happened to them. [A pause.] Marie wanted to be friends. And Anaido was still deciding who to be. That chance is gone though.
[ The real tragedy is the lost potential, the possibilities severed short. He misses Anaido for his conversations, the sometimes faraway look in his eyes that he hadn't yet figured out, and everyone else for who he could have learned to know.
It wasn't fair, and it's on them to make it right again. He narrows his eyes, an aggravated note to his voice. ]
I—...I did not know Marie, but to see her that way was impossibly cruel. I came here to remind myself that her death still needs justice. [ Because from what he's seen, there's no way it was Zoe. ]
We found her almost too late, didn't we? [Her expression is almost clinical, tone calm and focused on the subject at hand. It's sad, of course, but Dimitri's right...in a way. Is it about justice? Well, she's not sure, but to let her killer walk without any sort of punishment seems completely unfair.]
We didn't have enough time to truly look into her death. There weren't enough clues to even suggest a suspect...[But she turns back to face him then.] Is that another reason you're here?
[It's one thing to remind themselves that her death needs justice. It's another to take that justice into their own hands.]
[ She's right. Towards the final hours, just before sunset, they didn't have the time or leads necessary to really devise a conclusion. It's frustrating—he can't leave it alone. ]
It is.
[ He hesitates for a moment, before taking a step to the side, slowly tracing the path he remembers from the trial. The one that led up the waterfall. ]
Truthfully, I do not think it was Zoe behind her death. While I loathe to imply another one of us could have done this...
[ The more he dwells on it, the more it just makes sense for there to have been another killer. One they haven't caught yet. ]
[She follows with her eyes but not yet walking after him. She's monitoring his movements then to keep an eye on where he's going even as she nods in agreement. ]
I don't want to believe it either but the facts are obvious if you look at then. Even the style of her death doesn't seem to be something Zoe would be capable of. So then the question is...where do you start in your questions to find the culprit?
[ He sounds a bit distant, eyes still stuck on the path. ]
Right. Where to even begin—?
[ Even if all signs pointed to another killer, who was to even suspect? He toes at the ground where there used to be footprints, running through his memories aloud. ]
The footprints told a fairly clear story. Two sets leading up the falls, and only one returning. Judging by them... it would be someone closer to Giyuu's size, or mine. That was what initially raised my doubts—Zoe is so small. [ ...Was. ] But there are pieces that don't make sense to me, still.
It's unlikely that she stole someone's shoes or anything....so at least with that, you have the beginnings of a suspect pool. [Still...] Which pieces don't quite add up?
Or it was someone she trusted. [She'll come out and say it because it's...not nice, but it's a possibility.] You wouldn't think someone who you befriended would betray you normally, would you?
[...laughs in ZE. But she shakes her head anyway.] Even if it's conjecture, it's the beginnings of a hypothesis. Isn't that important?
[ He visibly flinches. He's been dancing around the point, but she's hit on it directly. ]
That may be true... but it is rotten work, building up a theory such as this.
[ Even if he has his darker suspicions, they are nothing he wants to embrace. But so he must. He looks up the rest of the way, before jogging up to the ledge. He stops right at it, to prove a point, unafraid. ]
She was facing this way, before she fell. [ He finds her footprints in his memory, matching them, toes pointing out towards the water. From there, he looks to Akane, speaking loudly enough that his voice rings out over the water. ] That is what I find strange. If you were standing here, at a ledge as towering as this... would you turn your back to someone you didn't trust? Would you bring them flowers?
[ He doesn't know what happened. Can't even begin to piece it together completely, but—even if he could be wrong, is probably wrong, as someone who trusts openly and easily himself, the possibility has eaten away at him. ]
[Even as she watches him, she seems to be in thought of what this all means, quietly nodding in agreement.]
I don't suppose I would, no. The flowers are the factor that don't seem to fit at all. It's as if someone were planning to use them as a gift...or an apology, perhaps. [A bribe? But that doesn't sound right. Give her a moment before she begins to pick her way across the area toward where Dimitri stands.]
The other thing is...what was she doing here so late at night?
[ He wishes, not for the first time, that he could just read Marie's mind in her last moments. Why the flowers? Who were they for?
Who was she here with? ]
That's a good point... Even if she were staying at the camp nearby, to climb to the top of the waterfall at that hour [ nevermind that they're basically doing the same thing ] is suspect. Did someone bring her here—? And where could they have gone, after?
I came here hoping to find answers to such things, but it's hard to imagine what she was thinking at the time.
I'd hate to suggest she wasn't thinking anything at all, but could that be possible? A case of someone being here at the wrong place and the wrong time. [It's a bit of an easy case though, and one she doesn't quite feel confident in.]
Being in the mindset of our culprit would be more beneficial. If we could even think of why someone would hurt Marie specifically, we can get closer to discovering who's behind this.
Mm. Perhaps if she trusted them, and they saw an opportunity... her death was simply a matter of convenience.
[ It's disgusting to think about, but a possibility. ]
Though I did not know her well enough myself to say who she may have confided in. I suppose we could ask around, in a way that may not draw suspicion to ourselves.
It would hardly be suspicious to ask other people how they're getting along with the rest of the group. We're all in the same situation. Wouldn't it benefit us to know where we all stand?
[She glances at the waterfall again....what a horrible way to die.] That would include those who have died. People will want to grieve if they were at all friendly with her, I think.
That's true. I wish it were more obvious, but we've all only had so long to get to know each other...
[ He looks over the ledge again, over all the sharp rocks, then steps back, shaking his head. ]
In any case, it is certainly something to be mindful of. [ A clue is a clue, however faint. ] Thank you—it is much easier to sort through my thoughts with another person here.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regna
W2, MONDAY
Date: 2020-05-04 09:42 pm (UTC)Dimitri, wasn't it? [She offers a friendly little smile though it's a bit hesitant given...you know. Murder island.] How are you doing?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-04 11:04 pm (UTC)Good day to you, Akane. [ He's pretty sure that's her name, though introductions were a jumble during the trial. He answers with a polite nod, his shoulders dipping with it, though his expression doesn't clear its clouds enough to smile. ] I'm faring as well as anyone can, I suppose...
[ It's been a trying weekend. ] Though I shouldn't complain. We've all suffered the same losses.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-05 12:41 am (UTC)Funny. I said almost exactly the same to someone who asked me yesterday. [Her gaze drifts toward the water then.] It's...difficult to know what to think. Even if we've suffered the same losses some of us were a bit friendlier with the group than others.
[Like Marie, or Anaido at times. People will experience loss in different ways.]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-05 02:56 am (UTC)[ Sadness crosses his face, and he doesn't make much effort to hide it. What was the point in pretending this wasn't awful? He had only spoken to most of the dead in snatches, but they had all been pleasant. Anaido had called him brother, and they are not that far from where Marie had fallen, water tumbling peaceably over the stones now.
It's still a fresh wound. ]
Did you know any of them well?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-05 04:30 am (UTC)Then again...she had only known Carlos for less than a week's time and she had trusted him. Perhaps you could, truly, know someone in a short span.]
Not well, no, but all of us had spoken. None of them deserved what happened to them. [A pause.] Marie wanted to be friends. And Anaido was still deciding who to be. That chance is gone though.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-05 04:42 am (UTC)[ The real tragedy is the lost potential, the possibilities severed short. He misses Anaido for his conversations, the sometimes faraway look in his eyes that he hadn't yet figured out, and everyone else for who he could have learned to know.
It wasn't fair, and it's on them to make it right again. He narrows his eyes, an aggravated note to his voice. ]
I—...I did not know Marie, but to see her that way was impossibly cruel. I came here to remind myself that her death still needs justice. [ Because from what he's seen, there's no way it was Zoe. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-05 06:05 am (UTC)We didn't have enough time to truly look into her death. There weren't enough clues to even suggest a suspect...[But she turns back to face him then.] Is that another reason you're here?
[It's one thing to remind themselves that her death needs justice. It's another to take that justice into their own hands.]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-06 04:37 am (UTC)It is.
[ He hesitates for a moment, before taking a step to the side, slowly tracing the path he remembers from the trial. The one that led up the waterfall. ]
Truthfully, I do not think it was Zoe behind her death. While I loathe to imply another one of us could have done this...
[ The more he dwells on it, the more it just makes sense for there to have been another killer. One they haven't caught yet. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-06 10:11 pm (UTC)I don't want to believe it either but the facts are obvious if you look at then. Even the style of her death doesn't seem to be something Zoe would be capable of. So then the question is...where do you start in your questions to find the culprit?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-07 03:27 am (UTC)Right. Where to even begin—?
[ Even if all signs pointed to another killer, who was to even suspect? He toes at the ground where there used to be footprints, running through his memories aloud. ]
The footprints told a fairly clear story. Two sets leading up the falls, and only one returning. Judging by them... it would be someone closer to Giyuu's size, or mine. That was what initially raised my doubts—Zoe is so small. [ ...Was. ] But there are pieces that don't make sense to me, still.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-08 02:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-08 03:58 am (UTC)What I don't understand is why she would willingly go up there with anyone. I suppose she could've been threatened, or ambushed, but...
[ He shakes his head, sighing. ] Forgive me, I'm mulling aloud. It is all conjecture, of course.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-08 04:25 am (UTC)[...laughs in ZE. But she shakes her head anyway.] Even if it's conjecture, it's the beginnings of a hypothesis. Isn't that important?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-08 04:43 am (UTC)That may be true... but it is rotten work, building up a theory such as this.
[ Even if he has his darker suspicions, they are nothing he wants to embrace. But so he must. He looks up the rest of the way, before jogging up to the ledge. He stops right at it, to prove a point, unafraid. ]
She was facing this way, before she fell. [ He finds her footprints in his memory, matching them, toes pointing out towards the water. From there, he looks to Akane, speaking loudly enough that his voice rings out over the water. ] That is what I find strange. If you were standing here, at a ledge as towering as this... would you turn your back to someone you didn't trust? Would you bring them flowers?
[ He doesn't know what happened. Can't even begin to piece it together completely, but—even if he could be wrong, is probably wrong, as someone who trusts openly and easily himself, the possibility has eaten away at him. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-08 05:50 pm (UTC)I don't suppose I would, no. The flowers are the factor that don't seem to fit at all. It's as if someone were planning to use them as a gift...or an apology, perhaps. [A bribe? But that doesn't sound right. Give her a moment before she begins to pick her way across the area toward where Dimitri stands.]
The other thing is...what was she doing here so late at night?
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 05:12 am (UTC)Who was she here with? ]
That's a good point... Even if she were staying at the camp nearby, to climb to the top of the waterfall at that hour [ nevermind that they're basically doing the same thing ] is suspect. Did someone bring her here—? And where could they have gone, after?
I came here hoping to find answers to such things, but it's hard to imagine what she was thinking at the time.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 05:33 pm (UTC)Being in the mindset of our culprit would be more beneficial. If we could even think of why someone would hurt Marie specifically, we can get closer to discovering who's behind this.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 08:18 pm (UTC)[ It's disgusting to think about, but a possibility. ]
Though I did not know her well enough myself to say who she may have confided in. I suppose we could ask around, in a way that may not draw suspicion to ourselves.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 08:26 pm (UTC)[She glances at the waterfall again....what a horrible way to die.] That would include those who have died. People will want to grieve if they were at all friendly with her, I think.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 08:43 pm (UTC)[ He looks over the ledge again, over all the sharp rocks, then steps back, shaking his head. ]
In any case, it is certainly something to be mindful of. [ A clue is a clue, however faint. ] Thank you—it is much easier to sort through my thoughts with another person here.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-05-09 09:02 pm (UTC)[...but. Ah.] No one should have to bear all of this alone. I'm always happy to help with theories and ideas. It's the best for all of us.