Starless Skies: Zodiac Group CYOA (Archived)

Chapter Five: Whoever took Santi, put him back and nobody will get in trouble

*Starless Skies is back!  *throws balloons* If you're a player, I recommend re-reading the past four chapters to re-familiarize yourself with the characters.  Hope you all enjoy the chapter!*

*The picture above is of a scene in this chapter, taking place right before [SPOILER REMOVED]*

Scar shook her head, and finally managed to speak. "Sa—San—Santiago's dead."

"Bullshit," said Travis.

Scar shook her head and wiped the sweat out of her eyes. Nobody spoke, they were all staring at her. What else did they want her to say? She coughed twice, and then rasped "He's dead, Travis."

"Bullshit," said Travis, standing up abruptly and stalking outside of the group circle, before turning around and saying "Bullshit" again, in case he hadn't made his point the first two times.

Lei was biting her lip. "I'm sure you were just distracted, Scar."

Scar shook her head, pulling herself to her feet with Candon's help. "He... we... we were jumping off its back and its jaws, they were closing around him and I... it hit me with its tail." The vivid image of her reaching desperately for Santi's hand sprung suddenly into her head. There must have been something else I could have done. Why didn't I do something?

"It..." Candon trailed off, his voice catching in his throat. He didn't trust himself to speak. He focused on helping Scar steady herself, and tried to force his eyes to stop burning.

"Where's the last place you saw him?" asked Lei, helping Candon support Scar.

"Over by the trees," rasped Scar, coughing again. Each breath was a challenge.

Lei walked over to the trees and bent down towards the ground. "Well the good news is, I don't see any blood."

"Look, I don't understand why nobody believes me!" Scar yelled suddenly, pushing off Candon and standing on her feet. "Why would I lie about something like this? Do you guys see Santi anywhere? Why am I supposed to prove this to you guys? He's fucking dead!"

She looked around the group. Everyone was staring at her silently, some sad, some angry, some afraid, and suddenly Scar felt bad. She wouldn't have believed it either. She put her hand up to her forehead. "I... I'm sorry guys." She shrugged, helplessly. "Maybe I hallucinated." I hope I hallucinated. God, I hope I hallucinated.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Ari spoke up. "I hate to push this, but we really can't stand around. People are injured. We need to get focused."

"Oh fuck you," growled Travis. "You expect me to believe this bullshit?"

"I don't expect you to do anything useful, no," said Ari, bending down to pick up Agi, who was still unconscious. "But we really need to get out of this area."

"We're not leaving until we find Santiago!" glared Travis.

"Oh sure!" said Ari, starting to carry the unconscious Agi towards the trees. "Great idea! You stay here to tell Santiago where we went, and then when the monster comes back and eats you everyone wins!"

"You piece of shit!" yelled Travis. "You don't even care Santiago's dead!"

"Guys," began Anya, but Ari whirled around and cut her off.

"I am so sick of you," they snarled. "Everyone is sad Santiago's dead, dumbass! We need to move! If I wasn't carrying Agi, I'd kick you in the shins."

Travis just blinked. "Well, you're not carrying him with your legs, are you?"

"Yeah, I know, I just don't think he'd approve," Ari shrugged.