The Ranch

Fairytale Maze (12)

Theodore and Tih meet back up with Basile and Sherlock as they also notice the commotion.

"You found the entrance? Then should we head in?" Sherlock asks Theodore, wondering what they're waiting for.

"I have a plan. Let's wait until everyone leaves."

Sherlock still has question but he decides to trust Theodore.

After everyone enters, Theodore leads the group to the side with the window. Then, he copies the man from before, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Eh? Did someone already try this. Why aren't we just going through the entrance?" Sherlock is getting a little anxious, they're wasting time.

He ignores Sherlock and calls out,"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Laß mir dein Haar herunter."

The sound of gears shift as golden hair flows down from the window.

"That was...German?"

"What do you mean? I'm always talking in German? So are you, but for some reason, the guy that said that earlier wasn't speaking German. At least, it sounded German but it wasn't."

"Huh?" Sherlock only becomes more confused. He uses the time they climb up the hair to think.

In a different area of the maze, Kai and Victor's group of five are also in a similar scenario. They're already concluded that it's Jack and The Beanstalk. This scenario is also one with many people, but unlike Rapunzel, it's night time here. They also took some time to sleep, only it wasn't quite as agreed upon.

Kai knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. This entire maze has been making him on edge, like its trying to get something out of him, trying to find the chance to snatch it away. The constant tension has given Kai a lot of stress.

Instead of sleeping, he started looking around the scenario. The others look at his antsy appearance as glance between each other.

"I'll go." Pierre rolls up off the ground.

"You sure?" Victor asks. He knows Pierre's not the type to do something without gaining something in return, which is why he's not proficient in comforting people.

"It's fine." He understands Victor's concern. After all, he knows himself the best. Of course he's not doing this for free.

Although they've acknowledged the Tih is their "boss", it's obvious that Sherlock and Kai run the show in their group. Sherlock was too obvious in trying to curry favor, making it obvious that he's thinking of merging the two teams.

Pierre has also taken his time to think about the pros and cons and realized that they mostly depend on who the leader becomes. Of course the leader is going to be more favorable to his own original members. That's not to say he'll make things harder for the others.

Pierre knows that if the two group merge, the likely leader will either be Victor, Sherlock, or Kai. What he doesn't know is that usually Kai acts as the leader, but has taken a backseat throughout the maze. So it would most likely be Kai or Victor.

Pierre's goal for talking to Kai is to scope him out, get a better idea of his personality and plans.

"Hey." He walks up comfortably.

With the stress and loss of Tih by his side, Kai finds it hard to maintain his cheery image. " What." He answers bluntly.

"Your brain won't be able to function properly without sleeping." Pierre tries to get the conversation rolling.

"I can work just fine without a couple days of sleep." Kai speaks from experience.

Pierre raises an eyebrow, "A couple days? Your planning to act like this until we get out of here?"

"Act like this. Act like what?" Kai meets eyes with Pierre.

"You're pretty close with Tih." He changes the topic.

"And?"

"But not so much with Sherlock and Lucien. How did you become a team?"

"Is it any of your business?" At this point, Kai has lost all traces of friendliness.

"It just seems to me like you're the lone wolf type." Pierre shrugs.

"If I am?"

"Then why are you in a team."

"...a new start. You?" Kai turns the question back.

"To keep me busy..." Pierre decides to give a half-truth.

"Both of us are friends with them for selfish reason, so what right to you have to criticize me?"

"Oh? But you treat Tih pretty genuinely?" A slight grin appears on Pierre's face. "Where exactly do your loyalties lie Kai."

Kai remains silent for a moment. "...I'm just using him. Talking helps me relax and he's the perfect diary."

"So you don't put any trust in him?"

Kai pauses before looking into Pierre's eyes,"

Expectations are for idiots."

Pierre looks into those dead eyes that are completely serious. He snickers," That's pretty nihilistic."

Kai stares for a moment more before shrugging and returning to his search for clues.

"Then how bout in the future? I don't suppose you plan to become a toy for the children to play with."

"Children...headquarters?" Kai glances at Pierre with a slightly amused expression.

"Where do you plan to lay your loyalties." Pierre gives Kai a serious expression.

"I was never given the right to have loyalties in the first place."

"Past-tense, Kai. Isn't that why you came to the island? A new start or something?" Pierre brushes back the red hair blocking his eyes.

Kai opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Something seems to have clicked as his eyes glisten.

"He who does not trust enough will not be trusted. Trusting someone is a decision, your decision. You need to trust that they'll prove your decision correct. Take your time to think about it." He puts emphasis on the last "trust". After he finishes saying his piece, he walks back to the group.

Kai remains silent, staring at the floor.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Victor feels a need to ask as the leader.

"Ah, yeah. Apparently he's used to staying up for multiple days on end. He told us not to worry." Pierre finds a spot to lay down.