the thmgau rewrite

Nothing's Set in Stone

"Natalie?!"

There stood Natalie, holding her squeaky hammer. She seemed as surprised to see the group there as the group was to see her.

"What are you doing here?!"
"I could ask you the same thing!"
"Well," Natalie hummed. "I just wanted to see what was up with this auction. Maybe steal a thing or two. I saw that banana guy upstairs though, & I got suspicious."
"Oh, of course he's here."
"You're never gonna believe this, but this asshole-" Juniper pointed toward The Auctioneer's body on the ground. "-was gonna TURN US INTO STATUES!"
"WHAT?!"
"He was gonna auction us off! As statues! Real fucked up if you ask me!"
"That is fucked up. Even I wouldn't go as far as turning people into statues, & I'm your worst enemy."
"You are?"
"Whatever. We should probably get outta here before this guy wakes up."
"What do you mean before I wake up?"

To everyone's surprise, The Auctioneer was very much still awake. It probably didn't help that Natalie used a squeaky hammer to hit them.

"YOU'RE STILL AWAKE?!"
"You used a squeaky hammer. Of course they're still awake."
"You think I have the budget for a real hammer?!"
"They're only, like, $10."
"Does it look like I have $10?"

While Natalie & Cherry argued over the price of hammers, The Auctioneer quietly (but swiftly) snuck away from the group, running up the stairs.

"Everyone has $10! At least, they should!"
"Well, I don't! I work at a Dollar General for minimum wage, what do you want me to do?!"
"GUYS! They're getting away!" Juniper yelled, pointing at The Auctioneer.

The group started running up the stairs in an attempt to catch up with The Auctioneer. He did have the head start, though, so he was way ahead of the group.

Successfully making it up the stairs, The Auctioneer ran through the doors leading into the main room & slammed it shut. The group heard a click, indicating that the door had been locked.

"Shit!" Cherry hissed. "That asshole locked the door on us!"
"Well, we can't just burst through the door," Juniper said. "Sorrel's out there. How would we explain this to them?"
"Preferably, we don't explain this to them at all. But, when push comes to shove, I'd rather my sibling find out about.. the magic thing.. than getting turned into a statue."
"We're still not busting down the door though."
"Oh, yea, I don't wanna have to pay for property damage."

The group looked around the room for anything that could help them escape.

"Hey! A vent!" Leslie pointed up toward a vent on the wall. "One of us could climb through there, maybe."
"Like in Among Us?"
"Not like Among Us."
"Whatever. Who's climbing through the vent?"

Everyone turned to look at Natalie.

"Wh- ME?!"
"You've committed crimes before, & you seem to have no regard for safety. Climbing through a ventilation shaft should be easy for you."
"Wow, way to assume. I.. suppose it couldn't hurt, though."
"Alright! Let's do it!"

Since they were the strongest (physically), Juniper lifted Natalie up to the vent. She took out a screwdriver & started unscrewing it.

"Do you just have that on you at all times?"
"Of course I do. You don't have one?"
"No??"

After around 30 seconds, Natalie had gotten the screws off & pried the vent grate open. She hauled herself into the shaft.

"Good luck!" Leslie smiled, giving Natalie a thumbs up.

-

Sorrel was just minding their own business. They weren't really expecting that girl to come back from where she went, but she seemed confident enough. Sorrel assumed she would succeed in whatever plan she had.