A dusty path wound itself around rolling hills as the kids headed towards the mountain in the distance. The path itself sloped up and down. The light in the red sky shone with a cherry yellow radiance onto the path in an unnatural way. Strange ferns and other unknown growths lined the path and the areas beyond. As the kids headed forward, the environment was growing slightly colder.

Both Shawn and Delilah knew that they were in what Ralph called 'The Underworld.' Whatever Ralph meant by that, they couldn't say. But they did know that this was the same place that Circus occupied. The place of Hogwash and the Fortune Teller. It wasn't a question whether or not that was a truth.

It was known.

Shawn and Delilah didn't know how it was true. But they did know that it was. Perhaps they weren't in the exact location of the Circus. But wherever Bradford had brought them, it was in the same world.

Delilah looked around as she walked. There was a terrible feeling that one of the circus creatures was watching. Even worse, a sinking dread that increased with the growing cold. She was afraid that the path would end at the snowfort and Cherrywinks would be waiting inside. She grit her teeth and balled her fists. She picked this direction. If the group saw her back down now, they'd abandon her here.

Shawn wondered if being familiar with this place was an advantage or a disadvantage. On one hand, he'd almost gotten used the the red sky and strange growths. But on the other, he knew exactly how bad some of the creatures that lived here were. For now, he concentrated on sticking with Bobby and Ralph - they were really vulnerable in a place like this.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Sat 28 Apr 2018.

"This place is messed up." Penelope said, kicking at the dirt on the dusty path.

There was a rickety sound that suddenly came from behind the kids.

"What was that?" Penelope asked, looking around.

OOC: Shawn and Delilah may opt to roll Wits + Composure

OOC: 08:46, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 3 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,1,8,9. Wits + Composure.

Delilah tensed, then turned slowly.

It was a box.

It was behind them in the road. Every time they moved forward, the kids turned around it was the same distance away from them It was small, black and shiny, the kind that might hold a guitar or some kind of instrument like a trumpet.

Shawn scratched his head in confusion. "Is...that box following us?" He took an experimental step towards it, wondering if it might back away from him or something.

Delilah jumped a little when Shawn stepped toward the instrument case. She almost called out to him to stop, but didn't. She kneaded her hair with her hands and watched to see what it would do next.

The box moved a little to the left. Then it stopped.

Then it moved to the right of the road. Then it stopped again.

It was moving as if, whatever was under it, hadn't fully realized that it had been 'caught.'

"It's moving!" Ralph pointed one chubby finger at it. "I..I...i..I saw it." he said to himself as much as anyone else who would listen.

"No duh, Sherlock." Tiffany sniped, having recovered from her fit some time ago and was now resuming the role of being a bossy know-it-all.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:58, Mon 30 Apr 2018.

"Oh Brother." Bobby mused, both hands on the sides of his face as if he never saw such a thing before. "A moving box."

The box, which could now be clearly seen as a black, shiny case, came closer still. It had those 'snap-hinges' on the side that made sure whatever was inside of it, stayed inside. But somehow, it was moving. Something about it seemed familiar

OOC: Shawn and Delilah Roll a Memory roll of Wits + Composure +1 with the following results.

0 Successes: Your character doesn't remember anything about the black case

1 Success: Your character remembers something about the black case

2+ Successes: You character remembers the black case, where it was last seen, and what it was associated with

22:04, Today: Delilah Gray failed (no successes) using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1,7,7)).

OOC: 07:51, Today: Shawn Cramer rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,4,1,1,10(+4). Wits + Composure +1 .

The case continued to inch forward. Then it bolted, the scampering of little feet underneath kicking up dirt and zipping forward before it stopped abruptly in the middle of the road about ten feet behind where the kids stood watching.

"What the heck is goin' on here!" Penelope demanded, making her way over to the case, hands on hips, ready to take some kind of action.

Delilah jumped backwards and let the black case scurry by. She stared at it wide eyed and slack jawed. She blinked quickly and pointed.

"AFTER IT!"

It felt right.

Shawn went visibly pale and stepped backwards away from the box. "Oh no. Oh no no no...don't open it. Don't open it!

Penelope reached out and gave the case slight nudge with her foot. It seemed to react by immediately stopping. The rest of the kids gathered around it.

"Got it. I made it stop!" Penelope proclaimed, overcome by excitement and possibility. "Now let's break it!" She suggested, perhaps overcome in the moment, though Delilah did know that the girl liked breaking things.

"Hang on, Penelope."

Delilah expected a chase. But this was different. The group could almost hear her thinking about it. Her brow furrowed and her lips crimped into a frown. She crossed her arms and placed one foot on the lid.

"Why shouldn't we open the box, Shawn? You better tell the truth, or I will open it. On you."

"There's something evil in there! No one should touch it." Shawn seemed genuinely fearful at the idea, and terrified that Delilah would open it on him.

Delilah rocked the instrument case under her foot. "Why do you know that, Shawn?"

“It’s a big spooky box that moves. What else do you need?” Unfortunately, Shawn wasn’t exactly one for sharing information unless he had to, so he was keeping it vague.

"I need to know that you're not gonna double-cross us. Like you did back on Bald Hill. Like you did to Roger."

Delilah's voice was hoarse. She was close to tears. She picked up the box as best she could.

"You walk in front."

“Just leave the box behind, please... This isn’t a trick or a double cross or anything!” Shawn took a half step forward, like he was going to try and take the box, but he was too scared to get close.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Tue 01 May 2018.

"Leave it behind? So it can sneak up behind us when we're not looking?"

Delilah shook the box slightly. Listening.

"Maybe it's s'posed to help us. Bradford said we were s'posed to get something. Maybe this is part of it?"

There was a shifting in the box like wooden parts were inside as Delilah moved it back and forth, the contents hitting the inside edges. Delilah spoke to Shawn and then, when she wasn't moving the box around, she heard something.

It was a rickety sound from within the box.

Then she felt something. A tap, tap, tapping from within the box like a pencil was being jabbed on the interior of the case.

"What was that? Did you hear that? Did you?" Tiffany asked, not seeming to notice or care anymore about Delilah and Shawn's argument. She was now focusing almost exclusively on the sound the box was making.

"He's not a...a...a...double crosser!" Ralph shouted, ignoring the tapping and the sound the box was making and not seeming to notice or care about it. He was now focusing almost exclusively on the argument Shawn and Delilah were having.

Shawn panicked when he heard the tapping, and rushed towards the box, trying grab the top so he could stop Delilah from opening it. It couldn't happen!

Shawn's attempt to grab at the box shook it more, his hands roughly grabbing at it as Delilah responded. But this only made tapping increase.

Shawn ignored what was going on in his head to just hold the lid shut, not letting it open at all. The tapping from the inside was turning his stomach.

"He is so!" Delilah grunted and tried to keep hold of the case. "He double crossed us all last winter. He double crossed my best friends and they all died in a place. like. this."

Only then did she hear the ricky-ticking from within the box. Her attention turned from Ralph to the box back to Shawn.

"What's in it? What's in it?" she demanded.

"Something evil. If you let it out, it'll get one of us, I know it!"

"But if we leave it behind, it'll come get us later!"

"C'mon, just give me the box." Shawn wasn't thinking entirely clearly right now - maybe he could throw it off a cliff or something.

Penelope's eyes shifted behind those large glasses from Shawn to Delilah. From Delilah to Shawn. Her ratty blonde hair wafted one way and then the other as her neck moved to follow the conversation

Meanwhile the tapping grew louder and louder still. It was now rattling off multiple taps from inside the box. Less of a finger poking on cardboard then insecticide legs from a centipede all moving in unison.

The multiple taps had an insect quality to it. Spooked, Delilah dropped the box and backed away. Maybe Shawn was telling the truth this time.

Shawn wasn't expecting the sudden release of Delilah's grip, and he dropped the box too! But unlike Delilah, he was too surprised to back away.

Penelope walked up to the box ready to give it a kick.

Then there was a loud series of snaps that made her back off. The box started to jump around--literally. It sounded like rows of seams were splitting apart. Suddenly the top of the case opened and....

Almost instantaneously several large cords descended from the sky. They wrapped themselves onto Mr. Clayton's wooden feet, legs and neck as he sprung forth from the case. The sound of them lashing up to him grated like a whip being cracked. Metal at the end of each rope bit into the wooden exterior of the puppet's surface as if each cord was barbed with a fish hook.

"Bradford! I'm baaaaack!" The puppet cried out in joyful mirth, as he landed in the center of the dusty road, the case tottering over.



And then, as if he was confused. "Bradford? Bradford?"

Shawn literally whimpered, falling backwards to the ground and then looking up at Mr. Clayton with genuine terror. His legs twitched a few times as he tried to make himself back away, but he couldn't even do that.

Delilah's legs tensed and she had no idea which direction to run. Tears started in her eyes. Then a familiar figure burst out of the box. Odd and creepy though he was, Delilah nearly collapsed with relief at seeing a familiar face. Mr. Clayton could be scary, but he'd never hurt anyone, right?

"He's gone! Bradford got taken by a dragon and flew way up there!" She wiped her red face and watery eyes, then pointed at the mountain. "We don't know where to go! So we gotta find him!"

She paused and realized that she was talking to a magic puppet in front of everyone.

"Hey, don't worry, you guys. This is Mister Clayton. He saved my life. He's a good guy. Don't be scared."

Delilah spoke slowly with her hands out as if to soothe the group. A very different tactic then her usual bossy, braggart style. Honestly, she was afraid of Clayton when he made angry faces, but right now they needed serious help.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:03, Sun 06 May 2018.

There was a collective gasp as Penelope, Bobby and Ralph scattered in various directions like a they had been flanked on the battlefield and someone was calling for retreat. But here truly was no where to run. Just a flat dusty road that was heading up hill. After realizing this, the next thing the kids did was simply freeze in place. Ralph was too uncoordinated to do so without falling to the ground, a wincing look on his face as he ate a nasty face-plant that covered his lips and mouth with dirt.

Slowly, listening to Delilah's words, Penelope and Bobby inched forward a step or too and then stop. But they didn't say anything. They just stood there. Bobby had a stupid look on his face. Penelope had on eyebrow raised, her hands tensed as if she was ready for a fight, back hunched slightly.

"What!?" The puppet yelled in a high-pitched cry. "Bradford! Bradford!" He yelled again, as if calling the boy's name out into the sky might bring him back some how.

"NOooooooooo!" he wailed, desperately. There was a wiry, metallic 'chink' sound, and the cords that connected him to an unknown source in the sky slackened. Mr. Clayton's legs gave out, perhaps because of the cords, perhaps out of sadness. They flopped around uselessly, suspended in the air for a second before collapsing in a heap on the ground. His upper body was slouching, head down. The effect was of over dramatic depression.

"Bradfoooord. Bradfooooord. Braaaaaadfoooord." he said over and over again, voice strained with pain. Each time he said Bradford's name, his voice sounded sadder and weaker.

"You're faking. Stop faking!" It was certainly the height of hypocrisy coming from Shawn, but his conception of the dummy was of a merciless, uncaring monster, regardless of how it might actually bear out. He turned to the other kids. "Stay from him, don't get too close!"

"You're the faker! You're a liar! This is all your fault!" Delilah leveled her truth at Shawn and let him have it with both barrels.

"You made the clowns come! And you knew they were gonna chop us up! If it weren't for you none of this woulda happened! We wouldn't even be here!"

She wanted to beat on the traitor until he was as weak and floppy as the puppet. She moved to help him up.

"Mr. Clayton saved me from Cherrywinks and from you!"

Penelope backed up and then spread her hands out as Shawn leveled a barrage of warnings. Her eyes darted back and forth between the puppet, Delilah and Shawn with a cautious expression.

The puppet was still saying 'Bradfooooord', 'Bradfooooord' in a pitying wail as Ralph entered the fray.

"He's not a l...l..l..l...l...l..l..l..l..l..l...l..l...liar!" He shouted back at Delilah, the effect of his anger slightly spoiled by his stuttering.

Tiffany, ran the furthest back from the group as Shawn yelled. She was almost thirty or forty feet away. Then, realizing she was now with the strange, colorful plants that moved at odd angles and no longer on the road, she hurried back. When her feet hit the brown dirt marking the road she immediately collapsed onto her knees, folding her legs underneath her thighs, her but falling against her on the heels.

Then, she started to cry.

"A puppet." Bobby marveled, taking heed of Shawn's warning and backing up several more steps than he had initially when Mr. Clayton sprung from the box.

"Hey, guys. Guys." Bobby said in voice that was hardly heard because of the arguing, finger pointing weakly at the spectacle that was Mr. Clayton. "It's a....Oh brother."

But then, when Delilah mentioned the words 'Clown' and 'Mr. Cherrywinks', Bobby held his hands to his temples, dropping to one knee with an expression of pain, like he had bumped his head. At that point, he stopped talking, head tucked against his chest, eyes closed. It looked like he was trying to remember something, was in pain, or perhaps both.

"Nooo..." The puppet cried out in longing desperation. His voice lacked the jovial, jester-like quality that both Shawn and Delilah had previously seen and heard. Then his head turned towards Shawn, the cord attatched to it running taught and producing a metallic 'cling.' It was too far turned, Shawn noticed. Like it might turn all the way around, unnaturally like Shawn had heard was done in a movie called 'The Exorcist.' But instead it stopped at an awkward angle that might break a kid's neck if it weren't a puppet.

"But I need Bradford." Mr. Clayton protested, saying the words as if Shawn didn't understand, or couldn't understand. There was a hint of pain in the words. Of course, emotional, that was obvious by the way the puppet was acting. Mr. Clayton was very much like a dog that had lost its owner. Or maybe a kid that had lost his favorite toy, it was hard to say.

"No you don't - you just need some kid to take over or something, I bet! I bet that's why Bradford did all this in the first place." Shawn was just wildly accusing Mr. Clayton of all the various nightmares he'd had about the dummy at this point.

And then he caught a glimpse of Bobby, and suddenly Shawn looked scared and worried. "Hey Bobby, it'll be okay - just think about the Joes..."

"He is SO a liar! And it's all his fault!" Delilah yelled at the stuttering baby, Ralph. Then she turned to prop up Mr. Clayton.

"We need Bradford, too! We need help to find him. And the Krinner Rock. And to go home. And... everything! Can you help us?"

Looking around, she saw the kids scattered and crying and panicking. Her breathing was shallow and fast. She didn't know what to do or where to go next. But everyone was still alive. That meant there was still a chance.

She turned back to the painted, wooden face and hoped that Mr. Clayton could fix everything. Like he did before.

Shawn lied about everything. If he said Mr. Clayton was evil, then it was some kind of trick. Mr. Clayton gave her eye back and tried to give her a new life. It wasn't perfect, but it was a really good one. And way better than being dead.

"Stop it now" Mr. Clayton said to Shawn, the metal wires jerking and making his hand and arm 'wave Shawn off' with a dismissive gesture like Shawn's griping was both annoying and distracting to his point.

The puppet cried out again in longing desperation. "Bradfoooooord." But no one answered. Bradford had been taken.

There was a 'twang' and the cords straightened. And with it, the puppet's head straightened as well. He looked at Delilah, directing his voice to first her and the rest of the kids in the group. "If I don't have Bradford, I'll die."

He crawled slightly, towards Delilah, the metal wires all the while jangling above him.

"I mean it." He pleaded. "Someone has to carry me in that case. I can't be outside of it without Bradford for more than an hour or two."


"Bradford and I...we're...a team." He finished with a sad note, rather lamely as he pleaded, mostly emphasizing this point to Delilah.

"W-will the case be closed?" As the moments dragged on, Shawn became increasingly aware that with Bradford gone, Mr. Clayton was the only other person who really knew what was going on. Loathe as he might be to think it, they might need his advice to survive.

"Yes!" Mr. Clayton snapped at Shawn, the metal wires jerking back and forth and making all kinds of angry noise as he inched himself closer across the road. The puppet was heading for the case. And Delilah and Shawn could see it.

"We've got to find my Bradford!" He insisted, cross the area in front of Penelope who quickly backed up a few steps, eyeing the puppet with wide eyes.

His head shot an upward glance at the mountain top.

"He's up there, isn't he? My Bradford is up there."

"O-okay. Good." Shawn was relieved that the puppet would be somewhere out of sight for the time being. And at least he knew that Mr. Clayton couldn't get out by himself. "A dragon took him. He's probably up there somewhere. With whatever we're supposed to be looking for."

Delilah carried the case. It was easier now that it was empty and nothing was rolling around within.

"And we have to hurry. Bradford said-- he said we had to hurry to find something."

The cords pulled taught and lifted Mr. Clayton to his feet. He spoke with more confidence and certainty, regaining his composure now that he was coming to the see the reality of the situation.

"It's not a good thing." He snapped at Shawn when Shawn commented on how Mr. Clayton would have to be in the case. "It's bad. Bad. Bad."

"If Bradford isn't here. Then that means that we have to get him back. And it's no laughing matter. Delilah is right. We have to find it." He emphasized that last word.

"It, destroys the whole Circus. It, makes everything normal again. That's what It does." Mr. Clayton said, looking up at the sky, the false eyes in his head made a clicking sound as they moved back and forth to survey the red clouds.

"And I know how to get there."

Tiffany was mostly sniffling now. She choked out a question in between sobs "What..is it?"

Mr. Clayton's false gaze turned to Tiffany. Did Bradford tell you what it was?" When Tiffany didn't answer, the metal ropes jangled and he turned to the rest of the group before focusing on Ralph.

"No...I..i..i..i.ii.i.ii..don't think he told me." Ralph spoke up, eyeing the puppet with a mix of fear and caution on his face.

Mr. Clayton considered this. No matter. Two cords from the sky pulled outward, allowing him to spread his arms in a gesture that made it seem like he was speaking to everyone present.

"I know where It is. And Bradford is on that mountain top. We'll simply find Bradford we'll go to the place where It is. Then Bradford will know what to look for." He reasoned.

"Now we just have to decide where all of you want to go. If you head up this road, then things are going to get a lot colder. You all have to cross the The Julesk Ice Field, which is no easy matter."

"But if we go off the road, we can avoid that frigid tundra and head up the side of the mountain. But we'd have to pass the Willow of Truth. It's a great big tree."

Everyone could tell that Mr. Clayton was eager to move on with things. Get the group moving on. Get himself moving. He spoke with the urgency of a child who needed to get something done or get as much play in before being called home by his parents. But there was something else in his voice--worry.

Shawn was terrified of Mr. Clayton, but even he could pick up the hint in his voice about their choice. If there was even a choice in where to go, there had to be some sort of catch in going off-road. "W-what's wrong with the Willow of Truth?"

"Alright. So let's go. Let's go now!"

Delilah nodded eagerly. It was good to have a team captain with a plan. She yelled at the other kids who had ran some distance off to come back.

"Doesn't sound so bad. It's a tree. We can climb trees," she said openly. She was sure nothing bad could come of this plan.

The kids inched forward. Tiffany pulled a tootsie roll out from her pocked and popped in her mouth with one hand, the other used to wipe her eyes from the tears. She was recovering.




"The Willow of Truth is a Willow tree." Mr. Clayton explained, even though the name seemed obvious.

"No one gets by the Willow of Truth without learning a truth. And a truth learned by one, is something that is learned by all."

"I've heard that some truths are too true to actually learn without walking away...changed. You gotta be afraid of un-earned wisdom! Yucka--Yucka!" The puppet philosophized in a joking tone that suggested he was feeling more or less resigned to the absence of Bradford.

This tree sounded scary to Shawn, but he couldn't think of a way to justify it to the others without coming across as suspicious. "You say it's learning a truth? So it wouldn't be something we already know?"

Delilah's concerns lay elsewhere. She kept the mountain in her sights. It was a tree and it was the truth. Neither sounded like anything to worry about.

"Why do you gotta be afraid of unearned wisdom? Isn't that just more truth? My mom says the truth will set you free. And we need to get free of this place."

"Learning...a truth?" Bobby repeated with wonder and a distant look in his eyes.

"I've only been to the Willow of Truth once. You have to duck under its shade of drooping branches and when you pass through and out the other side of it, something in you changes. It sure ain't easy to explain! Ha-HA!" Mr. Clayton laughed a laugh that had a bit of 'pop' to it, but also was somehow inappropriate given the transcendental topic of conversation.

"When you pass through, its just like those branches brush against you. And they tell you something. Something that is true. The Tattooed Lady passed through it, and that's when she learned that the Freaks were being offed by the Clowns one by one. That's what spurred her into action."

"But that was a long time ago. Sometimes they say that when you pass through it, everyone sees the same truth that the Tree passed to that one person. Others say the Tree only passes its truths in secret to individual minds."

"Hell, I don't know. Maybe nothing earned is worth at damn! That's just some silly quote I heard the Fortune Teller say one day. You know, kids, a lot has changed since your old Uncle Clayton was last at the Willow Tree. A new jefe in charge, Malinda the Fortune Teller, new rules... even a few dead Clowns. But now I'm back in the Underworld, I'm rested and I'm ready to give this place a big wedgie again!"

Shawn wasn't sure he liked the sound of truths about him being revealed to other people, but he was keenly aware that Bradford had mentioned a time limit before they actually for-real died. "Fine, let's just do it then. We don't have time to argue." He went over to Bobby, and gave him a reassuring pat.

A gloomy shadow crossed Delilah's face.

"I don't want to change anymore. That's the truth."

She nodded along with Shawn without realizing it. The sooner they were done with the tree, the better. She couldn't tell how much time had passed under the bizzare, crimson sky.

"To the tree!" Penelope announced with some enthusiasm. At the same time, both Shawn and Delilah noticed that she kept a considerable distance from the Puppet.

OOC: Shawn and Delilah Join Thread

Shawn, Delilah: The Willow Tree of Truth