fandomhigh | Sex And Candy, Wednesday, Second Period

"So, one of the problems of fairy tales is that they are sometimes contradictory in the messages they try to teach," Cindy said, as students filed into the Danger Shop, set up to look like a vast forest with a single path winding through the middle. "Some of them try to tell you that so long as you follow the rules and work hard, everything will be okay. Others make a point of life's unfairness, where people even decent people get the short end of the stick and children die for getting dirty. While most of them stress how important it is to be kind to those you meet, no matter how lowly or common they appear to be, some show how easily kindness can be repaid by cruelty. Sure, most of those usually end with the bad guys getting their comeuppance, but most of those endings seem tacked on at the last minute. It's the suffering that gets most of the attention."

Of course, part of that could be blamed on sheer human nature and what people found most interesting to hear about, but that was a lecture for a different day.

"So, today, we're going to experiment with the arbitrary nature of fairy tales," Cindy continued, and please ignore that little grin she can't quite get rid of. "Your job is to deliver this basket--" and with the click of a button, there were a stack of picnic baskets by her feet "--through the woods to Grandmother's house. Stay on the path and don't forget--" She clicked another button and stopped biting back the grin. "--Your little red hood."

[Many thanks to

furnaceface for helping me iron out the OCD!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry, old woman. Rules are rules.

You continue down the path towards grandmother's house, basket in hand, when a fairly disreputable-looking fellow darts out of the trees, snatches your basket, and dashes away down the path back towards the river.

Hey! You just got mugged!

So much for following the rules.

You need that basket! Try to catch him and get it back. Hope you're quick or very clever!

...Except the mugger is totally a jerk and even caught, he throws the basket into the river. Cindy will look the other way if you decide to rough him up a little for being ~~well, Jack~~ a pain.

[If you let the spider eat the ant, he & his family will help you catch the mugger by spinning a very big web and catching him! Otherwise, you're on your own!]

"Oh, come on!"

The forest around the path was far too dense for Warren to spread his wings to chase the mugger from the air, and so he took off after him on foot. Fortunately, the spiders came to his rescue before long. Not that Warren would have been winded before catching up to the guy, he was made for endurance, but really. Really.

He murmured his thanks to the spiders, just as...

Okay. Tossing the basket into the river? That earned the mugger a kick to the shin before Warren tried to puzzle out how to fish out the basket before it was swept away in the current.

"Son of a --" Claudia ran off after him, then cheered when he got stuck in the giant spider web.

See? Even spiders had to eat!

Hey! That was their basket! With a growl, Blind Seer gave chase, catching up just in time to see the mugger get caught by the spiders. Which probably worked out better for him, since it was a much less pain-filled alternative than being caught by two irritated wolves.

Throwing the basket into the river, though... that earned him a growl before Firekeeper dove in to attempt to retrieve it.

[ooc: NO I DIDN'T ACCIDENTALLY PING IN THE WRONG THREAD BEFORE WHAT DO YOU MEAN.]

Mercy chased after the mugger, catching up to him easily, but not quite in time to get her basket back. Still she was pleased to be able to throw him into the spiders' web and leave him there shrieking. She thanked the spiders for their help and headed to try and retrieve her basket.

Edited 2011-06-08 19:47 (UTC)

Man, your grade is depending on that basket. You know, the one that is currently bobbing along in the middle of the river. Hope you don't mind getting soaked.

[If you saved the fish, she will push your basket back up onto the shore. Otherwise, dive in!]

Warren was just about to make the leap in as the fish intervened, saving him from further wetness.

Thank goodness. Soggy wings were not how Warren had been hoping to spend the rest of the class.

"Dammit, stupid basket." Claudia started into the water -- she was already pretty wet, so what was a bit more water? -- when she saw the fish from earlier pushing the basket towards her. "Sweet. Thanks, fishy."

The basket being downstream from her, all Firekeeper's swimming managed to do was keep the distance between them equal. Until the fish showed up and hauled it to shore. Well, that was nice.

Mercy sighed and prepared to wade into the water after the basket. She didn't have to get in too deep before the fish pushed it over to her. She thanked it for its kindness and waded back out to continue down the path.

~~HI, JACK.~~

Sex And Candy, Wednesday, Second Period

Sticking to the Path

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Get the Basket!

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