[CYOA] THE MAIZE MAZE (Danny & Rikki)

[chiickadee]

It Begins

Maybe they were a little too old for Maize Mazes, but the worlds "too old" shouldn't have been applied to Danny and Rikki anyways.

It was Danny that had dragged him down to the school again (did anyone else ever do the dragging unless minipets were involved?) and talked him into doing the silly maze. The entire drive down she hadn't stopped talking about how she was going to burn the maze down (it started with "really slowly like start at one corner and then watch it all go down" but it slowly became "AND THEN I'M GONNA FIREBALL THIS-").

But once she was actually at the maze, she thought it would be most fun to burn it from the inside out. Which meant getting to the center.

She poked Rikki's side as they entered and came to their first crossroad. Left or Right, a difficult decision.

"Left!" she told him, expectantly waiting for him to go that direction.  

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

Rikki tried very hard to steer Danny away from decisions that would lead to chaos and probably murder ("Danny you can't-" "There are people in that maze" "DanNY!"), but he was ninety-nine percent certain she wasn't listening. He was also certain that there was no way he could stop her or distract her once they got there.

He said a silent prayer for the victims and their loved ones as they pulled up to the rows of corn. It was kind of hypocritical of him to then immediately link hands with her and head left, but he did it anyways.

A few steps in something moaned and Rikki shuddered, taking a half-step closer to Danny. "Why do we have to go to the center?"  

[chiickadee]

Left

"Because!" Danny told him. "If you're on the outside, you only watch it burn down from one side. If you're in the middle you get to watch ALL the fire!!"

She was still holding his hand, so at least Rikki was doing a good job of keeping her from running through the maize "walls." Small successes.

A sad moan sounded from the corn and Danny looked around. "What was that?"  

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

"I have no clue but we're not waiting around to find out," Rikki said quickly. They didn't have a lot of options, but forward was out of the question. He tugged her hand, leading them down the path further left. "Don't look back it'll go away if you don't look back."  

[chiickadee]

Left (Again

So Danny promptly looked back.

"Nothing's there!" she informed him with a happy sort of chirp, bobbing her head as they walked down the path. "Are you scared?"

The air became chilly and there was distinct peppermint in the air. Oh s**t was Christmas attacking? Not again.  

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

Rikki quickly slowed his pace and puffed out his chest. "I'm never scared!"

He jumped as the sound of a train whistle blared nearby. At least, it sounded like a train. But why would there be a train in the middle of a corn field? "What the... Did you hear that too?"  

[chiickadee]

"It's a train!" Danny informed him. She saw no problem with there being a train in the middle of a cornfield. It was normal yes.

Seeing as Danny elected to completely ignore the train sound, they headed deeper into the maze. The corn seemed to grow taller and taller, nearly engulfing the sky. Danny didn't mind so much (she could always burn their way out), but she did walk a little closer to Rikki. It was kind of nice out here, actually, if you ignored the train sounds.

They came to a stream of some kind and Danny immediately frowned. No. Water bad very bad 0/10.

A crudely made sign blocked their way, claiming a toll of 1 silver seed.  

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

Rikki kept an eye out for the mysterious corn train as he was guided away, but didn't find anything. It faded to the back of his mind as the maze seemed to grow menacingly taller and they trekked deeper into the unknown.

He gave the sign a skeptical look. "It's just a little water. C'mon."

He jumped over the river and turned, holding out his arms to encourage Danny to do the same. "Just close your eyes and jump."  

[chiickadee]

Pay 1 Seed

Danny shook her head like a scareling being told to eat their vegetables.

She at least reached into her belt to pay the 1 seed fine. 1 seed was nothing to her. It made a hollow sound in the bottom of the can.

There was apparently a gnome there. Well Danny hadn't known. "Wow he's so little." Danny stopped their progress to bend over and poke the gnome. He tapped the sign again, which now read 100 seeds. Hm.  

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

Rikki reached out as if to stop her from depositing the coin, but it was too late. He made a face at the gnome, and shouted out (again, too late) "Don't touch it!"

"100 seeds is ridiculous. This is hardly even a stream. Don't pay that." 100 seeds could be used on pizza, Danny. So much pizza.  

[chiickadee]

Pay 100 Seeds

Danny rolled her eyes and pulled her seed bag off her belt, dumping the majority of it into the bucket. It was probably more than 100 seeds, but she wasn't really counting. Danny never counted.

The gnome lowered his mini bridge and Danny stepped across. She could have hopped across the river, yes, but this made her feel better.

Two signs: to center and maybe center???

Danny shoved back into Rikki and put a hand on her chin. "It must be a puzzle. Like that one says the center but it's not really center- but maybe they WANTED US TO THINK THAT." Detective Danny on the case.