Forums » General Roleplay » Trick Or Treat: An A-Maze-ing Day

((We're just full of puns here.

Hidden Valley Ranch (the farm, not the sauce) is proud to present this years Hay Maze! Participants pay $2 to go through the maze. At the end of it you get your pick of a free Warm or Iced Apple Cider, Hot Chocolate, or fresh made Strawberry Lemonade, as they've got a lot of strawberries left over from the harvest this year.

All characters welcome! This is a supernatural-friendly setting. While HVR is typically an 18+ only setting, everyone is welcome for this one-time event.


And here's the maze!))

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Juddson had opened the gates about fifteen minutes ago. There was ample parking on the grass, some poles and rope a gentle outline with a worker gesturing people the right way. The Hay Maze was always good fun, with the entrance and exit standing facing one another. Near the exit was a table full of beverages and snacks, fresh grown local fruits and veggies visible at a nearby stand. Judd was proud of the work they'd put into this years Hay Maze, considering how crazy things had been around the ranch as of late.

The older man stood near the entrance of the maze, taking money and explaining the simple guidelines for inside the maze to anyone who would listen. He was looking around for his husband, Jay, but he assumed he was up in the air for a birds eye view, there to make sure no small children were lost and crying. That took all the fun out of the maze if someone got upset inside of it! "Make it through the maze and get yourself something delicious to drink at the end!" he was calling. There was a playground nearby, the ground cleared of the leaves that came and went with Fall, and a few novelty decorations standing up along the way. Juddson had donned a cowboy hat for this, which he never liked to do because it was ridiculous, but this was all in the spirit of Halloween right? "If you run into one of our workers in there, be sure to say Trick or Treat." Would they get a treat? Honestly, it was up to whoever they ran into.

Mina had wandered away from her parents, as she often did at these kinds of things. The little girl was having a blast, running around and exploring. She was dressed in the costume she'd carefully selected. It was kiki from Kiki's delivery service! She knew she didn't have the black hair for it, and had begged her parents to dye and cut her hair until they did. This did end up happening to Mina's delight.

Though the dying process was something Mina heavily disliked. ("Never again mama." she had declared.)

Somehow, she'd found her way to the maze, and she looked at the older man (Juddson, though she didn't know it), smiling up at him. She listened to the instructions carefully, holding onto her little broom," May I go in mister?" she asked with a smile. Mina really wanted to see what was in the maze, and a yummy drink sure did sound appealing. She took note of what he was saying about the employees and the trick or treat thing. Would they give candy? Mina wondered to herself. She hoped so!

Mina felt the excitement building.

((Just wanna say I adore the puns lol.))

Sam followed his over excited boyfriend Jayce to the maze, smiling softly. Jayce had suggested they dress up together so he was Mario while Jayce was Luigi. Sam paid to go in, let out a small surprised yelp as Jayce pulled on his arm.

”Hurry up Sam!”Jayce said, he tried to pull Sam along but was smaller then Sam and didn’t do much. ”You work out to much, I’m revoking your Gym rights!” Jayce was struggling to get his boyfriend to move by force.

“Who says you can do that Jayce?” He teased, scooping Jayce up and setting him on his shoulder. “If I don’t go to the gym then I’m gonna have nothing to do and I won’t be able to send you videos of the weights goof” he chuckled as Jayce started pouting.

Abby always had a soft spot for mazes. No matter if they were made of corn plants, in a wheat field, or hay bales, she was drawn to them like a moth to light. Plus, she wanted to see if this one was fun enough to come back again with her friends, so a scouting mission was needed.

Pulling her Prius onto the grass, she got out of her car wearing a kigurumi, one of those onsies that made her look like a rainbow unicorn. Making sure to take her small purse with her, she locked the car and followed the others towards the entrance of the maze while stuffing her key into a pocket of the purse where she was sure she wouldn't lose them. As she walked along, she took a series of selfies with her cell phone, mainly so that there would be proof that she did this and so that she could text her boyfriend to let him know she was okay.

She waited behind Mina to get into the maze. She couldn't help fawning over the costume of the girl in front of her with a huge smile on her face, "Oh my goodness! You're so adorable! I love your costume. Kiki's Delivery Service is one of my favorites to watch. My best friend and I have marathons with all the studio Ghibli frequently."

In her hand, she had the right amount of money ready to hand to Juddson when it was her turn, compliments flying out of her mouth before he might've even acknowledged her, "Your cowboy hat is really cool!"

Abby sounded hyper, she more than likely was just from excitement, but she was just really happy that it was the best season of the year.

Tabby had her $2 admission to get into the maze in hand. She needed to visit the little girl's room before entering and told the others to wait for her. Of course, it was just her luck that her friends were nowhere to be found when she got back. Tabby scanned the area outside maze in annoyance. She wondered if Trevor had put the others up to hiding from her.

"Starla? Matt? Trevor," Tabby called annoyed. Maybe they'd gone out to Matt's van to get something. Tabby headed back to the parking lot but found the white van empty. She peered inside to see if they were hiding in the back. Nope. No sign of them. "Arrgh," Tabby growled narrowing her eyes in frustration. They had better not have gone into the maze without her!

Tabby made her way back over to the hay maze but still didn't see any sign of her friends. "Oh well," she grumbled. "Maybe they did go in. Either way, I will likely run into them once I'm in there. She approached the maze and offered her money to the man collecting it at the entrance.

Looked like the field was filling up quickly, but that wasn't a shocker. Judd found that this time of year was like the height of attraction for the farm. Often times people liked to come just to look at the trees, but since there was usually plenty to do around here it wasn't like they didn't have reason to stick around.

"Alright everyone," he said, gesturing them towards the table and signaling for a line to form. "We'll get you all in." He could not for the life of him tell you what Mina was, as his anime references extended far enough to... absolutely zero, but the costume was adorable. A witch, maybe? Judd had a soft spot for kids, considering his one and only was all grown up and not looking to introduce grandkids into the fold. Apparently, someone recognized the costume. Kiki's Delivery Service? Who wanted to watch an old man try to google on his cell phone? Once everyone was in, of course.

He handed a whistle over to Mina, one from a large basket on the table. "Blow this if you get too lost, and someone will come find you and help you out," he advised her. The safety of their guests was extremely important, after all. Abby was next, taking her money and passing off a whistle. She'd surely heard what it was for, right? Compliment to his hat had him tipping it, winking. "Thanks. Seemed appropriate." In truth it was the mark of a Dad. It was such a Dad costume. Just his clothes with a novelty hat and he was good to go. "Have fun!" he directed. Next came Little Red, though she didn't look terribly excited and festive.

"Well now, don't look so down. You're about to have fun aren't ya?"

Mina scurried to get in line with everyone else at being prompted. Then, once she'd been given the whistle she nodded,"yessir!" She clutched the whistle and gave a little salute.

The little girl then ran off into the maze, most excited to see what was in there. She explored and found a dead end almost at once,"hmph." The tiny girl turned and headed back.

She wanted to figure out this maze.

Abby took the whistle and gave it a test blow, just to ensure that it was actually working. It was! With a wink and a salute, she smiled at Juddson, “Thanks, cowboy!” Now she was off into the maze.

She moved slower, avoiding people as they turned around and went in various directions, watching to see where people went and see if she saw them again to show that they had gone the wrong way. Abby seemed to do fairly well for herself, only needing to turn around a handful of times before she was back on the right course.

"Well now, don't look so down. You're about to have fun aren't ya?"

Tabby looked around at the building line trying to catch sight of her friends. She handed the man her money and accepted the whistle.

"I seem to have lost my friends," She said. "Or they lost me. I don't suppose you've seen a blonde girl with a long-haired guy and his shorter, goofy-looking guy that attempted to dress as a Jedi did you?"

Tabby didn't expect the guy at the entrance to remember seeing them given the number of people here, but maybe he'd remember nonetheless.

"Calum, I really don't like this" Catriona said as she as the redheaded twins approached the maze. Since it was Halloween, Catriona was dressed as a princess from the Renaissance times. She had a pretty tiara on her head and a black and red formal dress that complimented her hair.

Calum was dressed in all black, wearing a mask and a long, black wig with a good up. However right now the mask was off as he looked around "I'm right here, you've got nothing to worry about." He said "besides, it's just for fun right?"

Catriona bit her lip nervously as she looked around, already shaking a bit as she continued to walk closer and closer. She just wanted to go to the party her friends had invited her to.

Despite the Ranch being supernatural, the jaybird magical familiar was well aware that not everyone was as knowledgable to those not regular old human. He had been taking a bit of a flight over the grounds, but he'd decided he was best used if he stuck to his human form. Many of the other employees here could probably get away with claiming they were wearing super convincing costumes, but being a bird didn't really qualify. He had donned his costume though, which was cheeky at least for him. Dressing as a witch when you weren't actually one was amusing, but likely only he'd find it funny. It didn't matter, he had went extra with his costume, complete with a cloak, though the hood was down.

It wasn't long after the first of the people arrived that he came upon Juddson, offering him a quick kiss to the cheek before smiling to the little girl he had just given the whistle to. It wasn't unusual for children to ditch their boring parents and do the more fun things, it was why they had precautions set in place just for that. One of those precautions came in the form of a golden retriever who was bounding through the grass and up to where the husbands were standing. "Good Girl." he reached down to ruffle her head.

"Hey, do me a favor Woofie; go make sure that girl gets all the good treats." that was the dog apparently, Woofie Goldberg...a golden retriever. If you thought Hidden Valley Ranch was there the puns ended you'd be wrong. In response, the dog just barked and wagged her tail before bounding off into the maze after Mina. Once she met up with Mina she'd offer a bark before circling her once and walking toward what appeared to be the correct direction. Like any well trained dog, she stopped and looked back to make sure the girl was folllowing.

His eyes shifted to Sam and Jayce next, equally amused at their banter and their matching outfits. Juddson and himself used to do that, but they were getting far too old for that. He was impressed Judd put on a cowboy hat to be honest. "You two going in?" he called out, flagging them down with a friendly smile. He wouldn't harass them though, it seemed the line for those wanting to get in was just getting longer and longer. This was good! He was excited to see so much activity around the Ranch.

Tabitha's question had Jay turning to look around those gathered, trying to find her wayward friends. It wouldn't be difficult if he was shifted but alas, he was only human at the moment. "Afraid not Miss, maybe they went into the maze?" he offered about as much help as he could right now, a touch of a frown on lips. Hopefully she found her friends, but he was of not much help right now. "If I see them I'll tell them you're looking." he at least offered, though it would be hard with this crowd.

The crowd which only seemed to be getting larger! The twins caught his attention, sensitive hearing catching Catriona's concerned words. Well now, this wasn't a haunted house! It was just a fun hay maze with stops for treats along the way. "Ain't nothing to be worried about, it isn't scary." he assured as he came up on them. "Though if you want to just skip to the table, there's plenty of treats there too." he didn't want anyone to feel obligated or pressured after all!

Tabby simply nodded when the "maze keeper" was unsure if he'd seen the others, suggesting they probably had gone into the maze.

"Yeah probably," She agreed glancing over her shoulder and pausing again to see if she caught sight of her friends. After a quick scan, she decided to enter the maze and start exploring. Eventually, she'd find everyone again.

It felt a bit lonely walking between the stacked bales of hay by herself. She wished she had a group to walk with, even if she didn't know them, at least until she found Matt, Starla, and Trevor.

"Exactly!" Calum exclaimed to his sister when the man spoke "come on, it'll be fun" he said and grabbed her hand and started toward the maze. Catriona had a bad feeling but she just decided to live a little and she looked at the man and waved at him before stopping and going over to him "do we need anything before going in?" She asked him with a soft smile.

The two had already paid before getting to the entrance so that wasn't an issue. Calum was excited and that feeling seemed to reflect to Catriona as her tension in her shoulders and back released and she relaxed.

Mina squealed in delight at seeing the pooch,"oooh! A puppy! A good boy!" She was so excited. She loved animals, dogs and cats especially. She followed in excitment, petting the dog whenever possible.

"Are you guiding me? What a smart doggie you are!" The girl remarked with a giggle. She kept following the pooch,"do you count as a worker here?"

Deimos, an employee of the ranch and general idiotic teenager, was chilling out in the maze. He was positioned at the end of a dead end in the maze, a place that was easy to simply walk by. The mullet rocking teen was dressed up as a scarecrow, sitting with a bowl of full sized chocolate bars on his lap and hat titled down to hide his face. Was he a real person or one of those robot scarecrows!?

His hat had holes cut in the brim so he could see even with it covering his face. And his sleeves were actually a bit longer than his hands, with holes in them so he could slip out his hands and use them.
But waiting for people to get to him was boooring. So, like any teenager, Deimos was on his phone, texting his...friends? Did he still have friends on the island? N...No? Oh, he was on Instagram, looking at cat pictures and videos. Every once and a while the meowing of a cat could be heard coming from his phone.

Inside the maze were many employees of the ranch, one in particular blonde wearing wolf ears and a fake tail was sitting up on one of the bails. He had a toothpick stuck between lips, chewing lightly and watching as people walked through and got turned around. He wore a lopsided grin on his lips, though when Tabitha passed by he hopped down to land in front of her.

"You look lonely all by yourself." he spoke in form of greeting. "Name's Casey, I work on the Ranch. You looking for people or just hoping to get all the good candy for yourself?" his voice was pleasant enough as he started walking next to her. "I can show you the way if you want?" he offered, being his usual friendly self. She had no fear of him having ulterior motives, he was about as gay as they came and very happily taken.

Elsewhere in the maze Woofie was stopping every now and again, wagging her tail and getting excited to all the petting the little girl gave. Eventually the two of them would find Deimos, the little kitten sounds drawing Woofie to him. The dogs nose buried itself in the chocolate bars before one was gently lifted and she turned to Mina looking far too pleased with herself. The bar was offered to the girl, that tail wagging as she waited for the little witch to take it.

~~

Outside the maze Jay came to lean up against the hay bails that formed the entrance, watching those entering and making sure they didn't take that first immediate turn that led to a dead end right off the bat. When Catriona came up to him he shook his head to her question. "Nope, knock yourselves out. There shouldn't be anything scary and if there is you tell me and I'll set them straight." he offered a wink, before watching them enter the maze and letting the employees within handle it from there.

Mina gasped as the dog lifted the full size candy bar. She squealed in excitment. She thanked the dog and looked to the employee,"thank you mister!" She waved at the employee, and then looked back at the dog, giving him more pets. The candy bar was gingerly taken from woofie, and Mina put it in a pocket.

She wondered where to go now. She assured Woofie he was a good boy or girl. Mina wasnt actually sure what gender the dog was.

Then she says,"alright! Lets keep going!"

Tabby let out a yelp of surprise as someone jumped down in front of her blocking her path. It was a blonde boy with wolf ears and a tail.

"You look lonely all by yourself." he spoke in form of greeting. "Name's Casey, I work on the Ranch. You looking for people or just hoping to get all the good candy for yourself?" his voice was pleasant enough as he started walking next to her. "I can show you the way if you want?" he offered, being his usual friendly self. She had no fear of him having ulterior motives, he was about as gay as they came and very happily taken.

"Oh you scared me," Tabby replied. "But, uh, I guess that's your job. Uh... yes... I mean, yes I'm lonely and looking for people and also after candy."

Judd admittedly would have enjoyed walking through the maze (minus the map that each employee had in case they needed to get to someone who was frightened or too lost to keep trying) but he had to be responsible and run things. With Jay at his side, at least he had someone to keep conversation rolling with. Jay had all the charisma needed to ease Catriona's mind it seemed, but he got just one thing wrong. Judd held out one of the packaged whistles, for either twin to take. "Just give this a blow and stay put if you need someone to come help you out of the maze," he told them. "Have fun!"

People were filtering in, and Judd found himself stepping up onto the ladder he had next to him so he could peer into the maze. So far, so good. Everyone seemed happy, though it wasn't like he could see all of them. The maze was massive. He was sure Deimos and the others inside would make sure everyone had a good time.

"Alright... should start seeing people filter out in... Ten or so minutes." Seriously. Huge maze. "Guess we ought to start pouring some drinks?" Since the exit was across from the entrance table, Judd moved over to check the temperatures of the hot drinks. Better to pour a few and let them sit to cool, especially since there were youngin's in there. Lord knew they didn't always wait to sip, and he didn't need someone with a burnt tongue.

Within the maze they'd find all sorts of decorations. A few of the barn cats were dressed up in costume, no doubt thanks to Deimos, running around like they were giant silly spiders and meowing loudly for anyone that passed them. At some points a worker might jump out and give someone a shock, but if the maze-goers remembered to say trick-or-treat they'd find themselves presented with small, tied bags of candy. To say the ranch went a little all out on this was selling it short, honestly.

The twins nodded and took one before running inside. This was a bit exciting and couldn't wait to figure their way out. They didn't see anyone else, but that was because it was a bit dark, although anyone would be able to find the twins because of their red hair. They took rights and then a few lefts, they were having fun.