Run!, Stormy Waters IC Sub Thread Options

[Gilga]

Dana dashed toward the hound, but due to fatigue decided to touch the beast instead of punching it. Her body felt heavy, it was tormented beyond anything she experienced before. She was euphoric as the electricity scorched the large hound, killing it instantly. However, despite the thrill and joy of battle, Dana understood that she was in over her head - she no longer expected to get out of there alive.

Just to butcher as many dogs as she possibly can before her warrior body succumbs to wounds and fatigue,

An ordinary person would have run,

... an ordinary person would not be in this situation.

Dana was no ordinary person, she embraced Shark like never before - allowing its mentality to guide and comfort her - Shark did not care for survival,
Dana may die - but Shark will live after her. Seeking a new champion to make the apex predator - Dana was constructed for these things exactly. Everything else faded to the background. Civilized talks, politics and even training were all but a distant memory. All that remained was the thrill of the fight and a desire for more blood. A desire that allowed Dana to overcome her physical condition.

[Gilga]

Suddenly, Dana notices that the beast spirit vanishes she is left with a single regular wild dog. Dana dashes at that dog and shock it, killing it and then kicking its corpse. She is enraged and is screaming "Is that all you got? Bring it on! Fight me! I am not dead yet". A moment later, the enraged elven girl succumbs to exhaustion and injuries. She collapsed head first toward the dog she just killed and loses consciousness.

[irn0rchid]

Visibly relaxing as the two bound spirits report that the evil spirits have fled, Lindsey relays to the other girls standing around in confusion what had happened. "Dana managed to fight off the things that were chasing us, but I think she got hurt pretty badly! She seems to be passed out or something back in that direction." Pointing, "Lets go see if she's okay. Just keep an eye out for anything else..." Some of the other girls seem scared at the prospect of heading back towards the creatures, but the thought of Dana being still alive gets everyone moving again.

As they walk towards Dana's body, Lindsey ends up next to Addie, and raises an eyebrow at her, "Satisfied?"

[Beta]

Addie nods and adds "thank you ... it was the right thing to do, but I owe you, too."

[Gilga]

So I was still alive? I felt embarrassed, knowing that my unconscious body was moved around like an object. Caillin face were indeed beautiful and the gorgeous Addie was there, with a butt that brought the gay out of me. Perhaps it is better than that, few guys can handle me anyhow - always wanting to feel strong and protective.

I did not manage to make sense of it all, we are somewhere and spirits claim there is a city to the west, I help the group progress as much as I can but my mind is elsewhere. I did not fight well enough, I am not good enough - I was created, groomed for combat and yet I let a couple of toxic dogs get the best of me. However strong I am, it is not enough.

It took about a day before I was in complete shape, I checked my legs multiple times, and had Addie brushing them with her tender hands. Err... no sign at all, not a single scar is left from my combat is if it was all a dream. Sometimes I wonder if I am not dreaming now? In what earth do I get to kiss a girl like Addie? Can I really go back to be treated like an expensive piece of equipment? Do I really want to be rescued? Perhaps I am better of in these wilderness fighting beasts until my luck runs out? Where would I go?

Addie invited me to her place, but what would her parents think? Not only I am a girl of no status, completely unaware of the social delicates. I am dangerous... what will happen when my makers come from me? How many people will die then? Can I really ever disappear - performing magic that is so distinctive to myself - like a personal signature. Caillin is a princess, once this is over I'll be nothing more than an exotic memory for her, and Maya ? Perhaps she will stick around in the wilderness - but perhaps not she is not the same person she was just several days ago.

I practice most of the time, and use what I can to try and explore this wonderful relationship, to help the kids get home, but I train extensively and am secretly dreading the day of our rescue.

[Mercy]

Maya looks over the newest campsite and gives a pleased smile. After six days of traveling, things were settling in on setting up and moving. They had broken the original camp the morning after Lindsey and the others had returned with the hunting party sent out to find them. She had been sad to hear of the death and sadder that there was no body to bury. Maya had led as many of the group as had wanted to in a moment of silence for all those that had died or just vanished in the past few days. Surprisingly, there had been no formal vote on the leadership issue; it appeared that Maya was simply given the role by the lack of anyone else really standing up to take it. She had broadened her shoulders and is now trying to do the best she can to get the group away from the dangers of the original campsites and on to a better place. Following the river to the west has certainly seemed to work well for them. Fish and game had proved more plentiful the farther they got from that tainted place and it was easy to keep people usefully employed in the necessary tasks of survival.

She had been particularly glad to see that Dana had survived what had been described by various witnesses to be some sort of superhuman battle with spirits and toxic wolves and even the toxic mage had made an appearance in one telling. Maya notices that Addie is spending a lot of extra time with Dana and it seems that the two might indeed be a couple. Some other couples have formed and Maya has not placed any rules on such things as long as both parties are consenting and no one is forced to do anything they do not want to do. There had been a slight hiccup on the second day when one of the girls had decided she did not want to stay with a boy who thought she should, but that had been defused without any lasting hard feelings. Other things had gone more smoothly and now the hunters were bringing in enough food to keep the group fed when the fish were added in. Nim and Cailin were helping Maya teach people to sew the hides of the animals brought in and make rudimentary clothing.

The good brought back from the cabin had been a godsend and had definitely made life easier. There was something to be said for modern conveniences, even if they were years old. Maya has been pleased at the progress made in the past few days and is hoping to get everyone to safety. She has heard rumblings that some of the kids are thinking that they might not want to go back to a civilization that would find them useless or inconsequential. Out here, they are survivors and a few have approached Maya to let her know that they would stay in the wilderness if she would lead them. THAT had just about made her day. Rafferty had finished his third bow and was working a fourth and the small stock of arrows was growing every day.

There were three other bright spots in the camp these days. First, Lindsey had been much muted when she had returned from her foray and had seemed to throw herself into helping, rather than hindering. Certainly there was still part of the old Lindsey in her eyes, but she had not let that come into the open yet. She is still an ardent voice for the welfare of the women in the group and Maya had given her some responsibility to make sure that they were not slighted or abused. Second, she had approached Rafferty about maybe staying on with her and a few others after getting the rest back to safety and he had not immediately said no. To be honest, he had not immediately said yes, either, but at least the door was still open for the idea. And third, one of the hunting parties had killed a large she-wolf and had been surprised when two of its cubs had followed them back. Maya had managed to keep the hunters from killing them as it would not really add much to the food stores and she was now trying to tame them to her. She knows she has the skills and it should be possible when starting with ones this young. For now, they are still in a makeshift cage and take turns hissing at her or biting at her fingers. But the hissing and biting is less that it had been and she believes that she is making real progress.

She hears her name and stands up from where she had been kneeling at the cage. Someone needs a decision about something. She puts on her game face and goes to see what the problem is.

[Beta]

Addie, day 11, late afternoon

After days of barely moving, it turned out that the secret to getting the group migrating had been easy: scare the girls enough that they were willing to walk until their blisters bled, and the boys came along – whether from pride, lust, or protectiveness Addie barely cared anymore.

She took another minute to soak her aching feet in the freezing cold water before she decided that they were as numb as it was wise to let them get. While she wiped off as much water as she could she muttered what had become a common refrain in the camp “They gave us these high tech body suits, but they couldn’t give us decent hiking boots?”

Eventually her feet were dry – although they’d also warmed up enough to start throbbing again. They’d tried shredding flats to make bandages for blisters, back on the first day. Unfortunately they just didn’t have a way to keep them in place well while walking, so that didn’t help a lot. Caillin healed up anyone whose blisters got TOO bad, but nobody wanted to exhaust the poor girl too badly, and her spells didn’t take out the ache, just heal up blisters. She made sure nobody was going to die from an infected blister, but she couldn’t do a lot to make the cumulative toll of the hikes suck any less.

Addie examined her blisters as impartially as she could, and concluded that she didn’t need to bother the little elf, at least not today. She felt her shoulders relax a bit. She couldn’t help but like Caillin in some ways, and she sympathized with the girl’s breathing issues given that Addie had grown up with similar problems – but the other girl always brought up mixed feelings in Addie. Dana had fought some sort of heroic fight with magical and spiritual dogs, winning due to her magic and Lindsey’s spirits, while Addie hadn’t been able to do anything. When they’d found Dana unconscious, Addie had at first just been relieved that her lover was alive. There had been a few frantic moments while they made sure that she didn’t seem to be slipping away, and then Addie had found herself in the roll of nurse, and had even imagined days or weeks of nursing Dana back to health.

Then Caillin had come and fixed Dana right up, in about as much time as a trid ad would run. Of course Addie was grateful, how could she be anything but grateful? But she had to admit that she felt a bit left out, too.

And when she’d described the vista she had seen from the top of the falls, it turned out that Sim’s spirits had already mapped out the curve in the valley, and her information hadn’t mattered at all. And each day the magicians consulted before sending various spirits off on various scouting, foraging, and protective tasks, and later reported to the rest on where they should go for the easiest walking, to find certain berries or other edible plants. And each night the magicians would convene to sort out the defenses. To be fair, apparently magic here was hard, and the spirits not always cooperative, so it wasn't like all of this was easy for them. But easy or hard, it didn't change that they could do things that the rest of the kids couldn't, and those things were vitally important to the group's survival.

And then there was flying. It was only when she’d wanted to fly to Dana’s aid that she realized her electrical gland was depleted, and she’d realized that it had to have something to do with the shape changing – Dana thought that it simply disappeared when Addie was a bird, and re-appeared when she changed back to human. Which seemed impossible to Addie, but whatever the reason the effect was the same: if she shape shifted again, she’d be largely unarmed for hours and not up to full capacity for a day. Plus it was maybe just possible that after what had happened on their last flight … that she was scared of trying it again.

So Dana had taken other people flying. It made sense, perfect sense, in fact Addie had urged her to do so. But it was still hard to watch Dana strip down with another of the kids, then fly off together.

Addie supposed she should get used to it. That way, if they ever got out of here, it wouldn’t hurt as much when Dana went off live the life that her magic opened to her. It might not happen right away, and maybe they’d stay friends after a fashion, but magic was going to come between them sooner or later. To distract her from that thought she shoved her feet back into the remains of her sneakers, barely whimpering at the pain at all.

Then she rolled back to her feet, put a smile on face, and moved back into the pack of kids. “Who caught that turtle? Jugalo? Nice going, yah, you should wear the shell afterward, like a trophy or something.” “Sure Leslie, I can wrap your ankle, but maybe you should have Maya take a look at the scrape, see if she can do anything for it, or if she thinks you should see Caillin? They can both do a lot more for you than I can.” “Mark, you crack me up. I can’t believe that you are planning on going into computers and not entertainment, I swear I’d pay to see you.” “Pierre, Widget, stop trying to convince me – I’m not the one who will decide if we should try building rafts, that’ll be Maya or the mages. For what it is worth, I think that you should come to some agreement – if you two agree on a technical matter, probably everyone will listen. Of course I’d love to just float down the river, but I’m pretty worried about waterfalls or simply capsizing, so convince them that you have those issues licked and maybe it will happen.”

It was actually kind of soothing, not trying to make the decisions, not giving orders. It was clear that things were going better without her sticking her finger in and screwing it all up, and at least simply being friendly wasn’t anything that required magic or competence.

“Dewie, slow down, I can barely make out one word in three… oh, the birds are back? Good spotting, thanks!” She double checked for probably the hundredth time that the bundle of clothing she had slung over one shoulder was still intact, and hurried back to the flat rock near the river edge where she’d been soaking her feet – it was screened from the main camp, was a big enough open area, and had a fallen tree trunk next to it that Dana could land on if she was feeling fancy.

As the other two reverted to human form Addie made sure to have a big smile on as she handed them their clothes “Welcome back, anything interesting from this trip?”

[Mercy]

Maya is seriously considering calling a halt for a couple of days. They are six days walk from the original campsite.............six hard days. She and Cailin and Addie have been taking care of blisters and small cuts for far too long and it is time to let the feet heal a bit before slogging on. Besides, the people are tired and a couple of days rest her will do some real good. The hunters had seen the tracks and spoor of a small herd of deer in the vicinity and it would certainly not hurt to try to gather in a few for food and hides. She gathers the people that she counts as her lieutenants; Lindsey, Rafferty, Addie, Cailin, Klarissa, Nim, Sim, and Pierre, and gets their opinions of the place. All in all it is no worse than anywhere else, and it does have some advantages. There are a couple of abandoned caves in the rock wall that always seems to sit on the northern side of the river that Klarissa has verified that no animals have resided in them for some time. A large pool of water sits below the caves, providing a good place for fish, and the herd of deer in the area is promising.

After the short meeting, she releases the others but asks Addie and Lindsey to remain for a minute. "I have been watching you both and am very pleased at what the two of you have accomplished. The people seem to look up to both of you and you are becoming real leaders. I value your input and am glad to get your advice. I think that staying here for a couple of days will help us out a lot. I hope that you know that you can always come see me if you have any questions or problems. Thank you, both of you, for your support."

After the meeting, she goes out with Cailin to see to the blisters and minor injuries. Most of the meager supplies of the medkit have already been used and have had to be supplemented by herbs and berries that have medicinal value. She stops by Nim, who has been extra busy turning what hides they can get into moccasins to help replace the crappy shoes they had been left with. Already the effect has been noticeable in the decrease in complaints, Nim has three helpers, now, and they are getting the new shoes out as fast as they can and Maya remembers how Nim's eyes had glowed at the thought of having some deer hides to work with to try to make better moccasins or even some clothes. After giving true encouragement and expressing her pleasure at the progress, Maya moves on. Sometimes it seems that there is just too much to do in any one day.

Pierre and Widget approach her as she is finishing wrapping the blisters of one of the girls. Both start talking at once about making rafts to use to float downriver. Sitting back on her haunches, Maya holds up a hand and gets the two to talk one at a time, but it is easy to see how excited they are. They have plans for cutting some trees and using some of the salvaged rope from the early crates to make rafts it should be so easy and we could use spirits from the mages to get the wood and..........................

Maya holds up a hand to stall the onrush of words. "This sounds like you two have put some thought into this project. I think that you might have left out a few things, but it is a good start. Let's use the break here to try to develop some more answers. Here are some of the initial problems I see. First, with just two axes and one saw, we do not really have the tools needed to cut a lot of trees, so it would take a while. Second, we do not know if Dana or Lindsey can get their spirit friends to cut trees. Third, we do not know how many of us can swim but we DO know that more than a few cannot. We need to account for people falling overboard. Fourth, while it seems that you have considered using Dana to fly ahead to spot any falls, you have not figured out how we would get the rafts past any that she finds. All in all, you have a good start, but I think it just needs a bit more work. Try to come up with the answers and we can bring it up to a camp meeting." The two frown but nod and are already talking over ways to answer Maya's questions as they walk away.

As night closes in, Maya sits near the pond with her cage and two wolf cubs. Her people are safe in the caves and there seems to be enough food for a change and Klarissa is confident that she can add to their stores. A few days here would allow them to dry some food for the future if they get enough extra. Oh well, tomorrow will be another day, full of promises and problems, but Maya is convinced that three or four days here will strengthen them for the next surge. She opens the door to the cage and entices the two cubs out. They have grown in four days and are already too large, really, for the cage and she is hoping that she will not need it any longer. She is making very good progress in training them to her and can see a number of advantages in keeping them. She has named them Nicholas and Alexandra, after a pair of Russian heroes she had once read about in school. For a moment, she wonders what her parents are doing and how they are coping with her disappearance. They had always been very wrapped up in their work, with little time for their wild and adventurous daughter, but they had cared for her. They must miss her, right? Nicholas' tongue on her hand brings her back to the present and she resumes her training.

[Gilga]

Dana lands, and then changes back the child, she waits a bit until the child leaves before she changes herself back. Dana has no problem with nakedness but Addie is there and the entire scene feels awkward to her. She is suddenly aware of her sexuality and no longer spend hours naked just because it is a warm day.

Once she changes back to her skin, Dana uses the opportunity to clean a bit in the stream. She happily smiles at Addie and say "Not much, there is a herd of buffalo or something some a bit to the north would make a good hunt. As long as these are so close, I do not see any reasons predators will risk eating us."

[Beta]

Addie, late afternoon, day 11

At Dana’s news, Addie looks up at the towering slopes rising to the north and south of the narrow valley bottom, furrows her brow for a moment, then brightens as she puts it together. “There is a flatter area up there, not just rugged peaks! That is great news.” She flicks some water at Dana, mostly to get the other girl to look up and see the happy expression on Addie's face, but in part just to enjoy seeing Dana's inhumanly quick reactions as she knocks the water droplets away before they can hit her. Addie takes a moment to indulge the tingle running down her spine at the sight, before carrying on.

“Do you think that there is a route we could get up there, short of magic that is? Rumour around the camp is that spirits say the valley just keeps getting narrower and narrower in front of us, with almost no flat ground beside the river. That’s part of why Pierre and Widget are talking about rafts, but I think a valley that narrow is bound to have a fast current and probably rapids or waterfalls. I guess a bird’s eye view would give a better report than spirits who don’t really understand us, I think? But it might be time to get out of this valley, if we can. Or if not now, we should look for a good spot.”

[Beta]

Addie, dusk, day 11

Listening to Maya, Addie adopts her best slightly friendly, slightly interested, face. The one that got her through Spanish class. Maya is getting so much better, and is trying so hard, but it is hard to stay back and not coach the older girl. Well, made easier a bit because Maya is kind of intimidating, with how knowledgeable and focused she is. So she’s happy enough to melt off amongst the other kids when Maya is done trying to have a moment.

But that thought keeps bugging Addie. She knows that she shouldn’t be involved in the leadership, she’s seen how that works out, but that doesn’t mean that those who are leading don’t deserve her support. Eventually she remembers one of her grandmother’s maxims “Not to make a choice is also to make a choice.” And she sees how it applies here, in a way. To withhold knowledge or advice that might help is equivalent to choosing to undermine.

And so it is that as the sun disappears over the lip of the mountains flanking the south side of the valley farther downstream, she tracks down Maya in the gathering gloom. She’s playing with her wolf cubs – perfect, they keep most of the others at a distance.

Once she’s secured permission to approach she sits down cross-legged on the ground, close enough for quiet conversation. She sits quietly for a few moments, however, to let the savage pups get used to her presence. Finally she says “You might know all of this, but please hear me out – all the way through I think it is all important things for you to hear if you don’t already know it, and even if you know part of it, you might not know all of it. After, we can talk tomorrow if you want, or something, but think on it tonight, please.”

She lets silence fall after Maya’s agreement, before starting off simply and starkly: “Your leadership skills are not all that great. They’ve improved a lot, but there is still a decent chance that the more you try to actively be a leader, the more you risk alienating some people. Do understand that Lindsey or I, maybe Caillin, maybe a few of the others, could probably pull the majority of the group away from you if we really tried. The people who came with us would be foolish, but most people are foolish some of the time.”

She lets that sink in for a moment, then continues in a less stark tone “But the reason that we are following you, and the reason people would be foolish to stop following you, is that you know better than any of us what it takes to survive, to get out of here. Between losing Rick and losing you, it was better by far to lose Rick, and I say that while admitting that I liked him, and even had a bit of a crush on him. He could lead us, but he didn’t know where to lead us to. You can’t lead all that well, but you have a chance to get us to a better destination.”

“This is why people are following you, because you are competent, because you are knowledgeable, because you are a survivor. Please don’t worry so much about how people feel and about being inspiring, that isn’t playing to your strengths. There is a saying, everyone needs something to do, something to hope for, and something to love. Keep people busy with stuff to do, and the more that they feel competent about what they are doing the better. Give them hope that we are getting out of here and to somewhere better. You don’t need to be the leader that they love, though. We have people back home that we love, or most of us do, we don’t need the love part from within the group. I mean, if some, well, …”

Addie clears her throat and lets things fall into an embarrassed silence for a moment, before admitting “Look, Dana and I, she found me all alone in the wilderness when I wasn’t sure if I was going to live or die, if I wanted to live or die, she …” again painful, embarrassed silence, before Addie whispers “I don’t know if she loves me, but we have … something.”

After a moment she rallies and adds “And THAT is not something you need to concern yourself with, that just …. Came out. Back to the point.”

A deep breath and then another, and Addie carried on “A rest day might be good, like you said, as people are getting worn down. Maybe two days, but I don’t suggest more. It is important to keep moving, to keep that hope of getting out alive. And these rest days, besides whatever hunting, fishing, foraging that goes on, we should run some training. Defense, branch-weaving, foraging, navigation, whatever. Something to do, just something less strenuous that walking over rough ground all day. But we should get moving again soon, or people will lose their faith that you are getting them out.”

“So just remember: people are following you because they have faith that you can help us all to survive and get out. Focus on that part mostly. You don’t need to be a drill sergeant or a jerk or anything, you can be nice about things I guess, but people like Lindsey and I can deal with the upset feelings and frustrations for now, if you can just keep us moving, and keep us alive.”

With that Addie stands back, starts to turn away, but then stops it. “About Dana and me, I’m sorry. I know she is your friend, and I don’t mean to take her away from you. I think she needs a lot of different friends, and you probably do to, and I don’t want to mess that up. But I know that, that, whatever Dana and I have, it can interfere with friendships and stuff, and I just wanted to say that I’m sorry if this makes it harder on you.”

With that does turn away and slips away into the darkness until she can get to the other side of some bushes, where she can stand in silence and darkness and shake as emotions she can’t quite name storm through her mind and body. When Dana finally found her there, Addie grabbed her, then before she could stop herself whispered an urgent question at the other girl "You and Maya, you didn't ... did you have a ... you were just friends?"

And then she found she could name at least one of the emotions: jealousy.

[adamu]

Fourth bow. After making Maya's, he'd made the third for Tarok. Obviously, they went to the hunters. He'd thought of giving his own to another hunter. Now that they were a cohesive group it made no sense to keep it himself, having settled into the role of craftsman. But the pull was too light, really, for any of the serious hunters.

Now he was making a huge bow for Klarissa.

He walked, he slept, he whittled. If someone had come to him and told him he'd be thrust into some sort of weird survivalist situation with a bunch of other kids Lord of the Flies-style, he would never have envisioned it playing out this way. He'd have fancied himself a leader, or a warrior outlyer, swooping in from the bush to help in times of need before receding mysteriously back into the wild shadows. He chuckled. All the tutoring and bookwork in the world had not prepared for the reality of tribal politics.

No, it hadn't been the lack of knowledge. Or ability. Well, he didn't think so, but he'd never know because he hadn't much tried. It had been a question of energy. Of motivation. Maya was the leader because whatever happened she'd never stopped striving to do, and help others do, what she felt was right. Rafferty, on the other hand, had never managed to care enough about his fellow wanderers to care much what they did. So much for a sense of duty to others.

Oh, he'd done his duty. He'd helped when needed. He labored all day every day for the good of the group. And, to be fair to himself, Maya's leadership was good - better than he'd have done in any case - so backing her as the moral play.

Recently, however, he'd sunk deeper than before into himself. Walk, sleep, whittle. It gave him time to think.

Which he didn't use.

He used the work to avoid thinking.

Shock, he realized, comes quickly to most - at least that's when it's visible - but to him, at least, it came slowly. To think was to wonder about his parents. To miss them. To panic at the thought of how he'd gotten here, and if he'd ever get out. It helped that they'd been finding more signs that they were indeed in the world, and not some dream place or metaplane. But it was still all too much. His mind had, apparently, just needed time to realize how very horrible and inexplicable, and unfair, his whole situation was.

And he couldn't handle it.

So he walked. And slept. And whittled.

[Mercy]

Maya sits for a while after Addie leaves. The other girl has given her a lot to think about, some good and some not so much. Addie had said her piece and left without letting Maya say anything in response, to tell her that Maya and Dana were just friends. Maya has never been in love...................well maybe if she were honest with herself, but it is apparent to her that Addie is. Maya looks over to where she knows Rafferty is carving another bow and shakes her head. After Grok's death, he was the closest friend she has and she does wish that he would see her the same way she sees him. But she is uncharacteristically afraid; afraid that he would reject her for being, well, many things, all of which he does not want. So she has left it and perhaps it is for the best. Rafferty has mentioned a couple of times that he would like to see his parents and so is probably not willing to remain in the wilderness with her. She sighs and gently curses herself for being afraid.

She ponders what Addie has said as she works with her cubs. She realizes that the girl has spoken a lot of truths about Maya and Maya's ability to lead. What she seems to have completely misunderstood is that Maya had never wanted to be the leader. Not even of the small group that had left with her. But Addie is right about one thing; the group needs to keep moving. It is almost like the girl had seen into her heart and known that she had half hoped that the group would find this place a home and stay here.But Maya knows that she cannot do that. She has promised to get them to safety and so she will get them there. Two days here is enough to allow recovery without getting attached to the place. Perhaps she will return here later. There are worse places to live out a life.

She takes a look at the cubs and makes a decision. They really are too large for the cage and it is time to see if they have taken at least a bit of her training. She stands and walks a bit, calling them to her and....................they follow. Maya smiles and keeps walking, checking to see if the cubs are still with her and glad that they are. Suddenly she stops. Her wandering has brought her to where Rafferty is working on his bow for Klarissa, a mammoth thing for the chief of their hunters. She looks over at the man, who seems a bit lost in thought, and something else clicks inside her. She crouches down and takes up a pebble, tossing it to land just shy of him and getting his attention. From her position, she smiles as nicely as she can, but she is pretty certain it comes off as something else, probably mirroring the fear she feels at the moment. When he looks up, she says, "Listen, ah, I , uh, frag it! Listen, I am more scared to talk to you right now than I was when we faced those lions in the cave. Don't know why, but there it is. You represent my greatest fear and I can't fragging help it." She pauses for a moment. "Yeah, this is coming out all fragged up, so here it is. I want to sleep with you. I know I am nothing to look at, but I can live with it if all you want to do is lie in the same place as me or even just close to me. I need to..............to..........to be with you in some way and don't really know how to let you know without just saying it. I don't want to be so afraid of you that I never let you know and then you are gone. So, will you sleep with me tonight?"

[adamu]

Who knows what Raf might have said if he'd had the slightest warning. He was so shocked, however, that he just blurted out the first thing he thought: "I'm very sorry, aren't you, er, twenty or something?"

[Mercy]

Maya's smile falters a bit and she closes her eyes as she nods. "Just about. Another month or so. I suppose that is as good a reason to say no as any other, and a lot better than some, so I thank you for that. I am sorry I bothered you." She turns and walks away, calling for the cubs to follow her.

[Gilga]

Addie, late afternoon, day 11

At Dana’s news, Addie looks up at the towering slopes rising to the north and south of the narrow valley bottom, furrows her brow for a moment, then brightens as she puts it together. “There is a flatter area up there, not just rugged peaks! That is great news.” She flicks some water at Dana, mostly to get the other girl to look up and see the happy expression on Addie's face, but in part just to enjoy seeing Dana's inhumanly quick reactions as she knocks the water droplets away before they can hit her. Addie takes a moment to indulge the tingle running down her spine at the sight, before carrying on.

“Do you think that there is a route we could get up there, short of magic that is? Rumour around the camp is that spirits say the valley just keeps getting narrower and narrower in front of us, with almost no flat ground beside the river. That’s part of why Pierre and Widget are talking about rafts, but I think a valley that narrow is bound to have a fast current and probably rapids or waterfalls. I guess a bird’s eye view would give a better report than spirits who don’t really understand us, I think? But it might be time to get out of this valley if we can. Or if not now, we should look for a good spot.”

Dana gracefully dodges the water and laughs, "Faster" she says, until she allows some of the water to sprinkle at her face. Addie seems to be in a good mood, and that mood is somewhat infectious as Dana seemed shaken out of her stoic indifference into the bliss of a game, almost.

When Addie asks for her mind she replies, with a grin "Always the practical one, the valley does get wide eventually but it is difficult to estimate distances in such a different body. We also might have missed a few obstacles that are difficult to cross by feet. Perspective is different when you cruise the winds, cliffs are nothing more than a visual riddle underneath.

But the mountains themselves can bend over to ease the passage of the righteous, not that I ever was one of them.
What I am trying to say is that we will deal with obstacles as we encounter them, and no terrain is too difficult if one is determined enough. The benefit of staying here is - that we will not run out of water and we can bathe every day... Perhaps you want to join me for a little while? or is it too cold for your taste?"


Then Dana took a short moment to observe Addie and treasure her image, she then asked "How was your day? I cannot help but feel that you have been a bit quiet these recent days."

(will make a reply about evening post later)

[adamu]

Raf cursed inwardly. He probably could have handled that better, but then any sort of no would have hurt her, and what other answer could there be?

He felt terrible to see her hurt, but he was angry, too. He had never heard anything so out of the blue. And now. ...she was the only one here he really felt close to. He'd looked up to her as a big sister. That, it seemed, was gone. If it had ever been there - apparently her affection had not been the same sort as his own. But how? She was a grown woman, and he, well, he wasn't even shaving yet.

He was on the edge of just getting up and striking out on his own, then and there. Why not? But then they'd come after him, and he'd be responsible for the added danger, the waste of resources.

No, this was survival. Group survival. He had no right to play the pouty pre-adolescent. He picked up his knife and carried on working.

[Gilga]

Addie, dusk, day 11
With that does turn away and slips away into the darkness until she can get to the other side of some bushes, where she can stand in silence and darkness and shake as emotions she can’t quite name storm through her mind and body. When Dana finally found her there, Addie grabbed her, then before she could stop herself whispered an urgent question at the other girl "You and Maya, you didn't ... did you have a ... you were just friends?"

And then she found she could name at least one of the emotions: jealousy.

Addie's lips bring a shiver down Dana's long ear, the excitement of having her lips so close to that sensitive area softened the young warrior in ways that she did not yet fully comprehend. She held Addie's hand tightly and kissed her softly. Hoping that nobody was spying on them. She said quietly Is that what they say about me and Maya at camp? We slept next to each other when it was cold but it was nothing sexual." She softly spoke "You are my first Addie, my only one. After a long breath and clear effort she added "Well there was this other guy once, but it was not good. I was too young and he was 20 years older and married, he had complete power over me, and I... I was only beginning to discover myself. I did not mean for anything to happen then, please do not think any less of me."

[Beta]

Addie, day 11, dusk

Somehow she was giving Dana a hug, she couldn't even remember deciding to do that -- and obviously Dana hadn't objected or there would be nothing but air in Addie's arms. "I don't mind, I don't think any less of you. It isn't even any of my business."

She gives an extra squeeze to Dana, then admits "Except that I did ask. I didn't plan to, I didn't mean to, but I did anyway. I guess ..." she sighs into Dana's hair before finishing up in a small voice "I guess there's more 'jealous bitch' in me than I ever knew. I hate that. It isn't rational, it isn't useful, it isn't good emotional maturity. But I went to give Maya some advice and ended up being a bitch about it, and I had to leave before I really tried to make her cry, and then I realized it was out of control jealousy. Jealousy with no good reason."

After taking one more breath of Dana, Addie steps out of the hug so she can look the other girl in the eye -- there is just enough light that she can still see fairly well, although soon she'll be as night-blind as any normal human. "I'm sorry I'm being so irrational. And that I vented it all at you. Now that I realize I'll try to control myself better."

She knows she should just stop now, but apparently tonight her tongue isn't listening to her common sense, and it carries on, talking more and more quickly "And if I've been quiet, maybe the jealousy was building, but I think mostly I feel a little lost. In any group usually I was in the middle, if not outright leading. But everything I tried to do here went wrong so I don't want to tell anyone what to do, I'll just get them hurt. I know a lot about the other kids, but I can never seem to talk well with Maya so I can't even really share that. I know a little bit about survival and things but not nearly as much as Maya so it is better to let her take charge of things. But then what use am I? I'm just one more body to feed and protect. I was brought up to take care of others, not be taken care of. I don't want to be a burden while Maya and you magicians take care of everything."

Finally she manages to stop -- just too late. She really hadn't meant to bring up the magic bit. Hopefully with everything else she'd babbled on about Dana wouldn't pick up on it?

"Sorry! I just keep babbling tonight." She forces a laugh, hoping it doesn't sound too forced, or crazed. "You should ignore everything coming out of mouth, I'll be fine, just adjusting to everything."

Later she would feel guilty for the relief she felt when Gem appeared out of the gloom, demanding "Do either of you know where Niyaf is? I can't find her."

[adamu]

An hour later Raf had calmed considerably. In his shock, his already frayed emotions had overruled cool analysis, and he'd ascribed the worst possible interpretation to the actions of someone to whom - more than anyone - he owed the benefit of the doubt.

If he was suffering emotionally so much with their predicament, should he not assume she was in the same distress? And with so many additional pressues - the pressures he'd been only too willing to let her shoulder.

And if, out of a spiritual intimacy borne of shared trials and experiences, she had come to desire him...well, should he not feel flattered that a woman as strong and beautiful as she was would see him not as a twelve-year-old boy, but as a man?

It wasn't as though she had tried to impose herself upon him - she'd approached as an equal, not a leader, or someone larger and stronger. And, for that matter, although she'd clearly implied sexuality was on the table, it seemed clear that her primary motive was more along the lines of companionship. He'd read that girls in adolesence sometimes confused sexual and emotional desire.

And then his response. It had been a fair question, but coupled with the insecurities he knew she had....

He was pretty sure he couldn't acquiesce to her request on any level, but he needed at least to go and speak to her...not a task he relished the prospect of, but his duty nonetheless. He sheathed his knife, picked up his bow, and went out to look for her. Thankfully there was a strong moon tonight.

And then he heard Gem asking someone if they knew where Niyaf was....

[Gilga]

Dana embraced Addie, if only to breath her, she listens and then speaks "It is okay to be jealous, you are a person. There are no bad emotions, every single one of them is good. Even jealousy, I find it quite charming that you care so much about me." She said and kissed Addie softly, while softly stroking the girl's back.

She then said "Don't try to control it, just be yourself - let it all out. There is no other way, if you suppress your feelings - you are going to reach another meltdown. I was once like you in suppressing my so called 'negative' emotions and it did not end up very well for me."

Dana jumps surprised when Gem appears, like a child busted in the cookie jar. Her cheeks are blushed and the shade of her hair changes to a deeper red. "Nyaf... m... I know who she is, I spoke to her a bit. When was the last time you saw her?"

[Aria]

Day 11, Just After Dusk, Riverside camp

While Maya and Raf and a few of the others while away the evening around the campfire the stars begin to shine in to view overhead. Sim comes running over

“The hunting party hasn’t returned, they should be back by now! My spirit left at sundown so I will see what I can do but they are becoming more reluctant to help the more we follow the river towards the plains… I can’t explain it, they aren’t doing anything overt, I just get a feeling… ah, I don’t know…”

[irn0rchid]

Lindsey's funk didn't show any signs of lifting and the days of hiking certainly weren't helping. The disastrous result of her attempt to find a way out of here left many of the other girls wondering why they even went with her int he first place. She didn't even have the heart to try and pin the blame on Dana and Addie. Even her spirit friends seemed to be avoiding her. They seemed more reluctant than usual to visit her and the ones that did show up seemed bitter and angry. Maybe it was just her mood rubbing off on them. The only bright spot was the goodies from the building that she'd stashed in her backpack before the whole dog incident.

Clutching the straps of her bag, she was at the far side of the fire lost in thought when Sim panted out his news. Unconcerned with the fate of a group of kids she barely knows, she responds, "Maybe they managed to get something good and they're taking their sweet time getting it back here?" Thinking to herself, "Maybe it's not just me? If my friends are unhappy about where we're going, should we be going this way...?"

[adamu]

At Sim's agitated arrival, Raf woke with a start from where he had dozed off against a tree, knife and the beginnings of a bow cradled in his lap.

He looked around, slightly sleep-befuddled. There was Maya near him by the campfire. Had her reaching out to him been a dream? Had they found Niyaf? Or had she ever been missing? Raf shook himself and took a breath. But even after a taking a few steadying moments to make sure he was fully conscious, he honestly could not decide of the previous events of the evening had been real or imagined. He knew the stress had been getting to him. Maybe it was worse than he'd thought. And now the hunters had gone somewhere? He got up, leaving his knife and bow on the ground, and went to find a phone to call his parents.

[Aria]

Day 11, Just After Dusk, Riverside camp

One of the other hunters, Paul, who hadn’t been out that afternoon comes hurrying up to the leadership posse, his face white with tension…

“I found them, it wasn’t hard, they were meant to be found…and I found this…” and from within his sleave he produced about half an arrow shaft, carbon fibre with artificial fletching… “They’re all dead!”