Dana wakes up after a luxurious sleep... Too luxurious... she count the people in the camp. They are all there - everyone she feared for that is. The massive orc? where is he... wasn't he supposed to wake us up?

Maya seems to be giving the orders, so Dana does not speak much, what could she possibly say?

Instead she scans the nearby surrounding for some hint of Grok and shortly after discovers a piece of his clothes. Her sense of urgency and surging adrenaline means that this time Dana does not even care who might be looking, she strips and then changes herself into a dog. With her enhanced senses, she quickly peeks up the tracks of Grok - only to arrive at what appears to be a murder scene. Filled with gore and blood and signs of struggle. He adrenaline is surging, ' a worthy challenge to live or die by' she thinks. She barks repeatedly to summon the rest to the scene, and then continue to follow the scent of what she feels is the aggressor - some large cat. If that cat killed Grok it would make a good hunt. An honorable fight - to establish her mastery of combat.

Maya picks up the trail and watches as Dana changes into some sort of dog and goes off after the scent. Maya makes the short trip back to the shelter and calls out, "Hey, Raf, Summer. We might have found some sort of trail. If either of you have any tracking skill, I could sure use the help. Dana has changed into a dog and is following the scent, but if something took Grok, Dana might be overmatched, despite her spells. Please come with me." She waits for the other two to get ready then heads off back to where she had seen the trail and shows them the sign.

If something took Grok?

It must be a large something indeed, thought Rafferty as Summer roused herself.

Something best left alone - except if there was even the tiniest chance the ork still lived, then there was no choice at all.

Once Summer was up they set off to join the search.

Actually the search is not all that tough. Maya is impressed by the tracking skills Raf displays. "You are pretty good at this, Raf. Hey, you got a couple of those sharpened sticks with you? Loan me one?"

Fort a while the going is slow as the trail is mostly hidden in the shadows, but Maya's low-light vision provides a bonus here that helps the three stay on track. The creature must be quite large if it took Grok, which does not mean good news for her friend. When they find a clean set of the tracks of the creature, Maya kneels beside it to try to identify it from her extensive memory of wild animals. She points to the track and asks the others, "So, Summer, Raf, either of you ever see these tracks before?"

Dana hears the rest approaching only to speed up her game - "What ever that thing is... I am more dangerous." She thinks - "I do not want to accidently hurt them - I better be there first." She thinks. The scent gets stronger and stronger as she approaches, and her adrenaline is surging - "An epic fight or a good death" oh the excitement.

Seven years of living in the wilds with her parents on one trek or another has taught Maya that rushing forward towards a dangerous animal is likely to play into its claws and end up what comes from the south end of a north moving animal. She slows down, testing the breeze and listening to the sounds of the forest around them, trying to determine a possible animal ambush before it happens. She can hear what she believes is the sound of Dana moving with an uncaring and dangerous speed toward something, but is not sure and does not want to rush forward in case it is the animal they are following. Her eyes flick back and forth, not focusing too long on any one spot. She is looking for the telltale signs that something is amiss in the surrounding vegetation and tries to keep a feel for what sort of natural weapons might be to hand. Every rock and branch is a potential killing tool and she feels comfortable knowing that the ground is her armory.

@Addie

Rick smiles at you as you come over and stops his pacing to find a convenient rock, gesturing for you to join him.

“Up early I guess, didn’t get much sleep, too much to think about, and do. We need to get this tribunal thing out of the way, deal with the bastard Fig and then get on with things. We need weapons and to find better food sources before the rations dry up. Now we’ve got the tents we don’t have to be static at least…these damn mountains can’t go on forever, we just need to pick a likely looking direction, follow the water to the sea…so, what are you doing up at this hour?”

@Lindsey

You are roused by Aria sitting up bolt upright next to you, sometime before dawn judging by the light dimly filtering through the tent canvas. When asked what’s wrong she simply says

“Oh dear, I think something bad has happened to the other group that went off…”

***

@Dana

If it wasn’t for your gifts it wouldn’t have been possible for the others to track Grok…but you are getting closer now. The ground is rough under your paws but the blood scent is easy enough to follow. Beside you the river rushes by…You are close…

@Maya and Raf

With the lightening sky the tracks you are struggling to follow across the stony ground become a little bit clearer. It’s some sort of cat judging by the prints that occasionally appear in a patch of mud beside the rushing river…it’s big, cougar or possibly even larger, but there’s something off…if you had to make a guess you might assume it had six legs!

Following the line of the river you can hear the roar of water falling ahead of you and the sun suddenly sparks from the head of the falls, rainbowing through the wash. The sheer cliffs disappear in to a cleft on your right, and there are some signs of caves in the shadow of the cliff…

The waterfalls, the pool - the place would have been pretty if it was not for the scent of blood. "I am close to the beast's layer..." Dana stretches her paws, with keen instincts and surging adrenaline she enters the layer of the beast. She briefly signals the location but does not wait, not at all - with every step the excitement grows and the anticipation intoxicate her. "Soon there will be more blood... it is yet to be decided whose blood is it going to be." Dana feels the tingling sensation of her paws, her entire body yearns for action and she feels alive and vibrant. Nothing comes close to the thrill of the hunt for a follower of Shark.

Woken up by Aria, Lindsey sits bolt upright but nothing seems to be amiss as the tent is still closed and her friend is still on duty outside. "Huh, the other group? You mean the ugly girl? How do you know? And really, why should we care? *They* left *us*..." While publicly disparaging, she can't help but be curious, so she asks her guard to find the exiles and give her a running report on what they're doing.

Maya stops and stands like a statue when she finds the tracks that indicate the creature might have six legs. Her mind shoots back to the horror she had experienced four years ago. She shakes her head to remove some of the mental pictures flashing through her mind. "Come on, we cannot give up now. Grok may still be alive and Dana might need our help. It looks grim, but I have been in this situation. I, too, was grabbed in the middle of the night by a large cat-like creature. I was clawed and bitten and carried away to the animal's lair to be eaten at leisure, so there is still hope for our companion."

Gathering confidence, Maya leads the other two forward and they break from the tree line to see the waterfall and cliffs. Her mind immediately considers what a great place this would be to make a place to live then she points to the caves. "One of those must be the animal's den." She looks around at the others. "I know that we are all a bit scared, but it comes down to survival. Because we are such a small group, we have to be ready to defend even one of us from something like this. If we do not then we have no chance of succeeding and should just return to Rick." She bends over to pick up two good sized throwing rocks and moves towards the cave the tracks lead to.

"I don't sleep much -- I had, I mean I HAVE, the sort of parents who feel 'adolescence is too important to waste a third of it in sleep,' so they got me a sleep regulator-- crams all the sleep I need into like four hours. I mean, it is handy sometimes because I do a lot of stuff, but .... sometimes it sucks being awake at like 4am all of the time. Anyway, probably good here, because there is stuff to do that is more important than English essays."

She feels so spoiled, talking about this with someone like Rick, so she adds "My parents aren't corp, but they have some money and connections and stuff. Sorry if I sound like a princess. I don't suppose it helps much if I say a lot of what keeps me busy, before now, is babysitting and jujitsu class? I like doing stuff, not just parties and everything like that. But nothing like what you've dealt with, I guess."

"I've been thinking about everything to do here, too. Like you said, food for sure. Some way to carry water would be good. weapons? Mostly for getting food I hope, unless you think there are real dangers to a group this big? But also putting everyone to work, giving them something to be responsible for, because bored kids always form cliques, and even here I bet that happens. People just want to feel better than someone else, you know? Give 'em something that they own, that others are thankful they did, that should help. And we should make proper latrines, so that latrine duty is available as a light punishment!"

Looking down at her firty, tar-specked, torn, flats, she finishes up "And a chance to wash up would be good, and if we found more clothes I'd sure be grateful."

Dawn, Day 3

@Addie

Rick listens satisfyingly intently to your ideas, nodding at each point. He doesn’t seem at all phased by your admissions of coming from a relatively privileged background… “I don’t give a shit where you came from! I might have once perhaps but here and now that isn’t important. You’ve got a good head on those lovely shoulders and your brain is far more important to us surviving than where you went to school. The fact that you got your mods makes you one of the most useful people in this camp!”

@Lindsey

Aria gives you an noncommittal “I just know” before turning back to apparently sleep. Your friend on the other hand willingly streaks away into the dawning light to track down Maya and her cronies

***

@Maya and Raf

It’s damn dark under the cliffs, the shadows only accentuated by the brightening sky above you. Dana is obviously clear about which cave contains the beast’s lair as she disappears inside…

@Dana

The cat scent is strong inside the cave, stronger than blood…a low rumbling growl cum snarl echoes through the space and suddenly there is a charging form, bigger than yourself, bearing down on you at great speed…

The cave was dark and Dana had only a split second to act before the significantly bigger lion charged her. She acted quickly and released her magical energies as a defensive shield. That lion will soon find out the consequences of biting Dana. If he manages to touch her, it will hurt him just as much as it will hurt Dana. The question asked, who can take more torment. Dana felt that that beast has finally encountered a warrior of equal quality, she lived for that moment and would not back down without the pelt of the lion as trophy or without dying trying to vanquish it. This was a combat between two beasts - and may the best beast win.

***
It all happens quickly, the lion pounds Dana and knock her to the ground like a rug doll. However doing so, her electrical aura zaps the poor creature and slows him for a brief moment. Dana can feel the excitement as her blood flows out of her body. She gives in to her killer instinct, she cannot stop anymore, her inner beast demands blood! She may be beaten down, but she clearly is not defeated. It takes her only a brief second to stop concentrating and resume her own elf form - the form she is most comfortable to kill in. Naked, and covered with her own blood, dana lunches a massive ball of deadly lighting that for a brief moment turns the darkness into complete daylight. In that moment she can see that the lion is no longer moving - it gave up to the massive doses of electricity released by the young warrior. Filled with adrenaline, anger and an unsatisfied killer instinct - Dana jumps the massive beast and punches it senselessly until she regains her composure. It is clear that the lion is long dead by the time she regains it - it must have been dead even before the last several blows. Dana cries with excitement with all the air in her lungs "Ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!", she feels satisfied that she killed the lion. She attempts to lift the beast on her back and slowly carries it out of the cave - its pelt would make a wonderful trophy, and its body would feed them for a long time. With all the excitement Dana have completely forgotten why they were after the beast in the first place.

“I’ve got one other thing you should know about. I’ve got an internal comm-link, to go along with the Datajack you might have noticed. No, I can’t make contact with the matrix. Not that I’m very good at the computer type stuff. But what does matter is that the little girl Aria has one too, and has it working, and she says a few of the other kids have one as well. That means that at a bit of distance, I’m not sure how far, we could set up communication. Like if we need to split up for hunting or wanted a remote watch post or something. I figured that is option you should know about.”

Addie thinks about mentioning how her eyes are better in dim light than those of the average human, but decides that it is too situational to matter much, and that maybe having a few surprises is worthwhile. She doesn’t even consider mentioning that she can generate electrical shocks – or recharge electronics. That one seems to freak people out, and for sure seems best saved as a surprise.

“As for the tribunal thing, I guess right now four names have been put forward, you, me, Simon, and Sim. You suggested we go to five so we’d need one more. It needs to be somebody who can stand up for themselves, since you, me, and Simon all seem to be pretty strong personalities, and Sim is a magician of some sort, I guess? I’d really like there to be another girl on the group, because I think we are going to have more problems around sex and not being four to one would be good.” She thinks, but doesn’t say “And if I can’t get agreement on rules, I don’t want the other girls to solely blame me!”

“By preference it wouldn’t be someone really close to you, because including more groups would be good. Perhaps one of the smaller girls, who wouldn’t have as much chance of defending herself as I would? I’ve been trying to get to know everyone, but I don’t know all of them that well, so I’m not sure who would be best. But we need to decide, and get on to agreeing on and announcing rules.”

“And about those rules, I was thinking about crimes and punishments. I was saving this until we had the group together, but maybe it is better to talk to you first?" As she had talked she'd brought up the notes on the topic on her 'link. She almost smiles at how much this was like doing a presentation in school, even though the situation is so very different. "I break it down into three categories. One: hurting the group for your own gain – be it hording food, not helping with the work, sleeping while on watch, hiding information, whatever. Two: hurting another person, by attacking them or by negligence. And three: sexual assaults, which are different than just physical injury.”

“As for punishments, we can’t really imprison anyone, and hurting someone in a way that just makes it so that we have to take care of them is just stupid, or hurting them and not taking care of them is basically just killing them in a cruel way. So punishment should feel like punishment, but just beating someone up isn’t real helpful. Again I’ve got three categories.”

As she goes she counts the categories out on her fingers. “First: We can take away access to group resources, like going on half rations for a while or having to sleep outside. I think this type would make sense for when people hurt the group, like if someone hordes food they get put on half-rations, if they are careless with gear they sleep outside that night, and so on. Unless it is something really bad, then maybe it is the ultimate: deny them the group, by exiling them.”

“Second, we can give them extra, or extra-unpleasant, work to do. Like having to dig a bathroom pit which is a lot of work, then having to fill back in which is gross. Or getting guard duty as well as tough chores then next day like having to bring in firewood, or something like that. We’ll have to see what is hard or unpleasant or maybe even dangerous. This might work for those who brawl—if nothing else maybe if they are busy and tired they won’t have time and energy for more fighting. Oh, and I just had another idea!" Briefly her tone become more casual as she drops out of presentation mode "If you hurt someone enough that they can’t do what they normally would, maybe you have to take care of them or do their work, or something?”

“And that brings us to 'third.' For sexual assault, I don’t want to risk it being a game, where maybe somebody decides that the punishment isn’t so bad, it would be worth it, you know? And if the punishment isn’t bad enough, it will divide the group, I'm positive of that. But we aren’t a real court, I don’t think we should be killing people, and if we exile someone like that, then all the girls will be worried that he’s lurking nearby. So how do we punish it? Most things that hurt a lot, and for a long time, have a high chance of breaking bones or causing infection. And about all we could do about infection is try to cauterize it with something really hot.”

She takes a really deep breath, then rushes through the final part of her proposal “So that got me thinking, what if we just jumped directly to that – brand them? Clean off one of the tools really well, heat it up hot as we can, then mark them? I’d want to talk to whoever might know better than me, but I think touching with just the edge of a big enough piece of metal should totally cook what it touches, which would hurt like hell but I think it would keep it from getting infected.”

She holds up her hands defensively “I know, we aren’t a real court, and this is really barbaric, but I haven’t come up with a better solution. I hope someone else does, maybe Sim would have magic that could do something? But if not … I mean, do it to that one little punk today and I bet everyone else thinks twice. We’d need the whole rules group to agree, but I wanted you to have time to think about it.”

She tries not to think about the odd surge of excitement she feels at the thought of glowing hot metal searing tender flesh. She doesn't know why that vision has stuck with her since she first thought of it the previous day, and she doesn't want to know why it sends a little shiver of anticipation down her back when the vision does come to mind.

@Addie:

Rick is clearly absorbing everything that you are saying and a wicked grin comes across his face at the mention of branding...

"Sounds ok for a first offence...more and I'll cut a fragging hand off! We need to be careful though, just accusing can't be enough, we need some corroboration. Sim will help, he seems to have an insight into truth, mage thing I guess. He might also have an idea for our fifth! When the rest of them wake up we'll get everyone organised and we can sit down and thrash this out...but everything you've said so far sounds good to me!"

@Lindsey:

Your friend returns after a little while, indicating the approximate distance between yourself and Maya and a confused impression of mighty magics being released nearby...

@Maya and Raf:

Dana has disappeared for mere seconds when the cave in front of you suddenly is awash in coruscating electricity that arcs and spits around the entrance before disappearing leaving only the stench of burning ozone and what just might be cooked flesh...

Maya steps back in shocked surprise at the display from the cave. "Holy crap! What was that? Dana? Dana? Are you alright?" She walks carefully to the cave entrance, peering inside. It is obvious that the ambient light does not extend far into the cave and that she will be effectively blind soon after entering. "I do not think we have time to make a torch, so we will be blind in there."

Summer steps forward and the usually quiet girl says, "I can see in the dark. Well, at least a little. But it is all really just shapes and not much detail. I can go with you and tell you what I see."

Maya looks grateful. "Perfect. Let's see if we can help our friends." Taking Summer's arm, Maya leads the way into the cave, fearing the worst. She pretends to herself that she is ready to fight whatever beast is in here that can spew lightning.

Naked, covered in Blood and proud, with some nasty electrical burns and an ugly bite on the heap, Dana exit the cave carrying and dragging a much larger carcass on her shoulders, Dana does not explain and is too high to mind her wounds. She is clearly not a shamed of her body, and is accustomed of walking bare feet. She say "His death is our life, clothes food and tools... if you know how to craft them. She looks at Maya and then at Raff and Summers and bluntly asks - "is there anything you can do with my wounds?" She may be close to death, but does not seem to be too concerned about it, her question is purely informative.

Waiting for her friend to find Maya's group, Lindsey remains sitting after Aria lays back down and studies the shapes of the other females in the tent with her. "Thirteen girls including me, plus Addie and the troll. There's already been one attempted rape, and with more than twice as many boys out there, that's only going to become more likely as they get used to the situation. If I can keep the girls together with me at the helm though... that would make things easy on me as well as be entertaining. Those poor boys..." she thinks to herself as a grin spreads across her face. She passes the time considering the different paths she could take to set herself up here until, eventually, she gets a response back from her friend just before he was forced to depart with the arrival of the sun. "So, their mage came in handy, although it didn't sound like she was doing so hot. Must not have been all that strong... There were only four people though, I wonder if the orc got eaten? Or maybe he wised up and abandoned Maya? That would be classic!" Imagining Maya's reactions when she realized her orc friend had ditched her happily amused Lindsey for another few minutes.

As the sun rose over the trees it lit up the sides of the tent and started to warm the air inside. Calling up another of her friends to patrol a wide radius around her for large animals or other dangers, she waits for a good portion of the other girls to start stirring and talking softly amongst themselves before speaking up. "Oi! Ladies! Before *we* go out there today, we need to think about what our role in this group is going to be. The boys have already tried to take advantage of one of us, as soon as we got here no less, and you're whacked if you think they're going to stop. We've got to stick together and make sure that we control what happens to us. Noone wants to end up a joygirl for Rick's group of brutes, right?" Looking at the faces around her she can see that the approval is fairly unanimous so far so she decides to start pushing them some. "Well, except maybe that trog girl, right? She probably ended up in their tent last night anyway!" Laughing, she's pleased that others in the group laugh along with her, especially the three girls that stopped Dot from entering the tent as well as a few others. Most of the rest looked a little dubious but were making themselves laugh along so as not to stand out. "Anyway, noone should leave camp alone, even in the daytime, always have one of *us* go with you. Even if they seem harmless, guys are tricky and they only ever have one thing on their mind..." There's more general agreement at this point, although a couple of the youngest look confused but they're not willing to draw attention to themselves. "We can figure out more detailed plans later once we know more about this situation, but for now, the best thing we can do is keep each other safe and don't let the boys take advantage of us, especially Rick and his savages. They might be better suited for this wilderness drek, but *we'll* show them who has the real power, right?!"

Newly energized, the girls trickle out of the tent in twos and threes, making sure to always stay together. As they leave, Lindsey reminds each group that if they have any problems, they should come back to the tent, where she'll be, for help, and to never be alone. Once the tent is empty, Lindsey idles outside and watches as the rest of the camp wakes and gets moving about the tasks Rick set for them. An astute observer would notice a changed air about the girls walking around in their small groups. They're a little more animated today, talking and laughing, but quickly clamming up when approached by any of the older boys, especially the orcs...

Lindsey had forgotten about Aria, and it seemed everyone else had too, as she emerged from the tent alone and looked about the camp, appearing even smaller than normal. Lindsey walks over and touches her on the shoulder, "Hey, how's it going? We need to stick together here, especially us, since we're the two of the smallest here, right?!" She beams a smile at Aria, turning on the charm, "So what was that about Maya last night, huh? Were you having a bad dream or something? Is everything okay?"

Maya looks in shocked amazement as Dana emerges from the cave. She rushes to her and helps her put the cat's body down as she looks at Dana's injuries. "What happened in there? We saw some sort of lightning discharge. Was that from the cat? Was there any sign of Grok?"

Dana said "I did not see much it was completely dark in there, I followed the scent of Grok in there until I could smell nothing but cat. That beast gave me one hell of a bite and I had to guess where it was to strike back. " Exhausted, Dana seats by the water and begins washing her battle wounds.

Maya looks at Dana as she bends over to do a quick first aid. "This would be better with that kit, but it will have to do for now. You should have waited for the rest of us to go in there. We might have been able to prevent these injuries and it looks like you got lucky, despite your carefree attitude. This bite here came within an inch if severing an artery and then you might be the limp body here and not the cat. Also, I have some skill with animals and might have been able to keep it from attacking us." She quickly finishes the first aid and stands. "There, that will help. Please rest here while the rest of us go see if we can find Grok."

She takes Summer's hand and the others go into the cave to try to find Grok, using Summer's night vision capability. Maya dreads what she will find, but hopes that Grok had been deposited in a location for later consumption and is not quite dead yet.

Dana answers "It was too dangerous for you to go in, you rely on equipment to fight, equipment we do not have, beside I can be pretty ruthless when I fight - I gave myself these burns because I knew the beast was somewhere in there. If I die I die, I am not like you - I am artificial, I have no soul." She then watches with astonishment how much can Maya actually do without proper tools. "You are very gifted thank you. I am sorry if we haven't talked this through... Your life are sacred and you cannot possibly fight such a beast without proper equipment. That thing came after us, took Grok and attacked me unprovoked, I admire your confidence but placing you in that cave and having that thing eat you as well would mean that we all die out of starvation. You are the only person that can keep us alive in the wilderness. This is why I came with you, Rick has crates - but you seriously speak about hunting and long term survival." By the time Dana finishes talking her wounds are greatly diminished, as if naturally regenerating. The electrical burns disappear as if they were never there, and out of the terrible bite only a small but deep cut remains. Behind the scenes, Dana have used the heal spell and an intuitive person might have noticed her fingers moving as she washed her wounds. She uses some mud from the flow to give her some modesty and dignity, and then follows Maya and the rest into the cave keeping a bit of a distance from them.

Dawn, Day 3

@Dana, Maya, Raf & Summer

As you re-enter the cave the walls still glow hot from the force of Dana’s spell and there is the odd ping as they cool. The metallic scent of burning ozone is now prevalent, drowning out any other smells. Stooping somewhat in the horizontal slit in the earth you approach the point where daylight no longer penetrates the stygian gloom. The floor seems to drop away at your feet and Summer warns you to take care…

“I don’t think Grok is here…” but she doesn’t clarify that statement before a menacing growl echoes towards you…

***

@Lindsey

Aria smiles at you “Bad dream? No, I was talking to Summer…” and she taps the side of her head… “I don’t know how long I can keep it up as they get further away but for now I can…”

"One more ? I am built for battle - but it is too dark and there are too many innocents" Dana suppress the adrenaline and orders "Get out, that thing I killed may not be the only one in there." Then it hits her - Grok was stroke down deep in the night. The growl was also not close to the entrance - what ever that beast is it may be sensitive to light. Quickly... I can close the opening until we are ready with torches and stuff"

Lindsey searches her memory for a girl named Summer but can't seem to recall her. With a mental shrug, she decides it doesn't really matter. "Oh really? Well what happened to them? I still can't believe they just bailed on us like that. And trying to take the tools with them?" Lindsey shakes her head sadly. "That ugly girl is so selfish! She couldn't stand to see Rick in charge so she just leaves and splits us up? We're in the middle of who knows where and us girls need to stick together! I hope her refusal to help the group didn't get Summer hurt...?"

Maya listens to Summer and nods. "You are right. Let us retreat and see if we can come up with a better plan." She leads the group back out of the cave and away from the entrance. "I want to be able to see the entrance and get as much notice as possible if the creature comes out. I am thinking torches would be a good thing. Let's gather some wood and see if we can find a tree with some sap. Dana, would it be possible for you to turn into a bird of some kind and do a quick check of some of the other caves in the area? This could make for a good home if we can clear the caves. Ideas?"

Dana replies, I am not leaving you alone in here... With all the respect to your animal handling abilities.
You heard that growl yourself, there is another beast in that cave. I think these critters are nocturnal perhaps even sensitive to light. Can you skin that cat? I want something decent to wear - something that will also give some protection." She then gesture infront of Maya playfully and say "... And I cannot hang around naked... can I?"

After talking with Rick, Addie took time to do some exercises and practice moves, preferring to not have much of an audience. Perhaps Rick watched some, but maybe that was one audience she wouldn't mind too much.

A disturbing thought interrupts her routine. "If we don't find a food supply, I may have to stop doing exercises for their own sake, just to save energy. Maybe being one of those tiny girls without much muscle wouldn't be so bad after all, they probably don't need as much food as I do. Then again, at least I'm not one of the orcs, or for that matter Dot. Dot is pretty thin already, how much food DOES a growing troll need, anyway?"

She realizes around then that people are beginning to come out of the tents, looking for food, water, a place to pee ... "Latrines" she thinks firmly. "If we are staying here another night, we can at least dig some sort of hole or trench and make a rough screen of branches, or something like that."

She starts trying to organize people to head to the creek in groups for a morning drink, and to arrange wash parties downstream from that. She's puzzled to find the other girls more distant than yesterday, and she can't help but wonder if she missed a critical bonding element by not making it back into the tent for the night? For several minutes she's stuck as to what to do about it, then she notices she is automatically picking at a tangle in her hair.

She looks around at the other girls, then approaches one likely looking cluster. She makes an offer that she hopes they'll find hard to resist "After we get some food, how about we head up to the creek, rinse the dirt out of our hair, then have a bit of a hair braiding party? I'd sure like to get mine out of my face! I'm not an expert but I can do a basic braid, if any of you can do anything fancier maybe you could teach us? And if anyone doesn't know how to braid hair, I can teach them." She caps it off with her warmest smile, and hopes that the offer is appealing enough to break down whatever gap has opened between her and the other girls.

"I can try to skin the animal and may even be able to fashion clothing of a sort, but that will take time. I would recommend starting the fire and getting some torches. I may also be able tame the animal or at least hold it at bay. I would like to have it as a guardian, if at all possible. Perhaps you can dig a pit here and we can lure it out and capture it?"

Maya kneels and brings out her fire bow to get a small fire going while Raf and Summer go a short distance to gather some branches suitable for torches. Raf uses his knife to cut into a tree and places sap on the ends of the branches so they will make better torches.

Dana said "Then please do so, show me how to if you like. I can dig pits as well but my main use for you is fighting and I need to rest to continue providing you safety. I prefer not to overdo it, these lightnings are pose a significant strain on my body. Everything has a price and even an ass like mine need to rest a little bit. I'll do pits in a few hours unless you feel that it is urgent, my main concern now is to get myself back into combat shape... Also if you know how to train animals than I wouldn't start with a monster like this - that cat is too big and requires plenty of food to feed. We need dogs, or something of that size so that we can leverage their keen senses to warn us about dangers. If we had a dog, that monster cat could not snatch Grok like that. The dog would have spotted it before it got too close. Trust me on that aspect dogs are amazing. "

Looking at the large carcass Dana said "I think we need to start trading with the rest of the group. They have plenty of mouths to feed many of them are orcs and trolls that eat significantly more than the rest of us. We have so much meat that it will sustain us for a while, and it is too heavy and too much to carry with us. Perhaps we can trade food for the things we need to survive, A tent, some medical supplies and maybe even tools. Just because we left does not mean we need to be enemies, if any perhaps we are of more use as an independent group of hunters and perhaps when they face the realities of sustaining so many people, there would be more groups like us scavenging the surroundings looking for things to hunt. Perhaps we will be able to help with that, at a bird speed the distance between here and there is negligible." with that Dana found a comfortable place to rest, near Maya. With the adrenaline gone, she started to feel the pain of her wounds and the taxing effect her mojo had on her mind and body - she needed to rest, and providing the circumstances she tried to get as much rest as she could before the humans felt like dungeon crawling with their crude torches.

Once Raf had provided the needed sap, he walked away from their little camp.

He knew there was much to be done and could not allow himself to shirk, but he still had sticks to work on, so he could be useful, even off by himself for a bit. With the dead animal, his hopes of fashioning a bow had risen considerably.

But he simply had to get away from everyone for a moment. There was too much going on. Too much to process, pulling his thoughts in too many directions and all at the same time. Part of his education had involved both multitasking and compartmentalization, and he would have to mentally review those lessons now.

Only two days ago he had awoken in an unimaginably surreal situation. The only possible explanation was that he was dreaming, and yet he had carefully determined that he was not. All he should be doing was thinking of how he had gotten here and how he would get back to his parents, but so myriad were his immediate concerns that he had spared those imperatives hardly the most fleeting considerations. Confronting thieves, vociferous political contests, roughing the wild on his own. And the talk around the fire last night. He could handle all of that.

But in the space of the past hour they had lost one of their small number, walked honorbound into a blackness in which he'd fully expected to join the ork in death, and now without pause they were arguing whether to trap, kill or try to tame another beast, all while the incredibly beautiful Dana walked around nude and injured within an inch of her life. Rather than being able to acclimate to the new situation, he was bombarded with stimuli that only made the scene more surreal. His mind was aswirl with adrenaline, loneliness, panic, lust, fear, anger, and despair, none of which could he allow himself to show.

Once out of sight and earshot of the others, he sat down against a tree and whittled, willing himself to think of nothing.

Maya looks at Dana and smiles. "Yes, but I feel that we will find that one large cat will not provide enough food for us to trade with, much less feed all of us for long. But we can certainly use it ourselves and make some clothes from the skin." Maya examines the torches the Raf has brought and nods. While waiting for Dana to wake up and for Raf to return, she looks around at the area and smiles. This could be a defensible place and there has to be game about to support two of the large cats. This could be home for a bit.

Dana said "That depends on your definition of long, we can hunt more but we can never craft a modern medical kit. Also if you intended for us to be more, once you start showing prosperity and active trade more people will want to be a part of that, you will see. Not that I mind being so few... Had we been more - I could not have been open about what I am. She lays down and rest her eyes and unless anybody disturb her will spend an hour with her eyes clothes enjoying the peace. She feels... accepted, sort off - none of these peoples has shown her the combination of scorn and disgust she is used to receive once people from pure heart learns what she is.

Even to her lover, it was not really cheating as she was not an actual person... a pretty toy, a loophole a... the thought was too painful to continue. He was an asshole, he is now dead and Dana is laying in the sun curled up like a fetus feeling safety with people that she is open with. Had Maya not been so terrible at presenting her arguments that intimacy could have never been formed. Sleeps came easily and she had at least an hour before it became too much of a day to continue sleeping. She felt refreshed and as she opened her eyes she asked What do you want me to do Maya? Shell we try to trap another tiger?"

Maya looks up from where she is trying to fashion torches and nods. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. If we can trap it or kill it, we may be able to do even more here. I do not want to overstate my skill at animal handling, but it might still be possible to do something with an animal. And I understand the value of trade, but we do not yet have much to trade with, and I would think that Rick would be loathe to trade his medical kit away right now. But we may be able to make a couple of bows from the sinews of this cat, as well as some water skins and clothing. At least blankets. perhaps. We have lots of options open to us right now. Let's deal with the cat first and look for Grok."

Dana laughs "Rick?! he is a power monger asshole that could not bare the thought of not controlling everyone. He is a ganger that needs 'respect' and is insecure enough to be threatened by not having everyone eat at his table. Safety in numbers and all that bullshit. He took advantage of your lack of political cunning and you went away with it because you know more about building torches and hunting than about politics.

Don't mind him, find someone more pleasant, talk to Addie. She already likes you and feels a genuine need to look after everyone. If she feels that this trade is profitable to them she will use her charisma and charm to convince whomever she needs. Do not be naive, talk to people you trust not to people that used the oldest gang trick in a book. If you want to lead work on your strengths, do not get into a political debate with someone considerably more charismatic. What could he possibly do if you refused that idiotic pissing contest? Use violence? - it would just expose his gang methods. Talk to Addie, as we have plenty to offer - you will see. We can also trade with Raff's friend. If he is still alive - that guy must have things if he thinks he can make it on his own. Think about it, perhaps finding a comlink is more beneficial than a medical kit - ease of communication to begin with. Think about it but lets find Grok first..."

Dana creates a big pit just out of the cave, one that should be big enough to contain a tiger. Hopefully, she leaves a small trail big enough for them to enter the cave but small enough to prevent anything that big from using.
*****
Shape material: 10d6t5 3
drain: 10d6t5 1 - 1 stun damage taken.

Maya nods. "Addie might indeed be more rational, but I am not sure how far her influence would go if she tries to defy or go around Rick. She is in a precarious position and is showing herself to be quite brave. I could not have stayed, but she did. I am sure that we can trade, but it needs to be something that we can keep trading. One haunch of meat is not going to be enough, and I think that we should only trade surplus. We have no idea how long we will be here and we may need the food we trade away. Let's make it through a few days at least before trying to create some sort of financial system. However, I am not the final say here. We are five.....four if we cannot find Grok."

Dana said "We will find more prey do not worry - these things hunt around here and we are on the verge of replacing the alpha predators of this place. Like you mentioned bows and stuff, it will become easier, now lets find the sexually active orc and embarrass the crap out of me." She smiles at Maya and gesture toward the cave. I'll *try*not to kill it so you go first and work your magic on it. If that hole is deep enough, putting the beast inside would allow me to kill it from distance or you to negotiate with it I guess.

Maya nods and leads the way to where Raf had disappeared. The boy could not avoid looking at Dana's body, well, neither could Maya if the truth were told. Dana had all the natural born advantages of a sexy body that Maya had never had, and that was before the tiger had destroyed much of her torso five years ago. The pair brought Raf back, explaining the rough plan, or at least Maya's version of it. "I will take two torches with me into the cave. One will be used to throw at the cat to try to get it to stop for a couple of seconds, which should allow me to race from the cave ahead of it and lure it into the trap we have made for it."

Dana said coldly It is a very dangerous beast, are you sure you want to go back in there?" She suddenly notices how the kids are looking at her. This body you are looking at was engineered for combat. My bones are denser and more resilient. and my fists contains dermal deposit so that I can punch harder. She shows the group her hands so that they can see how the back of her hands have some cleverly disguised dermal deposits that make it as harder and sharper. With a smile she said "my boobs carry no hidden combat advantage." and being suddenly aware of how they look at her she feels slightly embarrassed and her hair shade changes to almost orange. She would have wore her clothes, happily but since she changed into a dog everything was blurred she followed a scent and followed it blindly - everything else was fuzzy, Dana had no idea how long she was running or how to get back to the camp. None of the others seemed to offer to find her clothes so Dana figured out they must had no idea how to get back as well. Trying to break the tension she said "I could levitate the torches inside, as long as I see what I am doing... it should be safer for the rest of you. At least allow me to carefully deploy some of them so that we fight in our own terms."

Mid Morning, Day 3

@Maya’s Group

Trap laid you venture back down into the darkness, smoky torches providing fitful illumination. Mica sparks light from the walls as you gingerly make your way into the bowels of the cliff. Water is dripping somewhere, presumably finding its way in from the falls somewhere to your left…

Although you’ve been expecting it the threatening growl still makes you jump, adrenalin coursing…a glint of reflective iris in the gleam of the torchlight and then you are half running half stumbling back for the entrance with the hot breath of the predator on the back of your necks!

In reality it can’t have been that close as you burst forth and skirt the trap to realise that it hasn’t followed you into the daylight…

***

@Rick’s Group

It has been a productive morning with the camp bustling with purpose, scouting groups going out, the tribunal convened with the four of you and Lindsey suggested as the fifth…now it just remains to persuade her that it is a good idea…Addie’s suggestions for the rules were welcomed by the two other boys, whether due to their merit or their admiration of Addie is difficult to tell but the results are the same…

It is slightly later when two exultant scouting groups return. One has managed to kill a couple of smallish critters, something like large rabbits…hardly enough to feed everyone but the smell of roasting meat is soon filling the area. The other find is more significant. Another crate has been discovered, this one containing vacuumed sealed packages with each child’s name stencilled on. Those that have been ripped open find a sort of silky silvery body glove inside which someone later identifies as thermally regulated form fitting body armour, each tailor made to the child whose name is on the label…

“Well, this proves they want us to live at least,” commented Rick, “now if only they’d provided surveillance drones too…what I wouldn’t give for a damn birds eye view of where the hell we are…if we knew that we might have some idea of where to head next!”

Maya catches her breath and considers the options. "OK, I can think of at least two reasons why the cat did not follow us. The first is that it was injured in the fighting with the other cat or in some other fashion. The second is that it is guarding something valuable, such as a cub or two. I am going back inside to see. Dana, if you come in, can you levitate the torches like you said? That would let me arms stay free and I can take a rock or two. Raf, you have the knife; do you want to come or may I borrow it?"

Dana said - "I will come in with you, but you'd be wasting your time with a rock. If it get aggressive, just run. Your rock is not enough to hurt it - it is like throwing stones at an elephant. It is too large... leave it to me. I killed one cat, I can kill a second one. " Dana levitate a torch in front of them as well as carries a torch herself. Her anticipation excites and adrenaline threatens to overwhelm her, the thought of fighting another one of these beasts is simply irresistible.
"I must fight it... or I might kill Maya" she thinks and says again "If things go bad, just run... okay?" Dana goes after Maya trying to figure out where that beast is. This time they are not running away, they are going after the beast into its layer... "What a day..." thinks Dana as her magic is channeled to her hands, if that beast wants to try anything funny - Dana is ready.

[Possible Tribunal Stuff]

************

Lindsey doesn't pay much attention to the scouting party that comes back with the weird rabbits, but she can't deny the smell from the fire is good. As the food is cooking, she ambles around the camp gathering up the groups of girls from the tent. One of the groups appears to have all done assorted things to their hair and has included Addie, although there's no sign of the troll she left with last night. Lindsey mentally shrugs and includes her in the bigger group. With careful timing, Lindsey maneuvers the mass of girls to the edge of the fire right as the meat is being pulled out of the fire. "Ladies first," she declares, stepping forward to rip one of the legs off the closest carcass followed closely by the more eager girls that all tear off decent sized pieces while the boys near the fire look on, a bit stunned. As the meeker girls start to follow suit, the boys begin to object loudly, proclaiming that there won't be enough left for them at this rate. "There's not enough for everyone anyway! You guys are better equipped to get more anyway. And we really appreciate this, don't we?" she asks with her winningest smile. The girls with food all eagerly nod while tossing their food from hand to hand trying not to get burned and biting off the outside bits that were cool enough to eat. "Surely there's more of these things out there, right?" Looking at the male faces around the fire it was easy to tell which boys were used to being bullied and which tended to do the bullying in their old lives as the expressions ranged from downcast resignation to barely restrained rage. The remaining girls, encouraged by her remarks, stepped up to get food as well. Seeing that the three hunters who were the ones to actually bring the animals back are about to explode, Lindsey proffers an olive branch, "Make sure you girls leave enough for the guys who caught the food. It's only fair..."

************

When the second party arrives with the odd labeled packets, Lindsey again holds back, but then approaches with everyone else when names start being called out. After about half the camp had received their packets and ripped them open eagerly, someone finally shouts out, "It's clothes! And it seems armored or something..." The excitement increases and the kids still without packets push forward eagerly, overjoyed at the prospect of getting out of the rapidly disintegrating flats that were obviously never intended to be used in the wilderness. Her own bundle clutched to her chest, Lindsey ducks to the outside of the group and keeps an eye out for the other girls, reminding them not to go off alone to change as that would be a prime opportunity for a (conveniently naked) boy to catch them out. As the space around the crates rapidly empties as kids disappear in order to change clothes, she reapproaches the crate and looks inside to see the few scattered remaining unclaimed packets on the bottom. Starting to gather them up, she says, "We should keep these safe with the remaining foodstuffs and supplies. We can use them as spares or maybe turn them into something else later. These kids either don't need them anymore or else they ditched us, so they lose out! Too bad, so sad!"

With a torch levitating in front of them and another one in her hand Dana walks with Maya and Raff. Must these humans be so brave? She has no idea, or more importantly do they even know that they are entering a cave with not one but two apex predators? How would they know? They look at her and see a beautiful naked elf - why make her an elf - she had no idea. Inside, she is the most dangerous beast in the room. They do not understand that in order to conquer such a monstrosity naked you need give in, you need to be an even bigger monster. Dana keeps some distance with her and the rest, she feels that the back is the most appropriate place as it reduces her chance to be wounded and enter a killing frenzy. At this point, Dana is equally concerned of killing her friends as she is of having the beast devour them. Their existence in the field limits her options - balls of lighting will not be acceptable now.

There, in the darkness they finally see the beast, it is afraid, trying to avoid them until it can no longer does so. It is about to attack Dana almost feels it and every muscle in her body is ready for action - "I am going to finish the work" she thinks, but waits for Maya that apparently wants to calm down the angry terrified beast.

Maya senses the struggle in the creature they face. It is injured and has seen the other cat slain. It had not attacked Dana while she was kicking the other cat and so might have a respect for strength. She steps forward and puts into practice everything she knows about controlling beasts. This seems to be a paracritter of some kind and she calls upon her specialized knowledge to help her. Raf and Dana step forward and provides her some teamwork assistance. Her intent is to make herself the master of this creature, even if only for a time. There are many advantages to be gained from first cowing then training this creature, but the first step is to avoid being eaten by it.

When Rick indicates that he's ready to gather the tribunal, Addie waits until the four are ready, and proposes "Lindsey. For our fifth I mean. I think we need another girl, and she seems to have a lot of influence. I'd heard her name some already, and when I got a few of the girls to go and rinse out our hair and braid it, I asked them who took a leadership roll in their tent last night, and again her name came up. Nobody says she's telling people directly what to do, but more than she has a lot of good ideas that people go along with." Addie shrugs, and adds "I've not really talked with her much yet, but I think that to make the girls feel that they have a chance of being safe we need at least two in this group who have boobs, and Lindsey is the one that a lot of the girls are listening to."

When none of the others object, Addie goes to pull in the smaller girl. It takes her a few moments even in the small camp to locate her, and when she does spot her she hesitates for just a moment. She hopes this will go well, but in her experience the worst fights are between girls vying for dominance, and she really doesn't want to happen between her and Lindsey -- but she also isn't willing to step back and let someone else speak for the girls. At least not unless this Lindsey really impresses her first.

When Addie does approach Lindsey she does her best to keep her body language casual, and to give Lindsey plenty of space. If feels like a risk, because that is as much as saying she isn't friends with Lindsey, but since she's barely met the other girl it also feels wrong to pretend that they are friends already. She calls out, loud enough that a few of the nearest other girls can hear "Hey Lindsey, duty calls. I mean, the rules council needs another girl, and everyone says you are pretty good at coming up with ideas and speaking up, so you are being tapped for this. Can you come on over right now? Lots to get discussed."






Addie was nervous about what sort of hostilities Lindsey was starting here, but then she softened things just in time to calm things back down. Addie herself had taken a piece of a back paw, it seemed like mostly connective tissue and bones, but she was pretty sure that if she could make herself chew it up enough her stomach would manage to digest it. Tough as the chewing was, it was almost as hard going to admit that Lindsey handled that masterfully. Not in a way that Addie herself would have done, but it did a good job of asserting that the girls had a bit of a special place in the camp, and that was probably a good idea. Addie moved off to the edge of things to continue chewing on both paw and new idea.

************


Addie stiffens at that, but decides to think things over a bit more before contradicting Lindsey -- after all, they can hand them over later, or maybe even trade them, but once given away they can't take them back. She's pretty sure that holding on to something specifically assigned to someone else is wrong, and a bad precedent, but .... well, maybe she can bring it up with the rules council later that evening.

She does voice another thought "We should keep the old flats, bad as they are. Even these new things may get worn, or we want a change while washing them. And if nothing else we can probably make bad bandages from the flats, or cut them into strips to tie things with, or make sun screens, and stuff."

Emboldened by the new clothes/armor, she searches out to two or three kids with the best nature skills that she's managed to identify within their group, gathers up Jugalo for extra muscle, then after making sure Rick knows what they are doing she leads a foraging mission. Meat is great, but she knows just about enough to know that finding any sort of edible plant will really help their food situation.

Maya seems to know the way of beasts, and for a moment that monster seems pacified. Dana allows Maya to continue the staring contest with the beast, while the rest are looking for Grok. She said to Raff and Summers "Lets search for Grok", carefully looking around the cave that is filled with the bones of previous prey. Dana is carefully looking for any sign of Grok. The electricity damage is clearly visible as some of the bones, that seem to be crispy and well cooked. Dana is uncertain if she even wants to find Grok in there... Going to all that trouble just to discover that it was her who delivered the final blow to the already wounded ork. Dana uses her low light vision, and is no longer levitating the torch - she needs her complete attention to find Grok. Instead she holds two torches in her hands.

That monster need to be slain, it is way too dangerous to be kept alive - and its body would have uses, but for now as long as it does not make a move at Maya - Dana can allow it to breath - perhaps until the rest of them leave the cave. She had faced that thing - it was so agile so and so ruthless that Dana knew that others have no chance of fighting that monsters. Not without some protective gear and weapons. Dana needed to sleep and could not allow that thing to remain alive. It was sneaky enough to snatch a powerful orc, without as much as a cry for help. That thing had to die - but Dana waited for the rest of the humans to leave the cave before slaying the beast. In the meantime - she is looking for Grok knowing that this is why they came here in the first place. Killing tigers was just a distraction - a beautiful, dangerous and passionate distraction - but a distraction never the less.

perception + Actively looking: 9d6t5 6

Maya is glad that the beast is cowed enough to slink off to a corner, but something in its body language lets her know that her control is only temporary and will not last long after she turns. She watches as Raf, Dana, and Summer look around the cave for Grok. She is saddened that her great idea to tame and train this beast will not be possible, but her morale is strengthened by what the group did as a team. At some point, Dana passes near and Maya nods to her to come over. Not losing eye contact with the cat, she says, "Dana, I will not be able to control this thing for long. Are you able to kill it once we leave? It seems a bit hurt already, but is that enough?"

Raf and Summer report that neither Grok nor any remains that might appear to be Grok are in the cave. Maya motions for them to leave and looks at Dana. "It is up to you, my friend. You killed the one, I will leave this to you." She backs away from the cat, using a torch to guide her. When she gets out of sight of the beast, she turns and runs for the entrance, calling for the others to be prepared at the pit if the cat gets past Dana.

Dana smiles at Maya silently and nods, she would have said something like "I thought you'd never ask" but since Maya is whispering Dana feels the need to keep discreet, so no verbal ques are necessary - her nod and body language should do the trick. Dana feels as if she given the sweetest of candies, an acknowledgement of her lethal skills. After all this is what she sees herself as - a weapon. Dana makes a mental note to herself to go find some wild dogs or wolfs so that Maya can train them. Vincent never returned from his flying adventure - following him on a flight above the horizon may give some hint as to why he never came back.

Dana charges the cat as soon as Maya breaks eye contact with it, she focuses her magic to form an electrical aura around her giving her a significant advantage in the combat. The background count causes her movements to be slower than usual and indeed Dana swings and misses, she feels that the Cat is stronger and more agile, but as it charges her to bite her it is caught by her electrical aura and the shock is so severe that it is unable to complete the bite. Dana then uses this opportunity to lend a series of blows to the cat, until finally she manages get close enough to effect it with her electrical aura. It takes a few seconds, but then the second cat monster lies dead at her feat and this time Dana did not even bleed!

Satisfied she levitate the beast out of the layer and follows it walking, placing it next to the first one. Saying "It is done, and now we got to figure out what to do with so much meat."

As Addie approaches, Lindsey can tell she's being very cautious and that puts her on edge, but she puts on a happy face as the other girl calls her out in front of everyone so she can't reasonably turn it down. "Sure, I can help out. With two of us the guys won't be able to gang up on us as easily. Although three to two isn't ideal, but I guess there are more of *them*." Following the older girl, they head back over to where Rick, Sim, and Simon are sitting. Once there, Rick indicates that Addie had some suggestions for how to regulate the camp and she sets out a proposal for three levels of punishment depending on the severity of the infraction. As she goes over the third punishment, that of branding, it seems like it's bothering her somehow. Squinting her eyes to look at the colors around her that Lindsey has taken to calling her 'glow', she can see that it's not exactly bothering her, it's actually exciting her. Lindsey smiles broadly, "Those sound fine to me! I guess if someone accuses someone else of something, the five of us vote on it? But how do we know you three won't just let the other boys do what they want since you can always outvote us?"

*****************

As she's securing the unclaimed packets, Lindsey hears Addie's suggestion about the flats and quickly co-opts it. "Yes, once everyone is changed, let's gather the old clothes here as well. Who knows what we'll end up needing. I'm sure some of you girls can find a use for the extra rags already, right?" A couple of the girls blush and nod before stepping up to tear one of the now spare shirts into strips as a few of the boys around the area titter. As they walk away, she reminds them to stick together in at least pairs as they address their business.