Bump in the Night

The southern side of the felled forest is similar to the northern one, though it is more steeply sloped, angling up along the northern slope of the island’s central mountain. The footing is more treacherous here, with erosion having damaged much of the soil.
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Crash†
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Bump in the Night

#1

Post by Crash† »

(Claire Lambert continued from Resolve)

The afternoon arrived quickly upon the island - too quickly, in Claire's humble opinion - and the light and heat beating down on her were steadily beginning to take their toll. Her jog had grinded to a steady stride approximately half an hour before, as fatigue stung at her weary legs. Lactic acid and heavy sedatives were not a pleasant combination, she'd quickly discovered - not only did she find herself barely able to keep up more than a walk at this point, but her mind's series of racing thoughts had melded into one single idea:

"Sit down, woman."

Screw the post-run walking they'd always told her about in cross-country. She'd been speedwalking for a good half an hour...that was enough, right?

She honestly couldn't care less.

Claire felt her foot catch a tree root, and at that point she slowed down entirely. Her brisk pace ceased, and she transitioned into a more cautious approach as the foliage thinned out in front of her. Her eyes scanned the clearing ahead of her for signs of life, but thankfully, she found nothing.

The somewhat awkward pull of her jeans against her ass as she stepped over a trunk made her come to a realization she should have by all rights made sooner.

"...Right. The gun."

As much as she didn't want to use it, her rationality won out over her conscious mind yet again. Her survival instinct helped her plunge her right hand behind her and into her pocket, and seconds later she withdrew the Mini from her jeans.

Taking one more moment to scan her surroundings, Claire stepped out into the brush, gun in hand. Her cautious whisper broke the eerie silence.

"...Hello?"
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Jonny†
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#2

Post by Jonny† »

(Julian Avery continued from Resolve)

It was a weird feeling, being so damn messianic. Julian had only been awake for a few hours in this game, and he'd already saved multiple people's lives multiple times. He briefly considered keeping a mental list of all the lives he'd saved on the island, but realized that it'd most likely balloon out of control and get hard to remember very, very quickly. Julian decided instead to compromise, and just do his best to remember the fact that he was awesome. This was the kind of difficult compromise that a messiah had to make on a daily basis.

Julian was starting to wonder if he'd ever catch up with Claire, or if he was just blatantly going in the wrong direction. He'd been doing his best to follow a trail that looked pretty clear to him- Claire didn't seem to be giving a shit about stealth- but there was also the fact that his tracking skills amounted to jack shit and he could've easily made a mistake and veered off half an hour ago. But Julian decided to keep heading down this same path, since it wasn't like he had anywhere else he needed to be.

Which was more of an unsettling thought than Julian initially gave it credit for. It wasn't like he had anywhere else he needed to be. To be honest, Julian hadn't given much thought to the idea of what he was actually gonna be doing on this island. Surviving would be... nice. But the most apparent way to ensure his survival would be to go around killing people, which was completely out of the question. He could keep on wandering around and being a freelance messiah, but it seemed a little pointless. Julian hadn't really watched SotF in the past, but the impression he got was that eventually, people were gonna start killing each other no matter how hilarious Julian Avery was. Sad ending for everyone.

But... not necessarily? After all, Julian's current mission was to help Claire reunite with her friend Aislyn, which... well, it'd make Claire happier than she would have been otherwise, even if she got shot the day after. So he could go and do that, and keep on doing it as many times as possible. Reuniting friends and couples, getting people to laugh a bit, making sure that as many people as possible got a happy moment or two before this game came crashing down on them.

Not such a bad goal to have.

Julian heard a small "... Hello? as he trudged through the brush. Claire's voice. Hey, right on cue.

"Claire? It's Julian. I ain't here to hurt you. I'mma step out where we can see each other, and I'mma be dangling my sword as non-threateningly as I can. That okay with you?"
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Grim Wolf
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#3

Post by Grim Wolf »

(Introduction of David Meramac)

He had been awake for a little while--how long he couldn't stay. Consciousness had not been slow in returning to David Meramac; it had returned in one tremendous blow, a force that had rattled his brain within his skull. No accompanying haze of memories, either; he had come back to consciousness with full knowledge of what was happening around him, of exactly where he was.

He was on Survival of the Fittest. He and his classmates were going to be forced to kill each other, like every class before theirs.

He'd taken off running without a thought. He had never had much in the way of stamina--enough to keep up with the other cross country runners, never enough to surpass them. Anything past one mile was exhausting for him (then again, he trained doing nothing but miles, which might explain his weakness). In this case, he'd welcomed his own weakness; as he forced himself to keep running, unchecked duffel bouncing against his back, he was able to forget about his danger, forget about anything but the pounding of his feet against diffuse ground. Shouts, explosions, gunfire--he heard it all during his mad run.

Tried to think of none of it. Tried to think only of the burning ache in his muscles, the liquid magma in his veins. Tried not to here anything around him.

Thus it was that he ran through the Felled Forest without any thought as to how exposed he might be. Thus it was that, dripping with sweat and hair in disarray, he broke right into the midst of Julian Avery and Claire Lambert.
Those Whose Time Has Come]

Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...

Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.

Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”

[+] Those Who Have Gone Before
[/url]

V6

Alex Tarquin (male student no. 32: "No more...masks..."

Tara Behzad (female student no. 12): "They don't get to decide how I die."

Lizzie Luz: "I don't want to go."

V5

Tyler Lucas: "I had fun. You?"

Karen Idel: Game over.

Xavier Contel: "G-gotta...trust people, Arthur. G-g-gotta try. C-can't be afraid."

v4

Naoko Raidon (male student no. 54): Dying like...this isn't...so...bad...


Mirabelle Nesa: "I'm a weak little girl who couldn't save anyone, even myself, but god damn it I beat you and god damn it you are going to remember that because I am Mirabelle Nesa and I am a hardened goddamn warrior and I am not going to fucking give up now!"

Simon Grey: "I never was a hero, but, God help me, I tried."

David Meramac: "Running towards nothing. Running from nothing."
Gwbiii†
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#4

Post by Gwbiii† »

One of the shifty shifting cows leapt towards her.

And Raina opened her eyes to a blindingly glary sky, shutting them again just as quickly as her pupils slowly adjusted. One of her gangly arms had reflexively thrown itself across her face, willing the sun to pretty please leave her alone this morning.

Or afternoon.

Whatever.

The rustling in the trees and the rough ground below her brought a couple of thoughts to her attention. Firstly, what was she doing in a forest...

And secondly, what the fuck was she doing in a forest!?

She jerked upright, looking from left to right as if there might be some sign explaining what she was doing surrounded by conifers with no-one else in sight. Until her memory came flooding back.

My teachers...

She let out a long, anguished sigh as she let her head flump back to rest against the ground, staring up at a stray cloud shifting across the sky. A distant thump, probably from a gun, hopefully not, registered itself as unnatural to her ears. She knew exactly where she was.

And she knew she'd have to face it.

Wouldn't hurt to think about it for a little while though.

She tried to blink back the tears that were gathering on her eyes.

((G094 - Raina Morales will start when she's ready.))
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Crash†
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#5

Post by Crash† »

"Claire? It's Julian. I ain't here to hurt you. I'mma step out where we can see each other, and I'mma be dangling my sword as non-threateningly as I can. That okay with you?"

Wait...Julian?

Claire pivoted, turning for signs of the boy's presence. She could hear a rustling in the brush, but thus far, he went unnoticed.

"He must have followed me..."

"...Sure, okay. You can come out."

On cue, Julian Avery appeared from the foliage, his sword nonchalantly swinging from his forefingers and the same playful smile dancing its way across his lips. He was one of those people you just couldn't help but like. Something the two didn't have in common.

"He saved my ass. He should be fine...right?"

Claire's gun was still gripped firmly in her right hand. At this point, she was barely conscious of holding it at all. The fact that Julian wasn't aware of her possessing it didn't even enter her mind. At this point, she was just glad that the first person she ran across wasn't one with any intention of driving a stake through her heart. It was a welcome relief. One she didn't expect to get used to.

"...Thanks, for earlier," she offered, finding herself uncharacteristically at a loss for words. Considering her situation, though, it wasn't at all surprising that she wasn't as primed as usual for some kind of witty retort. She'd been caught completely off-guard.

"Looks like some people are already out for blood," she mused aloud, her thoughts drifting back to Teo and Marybeth.

At that moment, however, a boy came bursting out of the bushes on the other side of the clearing, and Claire instinctively rose her gun towards him and steadied the aim with both hands. Her arms froze as she scanned her memory, squinting through the afternoon sunlight in an attempt to make out who had joined them. The glare was blinding, however.

"...Who's there!?
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Jonny†
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#6

Post by Jonny† »

"...Thanks, for earlier."

Mmm. Gratitude was nice. It was certainly miles ahead of the oh God, you seriously followed me, get the fuck away from me you creep that he'd been worrying, just a little, he might receive. After all, Claire could be a little abrasive at times, particularly on the subject of boys giving her unwanted attention. But she was also a good person, at least as far as Julian was concerned. Which was a big part why he'd decided to follow her in the first place.

"Looks like some people are already out for blood."

Julian let out a relaxed laugh and lowered his arms as he took a few steps towards Claire. The edge of his sword scraped gently against the ground, picking up a little dirt. "Yeah, I know. But we all just got to keep our heads level is all. I bet that right now, those crazy kids back at the church are holding hands and riding off into the sun-"

Oh fuck gun..

Gun. Raised. Aimed. Jesus fuck, had she been holding it the whole time? And he didn't even notice- fuck, so that meant she had it back at the church, so- awful clever of her to- No not now. Think later. Act stupidly now.

A quick dash towards Claire. A few sharp strides and a bit of a skidding halt that buried his loafers an inch into the ground. Julian was in front of Claire by a few feet, back turned to her, his body blocking any shot that Claire might take at the newcomer. He awkwardly flailed of his left arm a little to regain his balance. Made a gesture to Claire with his left hand- stay back- and hoped she saw it. Tightened his grip on the jian and raised it up. Took a posture that he hoped said 'defensive but confident' rather than 'freaked the fuck out'. Swallowed hard. Squinted. Tried to make out who the newcomer was.

Hoped to God that nobody picked up on the fact that he was, ever so slightly, shaking.
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Rocky†
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#7

Post by Rocky† »

((Dawne Jiang continued from Orientation))

Dawne Jiang had the worst send of direction in the world. She was quite possibly the only person in the world who could get lost in a cut down forest. She had wandered around the barren stumps for a couple hours before finally giving up and sitting down on the ground in a fit. She grumbled to herself for a little while, angrily chewing on a piece of bread.

"Fuck, I'm not cut out for this outdoor shit... I'll leave that to Rekka." Once she was done with her bread, the girl curled up into a ball, luckily having found a spot where no one else stumbled upon, and slept.

-----

Some time later, Dawne wasn't sure how long, she was woken up by the sounds of voices. This was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was her face felt hot. She scrunched her face, and felt pain shoot through her features. No wonder, she had been sleeping in the sun with no protection for God knew how long. One thing was certain, what was left of her life was going to suck.

Trying to ignore the pain in her face, Dawne very cautiously raised herself into a sitting position. Cautiously peering over the stump she had been sleeping near, she saw three figures some distance away, close enough that she could hear them saying something, but too far to hear what. She could see weapons though, which probably didn't spell good things. Instead of deciding to go an just barge in, she decided to sit where she was and wait.
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Grim Wolf
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#8

Post by Grim Wolf »

"Gah!" David cried, flailing backward as the girl lifted her gun. "Don't shoot, it's--" Someone was running from one side. David's face tightened, his eyes squinting, and he lifted his arms in front of him. "Wait, wait!" he cried. "Please, don't...!"

As the panic lifted, he saw two people he thought he recognized. He and the boy, if he wasn't entirely mistaken, had talked with once or twice--Jake, or something? The girl he'd only seen around school, he had no idea what her actual name might be.

But the boy had a sword and the girl had a gun and they were pointing them at him and he wasn't a threat he could barely think and God what were they saying and what the hell am I doing here?

"It's me!" he squawked. "D-david...David Meramac!" In the course of his flailing he lost his balance and hit the ground, a piece of discarded wood digging deep into him as he landed. He winced, groaning to himself. "C-christ," he muttered, as the reverberating ache in his legs finally reached his pain and he slumped forwards. "Christ, are you going to kill me? I'm not going to hurt anybody, I don't think I even...here." He tore the bag off his shoulders and threw it at their feet, than hunched into a ball and pulled his knees to his face.

"If there's something good in there, it's yours," he said. "I h-haven't...haven't even looked, yet."
Those Whose Time Has Come]

Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...

Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.

Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”

[+] Those Who Have Gone Before
[/url]

V6

Alex Tarquin (male student no. 32: "No more...masks..."

Tara Behzad (female student no. 12): "They don't get to decide how I die."

Lizzie Luz: "I don't want to go."

V5

Tyler Lucas: "I had fun. You?"

Karen Idel: Game over.

Xavier Contel: "G-gotta...trust people, Arthur. G-g-gotta try. C-can't be afraid."

v4

Naoko Raidon (male student no. 54): Dying like...this isn't...so...bad...


Mirabelle Nesa: "I'm a weak little girl who couldn't save anyone, even myself, but god damn it I beat you and god damn it you are going to remember that because I am Mirabelle Nesa and I am a hardened goddamn warrior and I am not going to fucking give up now!"

Simon Grey: "I never was a hero, but, God help me, I tried."

David Meramac: "Running towards nothing. Running from nothing."
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Slam
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#9

Post by Slam »

She wasn't supposed to be here! She wasn't supposed to be on this fucking trip! She wasn't even supposed to be in this fucking country!

((Alice Boucher Start))

Why the hell had her parents, in their stupid, stupid, fucking idiotic fucking stupidness ever thought it was a fucking smart idea to send her to fucking America!?!? They had every other fucking country in the fucking planet to pick from, and they send her to America where she gets abducted by some fucking terrorists who fucking put a collar on her neck and fucking give her a random bag which just has some fucking whip in it, and tell her she has to fucking kill every fucking American fucker in the fucker school if she wants to go fucking home to her fucking idiot parents without getting killed first!?!

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"

Alice Boucher had been walking around the island aimlessly for a long time now, stopping to kick at trees and plants every short while and scream obscenities at the top of her lungs; by some small miracle she had narrowly avoided alerting her presence to any other students, although Alice was far too pissed off to appreciate that. Instead, she was acknowledging her bleak situation.

"You fucking idiots!" she repeated for the thirtieth time, having cried out all of her tears long ago, leaving her face dry as she screamed. "You fucking send me to this fucking country! You fucking send me to this fucking school! You even fucking send me to the fucking trip! You fucking – I hate you mama and father! I want you both dead!"

She had been clenching her teeth so much between screaming rants that her jaw was starting to go sore, and between that and her hoarse throat, the situation wasn't doing anything to make her feel any better. It wouldn't have helped though; nothing would have made Alice's day any better.

"You do as you're told young lady!" her parents had screamed at her over the phone, with their fucking idiotic voices. "You are going on that trip, and that's final!" She had gone up to her room screaming almost as much as she had when her parents had told her she was going to America in the first place after that conversation; she really hated it when her parents told her what to do. If it wasn't for their money, she'd just run away from them and never look back.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!" she screamed once more through her burning throat, still far out of earshot of her parents who were oblivious to her situation. But for the third time in her life, throwing a tantrum was not helping her.

In a brief moment of walking through some greenery without yelling out, she had been able to hear the sound of other students coming from her side. Rage built up inside her, as she felt everything that had happened was there fault; if it wasn't for them, she wouldn't have been on the island, or playing this game, or have a sore throat. It was their fault, and she wanted to make it clear!

Pushing her way through the foilage in a fit of rage, oblivious to the terrified cries of David, she pushed her way out into plain view of all three people standing in front of her, two of them quite clearly armed, and as brimming with rage as she was, a sharp sword and a gun can do wonders for anger management.

She couldn't scream anymore, and not just because her voice was going; she was scared. She was scared, angry, and completely helpless.

"Uh." was all she could utter, her face frozen in fear of the lethal situation she had walked straight into.
My V8 Relationship Thread!
[+] Dead V7 Kids
B035: LUCAS BRADY - Had Enough - 1 - 2 - 3- 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
G002: ELISABETH "LIZZIE" LEBOWSKI - "You've been a great audience." - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
[+] Pregame Shenanigans
Lucas Brady - Facebook!Lucas - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Elisabeth "Lizzie" Lebowski - "My parents told me to make a good signature, so I signed a note promising I would do it later." - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
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Limisios†
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#10

Post by Limisios† »

((Alan Rickhall continued from 'The Cult of...'))

Alan Rickhall was eyeballing his map in confusion, he had been walking aimlessly through the island for what seemed like forever; it was a miracle that he had actually managed to catch up with Jimmy, let along get ahead of him slightly. He decided to sit down on one of the tree stumps. He didn't feel completely comfortable that he was out here in the open where anyone could carelessly inject a bullet into his back.

He surveyed the ocean of tree stumps, Alan couldn't help but think that any one of those stumps could be hiding an armed student, ready to pick him off without a moment's notice. Alan's hands started shaking again. He silently took out his photo of him and Zoey Desantra and stared at it for a few seconds.

"Was she watching me now?" He thought. "Had she even realised that he was gone yet?"
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decoy73
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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:46 am

#11

Post by decoy73 »

((Jimmy Robertson continued from The Cult of ...))

Jimmy didn't really have any direction in mind when he walked off. Since there were no danger zones and little chance of meeting anyone actually playing the game, it didn't really matter. His mind wandered off a little as he stopped occasionally to let Alan catch up.

It's like that experiment ... who did that one? Anyway dog, two bowls of the same amount of the same type of food at equal distances from said dog. Dog's going to go to one of the two, we just don't know which. All Jimmy had to do was replace "dog" with "person," and replace the type, amount and distance of the food with the chances of finding a player, whether there was a danger zone, and whether there was any shelter. They all roughly evened themselves out to form a situation where there was no right or wrong direction. In any case, Alan had stopped to sit down on one of the tree stumps. Looking at his map and compass, Jimmy figured that they were in the southern portion of the cleared forest.

Of course, we're not exactly safe here, but then again, where are we safe? The fact that there were only logs and stumps meant that hiding was pretty hard, and the slope of the ground made it difficult for him to keep his footing, having already slipped twice.

How come we haven't met anyone else? Is the island that big? Jimmy scanned the environment around him, looking for people that would hopefully not attack on sight (Like many others, the game was starting to get to Jimmy. He knew that some people would fold eventually. How else were the previous three ... no, four games played to completion?). His eyes stopped upon happening on the group of four to his east (consisting of Julian Avery, Alice Boucher, Claire Lambert, and David Meramac, but from about one hundred meters away, it was hard to even be able to tell that there were two guys and two girls). The big question was simple: How are they feeling? If they were scared, there was a decent chance that they would attack, but if they were calm, they'd probably give him a chance to plead his case and not attack him or Alan unless provoked. Of course, given the fact that they were a group, they were rational enough to trust each other and not attack on sight (Jimmy didn't know that only Julian and Claire were in the "group:" they had, out of fear, unintentionally intimidated both David and Alice when the two had happened upon Julian and Claire). He looked at Alan.

"Alan. There's a group over there. They seem friendly enough, so I think it's a good idea to check them out." He jerked his head to the four people in the distance. He turned toward they group and walked towards them. At about fifty meters, he spoke up, making sure to keep his sword visible and as non-threatening as possible (he didn't want to scare anybody more than they already were):

"Hey! Is everything okay?"
Survivor: UCONN - Seriously, it's awesome!

Version 8
Kaede Tsurumi: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!"
Morgan Whitney
Tyler Slomkowski
Victor Grail: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all."
[+] Version 7
Male Student #65: Manuel Figueroa; Status: ACTIVE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Female Student #63: Christina "Renz" Rennes; Status: ACTIVE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Female Student #70: Jessica Rennes; Status: ACTIVE (Adopted by Brackie)
Female Student #79: Stephanie McDonald; Status: ACTIVE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Crash†
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#12

Post by Crash† »

(Well, since Raina's still not ready, here I go!)

"Gah!" came a cry from the anonymous boy. "Don't shoot, it's-...!"

Julian stepped in front of her, his weapon primed and his feet dug firmly into the ground. Claire lowered her gun - if only because she couldn't get a clear shot if she wanted to with him standing in the way - and brought her forearm up over her face in an attempt to reduce the glare from the afternoon sun. It still wasn't helping much, matter-of-factly, but the action was more reflexive than anything else.

David quickly identified himself and, in a panic, tossed his day pack onto the ground to show that he didn't plan on hurting them. The thought crossed Claire's mind that he could be tricking them into dropping their guard, but...quite frankly, she didn't give the boy enough credit as an actor to fake panic that well. Which meant that he wasn't a threat to her or Julian. Another relief.

"...Pick it up, Dave. We're not going to kill you," she offered flatly, taking a moment to clear her throat before adding, "...as long as you don't do anything stupid."

A coy smile danced across Claire's lips. It wasn't one of wicked intent; rather, it was meant to disarm any suspicions David may have had about her playing the game. The last thing she wanted was for her warning to sound terribly threatening. After all, what good would provoking a paranoid teenager? Or almost three hundred of them? The ten rounds for her Mini couldn't protect her from all of them. It would be wiser to save them for the loonies.

"...Uh," came an interruption from her side.

Perplexed, Claire turned her head to see a long, dark-haired girl with a gray hairband. She didn't recognize her, and briefly wondered if the girl was even a student at Bayview. The girl seemed to be unarmed, however, so for the moment, Claire turned her attention back to Julian.

"...So, did you follow me here?" She inquired, a curious furrowing of her eyebrows adding the finishing touches. "...If you don't mind me asking, why...?" she wondered aloud, occasionally casting brief glances towards David and Alice to make sure neither of the two whipped out a gun while she was distracted.

Oblivious to the presence of the others in the field, Claire was once more caught off-guard by a voice in the distance.

"Hey! Is everything okay?"

This time, Claire found herself having to turn completely around and put her back to David. The move wasn't wise, but at the moment, she wasn't thinking clearly. Only one thought bounded its way through her skull, like a soldier on a mission.

"Everywhere is so fucking crowded..."

Claire couldn't really make out the two boys in the distance, but since they were polite enough to not sneak up on her, she wasn't quite sure she felt threatened by them, either. Were she watching from the sidelines, she'd probably be asking herself how the hell she was able to think so rationally in this situation...but at the moment, she was only conscious of the boy at her side, the one behind her, and the random other people scattered throughout the field.

"...We're never going to get a minute to talk, are we?" Claire whispered to Julian, her irritation now impossible to mask.
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Jonny†
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#13

Post by Jonny† »

The most immediate downside of being such a badass is that people have a tendency to prostrate themselves in abject terror whenever you show up. Do something as simple as walk into a room, everyone snaps into reverent silence and bows their heads (for they are not worthy). Do something as simple as jump out of nowhere at a defenseless boy and brandish your sword as him, and he falls over and begs for his life. It was a burden, this aura of booming majesty that he dragged around with him wherever he went, but one he had to shoulder. It was a curse. It was a crippling character defect.

And Julian was, if nothing else, acutely aware of his crippling character defects.

"...Pick it up, Dave. We're not going to kill you ...as long as you don't do anything stupid."

Julian glanced back at Claire- lowered her gun, good- and relaxed himself. Shook the tension out of his shoulders, dropped to one knee, and shoved his sword a few inches to the ground. "And even if you do anything stupid, we only gonna kill you a little bit." His words and face were friendly, his eyes mostly focused on David but occasionally tracking the shallow wobbling of the sword's hilt. "And I'm sorry I spooked you, man, it's just that I'm with Samurai Club and we're all practicing for our big recital."

"...So, did you follow me here? ...If you don't mind me asking, why...?"

Julian rose back to his feet, turning to one Claire and leaning his left leg slightly on the sword. To make sure it was still there. To make sure he still had his power, his control, his trump card. To make sure he could still protect her. To protect her- was that the answer he was gonna give Claire? Little paternalistic. Little condescending. Little stupid, now that he knew she had a gun and was in the habit of pointing it at squawky little guys. But a gun is a dishonorable weapon of cowards, Claire, you need a brave samurai to protect you and that is final.

"Yeah, I followed-"

"Hey! Is everything okay?"

Oh for fuck's sake. It was almost like these folks- Julian whirled his head around, how many of them were there?- weren't entirely aware that they were dealing with a freelance messiah. But... well, they seemed well-intentioned enough. Certainly better for them to ask a silly question or two than for them to try and start some shit. So he couldn't get legitimately mad at them, and in the absence of legitimate anger there was exactly one tone Julian had at his disposal:

"Y'all want in on Samurai Club or somethin'?" He turned his head slowly and surveyed the little crowd of people who'd come to this spot- whether they consciously knew it or not- to bask in Julian's booming majesty. "Sorry guys, I can't help you out. Treasurer's office is that way," a random way, a random place that wasn't here, "and she can hook you up with membership cards if you're interested. Five bucks, plus the cost of a badass sword."

An aside glance to Claire. Goofy, cheerful, but a little exasperated. These crazy kids, no respect for privacy. He shook his head and turned back to her. He lowered his voice. Almost sounded serious.

"Claire, I followed you because I wanna protect you. I wanna make sure you find Aislyn, and that you don't get hurt on the way," his eyes flickered towards her gun for a split second, "and, well, that you don't hurt anyone yourself. You can take it or leave it. But you deserve to see your friend again. And I'mma stay by your side till you tell me to go."
This is an archival account used by staff to port posts belonging to the handler Jonny. While this handler hasn't been around in quite a while, should they return and wish to take custody of this account and/or its posts, they are welcome to do so by contacting staff.
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Grim Wolf
Posts: 743
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:40 pm

#14

Post by Grim Wolf »

"...Pick it up Dave. We're not going to kill you...as long as you don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid, right," he laughed, eyes darting here and there. "Like running? Is running stupid? Can I run?"

He wasn't unaware of the fact that he was acting crazy. In point of fact, he was keenly aware of just how edged his every word sounds, of the nervous energy which cracked at his voice with every opportunity, like an elephant reluctantly penned or a tiger growling in its cage. He was frantic with it, to the point where his mind buzzed with staticky half-thoughts and his body actually twitched every now and again, barely held in place.

Someone had started screaming earlier, but David, held up at gun and sword point, and barely registered them. Alice--not hard to remember her name, she had a remarkably thick accent--had stumbled into them, followed shortly by Jimmy Robertson--the football player who'd gotten beat up earlier that year.

"Hey! Is everything okay?"

Julian didn't even bother checking to see if he was alright, but then there were a lot of people now. He hadn't meant to intrude...he didn't want to be with other people.

"G-good," he stammered, as it looked like he was in no danger of an immediate and very painful death. "That's...good." He slowly picked up his bag and lifted it over his shoulder. "I'll, uh...I'll leave."

He had only gone a few steps when he spied someone a little ways away. They had what was clearly a photograph in one hand and a map on their lap; Alan Rickhall, the kid who liked to act. Kinda quiet, and at the moment he looked a little distraught.

To his surprise, David discovered he had calmed since his encounter with the others--apparently, he thought, the corners of his lips twitching, he found something soothing in being threatened with weapons. "Hey," he called, approaching Alan. "Are, uh...are you okay?"

He understood about having your head in a mess. His thoughts still hadn't quieted, but it seemed the least he could do.
Those Whose Time Has Come]

Terra Johnson (female student no. 73, DECEASED): Oh...duh...Abel's...dead...the one who...lives is...

Tom Swift (male student no. 60): It didn't matter what he wanted anymore.

Daria Bhatia (female student no. 56): "I pity you, and everyone who knows you. Because if you can live with this, I don't...I don't think you're human anymore.”

[+] Those Who Have Gone Before
[/url]

V6

Alex Tarquin (male student no. 32: "No more...masks..."

Tara Behzad (female student no. 12): "They don't get to decide how I die."

Lizzie Luz: "I don't want to go."

V5

Tyler Lucas: "I had fun. You?"

Karen Idel: Game over.

Xavier Contel: "G-gotta...trust people, Arthur. G-g-gotta try. C-can't be afraid."

v4

Naoko Raidon (male student no. 54): Dying like...this isn't...so...bad...


Mirabelle Nesa: "I'm a weak little girl who couldn't save anyone, even myself, but god damn it I beat you and god damn it you are going to remember that because I am Mirabelle Nesa and I am a hardened goddamn warrior and I am not going to fucking give up now!"

Simon Grey: "I never was a hero, but, God help me, I tried."

David Meramac: "Running towards nothing. Running from nothing."
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Rocky†
Posts: 325
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 4:59 am

#15

Post by Rocky† »

As soon as Dawne determined nobody would notice her if she stood up, Dawne promptly did so, moving away from the rapidly expanding group. Her face was still burning, but she tried her best to ignore it, glancing at the horizon to see if she could see anything. It didn't take long for her to see the mountain peak. She had been reluctant to go near it before, on account of other people probably getting the same idea. Right now though, it was all she had going.

Dawne made her way towards the mountain, thinking about where her friends might be. If she knew Rekka, he would be somewhere forested, unless there was a river. Either way, she needed to find somewhere outdoorsy. If she could find him, then that would be a huge weight off her shoulders. Rekka would protect her. He would find somewhere where they could stay, away from others, and spend what little time they had together. Just her and her love...

((Dawne Jiang continued in What She Came For))
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