At Home In The Forest

[Fenrir]

(TV debut of 13D – Simon Porter)

With the soft leafy ground beneath his feet and the sound of chirping birds above his head for a few blissfully ignorant seconds Simon thought that he had fallen asleep out in the garden again as he was wont to do, that everything that he could remember happening in the past two days had been nothing more than a dream.

Then he shifted slightly on his back and felt something cold and metal press against the skin of his neck and everything came rushing back. He shot up to a seated position, quickly taking in his surrounding as an unfamiliar but fairly typical forest, and raising his hands to his neck to feel the sturdy collar placed around it. It didn’t take him long to make the connection, even if he didn’t watch it himself how could he not know about SOTF-TV and its iconic explosive collars?

He began looking around more purposefully now, searching for his supplies and finding the blue backpack on the ground behind him, the imprint of where his head must have been resting on it still there. He pulled it towards him and placed it in front of his crossed legs, opening it up and removing its contents one by one; water, rations, spare clothes and other unnecessary items were pushed aside until he found something worth examining. He carefully pulled the grey bandana out from under the pile of shirts and looked at it.

Aside from the number 13 embossed on the front their was nothing of note about it except for the fact that it would announce to everyone he met what team he was on – and that he would be killed if he didn’t wear it at all times. After some thought he carefully tied the cloth around his neck, covering the collar from sight and putting the 13 front and centre where it could be easily seen.

Next he reached back in to his pack, his hand going all the way down to the bottom before clasping around something solid and gun shaped and pulling it out slowly and nervously. Somewhat to his relief however it wasn’t a gun in the traditional sense; it was plastic and boxy, with no visible place to put the bullets and with a yellow and black striped front. It looked exactly like the Stun Guns he had seen the police on TV use during the many small protest riots that had always cropped up when a new season of SOTF-TV was to start. The cartridge in the gun would need to be replaced after every shot – and another look inside the bag showed that there were a few spares rattling around – but all things considered he had gotten a pretty good draw.

He had a good weapon to defend himself with but not kill anyone, he was in his element in the forest and he had at least four other people out there that he could count on should he meet them. Given the situation, Simon felt that he was slightly less screwed than he could have been. That was something, right?

[Vinny McQ*]

(13B Rishi Kohli start)

There were trees everywhere. Rishi hated trees. There were a couple of birds flying about too. Rishi gave them a look to let them know he wasn’t fond of them either and that it would be unwise for them to come any closer. He was bluffing of course. He had searched his pack up and down for a weapon of some sort but all he’d found was the standard first aid kit, a shitload of rations and a full set of cricket whites, minus pads. Rishi appreciated the gesture but the last time he checked brilliant white didn’t exactly blend in with the dull khaki woodland surrounding him.

His bandanna was a little better even if the bold white 13 embossed on the front wasn’t fantastic. Rishi tied it in a knot around his arm, hoisted his pack onto his back and made his way through the undergrowth. This part of the forest was off the beaten track and the trees had taken to their newfound freedom like ducks with a lot of space to grow in. The forest floor was covered in lichen, twigs and small bushes. Rishi liked none of these things. He could feel the gaze of a camera somewhere nearby. He wasn’t too bothered about that.

He searched the ground for club sized pieces of wood and found none. He didn’t have any luck finding a stone of any kind either. Looks like it’s just me and mine. And…a 13 year old? Rishi stopped and crouched. Just ahead was a small boy he didn’t recognise. I saw some of the guys from home back before they dropped me here but I don’t know you small fry. Rishi approached and hid behind a fallen log, just off to the kid’s side. Take a deep breath, sorry kid wrong place wrong time. If you were a buddy then maybe this’d be different but its you or me and it ain’t me.

He’d jump the log and then jump the kid. It’d be easy and quick. It’d be a damn sight better than what could happen if some prick came along playing up their crazy for the cameras.

Rishi made to move.

Then he saw the bandanna.

Dark grey, bold 13.

Fuck. Change of plan.

Rishi held his arm banded arm up above the log and lay down. He wasn’t about to have his head shot off for playing it like they said he should.

‘Hey. Hey kid. Over here. We’re the same team see? I’m coming out so you’d better be cool ok.’

Then he stood up.

[Fenrir]

Simon was just about ready to go; the Stun Gun was safely stowed in his right pocket, a couple of extra cartridges were placed in his left and everything was neatly placed back in his backpack. He’d found a couple of other things in there while doing so, a map and compass which were in his back pockets, a grey t-shirt with a 13 embossed on the front like his bandana and something he couldn’t explain, a Superman costume complete with fake foam muscles in the sleeves which was now acting as padding at the bottom of his bag. If nothing else it might make a good pillow when he needed it.

He had just swung the bag onto his shoulder with the intent of starting on finding a path out of the forest when someone called out to him. The noise caught him by surprise and made him completely mess up, the weight of the pack hitting him hard enough to spun him round in an undignified manner, making him turn to face the voice whether he wanted to or not.

Sticking out from behind a rather large log lying on the forest floor was an arm about as thick as one of Simon’s legs, thicker actually, a worrying sight that was only made slightly better by the fact it wore the same coloured bandana as the one around his neck. Soon enough the person stood up completely and he was able to take in just how much larger than him this unidentified boy was; surely he had never seen anybody like this walking the halls of Silver Dragon Academy? Did that mean that there were students from other schools on the island? Too be honest he wasn’t playing as much attention to the other kids around him during the briefing as he should have been and he had no idea. Either way, he had a feeling that it was a very good thing that this guy was on his team.

“Urm, H-hi, I’m Simon”

[Vinny McQ*]

Rishi let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. Not knowing if you’re about to get shot down out of the game by someone two heads and shoulders smaller than you can do that to a guy. He stepped over the log and walked towards the lad who was stammering out an introduction. Rishi thought he heard Texas in his voice.

He wondered if there was anyone from Detroit in his team. The forest was quiet but there was a low level of noise, animals and the wind in the trees mostly. Rishi could hear no other people but he was wary all the same. The sooner they found the other members of their team the better. Once they got out of the hated forest that is.

‘I’m Rishi’

Satisfied that the introductions were through with Rishi took a look around and sat down on a tree stump. He put his pack between his legs and rested his hands on it. Sitting down he was still a little taller than Simon so he leant forward a little and started to speak:

‘How about we go through the basics? Seein as we’ll be working together as a team maybe I should know a little about you. Where you’re from and all that? Can you do anything that could come in handy out here and what did you pull from the lottery? I can’t help us on that one seeing as all I got was a bunch of extra food.’

Rishi smiled and looked at the scrawny boy. ‘Maybe they knew we was gonna be on the same team when they gave it me.’

[Fenrir]

Once it became apparent that this stranger, Rishi, wasn’t going to try anything so long as they were on the same team Simon was able to relax a little. He didn’t move from the spot he had started in as Rishi went and sat down on a nearby stump, though he was able to take his hand off of the handle of the Stun Gun in his pocket; he didn’t even know he had been reaching for it.

“Well”, it was nice to see the stutter was gone. “I’m from the Silver Dragon Academy in Texas; it’s a private school down there. For my draw I got a Stun Gun”, thinking back to what he knew about such things Simon realised ‘Stun Gun’ could refer to a few different weapons so he decided to clarify, “You know, the kind that fires out the hooks and needs to be reloaded after every shot?”

“As for what I can do…” For the last part Simon had to think a little harder. What was he good at? He didn’t have any really useful skills like martial arts or gun training. He wasn’t athletic, quite the opposite actually. What could he offer his team mate that would make him anything more than a liability? “Nothing really. Though I suppose I have spent a lot of time in places like this, the forest I mean, I could probably help us get through it quicker because of that?”

[Vinny McQ*]

Rishi scowled. Private school. Just what I need.

‘A Taser huh? Well I guess that could come in handy. You hang on to that for now and keep it hidden. I don’t think anyone will be worrying about you when they see the two of us you know what I mean?’

Rishi pulled his map from his bag as the kid talked about how he had zip squat in terms of useful skills that would help them survive. He knew his way around a forest which was a saving grace. Rishi decided to utilise that skill to the full and get out of there as soon as possible. He had to find the rest of his team before someone less friendly came along. There was always safety in numbers; if he could find someone else then they’d be two and a half men at least. Rishi beckoned Simon over and pointed to his map.

‘We’re here at the forest, or the rain forest I dunno but it’s gotta be one of the two. As much as getting there is gonna be a pain in my ass we need to get here,’ he pointed at the hotel, ‘and work our way along everywhere that’s civilised.’ Rishi dragged his finger across the dock and then jabbed the cruise ship. ‘This place is way too big and unless we can find me a big stick, which doesn’t sound like a bad idea anyway, we’ll be fucked when whoever pulled the shotgun comes along you get it?’

Rishi put the map away and stood up. He looked around once more before slinging his bag around his shoulders. ‘Going straight across in the open is gonna be suicide, so which way do you think we should go? Past the ski resort or through the forest and down the east side? It’s your call nature boy.’

Please don’t say through the forest. I hate the bloody forest.

‘And we need to find me a big stick too.’

[Fenrir]

“Forest, definitely the Forest, I’ve never seen a Rain Forest in real life before but I know it looks nothing like a Forest and this looks like every Forest I’ve ever been in”, it seemed that Rishi had already picked out a place for them to go to next; not that Simon minded, it made no difference to him really so he’d go along with his teammates wishes.

It was clear right from the get go that this person did not like the outdoors, or at least preferred the indoors, seeing as he was so keen on getting to the Hotel and emphasised going everywhere ‘Civilised’. Too bad Simon was going to have to disappoint him. Simon may not have had many skills physically, but he knew how to read a map - even if he never exactly went far away enough from home to need one - and he could guess what the two of them could handle terrain wise and mountains weren't one of them.

“We should go through the Rain Forest; a Ski Resort probably means a mountain or at least a large hill that we’d need to climb over to get passed, plus the Rain Forest will give us a lot more cover. We’ll be out in the open once we reach the Resort Beach though, all the way down the east coast and along the south as well, so maybe we should go through the Tar Pits and cut straight across to the Hotel? Maybe skim the Inland Lake and see if anybody from out team is there?”

[Solomir*]

((Debut of ORA3: Ferric Tam))

Here's the thing about forests: trees gave excellent vantage points when you could get up in their branches.

Needless to say, Eric was quick to test this hypothesis. The trees in the forest were a whole different ballpark from what Eric was used to back in Bryan. Not that there were that many trees there either, but those were a lot easier to work with.

Waking up had felt awkward. Not because he had been lying on a bed of dirt and dead sticks, but because it was a lot later in the day than his routine 7am mornings. His daypack had landed close by. Careful analysis of its contents showed that he had been assigned a nauseatingly bright orange bandanna emblazoned with a sunburst insignia. Eric had frowned at that. The sun was a yellow star, not orange. The SotF-TV people needed some better scientific consultants. As much as Eric wanted to protest the bandanna, rules were rules, and getting his collar popped on such a technicality was frivolous at best. After a short debate on how to where it, Eric eventually opted for stuffing it half into his pocket.

The other contents of the daypack also needed some attention. The knife, which was a lot bigger than any knife Eric had seen before beside the huge cleaver his mom used occasionally for cooking, was probably his assigned weapon. It came with a simple sheath and belt loop, which Eric used to clip onto his khakis. There was food and drink and a first aid kit and some assorted spare clothes. He'd take a more careful look at those later, when he got hungry or his clothes got dirty. Grimy clothes were really uncomfortable to wear.

After going through his daypack, Eric turned his attention to the nearest scalable tree. It had taken the better part of an hour to hoist himself up to spot where he could actually see some distance around. Unfortunately, the branches got a lot thicker the higher he got (which seemed obvious in hindsight) which limited his visibility to several hundred yards at best.

From there, Eric did manage to spot a pair standing around and trading pleasantries. If anything, they were on the same team. Not that Eric cared much about his own team, but if they were from Silver Dragon, at least they'd be friendly faces. For the time being, at least.

It took far less time to get down than up, and within minutes, Eric had started jogging his way toward them. As he drew close, he slowed his pace to avoid alerting them of his presence early. Of course, sneaking around with a guy as big and inexperienced with the forest as Eric was probably a losing proposal to begin with. Two steps in and about twenty yards away, there was a resound snap as Eric clumsily plodded on a dead stick.

Well, now that his cover was blown, Eric had no choice but to talk to them. At this distance though, he could recognize one of the pair. Simon Porter. He hadn't heard much about him though, and only had biology class with him. Which only meant one thing: Porter wasn't a threat. The other guy towered over Porter and looked to be twice the other boy's size. Totally unrecognizable. So he was probably some idiot from whatever other school that had gotten roped into this.

"Porter." Eric said curtly as he approached the two slowly, waving his hands to show that he wasn't holding any weapons and didn't have any immediate intent to stab any of them. "What are you doing with trash like this kid?"

[Pippi]

((Brennan O'Brian-Start))

Brennan had woken up quite some time ago, and yet he still hadn’t moved from his spot. He just wanted to lie there and cry, cry until there were no tears left inside. There was nothing else he could do. He was going to die, and he’d known that since he opened his bag and found his “weapon”. Water purification tablets? Useful if he was in a group, but would he ever get to meet the rest of the orange team? Brennan had never been in a fight. He’d never wanted to hurt anyone. So he just slumped against a tree, and cried.

...

Brennan woke up again. He was feeling sick and groggy, and for a moment he hoped that he’d been dreaming. But the memory of the SWAT members carrying him from his house was far too vivid to be a dream. The worst part about it was that he could clearly see his brother’s face, peering round the doorway at his older brother being taken to his doom.

“Logan...” Brennan managed to splutter, the sick feeling becoming almost overwhelming. Somehow he managed to stop himself from vomiting, and slowly, tentatively, he stood up.

I can’t just give up. I’ve got to get home. See Logan. See mom and dad.

Brennan wiped away the last remaining tears, and adjusted his orange bandana. Bringing his hand down, he felt the cold metal of the collar on his neck. A few seconds ago, this would have brought Brennan to tears again. Now though, it just increased his drive to live. Now, he had a plan. It wasn’t the best, but with his limited resources, it would have to do. Walk around the island, trying to find the rest of orange team. There was something else, niggling at the back of his mind. Someone else to find...

Oh god.

Ali. Ali White.

She’s here too.

Well, that’s another reason not to just give up.

Brennan put the bottle of tablets back in his bag, without checking what else was in there. Closing it, and picking it up, he looked around the area. Somewhere off to his right, he heard voices, and he ran off in that direction.

There were three people there, all male. Brennan only recognized one of them. Rishi Kohli also went to Detroit, and while they didn’t exactly talk much, a familiar face was always welcome. However he, and the boy next to him, both had dark grey bandanas with a number “13” on. Brennan hoped neither of them were planning on killing anyone. To Brennan’s relief, however, the short-haired boy’s bandana was the same colour as his. Brennan set off towards them at a jog, yelling. “Hey! Rishi! Orange bandana guy! Over here!”

[Fenrir]

(I’ve got permission from Vinny to skip Rishi’s post)

Simon was still waiting for the larger boy’s response when the sound of a stick breaking reached them both very clearly from the trees to their side. It was a rare but not unusual thing to hear such noises while in the forest – animals that lived in the forest were mostly quite good at avoiding making noises like that but occasionally it happen – and normally Simon would just ignore it but in this situation it immediately set off every warning bell in his mind. He spun towards the sound, already reaching for the Stun Gun in his pocket when a familiar figure stepped out into view.

“Eric?”

Ferric, or ‘Eric’, Tam wasn’t exactly somebody that Simon knew, only having one class with him, but he had seen him around the academy enough to recognise him. All you had to do most of the time was look up and there he was. From the orange bandana it was clear that he wasn’t on the same team and him and Rishi but he was a fellow Silver Dragon student and that was good enough for him for now. Or at least it would have been until Tam opened his mouth.

Simon wasn’t sure how Rishi would react to being called ‘trash’ by someone he didn’t even know, but he was sure it wasn’t going to be good. Frankly he thought that Eric was being unnecessarily harsh for no reason; he’d always been a bit of a snob towards the other students at SDA for not always meeting his standards, he supposed it only made sense that he would be even more so towards these kids from a different school.

Just to head off any violence before it could start Simon, with some hesitation, moved to place himself just in front of Rishi to block him for just running at Eric and starting a fight, hoping that would be enough to put him off trying to do so.

“Eric, t-this is Rishi, he’s m-my teammate”, damn the stutter was back, not good to show nervousness right now. He turned towards the boy behind him made the second part of the introduction. “Rishi this is Eric Tam, he’s another student from Silver Dragon like me”

In more of an undercurrent his whispered to his teammate something that would hopefully deter any hostilities for the time being, or probably just make them worse. “Don’t be too offended by the ‘trash’ comment, he’s like that to everyone”

Before anything further could happen however, another newcomer arrived much more noisily than the last one, wearing an orange bandana like Eric and calling Rishi by name. Good, hopefully this guy would help him play peacekeeper for the time being.

[Vinny McQ*]

Rishi’s heart sank as the inevitable response came. They were going to go through the rain forest. It did make sense, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Touring the locations was a good idea, the more places they went the more likely they were to meet more people on the team and then the more likely he was to go home. If they could just get everyone together then they’d stand a chance.

SNAP

Rishi spun around quickly, balling his hands into fists. He’d been so caught up in planning he’d let himself get caught off guard. Rishi looked at the newcomer. He wasn’t someone he knew. Got to be from Silver Dragon. What the hell kind of name is that for a school anyway? He certainly dressed like a rich kid, one with too much spare time on his hands at least. And he was big. Not as big as Rishi but man if this guy had a second home then it was at the gym for sure.

Rishi looked the kid in the eyes and felt a twinge. Fuck this kid might be able to take me.

Then the kid spoke and everything Simon had done to endear the upper classes to him was swiftly undone. Rishi’s fists clenched and he set his teeth ready to charge at the arrogant prick, regardless of who could take who. Fuck a big stick he was gonna beat this kid to death with his bare hands, smash his head into the ground, a tree, anything he could find just to wipe that look off his face. We’ll see who the trash is when they’re mopping up your brains from the forest floor dickhead.

Simon moved between them. He actually stood between the two of them, him not five foot nothing facing down the two of them and bringing Rishi back to reality. Rishi relaxed as they were introduced and Simon explained in a whisper that Eric was a prick to everyone. Well that’s one out of ten I don’t have to feel bad about then. Your Karma will catch up to you in time. I just hope it’s me.

Rishi said nothing but glared as Eric approached them then called out.

‘That’s close enough Eric. You and your mouth can keep a fair distance.’

Rishi was about to ask Simon how he wanted to play this when someone else came into play. Another kid who could have benefitted from some growth hormone but one that he recognised at least. Brennan was wearing orange too but Rishi knew him from around Detroit and they weren’t alike. He wouldn’t have to worry about a terrible team up here.

‘Brennan!’ he started, then saw redness around his eyes. He’s been crying? ‘You ok man? Pretty fucked up huh?’

[Pippi]

((I’m gonna have to skip Solomir, because my laptop could die at any moment, and I want to get another post with Brennan done. Sorry))

As Brennan got closer to the group, he could see that the situation was... rather tense. He wasn’t sure whether he should just leave now, but Rishi called out to him personally. He waited until he got up close to the group, and sat with his back against a tree, before answering Rishi.

“Yeah, I’m... well, not okay, but I guess I’m holding up well enough.” Brennan looked down at his lap, and the bag he’d put there. “I’ve just been thinking about everyone else who’s on the island...” The thought of everyone, Ali, Brenda, Tiffany, even people he had only talked to a couple of times, like Sterling or Karen, potentially killing or being killed, started to bring tears to Brennan’s eyes again. He wiped his eyes, and continued looking downwards, until the tears stopped threatening to fall.

Stay strong. I just need to stay strong. Try and diffuse the tension a bit. Brennan looked up, and started talking, mostly to the two strangers. “In case you’re wondering, I don’t have any plans to kill anyone. It’d be kinda hard with this...” Brennan pulled the bottle of tablets out of his bag. “They're water purification tablets. I don’t have any plans either, really. I just want to find my team, and my friends, and...” Brennan stopped talking, fearing he’d start crying again.

“...so, er... I’m sorry, but I don’t know who either of you are.” This was directly towards Ferric and Simon. “I’m guessing you’re both from that other school, but, uh... who are you two?”

[Fenrir]

(OOC: I’ll skip Solomir just to move things along and give Vinny the chance to post. It's kind of short, sorry)

Simon hadn’t expected his and Rishi’s conversation to turn towards him so abruptly and was a little taken off guard by Brennan’s sudden question; he stumbled around his words for a moment before forming a coherent response.

“…Urm, yeah, we’re from the… other school; Silver Dragon or just SDA if you ever need to use the name. I’m Simon and the big guy on your team is Eric Tam. I can’t really speak for him or the other team members we haven’t met yet, but I don’t plan on playing this game either. Well, at least not until… we have to”

[Solomir*]

((slowpoke to the rescue!))

Porter interposed himself between Eric and his spoony-knifey teammate. A cold glare met Porter's timid eyes. Porter wasn't a bad guy, and Eric had nothing against him. His teammate, on the other hand, just kept going and confirmed every assumption Eric had already made about him. Who was he to order someone like Eric around. If he didn't have to go through Porter, it would be easy for Eric to take him down.

Eric eyed the newcomer warily when he appeared from behind some trees to the side. If it were anybody else, Eric probably would have spotted him from his earlier lookout point, except for the fact that this new kid was tiny. Tiny enough that Eric could probably step on him and not even notice.

To top it all off, he had an orange bandanna too. Just great. Tiny and useless.

He crossed his arms as the two unknowns talked. They sure as hell sounded like some poor ghetto idiots. His ears perked up a little when the tiny kid mentioned his assigned weapon. Water purification tablets would be useful, and Eric wasn't just going to let those fall in the hands of another team. If he couldn't use the person, at least he could make use of their equipment and rations, after all.

Christ, the kid was a crybaby though.

Of course, the discussion had to turn to what everyone's plan on the island was. At least Porter had his head on somewhat straight, but it also meant it could be dangerous to hang around him for too long. In a fair fight, Eric could easily overpower the other boy, but all it would take is for a moment of distraction when he turned his back and it could be all over.

"Sounds like you've got things worked out, Porter. At least someone else here besides me has brains," Eric turned his glare to the large guy, Rishi, standing behind Porter. "If that's your plan though, I ain't sticking around. We're playing for teams, right? Might be that you might start playing by sticking a knife in my back."

There was, of course, still the matter of his teammate and his water purification tablets. "Brennan!" Eric called out, hoping to not scare the tiny nervous wreck too much. "Let's go. Gotta find the rest of the team." The team who would hopefully have some people he knew from Silver Dragon, who would actually give him some modicum of respect. And hopefully a team with some useful weapons like guns.

[Vinny McQ*]

Eric carried on insulting him but Rishi had shrugged off worse before. At least the kid was planning on leaving. As it was both of them looked set to play the game but were in no position to play it, and they both had a small unknown on their teams. He didn’t think Brennan would get his act together and man up though, seeing how he’d fallen to pieces honestly he wasn’t sure if he’d see him alive again. Simon was reluctant but Rishi was confident he could look after the two of them until the kid realised the state they were in.

It did make sense to leave it as it was though. With two big guys and two little guys and no real weapons to speak of it was more of a stalemate than a confrontation. His own team had an advantage with that stun gun but not if he wasn’t willing to use it. Once he accepted where they were, and what they’d have to do, that would all change.

‘Hey Si come on man. We aren’t getting anywhere with these two. You know where we’re going so uh, lead the way.’

Rishi gathered his gear and threw his pack on his shoulders. There was no real weight to speak of.

‘Take care of yourself Brennan’

Rishi made sure to keep his eyes on the two oranges before finally looking away.

((Rishi Kohli Continued To: King of the Jungle.))