How the Stars Have Fallen...

[AtomicWaffle†]

((Continued from Violence))

"Well I do, for the most part."

"Mmm... Me too."

A red-headed boy and a blonde, bespectacled one weilding a large dagger had walked out of the shadows, having listened to their conversation. Their interest had peaked when they had heard the name Gabriel mentioned, the very individual they had been trying to follow ever since they'd buried the corpse of Jason Foley. So far, they had very little luck finding him, and they deduced that they had taken a different route across the island than he had. But still, they had ran into this trio, who from what they'd heard, encountered Jason's killer not long ago.

The larger, blonde one, Will, walked closer, with his short-sword sheathed once again. The other one, Christian, followed not far behind. They looked dirty, having followed Gabriel's frustratingly erratic path, eventually ending up lost in the Jungle, before ending up where they were now. They hadn't ran into anyone up until this point, which was both suprising, and disturbing.

Christian stood beside Will, in front of the other group, and spoke, his voice raspy and shaken. "I heard you mention Gabriel. Will and I have been... well, hunting him across the island for a little while now, after we discovered Jason Foley's body, and a note from Gabriel that read 'Good luck!'"

With a sullen, yet angry expression on his face, Will added. "I buried him myself." A dull silence hung in the air for a moment, but Will quickly began to speak to the rest of the group, Christian still watching the surrounding area for anyone approaching them. With what seemed like intense purpose in his voice, despite the fact that he had but a hope in hell of keeping anyone else alive, let alone himself, Will Sigurbjornsson's voice resounded throughout the group.

"I agree with you, Brad. It's Brad, right? Anyways... Christian and I... after seeing what that evil bastard did to Jason, we're trying to hunt him down, and make him pay for what he did. He took sick pleasure in butchering him, I can tell you that. But I know for sure that we could use some help in taking him down, and getting the fuck out of this hell-hole."

Like Brad, Will had his doubts this was going to work. How could they get the collars off? How would they get past the rediculous amount of terrorists guarding the island? How the fuck....? However, he knew that if they did find some way to take off the collars, and avoid the 'players' and the terrorists, they might just last long enough for the Millitary to find the island, like they had before. Might...

Christian shrugged, just barely breaking a smile, his thoughts not much more optimistic than Will's or Brad's. Still, the thought of being butchered on television in front of all those he knew and loved, was enough for him to cling onto any group he could come across. His voice still shaky, Christian muttered once more to the three in front of him. "We're....we're with you guys... yeah?"

[Ciel†]

Voices

Brad turned his head to look at Simon. He had opened his mouth about to ask him something when he caught a glimpse of something moving right in front of them. Brad glared at the both of the figures, not entirely sure what to make of it. There wasn't particularly anything suspicious about the two boys, but the fact that they had been standing in the shadows all this time was warrant a little suspicion. He remembered who Christian was, if only by name, but the other boy... he had no idea who he was. No clue at all, although this wasn't surprising at all.

He turned his gaze to Terrie, then over to Simon to see if their reaction was just like his. They... buried Jason? They saw Gabriel do this... or at least knew that it was him? And they're hunting him down? Well... their hearts are in the right places... Brad was certain that if they DID have a huge grudge against the boy as the three of them did, then it was fine with him.... but what if, god forbid, they were lying through their teeth. It certainly didn't look like they were. Christian, if Brad could remember correctly, was a peaceful guy... but Brad was certain that he'd be able to lie if he put his mine to it. He shrugged softly, trying his best not to show any of the suspicion.

"Well... if you hate Gabriel just as much as we do, then that's fine with me... but... I think you're kind of too late to hunt him down and all. Adam Dodd jumped in front of us to take on Gabriel Whatever-his-name-is by himself. He practically barked at us to get going, and I really didn't disagree with him... well, not until Gabriel gave me this." He pointed down to the cast wrapped around his waist. "Unless if the bastard could miraculously could kill Adam, I don't see him getting out of the fight alive.

"... but Gabriel aside, we need all the kids that we can get." Brad continued, shooting both boys the same smirk he had given both Terrie and Simon. "If you guys want out of this game as much as I do, then I've got no quarrels with you joining up with us... unless if these two have a problem with it."

[Namira]

Simon wasn't sure what to make of the two newcomers. Once again, he could recognise them, and knew their first names, but beyond that, he had no knowledge, no info whatsoever. The fact that they knew about Jason suggested that they were trustworthy, but still, there was always that slight hesitation. How did you know that somebody wasn't plotting behind your back? How could you look into their mind and know what they were really thinking?

Don't be like that you idiot! Don't you think that's exactly what Danya wants you to be like? Fear for your life makes the urge for self-preservation kick in, and before you know it, there's another ready-made Gabriel walking around the island trying to kill everybody he can get his hands on!

Simon remained quiet though, not venturing an opinion.

[Megami†]

Brad seemed serious enough about banding together and trying to find a way to beat the program, and Terrie couldn't help but admire his resilience. If he was so serious about doing this, then who was she to try to stop him? If he really thought it could be done, then she was all for it. They had to at least try, right? If they failed, what did they have to lose? Their lives? They were as good as gone anyway.

She didn't have much time to think before two new voices boomed out over the area. Her head shot up and she looked in the direction where the voices had come from, only to see Christian Rydell and Will Sigurbjornsson standing there. Christian, she knew on some level, but she knew next to nothing about Will, sans the fact that he had moved here from somewhere in Europe.

They engaged themselves in conversation with Brad, and Terrie quickly learned that they had witnessed Jason's demise at the hands of Gabriel Theobaldt. In some distorted version of vigilante justice, they were now hunting down Gabriel to avenge Jason. If it had been just another story in a book, Terrie'd have been rooting for them to get their justice, but this was real life.

And it's just not right to hunt down somebody, no matter what they did. Two wrongs don't make a right... and this is why we're all doomed to die here. Killing Gabriel won't fix anything. It'll just take someone else out of the game and soil your own hands with blood. Why doesn't anyone understand that?

"Killing Gabriel won't bring Jason back..." she stated quietly, averting her gaze to the ground rather than making eye contact with the boys.

I understand your position on it, but it won't change anything now.

Christian seemed to be more interested in staying with the group rather than hunting Gabriel down, though, and she certainly wasn't going to turn away more allies. After all, Brad had just said that their best chance of survival had been in sticking together. If Will and Christian stuck around, their chances increased by two more.

"If it's a group you guys are looking for," Terrie spoke up, a light smile playing across her features, "Then the more, the merrier. If you're intent on hunting Gabriel down and bringing him to justice, I understand, but I want no part in it... but we could definitely use more allies."

She hoped Brad and Simon would agree with her. Terrie brushed the hair out of her face one more time and piped down again. Brad had almost taken on some sort of leadership role within the group, and she'd leave the ultimate decision up to him. But, she definitely had no problem with Christian and Will joining them. Either way, they needed to get moving soon.

"Whatever we're gonna do, we need to decide soon," Terrie spoke up again.

They had spent the better part of the day at the river, and it would be getting dark soon. She wasn't sure exactly what time it was, only that it was obviously late afternoon. Soon enough, the sun would be going down, and Terrie, for one, would feel much better in some kind of shelter for the night than out in the open. Besides, she was feeling rather fatigued and really needed to rest.

[Ciel†]

As far as Brad could contest, he had no real problems with both Christian and the other boy hunting down Gabriel. More power to them. He didn't like the freak back way when, and he certainly didn't like him now either. Then again, he wasn't exactly behind the idea of exacting revenge against Gabriel either. In fact he wasn't behind the idea of killing anyone, and from the dead silence that had come from Simon, and the response that Terrie had posed as well, both of them seemed to agree with what Brad was feeling as well.

"Listen... I don't exactly like the IDEA of revenge... I mean, Jason is a nice guy... WAS a nice guy.. But hell! If he's dead, he's dead. Even if you managed to kill the sick bastard who gutted him, it's not going to help at all to bring Jason back. But... if the two of you have set your minds on finding the guy and giving him what he so rightfully deserves, then.... There's nothing that I could possibly ever do to convince you otherwise. If you really want to catch up with him so badly, then the least I can do it point you where we saw him last..."

Brad outstretched his hand in the direction that he and the others had escaped the scene from. "We met him near a swinging bridge about West from here... like the ones they have in action movies. You should be able the spot it. It's sticks out like a sore thumb, if anything. That being said, I doubt you'll be able to do much of anything. Adam probably has it all wrapped up in a bow. You can still check it out if you must, I'm not going to stop you..."

He had noticed that both Simon and Terrie really looked exhausted, as was Brad at that moment. It was starting to get dark, the sun starting to fall under the horizon(although Brad hadn't really caught onto this). He let out a sigh and continued. "But... if you think that you want to join up with us and completely forget about Gabriel, then we're going to need a place to stay. I'm not too sure of the perfect place, but this is somewhere that I have in mind."

It was near where Brad had first arose from his drugged slumber. More likely, he was awakened to the sounds of a boy screaming. James Brown, a kid that Brad had easily remembered the name of but never really knew personally. He was crying something, but at the time Brad couldn't transcribe what he was upset over. He thought that James was going insane, and Brad made himself scarce. When the thought of shelter entered his mind, a mental image of a dingy little chapel came as an answer.

Brad's eyes trailed over to look at Simon, then over to Terrie, letting out another long sigh. "It was... where I woke up on this god-forsaken island. I saw a chapel. It's small and no one's probably used it in years, but it's there and it looked as though it could still be used. I mean, it's better than nothing I suppose...

"It's about..." Brad really didn't know which direction he had seen it, but instead he pointed to the stream, closing his eyes. "Well, I know that the stream will point us in the right direction. I passed it on my way to that bridge... If we follow the path that leads near the brook, then we'll come across it. I ain't gonna guarantee that it'll be totally safe there... but it's the best we've got, and it'll probably still be empty for all I know. We'll figure out what to do later if it turns out that there is another person in the church, but I doubt it."

He turned back to Christian and Will, flashing them another reassuring smile. "Again, I'm sorry that we can't be of more help to you guys. If you want to get that punkass back for what he did, be my guest. I think think that I speak for the three of us when I say that I want no part in actually playing this game and killing another person. I'll go so far as to say that I'd kill someone to save someone else, but anything else is where I'd draw the line. You can come with us to the church I was talking about, I'd be glad to have you aboard, but if you don't... then that's fine as well. Just make sure you get out of there in one piece..."

Brad looked from the two other boys towards Terrie, then over to Simon for what seemed like the tenth time. He made a quick move for his bag, swiping it up into his hand, placing it over his right shoulder with an unintelligent murmur placed to no one in particular. Before making his way out of the brook, Brad looked back at the other two boys with another smile.

"And..." Brad said before moving on. "And if you see Adam Dodd, tell him that I said... thanks."

((Continued in Lost))

[Megami†]

((Sorry for the short post.))

Terrie was somewhat surprised as Brad offered his words toward Will and Christian before heading off in another direction. When Christian had mentioned joining them, Terrie had assumed they'd stay together. From the looks of things, though, Brad wanted no part in hunting down Gabriel Theobaldt either.

Truthfully, she was glad.

It wasn't that she didn't want the other boys as allies. In fact, that had nothing to do with it. Terrie wanted as many people to band together as they could get. It seemed like the safest thing to do in this game. But, the fact was, they were looking for vengeance for their friend, and killing another one of their classmates, even though it might have been deserved, wasn't very high on Terrie's list of priorities.

"Good luck, guys," Terrie mused toward Christian and Will, giving them a half smile.

She was hesitant to leave without the boys coming along. It just didn't feel right leaving someone behind. Still, Brad had already gone, whether she liked it or not, so she had two choices -- she could follow him, or she could stay here with Christian and Will. Following Brad definitely seemed to be the safest choice.

"Brad!" she called out, running to catch up, "Wait up."

((Continued in Lost))

[Namira]

When the other two headed off, Simon toyed briefly with the idea of joining up with Will and Christian. He felt that he owed Adam. On the other hand, killing Gabriel and trying to return a favour weren't exactly the same thing. Whilst he commended their resolve, he wasn't sure of their methods. Plus, Simon had been around Terrie and Brad for a lot longer than he had known the two newcomers. He just... couldn't them, and that really hurt him.

"I don't think that killing Gabriel will resolve anything," Simon said to the pair that remained, glancing anxiously after Terrie as he did. "But if you're going to try, then be careful - he might be more trouble than you'd expect. Still. Good luck," Looking over his shoulder again, he saw that the other members of his group were almost out of sight in the distance. Simon couldn't afford to fall behind, nor speak any longer. "Later guys," the runner said to Will and Christian, then turned around and took off after his friends.

Despite the fact he knew he would rather stay with the group that was already established, Simon couldn't shake off a nagging feeling that the so-called hunters were just following along after their deaths. Gabriel was off his rocker, and Simon doubted that Will and Christian would be able to deal with him, even with the advantage of numbers.

Still. Looking on the bright side, Gabriel could already be dead... Simon froze, astonished that he had just thought something like.

Of all the inhuman... terrible... Nobody deserves to die, not even freaks like Gabriel. There has to be another way, otherwise you're sinking to his level.

Troubled, Simon continued chasing along after Brad and Terrie.

((Simon continued in Lost))

[AtomicWaffle†]

Christian took a step forward, and he started to say something, when he saw a look of contempt spread across Will's tired face. This look was familiar to Christian; he showed it right before he broke into one of his excessively arrogant, cynical rants when people 'irked' him. Christian wasn't quite in the mood, and cut off Will. The two walked aside, and Christian spoke.

"Look... Even if we did find him, he'd kill us both! He can literally throw me with one hand, and the guy has a sword with him! You've got... a dagger, and i've got a big stick. We don't have a chance. I don't know what Adam has, or even if he's still alive, but he's been through this before, and Gabriel's more than a bit cocky. We'll just stay with these guys, listen to the next annoucement. If he's dead, we'll stick with them to thend, if not - We'll try and find some better weapons before we go after him. These people don't want to, and to be honest I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of going anywhere near Gabe in the first place."

Will looked at him begrudgingly, but couldn't think of anything to say to him, so simply agreed and looked back up. The other group was gone, having probably left for...

"Christian, they're leaving for the Chapel, they said that, right? We know where it is well enough, and I wasn't inside, but it looks quite secure, we could wait out there 'till it becomes a dangerzone, or as long as we even have to. I'm kind of liking the group idea right now. If anything, it's cannon fodder in case some crazy goes at us with a shotgun or something."

Cannon Fodder?! What the fuck Will?

"Dude... these are our friends, guys we went to school with, and you're calling them cannon fodder? What the fuck man? These are people. You said you've got a responsibility to help everybody around you, yet you're saying you'd throw them in front of you in case somebody was shooting at you?"

With disgust, Christian raised the wooden, broken shovel handle and walked back in the direction that the others went, a cold silence between the two. Will himself grunted, and trudged off behind Christian.

((Continued in Lost))