SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Dane frowned. He'd thought, at the very least, that the three girls in front of him were on the same page about things, but it turned out that that wasn't quite the case.

A group wasn't strong if there was any discord within it. Though... Dane had to concede that in that case, there was no such thing as a strong group, was there? Especially not here.

But still... he could still use, if not abuse, the safety that other people provided. These people seemed to leave well enough alone, at least, that he probably didn't have to worry about one of them trying to kill him or rob him or anything.

And... well, who knows? If one of them did, maybe he could use that slight disharmony to help him get them back.

But to the point...

"If you're going down there to search for your bags, how about you do that sooner rather than later?" he asked. As he did, he realized that his tone may have been a bit too blunt, but if they let that dissuade them from let him come along, then he didn't really want to, did he?

Oh, right, he'd never actually declared that he was going to join them, did he?

"Of course, I'm coming with you."

There, that should do it.

Forrest was going to say something in response to Katie, something chipper and actiony. Something that cool and kept the fact she was a living mess under wraps. But before that imaginary phrase could pass her lips Dane butted in with a very polite reminder of her goal.

Her arms shot up into the hands up pose, as she reeled back from him. "Fine dad, geez."

Turning, she picked up her back of clothes from where it lay on the ground and started heading off into the undergrowth.

She had a goal and once that was completed a list of people she needed to find.

As she started to disappear she called back to the others.

"Quickly, before we get grounded!"

The plan rolled around her head. Find her bag, find Andy, Abe, Mikki, Charelle, and others.

As she walked Forrest took in her surroundings. It was kinda cool, she'd never been in a proper jungle environment before. The humidity and heat made it feel like a reptile house in a way. She'd always enjoyed the reptile house at the zoo because she had owner bias. Her surroundings reminded her of that, it would have been nice if it wasn't for the fact she was in a life or death situation. But still for a little bit she would be able to travel the island and just take in the sights. Like the...uh...the...um...well...shit.

She hadn't actually looked at Meilin's map.

((Forrest Quin continued elsewhere...))

Meilin couldn't help but giggle a bit at Forrest's reaction. Maybe they could joke around after all, just a little bit. That would be nice, wouldn't it? What's life without a little laughter, after all?

She kept the map in her hands, for quick referral. Meilin had a vague sense for where she thought they should go, so she walked quickly to match Forrest's pace, and opened up the map again, just to make sure she wouldn't forget. Of course, she wasn't the boss of this group. Did they have a boss? Nah, they didn't need to do it the boring way like that. They were a team with no coach!

Wait, that could be seen as a bad thing. Uh... they were a kingdom with no king! That didn't seem right either.

Oh well. They were a group now, that's what mattered.

"Alrighty! Of anyone wants to look at a map I got one right here! Might as well save the hassle of dragging it out of your bag, eh?"

The hole in her heart wasn't fixed, not completely. It was like putting a thin fabric patch on a hole in a leather coat, really. And whatever had been drained from her wouldn't come back for a while. But no more energy would leak out. She didn't have to think about the... the thing, not right then.

For a while, she felt like her old self again.

[Meilin Zhou continued in Skin Feels Off]

She nodded at everybody’s comments, a single swift jerk of her head, but didn’t say anything more. Forrest was making little jokes and quick comments, Meilin had let out the first laugh she had heard for what felt like a long, long time, and Dane… well, he was starting to show snippets of exactly why she hated him at school, which could really prove to be a thorn in everybody’s sides in the next few hours. But what was important was that he, and the other two, were beginning to show signs of who they’d been back at school, little glimpses to the past of better times, of safety. Whether it was them truly starting to return to themselves, or just a front to keep the group intact, Katie couldn’t say. She didn’t know.

But what she did know was that she couldn’t see any way for her to feel like that again. Not any time soon, at least.

She’d thought she might have been able to, for a while. Even when the sole thing that had absorbed her thoughts was the need to find Saffron, the constant burning worry that her girlfriend was hurt, or in danger, or… or worse.

She still had that. And now she had something else too, something that she’d never be able to get out of her mind.

Only her.

She had anger problems at home, but she dealt with them by keeping quiet and out of the spotlight and, when things got too much for her to handle safely, taking out those frustrations on a punching bag, or channeling it into her music. Now she had none of her coping mechanisms, none of the healthy ones at least, and the anger and confusion she felt had been magnified. The only punching bags around here were living and breathing. She couldn’t let herself reach that point.

Cigarettes. She still had those at least. A tiny miracle, honestly, that they hadn’t tumbled out of her pocket.

She scowled into the packet as she opened it, feet starting to move beneath her. Over half of it was empty. If things progressed like she thought they would, this would barely last her three days, if she was being generous. But it’d have to do.

She paused for a moment to light up, then followed after Meilin and Forrest, a trail of smoke drifting along behind her.

((Katie Agustien continued in Skin Feels Off))

Well, it looked like they were finally ready to move, which was good. About time, really. Once they moved, they could actually start accomplishing their goals.

Finding a bag was a goal. A small goal, and it would leave their long-term goals uncertain, but nevertheless. Maybe one step at a time was better for the others.

He still had his long-term goals to think about, and that would require he to further see if this was a group that he could trust. That discord he sensed earlier was a troubling, if minuscule thing.

Well, time would tell he supposed. He couldn't let his guard down completely, of course, but maybe it would better to not be on edge all the time. Better for the mental, or whatever.

Time would tell.

((Dane Lennox continued in Skin Feels Off.))