SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

((Helena Fury Continued From By The Blood In Our Vain))

Almost every time they'd pointed their gun and the only time they'd fired it, it'd been pointed at them. Taken all in context it wasn't that shocking but they wondered, y'know, if they'd regret it if Lorenzo was still out there. Or like, what if they could Sherlock Holmes their way towards seeing what Erika was gonna become and put a couple in her before she walked off? How about if Ace lost it here in the next couple days and started killing people all over the place? They kept coming back to the thought over and over again no matter how many times they put it to bed. Even they were getting sick of it but it was a fixation. The angle this time, and maybe it'd been some other time too, was all about duty. Leaning way into the witchiness the world had a pattern and its pattern had put a gun in their hands. Was there an expectation there that they'd use it? And like, a responsibility to use it well? Everybody was gonna die but that included the killers and in a cosmic sense was there supposed to be this balance where bad people did bad things and then somebody, not a good somebody just somebody, came along and punished them for it? Taking all personal feelings out of it to think on that broader scale was waking up with a gun a debt they had to repay by using it?

They kinda liked that idea. Just, just not the transaction they were framing it with, 'cuz if you were cutting all the personal stuff you had to figure that the individuals didn't matter so much. Logically that played cuz Quinn was dead and the murdering hadn't slowed down any for her. New names popped up on the wrong side of the announcement every day, and if somebody rounded them all up for execution they'd probably be replaced in three days tops. Or maybe they wouldn't, and the bombs around their necks would pop. In the end they and everyone else who had ever worn one of these was a victim. Hel had to believe that. It was the foundation of the intent they were weaving. So what kinda debt did they owe when they picked up this gun? How were they supposed to use it? What was keeping them going still? Two things, really. First up was checking in with their folks. Racking their brain each day for more things to say, more closure, better preparations for when they ate it. The other was the ritual. The more energy they poured into it, the bigger their sacrifices got, yeah, yeah, it sounded crazy in their head too but it always had. It gave them something more concrete to anchor their days on. So fuck it. How'd the gun figure into that?

Hel didn't wanna hurt anybody. They weren't gonna pretend nobody wanted to hurt them though. Pointing a weapon was only gonna get them as far as the bluff. They had to be able to follow up. So that's how they ended up out here in the middle of the woods cutting marks into trees with Axel's knife. Walking back a few paces. Breathing in and out real steady like and raising the gun.

Just had to follow through.

The tree wasn't going anywhere.

They could do this.

Squeeze the trigger.

Any moment now.

Yep.

Just a lil' pull.

Whenever they were ready.

((Valerija Bogdanovic continued from Dress For Success.))

The foliage rustled.

"Hel-lo!" it called. "Don't shoot - um - yet!"

Alright. They were half in half out, so might as well take the full step back from this whole ritual mindset they were trying to steep themself in. This looked really fucking dumb didn't it? Filthy as fuck trying to hold up a tree like it was gonna sprout money and they still couldn't do that much right. Talk about intent? Intent like they were gonna carry enough generation spanning hate to put the spiritual screws into a concept they could barely wrap their head around when they could squeeze the trigger on some bark? Amateur hour shit. They were gonna get roasted when this all came out. It was pathetic, and yeah, this wasn't any better, on an objective level they knew they were swinging hard into the other side of their coping mechanisms because they were terrified and filled with self-loathing that when left unchecked would make them do terrible things to the people they loved by proxy of their inevitable flame-out so they had to keep moving in one direction or another and magic and goofs were pretty much all they had now that near everybody they full on cared about was dead and despite their awareness of these issues they were still going to keep ping ponging because that's how they lived their life and if there was ever a time to try and sort their shit out and do something useful it was now but nope they couldn't handle even that much so fuck it this was where they were now!

Sigh.

Okay.

That felt better just to lay out. Brain vomit. Gross mess but at least nobody had to see it. They were just about to lower the gun when the leaves started talking and hahaha boy howdy were they not nearly high enough for that! Hel let out a yelp. The gun went off somewhere while they were tripping over their own feet, pointed high over their original target. When their ass hit the ground they tried to sit up and get their bearings again. "Sh-shit! Sorry! I think! I don't know! Who's out there?"

After the gunshot, the foliage was silent for a few seconds, then produced a slight rustling. "Um - sranje," it muttered under its breath. "- It's - um - it's Marija! You're Jordan's friend, yes? I come in peace!"

She was quiet for another few seconds.

"Would you kindly turn your - um - safety on, so I can come out?"

((Lori Martin continued from Into Sandy's Beach))

Lori chewed her lip and walked forward through the woods. She was looking for a suitable place to pee, that being the reason she left the safety of their new output for the night. Was it safe though?

Lori felt torn. She thought that she was alright with going along with whatever Claudeson wanted to do, up to and including maybe menacing some people she didn't like. Anyone would take the chance, she said to herself.

But as she started to reflect on their time together she found herself questioning if he really was so interested in her as much as just having someone nearby and his new, exacting standards made it harder to find someone he'd allow to be with him. He had saved her from Bret, and Meka had been at least partly her fault. But was what he did too far? More importantly, he was a murderer three times over now. It was small beans compared to maybe Erika or Justin but would others mentally group him with the murders on first glance? Would that happen to her as well? She already had so many negative thoughts directed at her from classmates that she wasn't sure if she could afford many more.

This wouldn't be so much of a problem if people just liked her, if people had better taste. She bet that Mercy could have rolled up with Blaise anyplace and people would still say "Well, let's hear her out!"

From somewhere nearby: "Hel-lo!"

Lori ignored it.

There was another fear. Claudeson though she was honest or trying to be good or something, but Lori was not honest and didn't know if she could ever really be good. So even if he was sincere in wanting her around, how long would it be until he realized she was bad as everyone else?

Her contemplations were cut short when a shot rang out very close to her. It felt like she was right on top of wherever the gunshot had come from. Her ears rang and she couldn't hear the birds. Lori clutched her rifle tighter. She had to hide.

Lori dove into a nearby full-looking plant. She felt something warm next to her. Lori turned and saw another person already in this bush.

"Eek!"

Okay. Couple things to parse there. Hel didn't know a Marija but that voice sounded familiar. Associating it with Jordan cut through their confusion about half-way, it was Val! They'd lost hours together arguing over politics, and maybe less hours but a lot more of their voices screaming Jordan on. Val was good people. Hiding in a bush and giving them a fake name for some reason! Why would she do that? Maybe she'd like, hit her head? Or somebody else's head? Hel couldn't remember, there'd been so many names. As long as it'd been there were probably more people who'd hurt somebody left than hadn't. So the question was whether they could take the risk. Val couldn't know Hel was useless with this thing but Hel sure hadn't been on the announcements so there wasn't much reason to think they were going to jump her with it either, and she was hiding, and she was lying, and she wanted them to throw away their only means of defending themself. Pretty bad look when they laid it out.

Before they could respond Another shape went speeding into the brush about where Val's voice was coming from, followed by a shocked noise.

Hel pointed the gun around the shifting movements in the brush with their own squeak. "Hey!"

Hey.

Stirring command there Fury. Top notch. Things were totally under control now. Hel swallowed and tried to steady their hands. "Va-I mean, Marija, you okay?"

Suddenly, Val was not alone! In response to the sudden intrusion of the interloper, she flinched sideways, putting too much weight on her injured leg and falling halfway to the ground, getting caught up in some branches. Her unloaded gun clattered underneath her. Looking up at the intruder, she tried to keep a neutral face, though there was a slight twitch in her lip. It took a second for her to recognize who it was, given the lack of their usual faint orange glow.

It was unfortunate. Everything had been going according to plan up until now, relatively.

Val wasn't quite sure of the girl's name — Raylene, maybe (?) — but she knew of her reputation for volatility, political and otherwise. Her eyes darted back out to Hel, who was now pointing the gun at the two of them. She was taken aback, somewhat, when they nearly called her Val, but then used the name (her mother's) she'd given them as a means to obfuscate the fact there was a killer in the bush. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

Her eyes returned to Raylene, and then shot out to Hel again. She turned her head. "HEL PLEASE CAN YOU JUST POINT THE GUN ANYWHERE ELSE PLEASE?" she called out.

All she wanted was a gun with bullets. Was that too much to ask? Was it?

By the time he heard the shot, he was in the middle of zipping up his pants and a feeling of dread rumbled in the pit of his stomach. All it took was one moment for everything to unravel, and Claudeson Bademosi had only taken one moment to relieve himself. Hearing the gunshot in an earlier period of his life might have validated some of his beliefs — faith dictated that one must endure trying periods at exactly the points at which they were least equipped for them.

Right now, all he felt was dismay and expediency with which he approached the sound, Min-jae firmly in hand. Lori had gone ahead and because of his momentary carelessness, she could be dead. Claudeson knew that he should have felt worse about that, but all he felt was disappointment; a rather understated reaction to an ally's potential demise.

An ally, indeed. Not even a friend. Not quite, in this particular situation.

Had he ever really had true friends? ((Claudeson Bademosi continued from Into Sandy's City)) Keeping as well hidden as possible, Claudeson looked to the scene and could only surmise what he saw based upon the information that he had. Someone had their back to him; yelling into what looked to be a fairly large shrubbery. By build and tone, he could guess that the person yelling at the shrubbery was Helena Fury. He hadn't heard her name over the announcements at all, and he knew that she had been on the trip. That was logical. Wherever Lori was, it seemed that several voices were coming from beyond Helena — though he was unable to see whom, if anyone, was there.

Crouching behind a fairly thick coniferous tree, Claudeson readied the crossbow. Helena was somewhat of a non-entity to him back in Chattanooga, someone with whom he'd rarely crossed paths with, if ever. He held no disdain for her, though he'd always found the derivative that she'd gone by: 'Hel', to be ever-so-slightly offensive to his beliefs. Without the constraint of his faith binding him to offense, Claudeson couldn't find a reason to release the pent-up bolt from within Min-jae, so he simply crouched, listened, and waited.

The second that any other weapons went off, he would be prepared. Someone else screamed something about pointing the weapons away from the bush. It wasn't Lori, but the voice was female and unfamiliar. Helena may have decided to oblige, but Claudeson would not.

He would act, if the situation required it.

The girl backed up and then fell over onto the ground and the roots and branches. Lori was on her knees, looking at the other girl.

She had yelled out for Hel not to shoot at them. Her voice was familiar and her accent was distinct. It was Val. Lori knew of her as a similarly politically active person who also kept up with the news of the day. Her approach issues was weak and naive, but with her heart in the right place. What did that achieve for anyone? Exactly nothing, but with good intentions.

Lori instinctively went to pick up with the gun she had heard fall while her right hand held her rifle clumsily. She thought briefly dual wielding until realizing that would be stupid to try and attempt with a rifle. She reached for it, but she, too, lost her balance on her knees, hit a root, and pitched forward. Lori lost hold of the rifle which rolled out of the bush.

Lori landed on top of Val, which thankfully cushioned her fall. All of the leaves shook. She stared at the other girl in the quiet for a moment. She'd never been so close to another person before.

"Hey, watch it!" she finally yelled.

Status updates.

Marija: Marija? Was this a thing? A head injury thing? A culture thing? A queer thing? Really wanted the gun pointed anywhere else which was very understandable.

Bush person 2.0: Scufflin'. Unhappy? Not Marija's friend? Def not Hel's? Freaked out or making a play?

Hel: Unhappy! Confused! Pointing the gun everywhere! Freaking out!

So 3/3 not good. It was impossible to figure out anything clearer from where they were, all they saw in the brush was movement. Marija was pretty firm on not wanting the gun involved though so they could tuck that away. Safety on and all that. It went back in their waistband and they figured that would help all the shaking stop so they could all talk about this, nobody wanted to hurt anyone else here right?

A gun rolled out of the bush.

All that movement suddenly looked very very different.

Hel didn't have much of a plan when they charged into the brush. Gun was still tucked away out of sight and they didn't know who or what was happening on the other side of the leaves. When it came to fighting they didn't know much other than how to get hit. What they had going for them were two guesses: 1) They knew about where the movement had stopped, and 2) They were probably heavier than whichever person was causing trouble in here.

They'd figure the rest out after the impact when nobody was in immediate danger. Except maybe them. Even though the whole point of all the bullshit they'd been up to was to anchor them in some kinda purpose for survival, their first reflex was still that it'd be better if it was them.

Raylene was on top of Val and Val was under Raylene and Raylene was looking down into her eyes and she felt vaguely uncomfortable about this turn of events and some of her hair was caught on a twig and it was kind of pulling on it but not enough for it to hurt just yet and she wasn't sure where her gun went and this definitely wasn't going to plan at all and she wasn't even sure how this all had happened and

'Hey, watch it!' Raylene yelled right in her face. Instinctively, she pressed the back of her head into the ground to avoid a faceful of Raylene's week-without-oral-hygiene breath.

"UM WHAT -" was all she had a chance to say in response before Hel slammed into the both of them.

Claudeson had been here before. So many memories flashed back to him as he stood out of sight in the bushes, watching as Helena rushed towards whomever was hiding in the bushes. Perhaps it was Lori, perhaps it was someone else — he couldn't tell. So for the time being, he would sit and wait. Letting the crossbow drop to his side, he removed the pistol from the pocket of his pants and thumbed the safety off. Min-jae was formidable, but would not be able to land several shots in short order. If Helena truly was intent on killing whomever was hidden in the bushes, he would let the scene play out to whatever extent it needed to.

Back in Chattanooga, he had watched as Tyrell and Carters had gone blow for blow, only stepping in with the power of a lie and a smartphone to prevent one of them from getting stabbed. It was interesting — had he not stepped in that night, had he simply let nature take its course, he and his fellow students may never have found themselves within this predicament. Tyrell would have ended in jail, Wyatt likely in the morgue, and the student body in mourning.

As it stood, both Carters had still ended up dead.

He knew, after all, he had been the agent of Bret's deliverance.

Before, he had acted when he felt the threat of violence was real.

At this point, he was ready to wait and see how far this went. Holding the pistol at the ready, he didn't move; only watched.

Waiting.

Val was about to say something; maybe mouth off to her or something. Fine features. She remembered her from school. One of the types telling her she was going too far. "Maybe don't say all republicans deserve to die, blah blah." One of those. The type to look --

A weight fell on top of them, slamming Lori down onto Val with full force now. Her face was jammed into the crook of the other girl's neck and she had the wind knocked out of her for a moment.

"What the fuck?" she wheezed.

Lori planted her knee in between Val's legs, forcing them apart.

"I'm not trying to get weird or anything," she said quickly. "This is an emergency."

She used the strength in her legs to get enough space to plant her hands down in a push up-like position. No one could just cut her some slack. No one would just cut her a god damn break on this hell plane. None of her god damn classmates was empathetic or willing to think about it from her point of view, were they?

Lori used the strength of her legs and secondarily her arms to pop up into a standing position, displacing the body that had fallen on top of them. She was the bottom of the pyramid, a catcher. When pyramids collapsed, she was at the bottom trapped under everyone. It was because of her that Ivy didn't break her neck on the way down (for which she had never thanked her, of course).

"AH HA."

She had a few scratches along her bare arms from the foliage but it was better than being stuck in the person pile. Lori turned on Hel, glaring furiously

Back in Chattanooga, Claudeson had intervened and eventually, it had cost him. When he had stepped in to protect Tyrell, the spectre of both Carter brothers had lurked around most corners back at school. While he had ignored it, he was not immune to the scathing glances or the rumours that had circled around about what transpired in the woods that evening. Part of the reason that he had found it so simple to remove Bret Carter from the equation had been because of the way with which he went about his warfare. Neither boy had said much more than a passing word to him, sans when he'd seen them at Swiftball, but for such a forceful presence to have used backroom rumours to disparage him had made it an easy decision.

All because he'd stepped in to protect someone who didn't want it.

The things that had all happened since then were mostly bad, starting with his own worsening spiral into despair and capping off with the hellish misery that all of them were now forced to endure at the hands of terrorists. Stepping in had gotten him nowhere in life.

Straightening up, he took one more look at the scuffle, and recognized what he had to do.

Raising his weapon, he took aim at the mass of humanity before him.

Lori would prevail, or she wouldn't.

Fate, or whatever passed for it would sort her out.

The gun fell to his side, and just like that, he was gone into the trees.((Claudeson Bademosi continued in Used to the Darkness))

Lori turned when she heard the sound of rustling and retreating footsteps. She managed to see Claudeson's crossbow and shoes walk away from her into the forest.

He'd seen her engaged in a scuffle -- possibly in danger -- and he turned around and walked away.

They'd been together enduring the trials of the island for almost a week. She had stood by him while he killed two people. And he just left her there to die without even saying anything to her. He wasn't even going to say goodbye.

"I'm so stupid," she said to herself, shoulders and head hung down. She stepped out of the bush, picked up her rifle, hugged it, and started to cry. Why did she think he would stay with her? In the end, everything he'd said to her was a lie to keep another person around because she wasn't worth anything more than just being a body when it became a mild inconvenience to help her.

But she believed him when he said there was something about her that was worth something.

That was the mistake.

"I wish someone liked me," she sobbed into her rifle.