The Field

Who: Cross and Helena
When: After sunset
Where: In the tree
What: Being stubborn and chivalrous
Rating: G

Parting ways with Kenneth, Helena watched as people climbed the tree in the near-darkness. It was always dangerous to wait this late to climb, footing wasn't so sure, but there had been a sort of festive air tonight. The return of the eastern party had soothed a lot of fear and doubt. Helena really didn't feel good about the meeting. It was never more obvious to her than it was tonight that she was no inspirational leader. The camp was divided, which was exactly what she hadn't wanted to see happen. She supervised Rowan, Quinn and the meat being stowed safely in the tree before climbing herself. She lingered on the branch that led to her and Rowan's hammock but in the end she diverged. Scrambling over and under, using the dangling vines to hoist herself up to loop around the trunk a ways, she found herself on the western branches. There were some empty hammocks up this way. She'd let Rook, the new guy, have the twin sized comforter she'd found. It was still a bit dirty but a day in the tree had dried it out. Sophie had arrived with her own bedding and so was fine. Helena hadn't lied when she'd said there was spare bedding for Cross. There was, her own duvet was empty now that Annie was gone. "Cross," she said, watching him getting himself organised to crawl into his old wicker hammock.

Cross was so dead tired that he didn't think even the Laughers would keep him awake tonight, foul noisy beasts that they were. He was relatively clean, though his clothes could, as always, use a decent wash, and he was currently pulling his heavy work shoes off and tying them to a nearby, narrow branch. Most of the time he slept with them on, in case he needed to get up suddenly during the night, but tonight his feet throbbed, delayed reaction from all the walking they'd done, and he was going to hope that danger wouldn't abruptly strike. He was lost in his own head, not really listening to the muffled conversations going on all around him, and he yawned as he got the last shoe secured. Then someone said his name, and he turned his head. Helena. "Yeah?" he replied, his voice soft.

( The Closest Thing To Heaven )

Who: Thorne and Rowan
Where: Rowan and Helena's hammock? That okay with you?
When: Just after the meeting and onwards.



Rowan was upset. Really upset. And she knew she was being unreasonable in her emotional state but she couldn't really help it. She didn't want to leave, she didn't know why Bazzer was upset, she didn't know why he got so snappy during the meeting, she missed home and she was generally just an unhappy camper. So when Helena went elsewhere for the night Ro crawled into the hammock by herself and curled up in a ball, missing her company and warmth.

Thorne had known that Rowan was upset and wasn't sure how much was hormonal and how much was something else, but he also knew that he himself wasn't exactly thrilled and Bazzer's obvious anger and upset had left him hurt as well. He had been honest and truthful and open and what more did Bazzer want from him? It wasn't like he was going to change, but it seemed like Bazzer was totally expecting Thorne to make himself miserable and resentful just to please Bazzer's outdated notion of what was proper.

( And Cuddlebunnies )

Who: Sophie and Clay
Where: Firepit and the river
When: Late morning
What: Sophie needs to take some control and Clay can't resist the puppy eyes.

( Who can resist a cute, pretty, little girl? )

Who: Kenneth and Helena
Where: The edge of camp
When: As the last of the rays of sun fade
What: Having a chat.

Helena knelt down by the edge of the stream and dipped the hardened cup made from a climber leaf and sealed with resin into the burbling water. She knew Kenneth would likely be on her trail, on her six as he might say, and so she sat down on another of the large boulders that seemed to tumble the length of their stream. Sighing, she sipped at the water, trying to shed the cotton mouth she'd gotten while dealing with that meeting. Looking back toward the group she saw that it was slowly breaking up. Quinn was packing up the pocket knife he'd borrowed from Payne and the little bits of wood he'd been carving at. She saw Cross pour handfuls of sand over the glowing coals in the firepit. She sighed again and rubbed at her temples, smiling as the shadow of Kenneth seperated itself form the shadows of the nearby bushes. "Good to have you guys back," she told him.

Kenneth smiled and stepped up behind her. "Good to be back. Headache, sprite? I've got a method that can fix it up if you want." He set his pack down and sat on a boulder next to her. He looked over his shoulder. "There going to all go their own way if you don't haul them together," he observed quietly. For some, it wouldn't be a bad thing, but for the ones willing to work together? It was important that they have someone leading them that direction.

( Suggest It, Sprite, And They'll Follow You )

Who: Everyone
Where: Around the campfire
What: Catching Up and Discussing The Future
When: Sunset
Rating: G to PG, depending on how the language goes.

Helena returned to her log by the fire and settled down next to the pouch of yarnballs, taking them up once again. She worked at pulling them apart as people began to drift back in to the camp, pausing to breath in the smoking grazer meat and pop boiled pesk eggs into their mouths. Some of them chewed strands of sweetgrind or braided fieldgrass as they chattered and caught up. Once everyone had arrived, she stood up and cleared her throat. "I just wanted to say a few things before we pack up for the night," she said over the din.

"Firstly, welcome back Thorne, Cross, Alex, Kenneth and Jasper. We're really glad to have you back and it's nice to see that you found a few things on your adventure. The grazer hide and meat is especially welcome." She flashed a smile around at the more tanned and sunburned faces in the circle.

"Secondly, I want to pass on a bit of bad news before you hear it from others. We lost four women while you were gone." She cleared her throat, clearly upset by this happening and with good reason. No one had voted Helena as the leader of the group, it had just happened. She still felt responsible and she should, if she were actually the leader. "There's been no sign of Annie, Lauren, Nancy and Jeri."

"Lastly," and here her gaze lingered on Bazzer. He looked...not like himself. She wondered what was eating the younger man. Still, she moved on. "Bazzer and I were discussing the tribe's prospects the other day and I said I would bring up an option to the whole of the group when we were all together again." She clasped her hands infront of herself and tried to organize her pro opinion in order to deliver it well. "Plenty of small tribal societies living without large advancements in technology, much like we are, survived for generations as nomadic peoples." She felt more than heard a hum move around the circle. "I believe that becoming nomadic might be a good answer for us. We're stripping the food supply here nearly bare. We don't know how the weather might change here over the next few months as well. Also, how can we know if there is no city in this world if we don't forge farther out than we can do in a day's run? I think it is safer for the group as a whole if we travel together, look out for each other and move forward rather than wait around here for something to happen." That said, she waited for the questions and opinions of the others. "What do you think?"

Who: Carlita and open
What: Being sleepy, homesick, and greasy
Where: The river
When: Afternoon
Ratings: idk. PG?

( Take me to the river, drop me in the water... )

Who: Cross and Helena
Where: the forest, not far from the climber tree
When: Day 12, just before sunset
What: a reunion
Rating: PG (for deeply buried UST?)

Cross had not gone directly back to camp when he and the group that had gone East had arrived. He did not have a true explanation for that, and he didn't spend much time mulling it over in his mind, although there was a slight frown line between his brows. Maybe he should have gone all the way to the fire circle and the tree to help the others deal with the meat, but he'd had quite enough group togetherness over the past few days. He needed some decompression time, and he took it, finding a deep portion of stream and stopping there to wash away the dirt and sweat of the long journey. His skin was baked dark brown everywhere his clothing didn't cover, the warm color making his hair look even fairer and his eyes bluer.

He didn't know if they'd need to worry about skin cancer here, and he wouldn't have worried about it much, anyway. He never fretted about harm coming to himself. Cross took his time, finding some of the pods Helena had mentioned and scrubbing himself as well as he was able. He couldn't do much about his grimy clothing since he didn't have anything else to put on, but he felt much better just having clean skin and hair. Once he was finished, he gathered up the pillowcase with the few items he'd found and began trudging toward camp, walking in the forest to stay out of the sun.

He also wasn't going to examine the peculiar feeling he had that wasn't quite excitement, wasn't quite anxiety, nor was he going to ponder why he'd taken so long bathing himself. Cross could hear distant voices as he drew closer to the climber tree, and he slowed down, not willing to admit even to himself who he was actually going to be looking for.

( catching up and gifts )

Who: Bazzer & Rowan
When: Day 12, later afternoon
Where: the river
What: Bathing...some very minor foreplay. Barely.
Complete: yes
Rating: PG-13

( Two can be as bad as one. It's the loneliest number since the number one... )

Who: Alex & Quinn
Where: the smoking pit
When: Day 12, afternoon
What: ministry of a different kind


( He didn't need religion to lift spirits, though it did help )

Who: Ryan and Thorne
Where: the forest, then the climber tree
When: Day 12, shortly before the meeting
What: sharing... information
Rating: PG-13 (boys kissing, language, innuendo)

( it was about time for something good to happen )

Who: Bazzer & Thorne
Where: the tanning pit
When: Day 12
What: Thorne goes to talk to Bazzer about him and Ryan. Bazzer does not take things as well as he could, nor as badly as he wants to.

( Remember I told you that if I got the urge to go kissing anyone else I'd tell you? )

Who: Arlo and Angelica. Helmets, everyone.
What: Grouchiness, probably.
Where: In a clearing where Arlo is making sharp n' pointies.
When: Morning of day 12
Ratings: DO YOU FIND JERKS OFFENSIVE? IF YES DO NOT READ THIS. Also: swearing.

( Old man sits and thinks about his home, don't matter cause he's all alone... )

Who: Rook, Clay and Sophie
Where: In the Field
When: Crack of dawn on Day Twelve
What: Rook is confused, half naked and covered in grass.
Rating: PG-13 for language


( what sort of delusional nightmare is this? )

After the usual night full of uproarous cocophany the day dawns clear. The birds in the canopy sing sweetly, there's not a hint of dampness left in the air and there is a gentle, warm breeze blowing up from the south. The white sun rises swiftly to beam it's sunny heat down on the field and the arrivals can't help but feel a little bit uplifted. They are finally warmed and dried, the mud dries up, the world is fragrant from the vine flowers by the stream. Basically, it's a welcome relief.

After a couple of days of no new faces, this morning the field is not empty.

The eleboar meat must be buried today because it's smelling a little rank and is deemed no longer safe to eat. Conversation around the camp revolve around the chances of finding and killing another eleboar, or if they ought to send a search party east after the scouting party.

People are encouraged to be industrious today - helping Bazzer experiment with his scraps of hide, helping to maintain the heat under the radiator as the clay items are baked, weaving grass panels and sealing them with climber resin to be used in making a sheltering roof in the climber tree. Gathering food is also important, with no more meat at the camp.

As the afternoon winds down, the sound of the eastern party returning from the east brings everyone within earshot of their whistles back to the camp. Everyone is anxious to know if they managed to kill a grazer, and if they discovered anything else about this odd world in the east.

( Mod Notes - Please Read )