Devil's Tower

Who: Black Cat and Open
Where: Banks of the Belle Fourche
When: Week 23 Wednesday
Why: Just messing about by the river

With Wren back at the Wolves for a little while, Black Cat was taking a rest from the boat, having cleaned and tidied, to get outside and quit being domesticated. It disturbed him how easily he settled into it. He'd always been a clean and tidy person. He'd done the last part of his growing up sofa surfing to avoid sleeping on the streets and had learned that if you trashed the place you never got re invited and it seemed to suit Wren that he was anyway, and living in such a tiny space as a house boat with another person, and at some points in the last few weeks two others meant that it was better to be that way.

Now, he sat out in the sun, strumming random chords on his guitar, eyes half open as he relaxed in the sun. He was so content at the moment. His life seemed to be coming back together properly, for the first time since long before the virus. He had a roof over his head, that nominally enough belonged to him, he was happy, safe in a suitably hedonistic tribe and in love with someone that loved him. Life was good.

Who: Blackcat & Wren
Where: The Woods by the trading post
When: Monday evening and throughout most of the night!
Why: They just find eachother insatiable
Rating: NC-17

Who: Black Cat and Wren
What: He needs to say something
When: Wednesday Mid-Afternoon
Where: Wren's room
Rating: TBD but it is Cat and Wren

Black Cat walked into Wolf territory, his head low as he concentrated on getting to Wren's room. He had come to a decision while he was tending to Pan. He had nearly done it the last time they were together and he had known it as he had woken first, later. He had watched her as she slept, the light playing over her face. He had pulled her closer and kissed her forehead and settled back to sleep.

Black Cat had been searching for something since he was a kid, and now, in that moment, he felt like he might just have got closer to finding it again. And now he was going to tell her...Honestly...So why, knocking on her door did he feel sick.

Who: Kahea, Black Cat, and Pan later
Where: Pan's boat house, then Cat's.
When: Late afternoon Saturday Week 21
What: Kahea hasn't seen Pan in while and goes to check up on him, Cat fills her in
Status: COMPLETE// Closed
Rating: PG? PG-13?

( Worry was a Killer )

Who: Pan, Nemo (NPC drifter) and Black Cat.
Where: The Outskirts and then the dock at the Trading Post.
When: Thursday from the morning to late into the night
Why: Pan is attacked and Black Cat helps him out..
Rating: R ((Hopefully. I tried to keep the violence more suggested than spelled out.))

It had been three whole days since Pan had last seen Nemo. Nemo had claimed that he would be leaving town on Monday to return to his trade route that lead him South for the winter, and Pan was counting on that. He'd been working out of the Trading Post the last two days, but the real trade value for what he was offering was always higher at the Outskirts. Pan could only fish so much to provide for himself and his tribe and he had to have supplies to do that with, so he had to resort to heading to the Outskirts to turn some tricks.

He would have been lieing if he'd said he wasn't nervous. He'd worn a hoody, which was kind of extreme even if it was overcast and threatening rain. The temperature was still rather warm, and Pan had never been one to wear a lot of clothes. Still, he figured he could survey the area first to make sure that Nemo wasn't there, before he went looking for offers. He arrived early in the morning, wanting to get as much trade as he could before it got dark. He stood at the edge of the Outskirts and surveyed the various groups and individuals in the area. Nemo didn't appear to be among them and so he went and sat with a familiar group of drifters.

Sometime in the afternoon, after he'd just finished with a client behind the warehouse, a familiar drifter approached him. It was the same drifter that he'd seen go off with Nemo the other day, but he didn't think much of that as he'd seen that drifter, and rendered him services, ages before Nemo had ever arrived in town. Pan agreed to follow him into the warehouse nearest the highway and farthest from the main grouping of the Outskirts.

( I'm Nobody. )

WHO - Wren & Blackcat
WHEN - Monday morning
WHAT - Wren goes to pester cat
WHERE - The deck of Cats boat - River Runner Territory
WHY - Wren's under the crazy delusion that she's in love
RATING - NC-17 (crazy kids in love)
STATUS - Closed

Exactly how long it had been Wren was unsure.  Days came and went and the only way of guaging them was the calendar hung on the wall, with a million dates scribbled out and changed to keep track of the years.  Someone needed to raid a calendar shop that was for sure.  That and no one seemed to forget birthdays, confusion was kept at bay as best as it could, loose track of days and it was all the more evident that it really didn't matter anymore.  That's not to say all things didn't matter, just because the world was wiped out didn't mean humans changed.  Humans interacted the same, with just as much animosity and friendliness as before, just because there weren't any papers didn't mean no one heard about murders, if anything it got round quicker, and just because there was no tv didn't mean romance wasn't rife around them.

Wren awoke unusually early that morning.  The sun was barely up, in fact there was nothing but dark blue light around and as she stared out the window her limbs began to grow restless.  She tried to turn over and get back to sleep but her eyes wouldn't rest, her legs complained, begged her to stand up and so eventually she did.  Grabbing a pair of jogging bottoms she was pretty sure were Windchasers she padded to the door, grabbing a jacket, and made her way to the front door.  If she couldn't sleep it didn't mean she had to be alone.

The grass was wet under her feet, the dew making grass stick to the bottom of her trainers but the moisture felt good on her clammy just-out-of-bed skin.  It wasn't a suboncious trip to the river, she knew where she was headed, from the first moment she awoke she knew she was going to go see him.  It was quiet all around, save for the occassional chirps from the birds and beasties in the trees, some awake and waking up others.  She should have been more careful about walking around in the dark but even criminals need to sleep some time.  Five in the morning seemed like a perfectly safe time to be wandering around in jogging bottoms, a t-shirt that should only be worn on a six year old and trainers that made her slip in the mud...if it came to a struggle the most Wren could do was hope the guy didn't like girls who wiggled...and they always liked it when they wiggled.

When she got to the boats she made a bee-line for Cats, climbed the steps quietly and tried the door handle...she expected it to be locked but when she couldn't get in a brief feeling of surprise his her.  "Stupid," she mumbled, "Of course it's locked," she shook her head and crept over to one of the windows.  The shabby net curtains prevented her from seeing clearly but she could see some sort of wrinkled shape in the bed and with a smile she tapped on the window.  Gently at first but forcefully afterwards.  Now she was here he would wake up and let her in, even if he just dragged her to bed to sleep with him again, she could sleep with him around.

Who: Mac and Black Cat
Where: Belle Fourche/ River Runner Territory
When: Week 17 Thursday Morning
What: Mac needs food
Status: In Progress// Open!!

( A Fishing we will go! )

Who: Pan and OPEN! or monologue..
Where: Pan's boat, docked at the Trading Post main dock
When: Thursday late morning
Why: Pan is working on a project...

A couple of days ago someone at the Outskirts, whose name he couldn't remember, had reminded him about the annual Towel Party that was to take place sometime in the next week. The other boy had seemed fairly enthusiastic about it. Pan remembered that people only went there wearing towels, which was right up Pan's alley because most of the time he preffered to wear as little clothing as possible. The boy had made up all of these plans to meet Pan there for another go, but Pan was almost sure that he would probably never meet the fellow again. And that was fine. Because that was how it always was.

After a morning swim Pan had gone through his whole house boat to find towel scraps and what little of his sewing supplies that he had left. If he was going to go to the part he wanted to be as fashionable as possible, and it had been a long time since he'd had the time to take it easy and work on one of his thousands of projects. One he'd gathered up a box of shiny things and fabric scraps he plopped down on the deck of his boat to work on an outfit. The weather was brilliant, only a little windy and warm enough that he could sit out with only a pair of shorts on.

He picked a few things out of the box, threaded his needle and got to work. He started humming and before long he was actually singing rather loudly and paying no heed to the bustling Trading Post a few hundred feet away. "I heard a rumor from ground control...oh no, don't say its true!.. I've got a message for the action man, I'm happy, hope you're happy too.."

Who: Wren, Windchaser, Cat and whoever else
Where: By the river
When: Sunset
Why: Because Wren's birthday requires celebration

Windchaser had decided at fairly short notice that some event was needed to clear the air after the war, and to keep her busy. She needed to do something other than wallow and the best was she’d ever distracted herself was to focus on other people. Wren’s birthday was a perfect reason for both.

Too short notice and probably too personal to take place at the trading post, a quick parlez with Wren’s new ‘he’s not my boyfriend, honestly’ had secured some relatively safe space on the river bank and by bartering and networking like crazy people Windchaser and Black Cat had managed to gather enough stuff and drop enough ‘bring your own bottle and a gift if possible and DO NOT tell Wren’ type hints, to drum up what looked like it might well turn out to be a decent surprise party. It was officially an open to all invite, though if any of the Jackals turned up, they might not prove so welcome. Now it was just a case of hoping no one had blabbed and figuring out how to get Wren down there without her suspecting.

Windchaser really hoped that Wren would like the ornate Chinese kite Windchaser had received while she was still a drifter for treating a broken leg. She loved it and had carried it around with her, but Wren was definitely the best person to hand it on to.

When: Saturday afternoon, when the sun is at its highest
Who: Wren and Cat
What: Wren decides its hot enough for a dip in the river
Where: The Belle Fourche/River Runner territory
Rating: Nc-17

Wren had had enough, she'd become shuddery, jittery and quickly annoyed by the time the war was over and listening top hushed whispers in grave voices did nothing to comfort her.  She'd almost lost the ability to pretend to the children because she was caught between having to pretend and having to act like a grown up.  She could only imagine what people felt like in wars past.  She was scared, she wasn't afraid to admit it, just walking outside she was afraid she may be subject to the same fate as Libby or as the members who wondered out and where then delivered to the door with throats open and pulsing with blood.  It was gruesome and soul destroying.

Rising later than normal on Saturday she sat and realised she could not remember the last time she went for a swim, a keen swimmer, but not pro, Wren loved the feeling of the cool water on her skin.  After eating and wearing out the kids for the afternoon she grabbed a bag, stuffed a towel in it with a few cigarettes and a jumper she found herself walking down the river, nodding to the few runners who guessed she was taking a dip.  Most of the boys didn't mind, so long as she swam past them and flashed them a bit of bare flesh out from under the water.  Stopping under a stooping tree she laid the bag down and shed the shirt she'd been wearing.  Abandoning her bra and shorts afterwards, followed by her socks she dipped a toe in the water and sighed.  She was glad she could do this again, free to swim at her leisure and only worry a fraction of what she used to about people coming out from the trees and jumping in after her...

The water was nice and cold, but the air warmed by the sun meant everytime she popped up from under the surface she wasn't met with frigid air.  After wading out far enough she began to slowly swim up and down, a few times either side of the river, lengths almost, and then she took off towards the boats, swimming behind them slowly, being nosey and looking into some of the windows to see who was about.  Stopping a little to admire a floral box one of the runners had assembled on their boat Wren silently thanked god that the Lions were gone.

Week Thirteen
WHO: Black Cat and whoever he runs into
WHAT: Exploring
WHERE: River Runners territory
WHEN: Friday
RATING: TBD
STATUS: Incomplete and Open

Black Cat roused slowly, the light creeping in through the window of the boat rousing him, but the rocking of the craft on the water keeping him lulled in relaxation. Not that he was ever particularly stressed. It was an unusual morning, by virtue of the fact he was sleeping alone, but he always got up early, normally paying scant regard to whoever it was who slept beside him. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect women, he really did, the memory of his sister and mother always staying close to the forefront of his generally restless mind. It’s just that it always seemed, just a little to easy, he’d pull all the wise old soul stuff that he always did, spin a yarn or two about the old country and that would be it. It wasn’t earned, so it meant less.
He wandered out onto the damp jetty beside his boat, agile feet gripping as he moved to sit looking up, to feel the rays of the see new sun hitting the skin of his bare chest and the coolness of the wood beneath his feet. He looked around at this place he found himself in. How odd, in the midst of what so many other people would have deemed chaos, to have found himself his first permanent home in years, or as permanent as he could let it be.
For all his front, for all the cheeky chappy, wise old sage, couldn’t care less attitude, he did care, or he wanted to, he wanted to be like his Da, and care more for one human being or one group of human beings than he did himself. He wanted his yarns to be the same as the real ones his parents would tell about dancing around each other doing ridiculously romantic things, just so they could spend time together. He wanted one very boring thing, to be normal again.
He sighed, he’d made himself an image to live by now, that of the post Virus rock star, and even though, now he’d grown up a bit it wasn’t really him any more, but he didn’t know how to leave that image behind.
He shrugged off the thoughts and got back on his boat, changing into daytime clothes and setting out to explore around the River Runners territory. He was new here and he hadn’t really met anyone yet, so it was time to get out there and do the meet and greet.

***OOC: Be sure to label the subject line of every post with either "Open" or the names of the chars that are involved in a particular thread! This will help eliminate confusion and let you know what threads are up for grabs!***
Who: Anyone and everyone who’s in Sundance at the time!
What: St. Patrick’s Day/Spring party!
Where: The Trading Post
When: Saturday
Why: Because it’s fun!

In the warmer months the Trading Post is almost always busy, full of drifters and members from every tribe who come there to barter, socialize, and a whole host of other things. It’s generally a peaceful place since it exists in neutral territory and everyone who comes there seems to have an understanding of an unspoken truce. The Trading Post is a large park the sits on the banks of the Belle Fourche river. There are picnic tables, a delapidated swingset and monkey bars, old grills, and of course trader stands. There’s also a dock there, but it is understood to belong to the River Runners, as it’s where they are docked most of the year and those wishing to use it usually have to give the RR a token of some kind, or at least ask nicely.

The St. Patrick’s Day/ Spring party was not planned or hosted by any tribe. The whole things seemed to have come about on its own, first as a rumor and then with complete strangers and tribe members alike planning for it. Saturday morning the place was busy with people decorating in any way that they could. The place was strung with streamers of all different colors, some torn and ratty. There were candles, and lanterns strung about and a few different musicians set up throughout the park. By the time the sun set the park was teaming with people, more people than it had seen in years. Between the boos and the open admission there was no telling what the night would hold.