First Impressions Who: Bea Wilson and Ellie Where: Mar-Vell Park When: Now What: Ellie's Arrival Rating: Low to mild
Ellie and Joel (her guardian) had been living in Jackson for several months now, trying to build a life together. Joel mostly helped to fortify the walls to keep the infected and bandits out; he took to patrolling most nights too. He would've preferred that Ellie had stayed a kid a little longer, she was sure, but after over a year on the road together in a post apocalyptic world, well; she'd had to do things, and things had been done to her. Suffice to say, she grew up very quickly in the short time that they knew each other. In any event, she took to hunting game as a way to contribute to their community. She was small and quiet and had learned very quickly the best place to aim an arrow. She never wanted to cause an animal pain. Especially after her first hunt with that buck so many months ago...
She took a breath as she followed animal tracks on her path outside of the border of their community. She had her backpack on her back and a bow and arrow in each hand. Joel had decided to come with her, still not trusting anyone else to keep her safe on these kinds of trips. Despite all of his other responsibilities he couldn't seem to let her go. Today, she didn't mind so much. Especially since he was sticking behind at least 15 feet. He was good to have in a fight, but it felt like he was far too heavy-footed when it came to hunting game. She raised her fist up in a gesture to be still and was quick to crouch to the ground to nock her bow. He didn't try to offer her advice anymore, instead he did as he was silently told and followed her lead.
As Ellie went to take aim, however, something happened. It was something that she'd doubtfully ever be able to fully articulate. One second she was in Jackson's beautiful and untamed countryside with autumn leaves falling and crunching underfoot, the next second she was in a cultivated garden. The trees were spread apart, the grass was cut, and while it was still autumn barely a leaf was scattered along the ground. The time of day appeared exactly the same, but everything else was just wrong. She stood immediately from her crouched position and looked behind her, hoping to find Joel. He wasn't there. "Joel?" She whispered, already starting to look around frantically. She didn't want to announce her position to every animal, bandit or infected in the area, but after a few minutes silence she told herself 'to hell with it' and started to shout. "Joel! You better not be fucking with me!" She meant it was a joke, ha-ha. But the hysteria in her voice made it very clear that she was freaking the fuck out.
It had been a while since Bea Wilson had been in Freedomtown, but she'd missed a few of her friends that resided there, and had made a surprise visit. Of course, before heading back to Monstropolis, she had to visit Mar-Vell Park, the first place she'd seen years ago when she first arrived in this reality.
She'd kicked off her sandals, and was happily prancing through the park, enjoying the feel of the grass on her feet, when she heard the voice. She knew panic when she heard it, no matter how hard the person tried to disguise it. The pink sundress she wore blowing in the wind, the curvy little blonde headed over toward the portal, figuring it was another case of someone showing up freaked out.
"Hey there, cute thing..." She said with a wry smirk, dark red lips curled into a grin as she looked at the girl. "Y'alright?"
Ellie whipped around, aiming the arrow in Bea's general direction, showing that she had no intention of hurting her unless set upon. "Do I look fucking alright to you?" She yelled back. She took in Bea's attire. Not exactly safe, especially out in the wilderness. She considered that this was some kind of trap, or game, her mind going a mile a minute. "Let's start with: who the fuck are you, are where the fuck are we?"
While Bea, especially in that outfit, looked like the epitome of sweetness and sunshine... it was still Bea. "....bitch, you best calm your cute little ass down right the fuck now..." She said, crossing her arms over her breasts and giving an extremely 'not amused' look.
"Or what?" Ellie called back. That seemed like a stupid question to ask, in retrospect. She looked around again, expecting to see bandits making their way toward her. Hm. Nothing. What the fuck was going on? And more importantly, where the fuck was Joel? "Do you want me to say 'please', is that it? Pretty please with sugar on top." She straightened her back and suddenly her aim became a hell of a lot more accurate. "Where are we? Who are you? Where's Joel?" She said. This time her tone was calm and measured. Oh. She wasn't very amused either.
"Please. Like that arrow scares me. You wanna shoot, kid? Go ahead." She leaned forward, pushing her face toward the girl. "C'mon. I double-fuckin'-dog dare ya." She said, rolling her eyes and grumbling. "This is the planet Galador. I'm Princess Beatrice Arthur Wilson. And the only Joel I know is from Mystery Science Theater, and fuck that guy cos Mike Nelson ruled."
It was the 'double-fuckin'-dog dare' that did it. No one ever took Ellie seriously. And even as she considered that this woman might have a few screws loose, she let the arrow loose. It travelled at a remarkable speed and lodged itself just below the clavicle on Bea's right side. The dull 'thwump' as it hit home was enough to break Ellie out of the red haze of anger and confusion that she was in. "Aw, shit! See what you made me do?"
Bea yelped as the arrow slid into her flesh... but rather than fall to the ground, or cry out... she just gave a flustered glare at the girl, motioning to the wound in a 'WTF' manner. "....seriously?" She asked, before grumbling and yanking the arrow from her body, some blood spurting out for a few seconds, until the wound started to quickly heal itself. "Jesus Christ, bitch! I guess I should just be glad you didn't shoot me in the forehead... that shit woulda been painful as shit."
Ellie's eyes widened. In any other circumstance she would have found that cool, like if she'd read it in a comic book or saw it in a movie, but in the flesh? Her first reaction was to upchuck. And she did. Explosively. "Oh my god. What the hell was that?"
"It's called a healing factor, ya crazy bitch! Shit like that hurts like a motherfucker, but ain't gonna kill me. So howzabout we knock the shit off right now, k?" Bea asked, flailing adorably. "Let me guess... when you showed up here, your little ass walked right past the cute little dog in the astronaut suit."
Ellie wiped the vomit from her mouth with the back off her hand. She was admittedly too freaked out to nock another arrow, also, she doubted it would do much good anyway. "I think I would've noticed a dog in an astronaut suit," she pointed out.
"Look... lotta shit's gonna be different than you know. First of all? This ain't Earth. This is a planet called Galador." Bea explained, as usual going with the 'rip the bandaid right off' mentality. "You're here because a little gem called The Reality Stone decided to shit the fuckin' bed and start throwing people in and out of various realities. So put the bow away, sit your cute little self down, and talk to me. Because so help me fucking God, if you shoot me again, I will put my foot so far up your ass that you'll taste it for a week."
'Y'know, we can be all poetic and just lose our minds together', Ellie thought. Riley. It was Riley who had said that. She raised the sleeve of her shirt to see that the infected bite scar was still there. The bow in her hand felt as solid as it did on any other day. She hesitated. "Yeah. ...Yeah, sitting down sounds good right about now."
Obviously, Bea noticed the bite mark then as well, and raised an eyebrow. "Full disclosure here... I gotta worry about your cute little ass turning into a zombie or a werewolf or a vampire or something and attacking me?" This was new territory for Bea, to be honest. She was torn between smacking the kid upside the head, flirting up a storm, or going into protective mother-hen mode.
"Haven't I already attacked you?" Ellie pointed out with a wry smile, quick to cover up the bite. It was something that would get her killed on sight back home. She hesitated, shifting from foot to foot. "I'm not contagious. Like, you could touch me and I wouldn't," she paused. She didn't fully understand it herself. "I'm infected, but I'm immune, I'm not gonna turn into a monster."
"Well, yeah... but that's damn near foreplay for me." Bea said without a hint of joking. "And good. I'd hate to see someone so cute go all GRR." Bea said with a flirty wink, unable to turn it off, really. "So, you got a name, babe? I mean look, if I was gonna try to hurt you, don'tcha think I'da done it already?"
"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that." Plus the fact that Ellie had hurt Bea and she'd barely bat an eyelash. She'd made no move to hurt Ellie at all. Ellie shouldered her bow as a sign of good faith. "Ellie. My name's Ellie."