InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "A joy forever"

geniusisme (geniusisme) wrote in hobbs_end,
@ 2015-07-07 15:53:00

Entry tags:

ffix: zidane tribal, rating: pg

Who: Rodney McKay and open
Where: The southern shore of the lake
What: Rodney wakes up and catches his barrings
Rating: TBA, probably PG
Status: Ongoing, open

Headache. The first thing he noticed in the waves of blacks and reds was the damned rhythmic pounding at his temple. And god wasn't that just something he needed to start his day? Except--he gave a groan and it took a few good seconds, a solid amount of time before his brain started catching up with his senses. Soft soil beneath him, the stench of dirt and a breeze that tugged and drifted lazily at his hair and clothes. The man gingerly lifted his head, blinking away the confusion as his gaze narrowed blearily in on his surroundings. Not the comfort of his prescription mattress. No awards decorating his desk or the soft lull of the ocean around the great city of Atlantis to tempt him back into sleep. No nothing and it was only after a few more precious seconds did McKay really, truly begin to realize his situation. He wasn't home. He wasn't in Atlantis anymore.

His heart leapt dangerously into his throat as he scrambled, now suddenly like a man on fire, to his feet, jerking and looking wildly around him, awarding the man nothing but a head rush and a deeper sense of panic. What had happened? Where was he? The last he remembered -- he frantically tried to search his foggy mind, tried to clear it out just enough to pick it all out, but last he could recall he'd been at his desk in Atlantis, working on some late night simulations to control power fluctuation in the ZedPM. Had he gone off world? Was he-- and the scientist made to touch at the back of his head -- was he concussed? Did he lose his memory? There was no other logical explanation but he felt fine, and now his heart was really pounding, did that mean anything though? Sometimes people felt just fine before keeling over from an injury due to adrenaline rushing through their system. Was he seconds away from just that?

In a panic Rodney reached to his ear to tap on his headset, something he should've done already by now, only to find nothing there, already starting with a, "Sheppard, come in--" before stopping. The man blinked, patting at the area where the radio had once been before patting down his vest in search of a more bulky one. But nothing there either. Oh no. His heart sank. No, no, no, no. He could not be stranded on his own god knew where without communication or any idea of how to get back. This could not be happening. Thoughts and images of being stuck, trapped here in god knew where flew through his mind, dying hungry and alone on some god forsaken planet without help or contact. And he tried to calm down, tried to keep from allowing the images to overwhelm him before his eyes fell on some of his gear lying at the base of a withering oak towering overhead nearby...along with what was unmistakably blood. Rodney had seen enough of the splatter of distinct rusted red to know as much. What the hell? What was this? Was that his blood? Again he felt all around his head, pressing fingers beneath his scraggly hair, patted down his body but got nothing.

It seemed awfully fresh though. Had someone been here, wounded, and just left him? The colonel maybe?

His heart continued to pound dangerously in his throat.

Or possibly Wraith? Or something else more sinister. McKay wasn't sure what gave him the impression that there could be anything on this planet or any other in the galaxy more terrifying or downright horrifying than the Wraith, creatures that sucked the very life from your screaming bones, but for some reason, in that moment, something tugged and dragged at his heart in dread as though maybe there was.

He swallowed uneasily. Okay. There was no time to panic or get squeamish. "Just have to gather my things and...and...oh damn it, who am I kidding! This is hopeless! Absolutely hopeless!" The man winced, mind spinning hard. What would Sheppard do in this situation? It was all he had to latch onto, and while not his proudest moment, the lt colonel was damned good at these kinds of things. McKay wasn't, he was good at a hell of a lot of things, too much to properly count, but being stranded with nothing but a few powerbars, MREs, and some ammo with no gun available was not one of them.

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foolhardy_thief
2015-07-09 01:50 am UTC (link)

Waking up in strange places wasn’t wholly unusual for Zidane, in his experience, but he couldn’t speak for other people. Usually. There were times when he woke up, with apparently no knowledge of what he’d been doing the day before— and why he was in any given location. But that was usually because he’d done too much in one day, or even two. The Tantalus Troupe he was a member of, weren’t known for following a mundane lifestyle. Their days were spent out of civilisation, exploring forests, deep caves, anyplace that had the potential for hiding treasure. Zidane couldn’t keep track of his girlfriends; how could he remember where he was camping, every week?

Though his memory wasn’t always reliable, he knew for a fact that he had never before been in this stupid place. A town full of weird buildings, weird technology, and weirder people. He’d only met one person in the whole town, and as luck would have it, Zidane was just about to meet his second: a guy who obviously was as lost as Zidane had been, from the looks of him!

Zidane had nothing to do but explore anything and everything that he hadn’t seen yet. As if there was actually anything to see, that wasn’t more empty buildings and a distinct lack of people. Still, his mood wasn’t dampened by his solitude, and so Zidane was rather cheerful as he strolled through town. He headed in no particular direction, he just wandered wherever he felt like it, and eventually he ended up at the southern shore of the lake.

Given how rare other people were, apparently, it was surprising to find a man by the lake. Or maybe this should have been expected? Either way, Zidane didn’t even think about hanging back and watching the stranger from after. The teenager simply walked over to the man and waved at him with one hand. “Hey there, stranger! If you came here to do some fishing, you might be outta luck. You’ve got no tackle to catch anything.” His long, monkey tail slowly swept the air behind him while Zidane looked the man over, for signs of injury. Nothing. Good. Perfect.

As Zidane expected, the guy was dressed strangely, like everyone else so far, albeit ‘everyone’ just meant ‘Sam’. He couldn’t see any weapons on the guy, or anywhere on the ground near him. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? In contrast, Zidane had two sheathed daggers tied to his belt. With a grin, Zidane offered his hand to the man, in an offer of genuine friendship. “Welcome to Hobb’s End! My name’s Zidane Tribal, the World’s Greatest Thief, and that's a fact. I’d say I'm the mayor here, but this place is a dump. Who wants to own something like that, eh?”

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geniusisme
2015-07-13 03:33 am UTC (link)

((Sorry for the late reply; work's been crazy. >___>))

Rodney didn't so much jump as have a near heart attack at the easy sound of someone speaking up just behind him; cowering instinctively while simultaneously clutching at his chest. "God, what are you doing, trying to give me a heart attack?" But the simultaneous relief of actually seeing someone and knowing he wasn't alone on this, wherever this was, came through fairly clear his voice despite the complaint. He looked Zidane once up as the other spoke, taking in his appearance; and boy could the kid have walked straight out of a fantasy novel, sheathed sword and all. What was this, Lord of the Rings for toddlers? Just how old did this kid have to be? It didn't typically matter when McKay was concerned; he was never good with kids of any age. While there were plenty he was foremost expert on kids were just not one of them.

"Yes, and well...good for you." Without much enthusiasm the man rubbed the sweaty palms of his hands against his shirt somewhat anxiously, "Listen, you wouldn't happen to know how I got here would you...? Or seen a team of people, uh, lady with long brown hair, big guy, other man with spiky black hair? No?" Talking with the locals - another thing Sheppard would probably insist on. It certainly sounded like a Sheppard idea and at this point Rodney would go with anything; trying even then to quell the desperate fears that were raging at a constant in his brain. Of being stranded here, of running out of food, of his glucose levels going into the red and becoming hypoglycemic; it was going to go downhill from here and fast, faster and faster and his first priority first and foremost was finding his team. Then he'd be able to figure all of this out; Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon no doubt would come up with something to get them out of this situation - whatever it might be. Sheppard of course was just like that in particular, always pulling solutions out of his back end in every tight situation possible. When Rodney wasn't left with the dynamite with their lives in the balance, and when tech wasn't at their disposal, Sheppard always managed to get them home alive and well and this time would be no different. Well, not that he'd ever say as much to the man.

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foolhardy_thief
2015-07-14 03:40 am UTC (link)

Zidane was thoroughly amused at the guy’s reaction, though if they had swapped places, Zidane himself would have reacted in the same way. “Not really, but hey, at least I’m not holding a dagger to your throat.” He was cheerful about it, too, but making the first move on a complete stranger, and for no reason at all- wasn’t him. Zidane needed some kind of reason to draw a weapon on someone, anyone. What was he, someone incapable of common sense and self-restraint? The only times he proved both, was when girls were involved, to a degree. Always the skirt-chaser, Zidane.

He cast the man a curious look, and shrugged his shoulders. “No, there’s no lady around here. No one with black hair, either. I could say you came here by magic, this is magic kind of stuff, but I’ve never seen magic do this, before. “ Which was entirely true: the magic he was familiar with involved spells iike fire, water and wind; protective magic, even a few healing spells: but nothing that could move people or objects around.

Zidane judged that the man was desperate to go back home, wherever that was: and Zidane didn’t blame him. How could he? The teen had only been here for maybe a week or more, this town wasn’t exactly crawling with monsters, unlike his home world. And yet… there was something odd about the place. It made sense to stick in groups, then, wasn’t it? With that on his mind now, Zidane gestured to the stranger, then to the path Zidane had used to leave town.

“Say, unless you’re planning on staying here all day, would you like to see the rest of this crazy place? Nothing else is going to happen to you, I swear, but you’ve gotta find something to do, right?”

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