Advice For The Leader Elect Who: Thorne and Helena What: Planning Discussions Where: Somewhere back along the stream. When:: Mid-Afternoon on Day Five Rating:: G
With the fish funnel in place and still a little confused by his interactions with Bazzer, Thorne decided to go in search of Helena who seemed to be the person in charge so to speak. He had a number of ideas on things they could do to help improve their safety and get them acting as a unit instead of several people wandering off in a multitude of directions. Really, he thought that given the influx just today, perhaps they should do a little planning ahead and start to make conscious decisions on what the group should do. That kind of planning could be the difference between surviving and not.
Whistling softly, he wandered back toward the camp back in his jeans, but shirt still off and his wet boxers in his hand along with his socks. When he spotted her, he waved, "Oh hey! I was just looking for you."
Helena had been taking a moment to herself. This entire experience was something that she couldn't quantify, even now, five days in. The arrival of Rowan had been a blessing to her. The arrival of Bazzer and Cross had been confusing and a real worry. Now, with the glut of new arrivals, fear was creeping back in. She'd already seen a bit of fighting between all of these guys. She needed to think of something to keep them occupied, to get them working together rather than fighting each other out of fear and worry for what they left behind. She'd slipped away, into the cooler reaches of the forest. The field was already becoming muggy which hadn't been helping the collected tempers. Here, though, there was a whisper of cool and fresh air and it was helping her think.
Helena looked up when she was called to and she managed a smile. It was the guy, Thorne. The only one she'd seen all week who seemed almost, well, relaxed here. He seemed to have accepted his presence and her word for what was happening. It was sort of a relief. "Hi. Did you need my help with something?" she asked, slowing her ramble up the rocky bank.
"As a matter of fact I did," he smiled and fell into step beside her. "Actually with quite a few things really. Bazzer and I built a funnel upstream a bit to narrow the stream enough that we could put a net across the opening and prehaps catch some of the unfish or even other things we haven't seen yet that might be edible and I was wondering if you'd tried making nets or anything with the vines from the trees?" Thorne actually was quite comfortable with the fact that he was here and for the moment, he was ready to try and get things done. Sure, he figured in a couple of days when the home sickness set in, he'd be a little less enthusiastic, but for now he was just accepting.
"Also, I wanted to talk to you about a bathing area because staying clean will help us stay healthier and an idea I had for making some tree houses that might be a little more secure than the hammocks and some ideas on getting people organized and planning ahead for future influxes of people since we don't know how long we're going to be stuck here." As they passed a particularly rough patch, he pausaed and handed Helena his socks. "Um, why don't you wear these for now. I don't know enough about the fauna here to make a guess on a good antiseptic."
Chuckling, she took the socks from him and, with one small hand on his arm for support she yanked them on one handed, one at a time. "I'm not too worried about getting cut," she told him. "After five days of walking around here bare foot, my skin is already toughening up. If we ever get home it'll take a year of pedicures to take the calluses down." Straightening up she flipped one of her pigtail braids back over her shoulder and strightened her blue t-shirt. "So one at a time," she said as her dark eyes flitted back to his face. "As for a bathing area, I think I spotted one but it's a ways up stream and it would probably be best if people came up at least in pairs. It's a nice deep rock bowl that the stream fills before spilling over. Want to see it?" She nodded upstream.
Thorne steadied her as she pulled the socks on and was very grateful that it was warm here, otherwise many of them would already have been frozen. "Hmm..that might be good for fishing because fish tend to rest more in deeper pools so you can fish better," Thorne made a mental note to think about what they might use for fish hooks, "but I don't think we want to be bathing upstream of where we drink the water yeah? I mean, if it's a good place, we might look at moving the camp upstream from there? But in general, we don't want anything polluting the water upstream from where we drink it. Do you think that the area there would be a better place for a camp? Or should we stay closer to the field in case of new arrivals? We could just make signs somehow in case someone takes up and there's no one there."
It was such a glut of statements that Helena's head swam for a moment. She tried to back up somewhat and comment. "You're right about bathing upstream. I didn't even think about that," she mused. "Now that there is so man of us, that might be a real problem." She stopped her foreward movement and turned to face him, heaving a sigh and shaking her head. "The Climber I set up on the edge of the field is the biggest one I've seen so far. I will admit, I didn't shout very far and only on the first day. I made a beeline run, that way." She gestured north. "All I can tell you is that the trees get thinner after half a day and the ground slopes upward, getting pretty rocky." She stopped talking again and looked around them again, obviously deep in thought. "Moving camp will probably become necessary very quickly," she told him. "I've been thinking about that since yesterday. Aside from the fact that I hate seeing Rowan climbing the tree like she does, there's just going to be too many of us. We can weave flooring or more like flooring nets out of the vines but I'm not sure how they'll do for fishing nets." She spotted a boulder just a little ways back inthe bush and gestured to it, going to sit down. "Maybe if we kept them in the water it would keep them soft but the vines harden after you cut them. It takes about three days for them to dry out but once that happens they're as strong as bambo." She shrugged. "Rowan says it's likely due to the glue-like sap in the Climber trees."
"Having a glue like substance would be useful," he mused as he sat down. "I think Rowan is fine climbing as long as she's feeling comfortable, there's really no medical reason for her not to be up in a tree. I can easily make a ladder we can pull up behind us so that predators can't get up. With a ladder there's no reason she can't continue to climb up especially as you've said it's safer. That reminds me though that I need to meet with her too and see if she wants my help at all." That last bit was said mostly to himself. "Maybe we should head upstream and see if there's more suitable camps near that pool? And maybe tomorrow we can send pairs out in the other three directions for slightly less than half a day so we can see if there's more suitable areas? Some place with some large grazers would be great for a food source."
Helena nodded. "That's a good idea. Scouting parties. And we'll leave a few people at the tree near the field to intercept any new arrivals." Lightly, she scratched at what she suspected was a bug bite on her thigh despite the fact that she hadn't really seen many bugs. It occurred to her just then that it was the lack of the buzzing that you sort of expected with huge grassy fields that make the field the sleepers appeared in sort of eerie. "And I know Rowan is game for just about anything out here. A ladder would be a good idea. I worry about her miscalculating her balance as she gets bigger, you know?" She gave the younger man a bleak look. "Falling." He might be a physician of some sort but there would be absolutely nothing he could go for a ruptured placenta. None of them could save Rowan then.
"It would be good to know if she's had any previous complications. I've done my fair share of deliveries, but," he grinned a little, "the conditions were a little better and I at least had my tools and herbs." Thorne pulled his legs up and looked over at her, "Scouting is definitely wise. It seems you've been the sort of appointed leader. A group meeting would be helpful too I think to make sure that we're all on the same page. Working together is going to be kind of crucial." Thorne pondered for a moment, "You seem pretty comfortable with everything so far, do you have a lot of experience with survival type stuff?"
She was surprised to hear that she'd been elected leader without any sort of official vote. "Um, I don't know if I'm leading anyone anywhere." She offered him a smile. "I just don't want to see anyone panic and get hurt out here. I almost did. I ran myself into exhaustion the first day. I narrowly missed getting eaten by the Laughers. Somehow managed to drag myself up a tree with them snapping at my heels." She heaved a sigh and shuddered. "It was a long night but that was the best indication of what I was up against here. I'll head back and scrape together a group meeting to hash out these scouting and camp plans. Did you have any other suggestions?" Helena tilted a curious look at him. "I'd be happy to hear them."
"I have a lot," Thorne laughed. "I grew up on a farm and camped a lot and did a lot of backpacking where we didn't really carry any gear, so I'm pretty comfortable, but I'm also sort of at a disadvantage since I'm not familiar with the plants or animals here. Once I get the chance to really start playing with things I'll have a better idea of what I might be able to create, but I do know that for now we can at least make some sort of tree houses that will be more secure than the hammocks in the branches. Food is obviously going to have to be our first big concern especially if we keep growing at the rate we are now. We could really use some protein sources, as I'm sure you know. I think the flooring nets would be great to string tree to tree so we wouldn't really have to go down at night. We could also create some sort of a "bathroom" if you will. At least a screened in chamber pot so people can pee at night without risking attack. Particularly useful for the pregnant lady since that will only get worse." Thorne grinned again, "Sorry, I'm kinda going fast. I didn't even mention..I'm a doctor."
Helena was trying to keep up and manage the trembling in her limbs when he suggested protine when Thorne announced that he was a doctor. Her breathing hitched and her voice was so full of relief that it took all hilarity out of the sudden worshipful expression on her face. "You are? Oh, thank god." She shook her head as another faint tremble ran through her limbs. "That was one of my biggest worries. That one of us would get hurt and I wouldn't be able to take care of it." She shook her head, her ratty pigtails rippling down her back and repeated herself. "Thank god."
"Oh...don't be too thankful," he warned softly and for the first time his smile faded a bit. "I mean, the knowledge can still be useful, but I don't have a lot to work with at the moment. I plan on remedying that as much as I can, but...still not entirely helpful I'm afraid. Well, I can deliver Rowan at least. If we're here that long and she wants my help." Thorne wouldn't have been much of a doctor if he didn't notice the way Helena was trembling a little. "I think protein should become a priority. We're going to need to set traps and hunt at the very least. Hopefully some of those here have experience with one or the other."
She sighed and shook her head. "I certainly don't. I herd toddlers for a living." She flashed him a quick smile. "I'm a pre-school teacher." She shook her head and glanced up at the canopy. "From New York City, no less. I never in a million years would have thought I could have survived out here even this long." She tilted her gaze back to his face. "It's amazing what you learn about yourself when life throws you a major curve ball, isn't it?" She was no stranger to abrupt changes in lifestyle. She went from a small depression era home in small town New York to Park Avenue to renting a room in a questionable part of town and now...the wilderness. Everything was fleeting, she decided. It had helped her to ground herself in the needs of the moment. "Alright. So food is definitely high on the list of needs. Safety is as well. I was wondering about, like, defences. Fences, at least? I don't know if they would keep the Laughers out. They don't climb but maybe they would just charge right through them. They're awfully fast for a three legged animal." She sighed. "Plus it's not like we have the appropriate tools. No saws or hammers or shovels even."
Thorne looked impressed and he was. A pre-school teacher from New York? She had done pretty damn well, "You did good," he grinned. "Okay, shovels and hammers can be made. I saw how hard those tree leaves get! It's just a matter of shaping them when they're still living and then letting them harden. One of the things we should figure out is, if we sharpen the leave edges and then let them harden...can we make tools? It's totally worth trying. I mean, we'll have to be careful with them and all, but we don't really have a shortage of the trees. Also, we do have lots of rocks and vines. I know a few ways to use just that and make weapons. If we can kill a Laugher..well we have protein and maybe they'll learn they have reason to fear us. We can also use the vines to make spears. So, we have a lot of options in terms of what we can do. We might end up having to build altars to the Climber trees though." He grinned. "For now though? We're safe enough going into the trees at night. So I still think maybe food first and then defences."
Helena nodded and had to chuckle. She'd felt like she was losing a bit of her sense of humor as more and more people showed up. Thorne was easy to laugh with, especially because he didn't radiate anxiety like everyone else did. "So should we forgo our walk up to the deeper pool? Or would you still like to see it?" She gave him a curious look. "It's not too far. But if we go we should hurry back. I want to assemble everyone and make sure we haven't lost anyone. I'm pretty sure that not everyone has met as of yet." She frowned in thought. "I'm still wondering if there is another factor to why we have ended up here. Something we all have in common that's allowed this to happen."
Thorne considered it then stood up and offered her a hand up as well. "Let's head back first and see if we can get everyone together and get a common sense of direction. You can always show me the pool tomorrow and in the mean time, maybe I can make some more hammocks or something to help people get settled tonight." He brushed his hands off, "And, maybe do some foraging." Thorne was becoming a little more worried about the food situation. Maybe when he saw the Laughers, he'd be able to formulate some plan to be able to take one down and solve a few more problems. "Lead the way then. Oh and hey, I bet we can make some sort of sandel out of vines and those leaves."
Helena looked down at her feet. "Probably a good idea, given people will be adventuring tomorrow." Who knew what kind of terrain they would encounter? "We can try working on those as we talk." She took his hand and slid off the rock with another little smile at him before leading the way back along the stream. She could tell that Thorne, like Rowan, was going to be vastly important to the continued survival of this group. Maybe she shouldn't feel so apprehensive about these new arrivals. If they really were stuck here, maybe it was good that all kinds of people, some with very valuable skills, kept appearing.