The Field

Who: Payne and Clay
When: Morning of Day Ten, because Carolyn had computer woes and it got lost.
What: Bathing, laundry... Plotting to take over the world. The usual.
Where: A convenient pool in the stream near camp.
Rating: PG-13 for language and skinny-dipping.

( Gonna lay down my burden; down by the river-side; gonna study war no more... )

Who: Kenneth and Jasper
What: Discoveries
When: Early morning
Where: In the Sweetgrind Plains
Rating: PG, I'm sure

( And Kenneth proves he's in as good a shape as he says )

Who: Rowan and Helena
Where: In the forest
When: Afternoon
What: Washery
Rating: XXX! Nah, kidding. Maybe PG because of nakedness


Rowan picked yet another little green-winged leech from her skin with a sigh. Little bastards were all over the damn place, sometimes in yellow, sometimes in white, sometimes faintly other colors. All in all, if she ever got home, she was never looking at a moth or butterfly the same way again. She flicked it over into the grass and continued her way to the stream. There, without any real regard for the idea that maybe it wasn't the best idea to strip down nude in front of everyone, she stripped down nude in front of everyone and started rinsing out her clothes. It may have been muddy and damp everywhere, but her pajama pants and tanktop were filthy and stained with mud, sweat, and purply-green grass. At least this way they'd get partially clean.

Helena came around the tree and paused as she saw Rowan squatted in the nude, swishing her clothes through the stream. The mother-to-be was a little sunburned here and there and sporting a few of the slowly trickling bites from those awful moths that were flitting around today. She had a few of those herself. "Ro, what on earth are you doing? You're going to give Bazzer a heart attack."

( Bubbles! )

Who: Helena and Ryan
What: A weaving experiment and chat
Where: under the climber tree
When: the afternoon
Rating: G

( What Choice Did They Have But To Forge Ahead? )

Who: Cross
When: Day 10, early morning
Where: east, in the trees

Cross was awake before light dawned in the sky. Of course, it was debatable as to whether he'd actually slept at all; they'd had to be so careful to keep their positions in the trees where they'd settled in to keep themselves safe from the Laughers, who seemed to scent human prey and come ganging around as soon as darkness fell. He might have dozed for a few moments at a time, and he thought wryly that sitting upright in this tree made the unadorned wicker hammock he used back at camp seem like a featherbed.

His back was braced carefully against the trunk of the tree, his legs casually spread out, his feet braced in forks in nearby branches. He had one arm wrapped around the nearest branch to his chest and Helena's pillowcase tied around the opposite arm; he could just imagine the three-legged beasts tearing it to shreds if it fell to the ground.

There wasn't anything in there they'd care for, he didn't think, but he could see them destroying it from sheer contrariness. Cross had never been an animal person, though he couldn't have said he disliked them before... but he could have happily put bullets through their pointy little heads if he'd had a gun. They were vicious and extremely annoying in his opinion. He sighed and shifted the pillowcase on his lap, thinking about the few things he'd found to bring back to Helena.

The most welcome was undoubtedly going to be the rubber soles he'd found. Not quite shoes... actually they looked as if they were the remains of running shoes that had been torn to shreds by sharp teeth. A bit unnerving, yes... but he felt sure that Helena would have enough ingenuity to figure out a way to keep them on her feet. They could be trimmed if needed, bent, flexed. It would certainly be better than having to go around barefoot, and hopefully she'd be pleased. He blinked at the thought, not wanting to ponder why it mattered to him that she be pleased.

Soon it would be time to get on with their day, just as soon as light broke in the sky and the Laughers scurried off to wherever they hid in the daytime. Very soon now.

Who: Angelica and OPEN
Where: Sitting in the climber tree, putting on sunscreen
When: 10 Late morning
Rating: R (possible cursing)

( That smack in the face wasn't very nice, but kind of eye opening. )

As always, the laughers are out in full force after sunset on Day Nine. They carry on all night but seem mostly drawn to the southeast, the location of Payne and Quinn's adventure the day before.

Dawn breaks clear, not a lick of fog on the slightly chilly morning. It's fairly plain to anyone who lives in a region of the world with distinct seasons that the times are a-changing. Just a few degrees, but notably cooler. Maybe it's just a weather thing and will pass in a couple of days? Maybe it's just the beginning of something much worse.

Stirpips and Glasswings flit everywhere today! The tiny kamakaze birds don't seem deterred by the human's jumpy nature in the least. They dive right into the hammocks to pick flying leeches off of sleeping people. The Glasswings crowd the stream today because some rather unnoticed vine that lay along the ground has burst into full flower. The tiny bat-like animals seem to feed off of the sweet smelling nectar of the jasmine-like blooms. The air is full of their honey-and-lemon scent.

The ground is much dryer today and the sun much stronger. It doesn't take long to get the fire up and running and then? Oh, the scent of bacon fills the air...

( Mod Notes - Please Read )