The Field

Who: Jasper and the NPC Babies
Where: The grassy bit
When: Afternoon
Rating: G

Jasper sighed and fought the urge to punch the top of her nose, feeling something like a headache coming on. And she wondered if this was what her sister put up with on a regular basis. "No, Ash." She said to the girl, in answer to her question. "We're not there yet."

( Comes the Glaringly Obvious )

Who: Kenneth and Aaron
Where: In the sweet grind fields
When: Noonish
What: Talk.

( Getting each other's measure )

Who: Helena and Kenneth
What: Finding a private moment to discuss the happenings of the last week and the plans for the next.
Where: Walking to the spring
When: After sunset, near full-dark
Rating: G I'm sure.

( Of councils and dictators )

It was closer to dusk than Kenneth liked when the shore of the lake came into view, but the sight and burgeoning darkness sped the feet of the travelers as their destination appeared. So far there was no sound of laughers behind them, which Kenneth was thankful for.

At the beach, it was organized chaos, but the planning that had been done en route was invaluable as they got the heavier things out of the carts. Kenneth was pleased to see they did in fact float, better even than he'd thought. In groups of two and three people, one stronger swimmer to one or two weaker, they held onto the makeshift rafts and made their way slowly across the fifty or so yards that separated them from the mainland.

Kenneth watched nervously, but some of that disappeared as he made out the form of Helena on the opposite shore. She was alive.

By the time the last raft made it across, which left only the heavier clay pots full of resin, collected food, medicine and Bazzer's skins, the laughers were hot on their trail. On Kenneth's orders, the pots were moved into the shallows and he stood guard over them as their strongest swimmers made a second trip across, this time manhandling the heavy clay pots in groups of two, with longer lengths of braided grass they had thanks to Rowan, tied around them to form a sort of sling like carrier. They took the medicines first, then the resin and skins. Food was easier to replace.

Sooner than he wanted, Kenneth saw the glowing eyes of the laughers. He took one shot then grabbed one of the remaining pots and dove into the water with the laughters splashing in the shallows along the bank. He was surprised to see Aaron, Alex and Thorne make a final dash for the remaining pots and swore softly as he saw the laughers lunge forward.

In a blink, he realized that the four of them had gotten away. They'd sacrificed some of the food they'd gathered, but Kenneth would take that. Given the other possibilities? He'd totally take that.

Who: Helena and Cross
Where: On the island
When: Just about dark
What: Is that the tribe we hear in the distance?
Rating: PG

( a good defense is still a good offense )

Who: Helena and Milo
Where: At The Island Camp
What: Helena tries to get Milo to help out a little.
When: Early Evening
Rating: TBD

Helena sighed as she tossed another bundle of sticks into the firepit and brushed the debrise from her hands. The wind was picking up and the fire was burning hot in it's wide stone-line hole. They were chewing through all of the deadfall on their half of the island and she thought to herself - not for the first time - that they would have to forge out from their little water circled refuge to find harder woods to burn and build with.

Despite the high fire, the temperature was dipping once more. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but Helena thought it was a couple of degrees cooler here on the island than it was in the forest. She supposed the insulating trees had kept the worst of the wind off of them. Here, though, it could howl at night and it wasn't rare to find that some of the thatching bundles had been torn off of the roof of her lean-to in the mornings. It was another project on her very, very long list. To find a way to secure the thatching better. She ducked her head inside the small shelter and retrieved Annie's orange fleece hoodie, tugging it on. One of these days she would have to admit that Annie was never coming back for the garment and that it was hers now. One of these days.

Movement in the shadows at the far corner of the lean-to caught her eye. At first the thought it was from the shifting flames in the wind but then the image resolved into the pointed chin and wide eyes of the boy who'd arrived with Payne. She froze for a moment and then continued zipping up her hoodie. "Hello there, we haven't met you," she called to him over the crackle of the fire. She was more than a little bit curious about the young man.

Who: Analiese, Thorne and Rowan
Where: within several yards of the temporary camp in the grasslands
When: morning
What: ...we're not in the Smokies anymore, Toto
Rating: PG?

( she'd never been out of her home state, and now she was... somewhere else )

Who: Rook & Helena
Where: Grazer island
When: Early morning
Rating: PG

Despite the fear of those caught out in the open on the grasslands during the night, the inevitable slaughter never arrives. Kenneth only has to expend three rounds when a pair of hunting laughers - perhaps too old to take part in the mating frenzy on the clay flats - comes upon the band of refugees. The two animals are safely put down, their pelts taken by firelight in the dark and added to Bazzer's growing collection. There is also a bit of the strange, tough laugher meat to be eaten the following day.

At the climber tree camp, there is an awful lot of noise but none of the animals seem to come closer than the edge of the field. Jasper and her two small charges cling to the wicker hammocks, swaddled in her single sleeping bag for warmth. Aside from the chilly drop in temperature at night (15C, 59F), it is uneventful.

On the island, the night is very quiet, save for the occupants. The grazers low every now and then as they jostle each other and doze on their feet. The humans keep the fire going throughout the night to keep the larger animals at bay and they also huddle for warmth, as it dips to 13C (55F) up there. There's a damp feel in the air, which the fire holds back a little.

Dawn comes and brings only a lightening grey to the sky. Clouds had rolled down from the north during the night, out of the mountains. In the distance, the peaks are invisible as a dark storm has enveloped them. Lightening can be seen from a distance and thunder crashes over the flat landscape from time to time. The rain comes by mid morning, though it's intermittant, and the wind is chilly. It makes for a bit of mud which slows them down a bit but at least there's no worry of sunburn or stroke today. By nightfall, the lake is in sight. Camp? Or push on in the dark?

( Mod Notes - Please Read )