(no subject)

[walkswithheroes]

Fred's wanted to go to the other island ever since she'd first heard it existed. Of course, there'd been the problem of her not really leaving the compound the entire first month she'd been in that dimension, and then spending a lot of time after that trying to get the bookshelf to give her anything but coloring books, romance novels, or ridiculously out of date physics texts. But now that there's a space station and a portal to it on the other island, she actually has a good excuse to explore there.

So maybe part of Fred gathering people together to search the second island for any more portals or oddities is that she's curious about how this island works compared to the one that everyone lives on. Maybe she thinks that there could be some key there to figuring out how to get off the island, since that's something she hasn't given up on yet.

Either way, they've all spent the day exploring, and after a while, it's not just Fred who seems tired. They've started to set up camp in a clearing, Fred putting up a makeshift tent with sticks and blankets before they all set about building a fire.

Of course there was the option of spending the night on the space station, but frankly, the whole disembodied robot voice thing is a little too creepy for Fred's tastes anyway. That, and even though all the instruments up there say they're safe, she can't shake the feeling that at some point, some door is going to open and they're all going to be sucked out into space.

"Anybody up for gathering firewood?"

Comments

[a-royal-bastard.livejournal.com]

Alistair had jumped at the chance for a bit of adventure when it was offered to him. It wasn't as though he disliked the quiet life - on the contrary, he much preferred it over getting arrows shot at him and having to dodge swords - but that didn't mean he didn't miss the traveling aspect a little from time to time. This trip, he was sure, was just the thing for him.

"I can do that," he announced when the suggestion was made, as he'd been a bit useless up until then. Duncan rose, sensing Alistair was going somewhere. "I think I saw some fallen wood as we approached here. Do you think an armful would be enough?"

[coercive.livejournal.com]

Having always possessed something of a scientific mind, Adelle is initially attracted to the expedition for all the reasons one might expect, but once she first lays eyes on their apparent leader, the trip takes on an entirely different purpose. She isn't Clyde Randolph or Dr. Saunders, she isn't even Whiskey. If she is an imprint at all — and despite any evidence to the contrary, Adelle is inclined to believe that which she knows best — it isn't one she has ever interacted with before.

Careful, however, not to provoke suspicion from the woman now called Fred, Adelle has, for the most part, kept to herself. Groups have never been her forté — life was much easier when she was widely feared by all — and rather than open her mouth and say something characteristically off-putting, she has put forth the considerable effort to keep any distasteful comments to herself. This, of course, means that she hasn't said much of anything at all, but for now, that will do just fine. Needless to say, she doesn't volunteer to search for firewood, but continues kicking a surprisingly sturdy log — sturdy enough for a makeshift bench — closer to the campsite.

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean didn't know why he was here.

He knew what he was telling himself. That he needed a break, that Neil needed a break from his hovering, that pretty much everyone needed a break from the sadbastard face Dean had been wearing for months now, but did that really warrant coming all the way over to this island?

There were a few in the group that yes, probably were going to need some looking after should the island deliver its typical, unexpected dangers, but there were fighters in the group. He didn't need to be here, but he had to admit, sitting back at the campsite, looking up to an eyeful of stars, it felt nice. Like some kind of holiday he'd stolen and hoarded all for himself.

He really should help with the firewood, and he would. Any minute now...

[fakejaded.livejournal.com]

It had just been a whim. Britta got restless easily, always had, and the island was a stark reminder of how long it had been since she'd just picked up and gone somewhere or at least had the ability to really consider it before proving too lazy or uncertain to bother. All kinds of exciting things were going on now and she'd been bored lately, but she still might have ignored that whim if Jeff hadn't made it exceedingly clear that joining the expedition would be monumentally idiotic on her part.

She almost wished she'd listened, because she didn't really feel she was much help after all, but she couldn't give him the satisfaction of entertaining that thought for more than a moment. "I don't see why it wouldn't be," she said to Alistair, unable to help voicing an opinion even when she had no solid criteria for forming one. "I mean, how much wood does it take to make a fire, right?"

[tricksthetreat.livejournal.com]

Trixa tried to hide the snort and failed from where she stood, leaning against a tree. Sighing, she spoke, "We'll need more than an armload if we want the fire to last through the night with enough coals to cook breakfast. Unless we feel like remaking the thing in the morning."

She looked around the group. Please, whatever God might be listening, tell her that she didn't take this trip with a bunch of amateurs. Granted, she'd gotten way to used to delivery and take-out living in the modern age, but she'd been around for a century or two. She remembered how the whole roughing it thing worked. Not for the first time did she question the boredom-fueled impulse to join this merry band.

Still, she could at least try to make herself useful. "I'll go with you if you want." She addressed Alistair, figuring the kid could maybe use a few pointers.

[pylean-cow.livejournal.com]

"Don't everyone volunteer at once," Fred says, only mostly under her breath, in response to the unenthusiastic reaction. Sure, she's not an expert when it comes to camping-- at least not in a practical way, the science behind building a fire is simple really-- but she knows that this kind of thing is supposed to be all about people pitching together.

Of course she knows that the likelihood of any of her traveling companions being camping experts, or science experts or that matter, is slim to none, she still can't help but be a little disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm.

"I'll come along too." she says, brushing dirt off of her jeans, though she knows they're likely to get dirty again soon.

[a-royal-bastard.livejournal.com]

"Well, six arms are better than two. Unless it's on one body, because then there'd be a problem, wouldn't there be?" he said, offering each woman a friendly grin. He motioned toward where he thought he remembered spotting some fallen wood that might be useful. "Shall we?"

He led he walk forward into the treeline, his mabari walking beside him.

[coercive.livejournal.com]

At the last remark from the man with the strange-looking dog, Adelle can't help from lifting a brow, the shadows hopefully obscuring her expression from anyone who might take note. It strikes her as the sort of thing Topher would say, although she suspects that the programmer might have continued down along that tangent for far longer before he was eventually stopped.

"Would you like a seat?" She asked no one in particular; the nearest person would do. If she was going to exert this much effort rolling a log over, they might as well get some use from it.

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Too late Dean realized she must be talking to him, that she'd gone and rolled over the log she was sitting on all by herself, and he got up, pushing sand from his jeans as he headed over.

"Thanks," he said, looking her over, and though she was a beautiful woman he managed to do it chastely. Even had Angua not had him by the balls, Dean had no energy for lechery these days - his look was entirely to access her ability to survive out here in the wild. "Kinda distracted, sorry. This trip was a last minute thing for me."

[fakejaded.livejournal.com]

"Really?" Britta asked, wandering closer but not yet sitting down. That was another thing she hadn't factored in when choosing to make this trip: being in the jungle with it getting dark made her a little anxious. She wasn't exactly pampered, she'd done the whole Peace Corps thing (and living in the Village), but compared to the main island, this place was a big unknown. It seemed relatively quiet, but they never knew what would come out of the trees and try to eat them, especially with people splitting up. "You look like the kind of guy who'd jump at the chance. No offense. I mean, we need that, right?" This was one of the few times she could think of that could be even remotely true.

[tricksthetreat.livejournal.com]

Trixa only caught the end of the conversation before she headed off towards the wood-gatherers. Was everyone here on the spur of the moment? That was a sobering thought. She made herself a mental note to keep an eye on things, trips that started suddenly sometimes had the nasty habit of ending that way, too.

"Hey, Fred?" That was the girl's name, right? "What made you decide to put this little expedition together anyway? Hasn't anyone done a survey over here yet?" Hard to believe if there'd been people here for what, five-plus years?

[pylean-cow.livejournal.com]

"The space station," Fred replies as they walk, the three of them distancing themselves from the camp to look for decent kindling. It's not entirely true though, she's wanted to go to the second island for a long time now, hoping that there will be other answers there, maybe something that will give her an idea of just how hopeless it might be to still be looking for a way home.

Maybe other islanders have come there looking for their own answers, but Fred won't be satisfied until she's seen for herself.

"If there's one new thing here, then who's to say all kinds of new stuff hasn't shown up?"

[coercive.livejournal.com]

"Same," admits Adelle, nodding. As someone who until very recently split her time between a grand office with phenomenal city views and a pricey beach-side mansion, the other island was enough of a change, but camping had not been a factor she truly allowed herself to consider until — well, until just now, when the realization will be spending the night in a tent finally sinks in. Needless to say, she is not entirely pleased with the situation, but given her entirely ulterior motives for being here, there never was much of a choice.

"Pardon my saying so," she begins, if only to divert attention from herself, "but neither of you strike me as the scientific sort."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean chuckled, rearranging himself against the unyielding knots of the log. "Not sure a semester of book learnin' qualifies me, but maybe someday. M'training to work at the island clinics. That's not why I'm here, though."

Casting his gaze sideways, Dean looked towards the island. He couldn't see it through the trees, but Neil and Tom and those two little girls were out there, feeling god only knew what. "Just got a lot going on back home, figured this'd be a nice change, and Fred is..." Dean shrugged. "Sweet and smart as hell, but I wouldn't reckon on her in a fight with a tiger."

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean moved as quickly as he dared, darting beneath the thick canopy, around trees and over logs, until at last, by the time he burst into another clearing, the only shrieks remaining were their own.

His makeshift torch was almost out, and Dean used the last of its light to grab up a few promising sticks for kindling, checking the other members of the group as he dashed around. "Everybody okay? Nobody foaming at the mouth yet, right?"

[fakejaded.livejournal.com]

"Not yet," Britta answered, hand pressed to her chest as she caught her breath. She wasn't entirely convinced they wouldn't any minute now, not that she'd been bitten. Were scratches enough to pass on disease? She was pretty sure they were, but she wasn't certain if she'd been caught by monkeys or low-lying branches as they ran. Still, she kept her tone wry as she looked back at the others to be sure they were all there. "Just a matter of time. What just happened?"

[tricksthetreat.livejournal.com]

"We got out asses handed to us by a pack of monkeys, that's what happened." And if Trixa sounded pissed about that, she sure as hell was. She'd gotten chased through the forest by little simians hell-bent on kicking the crap out of her.

When did she stop being the alpha? Animals used to recognize her as a predator, and now she was... running through the forest from monkeys.

"Did anyone see evidence of a nest? Were we in their territory or something?"

[pylean-cow.livejournal.com]

"Even if we did, I don't think monkeys normally attack in packs like that," Fred replies, and now that they're stationary, drops her pack to the ground to try and take a real inventory of what all was stolen or destroyed. She sets the game down next to it.

"Maybe it's some kind of crazy, island-dimensional magic. That's not implausible."

[a-royal-bastard.livejournal.com]

"So this was just the island showing its' questionable sense of humor?" Alistair asked, plopping down on the ground unceremoniously as Duncan continued to pace the area, alert to any sounds. He was pretty sure his shirt was torn in places little monkey claws gripped at him, but he didn't bother looking. "I can't say I get the joke."

[coercive.livejournal.com]

"You wouldn't, would you?" Adelle is glad for the relief, however transient, her mind still entertaining brief flashes of their attackers' savage little faces. She picks lightly at the bite on her hand, reminding herself that it will likely amount to just that; it's too early to tell if it might be infected, or worse, but panic clearly won't help. "The butt of the joke rarely finds any humor in it," she elaborates.

[weary-head.livejournal.com]

Dean dumped what dry branches and brush he'd managed to find in the center of the clearing, wincing when one of the larger ones landed with a thunk on Fred's pack. "That sounded break-y," he muttered, but his hands froze over the pile when he went to examine it.

The box there was familiar, and it didn't take a traumatizing mental journey through Robin Williams' oeuvre to figure out why, but his brain provided one anyway. "Oh god," Dean groaned, clapping a hand over his eyes, "loinclothes." And...you know what, as awful as Williams' leatherclad crotch could be, there was a deeper danger at hand here.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," said Dean with feeling. "Let me guess, one of you lot found this - " His foot thunked down on the game. " - and had yourself a little roll of the dice?"

[fakejaded.livejournal.com]

"Wait, what is that?" Britta came over to take a look, eyes widening a little. She hadn't seen that movie since she was a kid and she didn't exactly remember loving it, but Dean's words were all the prompting she really needed to connect the dots. For a second, the idea freaked her out, but she refused to be bullied by some board game, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "Are you kidding? Come on, that's, it isn't real. Even here. It's just a dumb coincidence."

[tricksthetreat.livejournal.com]

"Wait, that thing?" Trixa set her pack down and motioned to the box. "Alistair found it in the dirt, he and Fred were starting a game when I headed back to camp."

But there was something in Britta and Dean's faces, something Trixa didn't like, something that made her hackles raise and eyes narrow.

"What is it?"

[pylean-cow.livejournal.com]

"What? This?" She picks up the game and turns the wooden box over in her hands to inspect it. Sure, it's kind of a boring game, but she hadn't thought anything else of it. Not until now, at least.

"Oh god. I did roll," Fred says, starting to realize, "I rolled and there was this thing about monkeys and expeditions..."

[a-royal-bastard.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that has to be some sort of crazy coincidence," he said, letting out a nervous laugh. That was, of course, disregarding the fact he had to unbury it to find it, like someone had been trying to hide it. Looking at the two who had seemed to recognize it, he asked, "Right?"