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Post by tiel on Jun 20, 2017 3:29:07 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ Summer//Mid Day//Open h-a2083 awoke suddenly. She had boarded this ship to be transferred to a buyer, which she had mixed feelings about. It was something she dreaded, yet was strangely excited for. Her first instinct was to prepare to exit the ship. But the closet she had been sleeping in was still dark. The ship should have been landed, why else would she wake up now? But she felt light on her feet, and regular bumps forced her to the ground at times, so she must have still been flying. She heard a soft humming sound. It was high pitched with rhythmic pauses. Beeep, beeep, beeep, beeep. She pressed herself against the door, one eye hovering on a crack where she could barely make out a red light blinking outside, synchronized with the hum. Every time it went on, she could see what used to be a clean white hallway that now glinted ominously crimson, then pitch black. What was going on? Surely someone would come get her soon. She continued watching the hallway outside, and two dark silhouetted figures appeared, coming closer with every blink of the red light. She heard voices, but could not make out what they were saying. They sounded panicked as the figures rushed by, and in a few seconds they were gone. That happened a few more times, and in each instance she hoped they would unlock her closet and take her to safety, but each time was the same. Perhaps they had forgotten about her. But she dare not make a sound, even to remind them she was there. Don't speak unless spoken to, she reminded herself. Suddenly, there was a large bump in the smooth flight, and she was suspended in mid air for a brief second, before collapsing to the ground. She tried standing up again, but was pulled down too hard. This must have been a test to see what she would do in a situation like this. What was she supposed to do? She was stuck to the floor in a locked closet in the dark, all alone. Again there was a bump that caused her to float in mid air, this time pressing her back against the ceiling, then a change in gravity forced her to the door. She stayed pushed against the surface for a moment, heart pounding out of her chest, until she heard the sound of creaking metal, and a small amount of light poured into the closet through a rip in the ceiling growing larger and larger by the second. Before she knew it, the whole closet was torn off the ship and she was flying through the air facing up with nothing but the view of the blue sky. She screeched as she soared, being pressed against the back of her container, to the point where she was out of breath. By then she was zooming through trees, their branches whacking her and slowing her down until she landed with a skid in the leaf covered dirt. Everything stopped, and she was curled up at the bottom of her metal container for a solid minute, just watching a few flaming chunks of metal whiz by, way up in the sky. She struggled to catch her breath, in shock of just being thrown out of a ship. Slowly but surely, she tried to stand, but dizzily fell forward, gripping onto the sides of her boat. The scenery around her spun in great waves up and down, and her head throbbed. She pressed her hand onto her forehead, letting out a bewildered moan, then began to climb out of the container. She was in a forest, surrounded by trees that flapped in the wind. After climbing out of her makeshift rocket, she looked down at herself, outstretching her arms. She was still wearing the thin black clothing she had entered the closet in, not able to break the brisk wind sending chills down her spine. There was a rip in her clothes along her left leg and across her back where the wind made her skin cold. Her left sleeve was missing, revealing her shoulder. She wore short black socks, her feet sinking into the leaves and her ankles itchy with twigs against them. But her skin was completely undamaged, not a scratch in sight. She felt fine too, aside from the shock and headache and dizziness. She crossed her arms and looked around her, assessing her situation. About half a mile away, she could see that a great deal of smoke was emitted, so she decided to follow that way, where her crew probably was waiting for her, wondering where she had gone and what had happened to her during the big bad crash landing. She walked for a long time, longer than she thought she would, before reaching what was left of her ship. It was huge, and sopping with flames flitting out of cracked windows and holes, gathering above it to release a river of smoke, ashes falling around it like snow, quite the disturbance in this peaceful forest. She began to walk closer to it, but jumped back as a chunk of metal fell to the ground and sent up ashes that soon settled on the floor again. She hesitated, rubbing one hand on her shoulder where her sleeve was missing, contemplating what to do. She had no orders, no convenient directions, no one telling her what to do, and her instinct was to do nothing, which was what she was usually supposed to do when there were no instructions. But what if there were people inside the ship? What if they needed help? That was what she was made for. Helping others. A lump formed in her throat, and she just stared at the burning mass of metal, wide eyed like a child. She fell to her knees, too much of the real world experience for one day, and closed her eyes helplessly. She could not bring herself to stand up again. She had had enough for one day.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Jun 21, 2017 14:59:59 GMT
A disaster of any sort was unusual in these parts, but the smoke rising up to the sky was a clear enough beacon of preceding events. Many beasts of natural instinct would probably flee. a foreign object such as a crashed airship disturbed plenty of local systems. Birds chattered their warning calls, angry that their roosts had been upset, but already moving on to find new ones. Many little animals fled, but not all were so lucky as to run away unscathed.
The small otter had not been fortunate. She had been on her way from one local water source to another when the crash occurred, and had ended up caught by some of the flying rubble. She was now partially trapped by a large piece of metal, unable to get herself out of the space on her own.
The small clawed otter, peeped and struggled, her animal voice sounding uncannily like a crying or laughing child. It probably could be mistaken for a human for the imaginative mind, but for the less imaginative, it could easily be pushed aside as nothing. Chances were high that no children had been on the airship after all. tiel
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Post by tiel on Jun 22, 2017 16:25:03 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ The shriek of a child was heard, somewhere off in the forest, quite a ways away from where a now orphaned assistant was on her knees, watching her crashed ship burn. She turned her head in that direction immediately, her instincts telling her to help the child. It was programmed into her, that in a desperate situation, to help women and children first. The circumstances seemed to be desperate enough, and without any other orders, following the sound of the crying child was the best option yet. She arose to her feet, and before she knew it, she was following the sound. After trudging through leaves for some time, she discovered that the sound was closer than ever, so she picked up her pace eventually arriving at a piece of metal. It shook slightly, as though something was trying to get out from under the piece, and the sound came from beneath it. Assuming there was a desperate child underneath, she lifted it, then tossed it to her side where it landed by a tree. Discovering that the sound was not a distressed child, but a distressed forest animal, she jumped back, never having seen an otter before. It was furry, its big eyes reminded her of a child, and it obviously needed her help, so she must have done the right thing. "Hello," she said shakily, but maybe it did not speak English. "Hola," she tried. "こんにちは ?" She stood her ground by the animal, having no where else to go at that point.
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Post by 0 on Jun 22, 2017 17:32:04 GMT
Before all the noise and the smoke, there was simply a man and his machine. A lanky man with a farmer's tan, wearing overalls, cowboy boots, and a coonskin cap with the body having been carved out of a meteorite.
In the wilderness of a woodland that seemed to cover an entire continent's worth, he sat on a log in a relatively small clearing, poking at a pile of rocks with a stick.
Behind him sat a hunk of metal that looked only vaguely like a sailplane, vivid red with bold black markings, its wings folded vertically up, and the glass of its squared cockpit tinted a darker gray. Branches curled against the tall wings, while grass rustled in sunny waves across the remainder of the clearing.
Nic didn't like camping all that much, especially when it came to forests and not, say, flat open prairies. Even a blazing hot an' dry desert would be better than this; he didn't like having his vision obscured, his line of sight so closed in by all the brush. Made him feel like he could get ambushed at any moment. Would never see it coming. Besides that, he simply knew more about surviving in a scraggly shrubland than he did in an expanse of trees.
There wasn't much he could do, however, not when his atmospheric craft was borderline empty on fuel. He'd have to find some more, although he doubted a gas station was anywhere near here. Perhaps he'd get lucky and someone willing to share would land nearby....
As he sat mindlessly preparing a firepit, it seemed his listless wish was granted. Eyes turned to the sky as he heard the distinct roar of engines. Maybe this place wasn't so uninhabited, after all!
Unable to yet see the source of the noise, he stood and walked towards the center of the clearing, hand to his brow as he searched the sky. His ears were soon met by a booming, crackling roar, followed by the glare of light as though from the midday sun.
Seconds later, a bulky shape came into view. "Shit." Metal glinted in the light of its own fires, various components and modules breaking apart in midair.
It left behind a trail of smoke as it fell through the air. Nic stepped back, carefully observing its direction as it dropped behind the trees, listening keenly to the sound of snapping trees and screaming wildlife. Quickly, he ran to his own ship, popping open the cockpit as he reached in to pull out a crimson gas canister and a white first aid kit.
Then he turned, carefully eyeing the skies while he waited for the commotion to die down; he was soon enough rewarded by multiple columns of smoke rising above the canopy, dying the sky a moldy gray. He picked the thickest column and began to follow it, watching as it disappeared behind the leaves.
Even if no one survived, perhaps, if he was quick enough, there would be enough fuel for him to siphon on his own.
After a few minutes jogging through the woods, the acrid scent of smoke began to burn his nose hairs, shining silvery metal jutting out from among the branches. A shard of sheet metal fell in beside him as he worked his way through the underbrush, eventually coming out into a long, trailing clearing that had been forcefully chopped down into the woods. The soil was torn up, plants uprooted at the wide path that had been carved through the forest.
Nic stared at the flaming wreckage for a moment, eyes up, ears tuned in. Something was crying.
He turned and headed towards the stuttering sounds, eventually coming upon a...somewhat strange scene, but not altogether jarring. There was a young woman who, although her expression seemed confused and shocked enough, seemed otherwise completely unharmed. She was pulling a sleek-bodied mammal out from underneath some rubble, and-- well, trying to communicate with it, attempting greetings in at least three different languages as he began to listen in.
Nic had to say, that beast looked like it'd make a mighty tasty snack. Lucky for the otter, however, there were other things on his mind at that moment, and his hands were too full to reach for the pistol holstered to his waist, much less the shotgun strapped to his back.
"Hey! Miss?" the man called out, his voice a rough mix of southern American and Mexican. "Are ya doin' okay over there?" He remained near the edge of the trees, although he did take a tentative step forward.
He wasn't entirely sure she was all right in the noggin', the way she was going on with that animal; if she'd been a part of the crash, it was likely she'd been hit on the head, and needed medical attention that she didn't even know about.
His eyes flicked towards the wild critter, hoping it wouldn't outright go into a panicked rage. It was probably injured after being in all that rubble, but he'd rather save the first aid kit for any humans that would need it.
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Administrator
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Jun 22, 2017 22:18:23 GMT
The otter spoke no human languages. In fact she had never had any promising experiences with humans and this person in front of her looked and smelled for all purposes human. Minnow was quite terrified, but no matter how much her mind screamed that she ought to run, she could not force herself to flee. The effect was very similar to what happens to deer when caught in the headlights of a vehicle. She simply froze up too much to move.
As long as her actions did not reflect her panicked thoughts, she might be touchable, but when she snapped out of this temporary immobility, even she didn't even know what she'd do.
She didn't even dare check how badly wounded she might be, but the people might see that she'd ended up with a nasty scrape that looked like it transformed into a burn/bruise. It had been acquired due to the heat and speed of some of the rubble. It looked bad, but was fortunately superficial enough that Minnow would have a good chance of living, if it didn't end up infected, and she didn't scratch at it later.
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Post by tiel on Jun 23, 2017 2:08:28 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ The little creature froze in the arms of h-a2083, and frankly she did not know what to do at that point, until a scrape came to her attention. She examined the wound, wondering how she should address it with her lack of medical supplies. For a moment, she looked into its childlike eyes, and a wave of protectiveness for the animal came over her. She would serve it if she could, do what she could to help it. Abruptly, she heard a voice, and her head turned to face a man. This gave her a bit more direction than stumbling upon the otter had, considering she was made to serve people rather than whatever this creature in her arms was, but she still felt a connection to her and enough sympathy to want to help her. The man called her 'miss,' which caught her off guard, then asked if she was okay. She looked at him for a moment, considering his words, not knowing how to respond to something like that. Her mouth hung open awkwardly, and her eyes dropped to a white package in his hands. She recognized a first aid kit when she saw one, the red cross symbol on a white box. Those were the supplies that could help this animal, the one she had decided to help, and help her she would. Forgetting the stranger's previous question, she said "Sir, this child is wounded. Would you be willing to share your first aid kit to help her?" She clamped her mouth shut, fearing she had said too much. This had been a confusing past few minutes.
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Post by 0 on Jun 23, 2017 3:27:01 GMT
The man's brow furrowed as he waited in the silence that followed, observing with his own bewilderment the strange expression on the woman's face. He glanced again at the otter in the meantime, noting that it seemed frozen; he could see its sides rising and falling, however, which told him that it was well enough alive. The animal was in shock, and could bolt into action at a moment's notice. Just because it was small, didn't mean it couldn't be dangerous; who knows if it had that old ravers disease, or what-have-you.
Finally, a reply was given, the man's eyes snapping back to the woman's own, his wariness only rising with her words. She called the animal a "child".
Shuffling on his feet, he took a step back closer to the forest, one truck tapping against the white case he held in one of his hands, actions already revealing what he was about to say. "No," he stated simply, tone firm.
His eyes went up, looking around, though his legs turned tense, keeping the woman at least in the corner of his vision. Raising his voice, he called into the roaring flames: "Is anyone else alive?"
He shot the woman a more direct glance. Although he still thought there might be something wrong with her besides her head, he wasn't willing to get too close to a potentially dangerous person; ya never did know with those mentals. She could just be being cheeky, but...did he really want to take that chance? No; of course not.
Keeping close to the forest for now, the man began to move away from the woman, eyes searching the wreckage, dreading to see the inevetible severed limbs or burned and twisted bodies. He followed the smoke without getting too close, hoping to find the fuselage, even though it was more than likely that all the fuel had been burned up by then, thanks to all the fire.
As he thought that, he stopped in his tracks, suddenly very aware of all the burnable materials around him. The forest would be damn lucky if it didn't all catch on fire.
He stood for a few minutes in indecision. Try to siphon fuel that was more than likely all gone by now, or find some safe place to stow away in the case of the forest flaring up, which he was also just as likely to not find in the least? Fuck; what a time and place for his craft to run out of fuel.
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Administrator
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Jun 24, 2017 11:38:44 GMT
Being held...
Something clicked in her mind.
Minnow began to struggle, kicking out with her claws which were fortunately(for the 'humans') short, and twisting around in order to try and slip out of the grasp. Even though the one holding her had been relitively gentle, it didn't cross Minnow's mind that the person might be doing this to help.
If minnow was dropped, the small otter would attempt to flee.
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Post by tiel on Jun 24, 2017 14:48:37 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ The man refused to share his kit with the child, which she was upset about, but was submissive and did not question him any further. Then he asked her if anyone else was alive. This question lingered in the air for a moment, because the truth was, she had no idea. "I don't know," she faltered out, fearing she had said the wrong thing. But what else was she going to say? She was the one who had been too afraid to go check, even though she would probably be the safest one climbing into a burning ship. With that thought, she turned her head to the great column of smoke coming up through the trees, and wondered if anyone really was still alive in that ship. The wind began to pick up, and the various holes in her thin cotton clothing let cold air touch her skin, and as unbreakable as her skin was, it was still cold. The child in her arms began to kick and struggle, clawing at her arms, but they did not make a mark on her skin, nor hurt her in any way. They only tore her clothing more, and were resisted by her skin like it was made of metal. She gripped the creature tighter, making sure not to drop her on her head, then, ever so gently, she set her down in the leaves in a motherly fashion. "I'm sorry," she whispered, distraught that she had picked the child up against her will. But now the scrape was exposed to dirt and leaves, and her struggling must have caused the wound to worsen.
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Post by 0 on Jun 24, 2017 18:37:20 GMT
Nic's eyes eventually fell back into focus as he finally made a decision. No further calls, whether screams or otherwise, met his ears; the roar of the flames could have been too loud, but, looking at the wreckage, he couldn't see how anyone might have survived.
There was no way he was going to be able to siphon any fuel -- it was either all gone, or ready to blow up the second any fire touched it. That only left him the option of trying to find a cave or something, just in case the entire forest might burst into flames...perhaps his craft possessed just enough fuel to get him up and over the forest to look for one. Now, whether or not he'd even be able to find another place to land....
Besides that, that also left the crazy woman with the torn clothes, and her pet wild animal, both of whom he was still debating whether or not he should risk helping.
As Nic turned around, his legs tensed, able to watch as the woman let the beast down. Surely it wouldn't be so dumb as to dash towards him?
Just as the otter was let down, there was a loud crash not far from where Nic stood, multiple cracks and pops sounding off into the air as another piece of the foreign ship exploded multiple times over, fire roaring out and upwards, smoke choking out the surrounding area. Nic held up one of his arms as heat was blasted over him, smoke pouring in around him.
He had to get out of here.
As he began to hurry back into the forest for cover, his voice rang out back towards the woman and her living toy: "I wouldn't stick around, if I were you! That thing's liable to be a ticking time bomb!"
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Administrator
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Jun 25, 2017 22:32:55 GMT
The wound was bad. it hurt to move, but with the potential danger, and the rise in temperature in the nearby area, Minnow could not afford to wait around.
The small otter ran as fast as being wounded allowed. It was more of a waddle than a run at the moment, but she was still remarkably competent on land, able to ignore some of the pain in order to focus on saving her own life.
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Post by tiel on Jun 28, 2017 17:28:03 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ The man turned around and began to head off into the woods, but called back to her first. He told her to leave. That was probably her best option, even the child apparently thought so as it scurried away, probably feeling the uncomfortable heat which she herself began to feel as well. The sound of the fire met her ears, growing louder by the second, and she knew then she had to run. The way the man said to get away from the crash site sounded like more of a suggestion than an order, and she wondered if that meant she should not follow it since she was never directly commanded to go. The roaring fire was louder than ever now, and she stood in indecision for a moment, but because she had no other instructions, she decided to run away as he had recommended. She could not help but follow the man. Who else would she serve? For a moment, she considered chasing down the otter, it being a lot nicer than this guy, but decided against it for she knew too little about the creature, where as she was made to serve man, and this was the only man in site. He was her master now. She dashed off to catch up with him, but did so silently, like a pet dog following its owner. He would still know she was behind him by the crunch of the leaves every footstep she made, but she did not speak. She rubbed her arm where her sleeve was missing, now feeling the warmth of the fire disappearing into the crisp wind of the woods. But the smell of smoke lingered, outweighing the fresh herbaceous scent she had smelled earlier.
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Post by 0 on Jun 28, 2017 18:02:37 GMT
He was being followed. Great.
Nic noticed the crunching of leaves behind him in an instant, tossing his eyes over his shoulder to see the flash of pearly skin. And it wasn't even the meal without wheels.
Although he had somewhat expected the crazy lady to stay behind and embrace the explosion, perhaps he should have seen this coming, as well. If she was lost, then of course he was going to be trailed. Or if she was the murderous sort of loony; there was that option, too.
She seemed a bit too slow to be a serial killer, but one never knew, did they? Could be an act. He made a note to try and keep his distance should she stay on his tail.
Within a few minutes, the man was crashing into the forest clearing, bounding on his legs towards his ship. Before he opened it up, however, he paused, spinning on his heels to stare in the direction he was sure the woman would be coming from, should she not have stopped following him; he wanted to check just how far away she was before he popped open the ship's cockpit. Didn't want her jumping in beside him, although he did begin to wonder if he should really leave someone behind in the middle of a most likely soon-to-be forest fire, possible head injury or not; after all, the woman hadn't yet proven to actually be dangerous, just a little bit on the weird side.
As he glared off that way, more loud noises could be heard in the not-so-distant distance; accompanied by a flash of heat and light, small vibrations shaking the ground underfoot, yet another column of smoke now rose to greet the others. He had the sense it wouldn't be long now before even bigger bangs began to rack the trees.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Jun 29, 2017 22:41:45 GMT
Minnow didn't look back. She only hoped she could get out of the area in time, and hopefully to safe water. She didn't have the luxury to think or wonder what happened to the humans at this point. She couldn't see them anymore, and she certainly could not smell them considering the fire's intensity, and the smoke in the air. As soon as the otter found enough water to swim in, she slips underneath the the cool liquid. As long as the water lead away from the crash, and preferably to a larger body of water, she would probably be alright. -Minnow out
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Post by tiel on Jun 30, 2017 2:02:22 GMT
~ h-a2083 ~ The man seemed to pick up his pace, like he was trying to get away from her. She didn't understand why. If she was being a bother, why didn't he ask her to go away? When the man stopped at a landed spacecraft, he turned around to glance at her. She stared up at him wide eyed in silence for a moment, then finally processed that he was about to leave her, perhaps to burn in the fire soon to break out. "I—I—don't have anywhere else to go," she faltered. "Please."
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