Alterix
Accepted Character
Assassin
Posts: 10
Full Name: Alterix
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Aostadair
Height: 6 foot exactly
Weight: 175 lbs
OOC Name: Rott-i-kins
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Post by Alterix on Feb 5, 2014 0:40:01 GMT
Alterix said very little to either of his traveling companions. As he walked he decided that Darwin was either mentally handicapped or he had been kept in a tower most of his life. His opinion on Dulce, unfortunately, remained much the same. Her haste to get back to her workplace hadn’t really helped to make him think she was anything other than what he had first assumed her to be.
Bringing up the rear of the pack he was scanning the trees for anything at all recognizable. There was nothing that he could pick out that could point him in any direction. There were no recognizable land marks, no old farmhouse foundations or crumbling forts that he could use to point himself in the correct direction. All around him were tall trees, mostly pines but with a few oaks scattered here and there.
Alterix suddenly realized that he was lost.
Night set in quickly. Far more quickly than he felt it really should have at this time of year. The sun disappeared below the horizon, making the whole forest nearly pitch black. Alterix stopped before it was too dark, informing the others that it was probably best to stop for the night. Beginning to scrounge up dry branches and making them into a decent sized pile, he silently wished that he was better supplied. If he had his usual campside belongings with him, he would’ve set a few snares for rabbits. Better yet, he would’ve been able to shoot them a couple of squirrels. Going to bed with an empty stomach was something that Alterix had done many times before though, and so he didn’t lament the fact they were dinnerless for too long. He did wish that he had some weapon in his hand though. A good sword could take you pretty far.
The temperature dropped only by a few degrees, but it wasn’t a fire he was started out of warmth so much as light and protection. A broken, flaming branch waved in a hungry animal’s face was a fairly effective tool in a pinch. It was small fire, but crackling merrily and casting an inviting warm glow on the travelers and the tall trees.
He crouched in front of it before leaning back on his hand in the pine needles and sitting down. Crossing his legs, he folded his bare feet under himself.
The Tin Man was not the sort of person to start up a conversation.
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Darwin
Accepted Character
Posts: 8 
Full Name: Darwin Bello
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Valspar
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 152lbs
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Post by Darwin on Feb 5, 2014 3:15:58 GMT
Throughout the day, though it seemed to pass quickly, Darwin talked with Dulce about the plants and the grass, asked about her lifestyle living among such things, and briefly spoke on how they might have gotten there before they stopped. They came to the conclusion that they had both been sleeping when they'd been... kidnapped or whatever. Conversing with Dulce was very interesting, though vulgar, and being out in public among people you've only just met, it was a tad abrasive. There was no one else around but Alterix to hear them, despite being on a reserve, so it was alright, he supposed. She was definitely an honest person, and that's what mattered. At least he had learned a lot about plant life.
He watched as Alterix just started a fire without any assistance from tools or anything. It was really quite amazing and Darwin wondered if Alterix worked on the reserve. If that's what it was. He was starting to have doubts now, but for the moment the explanation he came up with would have to do. Maybe he worked on the reserve, but he hit his head on something long ago and got lost here and forgot, and that's why he didn't talk very much, he doesn't remember how after being hit. That probably wasn't it, but that was what Darwin was going to roll with for now.
Darwin sat next to the fire as well, unafraid of the raw burning embers, and his scarf splayed out over the ground behind him. He never really thought about his own well being, but he didn't want his scarf to burn. The fire didn't look quite hot enough for that, but still. He looked up at Dulce and smiled that ever optimistic smile for the upteenth smile that day and pat the space next to him for Dulce to sit down. He was wary about sitting on the grass and pine needles, but he had been informed earlier that grass was tough (that's why it grew on the ground), so he guessed it was okay.
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Oppenheimer
Accepted Character
Wrench Wench
Posts: 19
Full Name: Dulce Annabella Oppenheimer
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Homeworld: Shadow's Wayne/Earth, 1998
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 139 lbs
OOC Name: Husher
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Post by Oppenheimer on Feb 5, 2014 3:34:09 GMT
Oppenheimer still didn't know what to make of Alterix. He hadn't said a word to Darwin or her the entire time they were walking. Bello Darwin was friendly enough, though she thought he was so naïve that he must have been raised in a plastic sealed bubble. That was the only explanation as to why he was so damn ignorant. She had to demonstrate how tough grass was by stomping it, and he seemed either awed or horrified by it. That sort of amazement wasn’t spawned from plain old stupidity. There must have been something he and everyone else knew missed out on entirely.
They were kidnapped from different universes. That was the only explanation for it. Maybe some Redcoat Priest thought it would be amusing. She thought about the Priest who took her to earth in the first place, Sandelin Marcel, but he didn’t seem like the type who would do that purposely or even on accident.
Darwin kept smiling at her, but Oppenheimer wasn’t the sort of person who smiled back. At least he looked in her in the eye. She could respect that at least, mostly because it wasn’t accompanied by some crude compliment on her ‘assets’ or something of the sort.
However, Oppenheimer appreciated his consideration so much that she actually smiled back at Darwin and sat down next to him, but she turned the side of her back to the campfire, so she wasn’t looking directly at it. Of course, she faced Darwin instead of Alterix. She didn’t like the light, and she especially didn’t like the flame. A particularly loud crackle caused her to cringe, pulling her hat down over her eyes.
“Wish I had my welding helmet...” she mumbled to herself as she scooted further away from the campfire.
It was another night she went without eating a single thing, but she had gone without longer. However, Oppenheimer wasn’t going to pass up any opportunities for free food if they were there. The constant pine needles pricking her legs reminded her that they were smack dabbed in the middle of a coniferous forest. She might as well make use of their current environment.
She sighed as she got back up to gather some pine cones. She didn't trail far from them, and being surrounded by them, she didn't have to. She picked up several large pine cones, both closed and opened (though more of the former, of course), and tossed a few back to the men sitting around the campfire to catch.
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Alterix
Accepted Character
Assassin
Posts: 10
Full Name: Alterix
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Aostadair
Height: 6 foot exactly
Weight: 175 lbs
OOC Name: Rott-i-kins
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Post by Alterix on Feb 5, 2014 3:40:41 GMT
He was prodding the fire with a long stick, occasionally holding the smoldering branch up to examine the glowing embers at the end. Once or twice he blew on it, watching the sparks flitter into the air. Obviously, fire was something that he was a little more than used to. In a world with no electricity, it was necessary to be comfortable with torches and candles. His shuffling with the branch may have looked like it was out of boredom, but in reality he was making sure he had something to stab into the face of a hungry animal if it decided to bother them.
Alterix turned to peer into the trees every time a branch fell or a leaf rustled, occasionally glancing up at the sky that was darkening and dotting itself with stars. The sky was confusing him. Since he did so much traveling, he was well acquainted with different constellations and important stars. It was part of his job to know which way he was heading and how to get where he was heading to. He had not been able to pick out anything familiar to him yet to help him gain his bearings or a sense of direction. It was troubling, and this continuing sense of just how lost he was making him feel worse and worse. Like usual, he stifled what was quickly becoming all out feeling of panic.
Alterix wondered if he would actually be able to get himself to sleep. Lost in the woods with two strangers was a bad position to be in for someone like him. It was bad for the others as well. Especially for Darwin, who didn’t even seem to know about grass. Or trees. Or mushrooms. Given, he didn’t know much about luminous fungus himself, but at least he had been able to identify them as a fungus.
Looking up at his companions, he caught Dulce shying away from the fire. His brows furrowed, but he said nothing. Turning to Darwin, he wondered why he even wore that scarf around his neck in the first place (it wasn’t particularly hot, and the fashion seemed rather womanly in his opinion) but decided against asking about it.
When Dulce stood he watched her gather the pine cones, quickly realizing what she was doing. He caught the ones she threw in his direction, raising one up.
“Pine nuts?” he asked.
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Darwin
Accepted Character
Posts: 8
Full Name: Darwin Bello
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Valspar
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 152lbs
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Post by Darwin on Feb 5, 2014 3:48:02 GMT
Darwin thought he had this one. Yeah. "That's like a baby tree, right?" It was kind of shaped like a tree kind of. It was brown, like a tree. Baby trees probably didn't have leaves on them yet. Darwin just continued to display his lack of knowledge of the natural world. He looked up into the sky and was fascinated with the sky. He hadn't seen stars in quite a while, and didn't expect to in a pollution zone. He didn't have his charts with him, seeing as he had only been at an air show, but he did have a small chart with him.
He pulled a small metal bar out of a pocket inside his jacket panel and separated it, though there didn't appear to be a seam. A transparent screen flickered on between the bars, and with invisible buttons on the side to change the tiny map from a street map to a starscape, and held it up to the sky. The program tried to adjust the map to the sky, but after several correction flashed an error message and started a new map. Or at least, it tried before it flickered out and died. Darwin tapped the thing a few times and frowned.
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Oppenheimer
Accepted Character
Wrench Wench
Posts: 19
Full Name: Dulce Annabella Oppenheimer
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Homeworld: Shadow's Wayne/Earth, 1998
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 139 lbs
OOC Name: Husher
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Post by Oppenheimer on Feb 6, 2014 4:45:14 GMT
Her shoulders rose with vexation as she looked back at Alterix. She bore an expression of spurning, furrowing her brows as she rolled her eyes. Of course she meant pine nuts, why even ask! What else were they to do with pine cones-- then it struck her. She stood up, crossing her arms as she faced them.
“No, we're going to use them to beat Darwin to death so we can feast on his flesh,” she stated, totally deadpan. Neither a grin or a grimace crept across her lips. “We need more meat in our systems. A little what they call ‘protein‘.”
She looked even more incredulous when Darwin asked if they were baby trees. Normally, she would think that was just a display of common smartassery, but there was this rare novelty about Darwin’s stupidity that told her he was being completely serious.
“I guess that’s sort of right. More like their pine tree… wombs.” She couldn’t help but correct him, but she was quick to resume snark mode. “But they make effective weapons as you will soon see...”
She hoisted a pine cone high above her and slung it in Darwin's direction. Obviously, she didn’t really intend to hit him (as she didn't really intend to eat him either), so landed with a powerful smack against the ground, zooming right over his shoulder and in front of him. The strike was still strong enough to feel; even the pointier end embedded into the dirt.
“Aw, I missed.” She slapped her hand against her knee and snapped. “Would you take care of that for me, Tin Man?”
She turned back around to gather more pine cones.
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Alterix
Accepted Character
Assassin
Posts: 10
Full Name: Alterix
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Aostadair
Height: 6 foot exactly
Weight: 175 lbs
OOC Name: Rott-i-kins
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Post by Alterix on Feb 7, 2014 0:18:16 GMT
Alterix was so busy trying to ignore the glowing thing that Darwin was tapping on he didn't bother to answer his question. He was seeing things. He was so hungry and confused he was seeing things. That was the only explanation. He would just ignore it until it went away because it would go away eventually.
Alterix blinked at Dulce once, expression unchanging. It was a joke and he recognized that, but he didn't smile or laugh. Instead, he tried to not think about how much she was reminding him of Amir. Standing slowly and carrying the glowing branch with him, he moved to fetch the pine cone that Dulce had thrown as well as several others. He began to arrange them all in a neat pile by the fire until he felt as though he had enough.
Tin Man. Okay. That was fine. He was used to nicknames.
Anything was better than 'Altie'.
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Darwin
Accepted Character
Posts: 8
Full Name: Darwin Bello
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Valspar
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 152lbs
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Post by Darwin on Feb 9, 2014 3:02:49 GMT
The jokes didn't bother Darwin, either. He had a healthy sense of humor and while he probably wouldn't be able to tell humor that dry from an actual suggestion, the outrageous idea that they would be eating any flesh was enough to make him laugh. It became only a small distraction from his dilemma, however, as he turned his attention back to his chart. Darwin, as single minded as he was, hardly noticed the tree womb whiz by as he checked his pants pockets. Oh yeah. His air show uniform. Without tools. That was unfortunate, he was certain he should have at least one in case something happened, but all he found was a tiny "vintage" screwdriver he kept in his jacket for his boots. Well, maybe he could work with that. It never hurt to try.
So Darwin did as Darwins tend to do and he became absorbed in tinkering with his newfangled yet somewhat old technology, using the small screwdriver to pry open the metal case along the invisible seam. The pine nut situation became completely ignored as he disassembled the components and laid them across his scarf. He wasn't sure if it would be healthy for the grass to touch the metals and plastics that were not at all found in nature. (Because shows and clothing definitely were.)
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Oppenheimer
Accepted Character
Wrench Wench
Posts: 19
Full Name: Dulce Annabella Oppenheimer
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Homeworld: Shadow's Wayne/Earth, 1998
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 139 lbs
OOC Name: Husher
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Post by Oppenheimer on Feb 10, 2014 1:26:55 GMT
She returned with a peck of pine cones in her shirt. She held the hem of her wife beater out like a makeshift bag to carry them in. Oppenheimer placed them around the fire in a circular shape, plucking the ones Alterix stacked and adding them to the circle. The campfire has a full circle of pine cones surrounding it now. If you had a few feathers, some herb sprigs, a goat jaw, and maybe a threesome, it would look like some neo-pagan orgy ritual.
Of course, they short of all these things so they just looked like a few lost wanderers clinging to any source of heat and food they can find.
Oppenheimer took a seat somewhere behind Alterix and Darwin, back turned from the flame. She didn’t feel comfortable exposing her back to two strangers, but she felt less comfortable with the fire’s light blazing in her eyes.
She could at least try and correct the former problem by making the strangers into… acquaintances? She didn’t have many friends (as in, at all), but she at least had acquaintances sometimes.
“So, what were you two doing before we got…” she rolled her eyes and sighed, raising her hands up in defeat. “Here?”
She anticipated that Alterix would say nothing and continue being mysterious and that Darwin would say he just got out from the rock he was hiding under his whole life.
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Alterix
Accepted Character
Assassin
Posts: 10
Full Name: Alterix
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Aostadair
Height: 6 foot exactly
Weight: 175 lbs
OOC Name: Rott-i-kins
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Post by Alterix on Feb 11, 2014 6:32:44 GMT
Continuing to ignore whatever it was that Darwin was doing, he busied himself with helping Dulce with the pine nuts. Every once in a while he would throw a glance in Darwin's direction, but he tried to not look for too long. If he looked for too long, he would panic. If he looked too long, he would have to accept the fact that the strange object Darwin was toying with was in fact real, and not just some figment of his imagination.
He was very good at denial.
Eventually, he sat down too. Alterix held his stick above the flames again, watching the end crumble away. He didn't immediately answer Dulce's question, his brows furrowing. What had he been doing? He had been in the woods. There had been snow, and he'd pitched a little tent. There hadn't been a fire though. He had been too afraid to light one. There had also been Alice whimpering on the ground and clutching her face. He'd been holding a stick, just like he was now, but it was long and thin and whistled through the air when he swung it. He'd gone to sleep listening to her whimpering and wincing as she held her face. Just before he had gotten here, he had been sleeping. Before that, he'd been...
Regret was not an emotion that Alterix was very used to experiencing. Then again, he wasn't really used to experiencing much in the way of emotion at all. But right now what he wanted more than ever was to apologize to Alice for hitting her, even if he had every right to hit her after what she had done. He swallowed, looking down at his lap instead of at the fire.
"Sleeping," he said.
He threw his stick into the fire to burn completely.
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Darwin
Accepted Character
Posts: 8
Full Name: Darwin Bello
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Valspar
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 152lbs
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Post by Darwin on Mar 9, 2014 8:50:25 GMT
Darwin made a stupid face as he focused on the map device in the low light. He'd never opened one of these before. Mostly because it wasn't something he used much in his normally light polluted home. Plus, he normally had a pretty good sense of direction.
"I was, ah," Well, there was the battery. "I had finished a show. And..." he tried to think back. He hadn't been on this nature reserve very long, but he had seen and experienced so many new things in the past few hours that the show was days ago in his mind. "I was waiting for the results. Yeah. I think I drifted off, so I guess I was sleeping, too."
As he removed the battery incorrectly, one of the internal components sparked and made a sharp metallic buzz. Well, it wasn't going to work now. Not without parts. Darwin gave a bit of a disappointed sigh and dumped the scrap metal into his pocket.
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Oppenheimer
Accepted Character
Wrench Wench
Posts: 19
Full Name: Dulce Annabella Oppenheimer
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Homeworld: Shadow's Wayne/Earth, 1998
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 139 lbs
OOC Name: Husher
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Post by Oppenheimer on Mar 14, 2014 21:44:22 GMT
◎◎◎◎◎◎◎ “We were all just sleeping, and then we ended up here..” she mumbled under her breathe. Alterix gave her an answer that she was more or less expecting. She honestly expected a little more silence (perhaps some crickets chirping in the background even), but he might as well had said nothing at all. Darwin was a little more conversational though. He said he had finished a show and she piqued up a little. Oppenheimer liked shows. Car shows, especially, but she liked all sorts. Magic shows, concerts, theatre, anything. She just never had the time or money to enjoy any of them nowadays. She was too busy putting on shows of her own. Unsanctioned prize-fighting was a perfectly valid form of entertainment, thank you very much.“A show? What kind of show?” She turning slightly to look at Darwin. Her brow rose as his complicated gizmo short-circuited or whatever it did. "What is that thing anyways?"
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Alterix
Accepted Character
Assassin
Posts: 10
Full Name: Alterix
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Aostadair
Height: 6 foot exactly
Weight: 175 lbs
OOC Name: Rott-i-kins
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Post by Alterix on Mar 15, 2014 18:35:59 GMT
Alterix's hand was fumbling through the pine needles on the ground, seizing a large size rock. His gaze never left the gizmo in Darwin's hands, the spark making him squeeze the stone tightly. If it had stayed in his sight for a few moments longer, he would've smashed the thing. Instead, it disappeared into Darwin's pocket. His grip relaxed on the stone. His hands returned to his lap. He made mental note of where it was beside him though.
Alterix didn't say anything and instead just listened to the conversation quietly again.
He was an expert at not saying a goddamn word.
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Darwin
Accepted Character
Posts: 8
Full Name: Darwin Bello
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Homeworld: Valspar
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 152lbs
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Post by Darwin on Mar 15, 2014 19:40:38 GMT
It might have been a mistake to ask Darwin about what he did for a living and his tinkering habits. His enthusiastic smile easily returned with the permission to share his passions.
"I build and fly planes for a living! Mostly I run a delivery service, but I compete in stunt shows a lot, too. And I'm not talking about your standard T49s, or even those high end, but honestly unattractive V90s either. I work to integrate those beautiful 12.70's era body styles with the cutting edge of today's technology." He almost forgot about the second question on the edge of going into a full blown two hour tangent. "Oh, that's just a star map. A little outdated, I know, but it's not really working right now anyway. The uh, battery isn't working anymore and I don't have my tools on my show uniform."
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Oppenheimer
Accepted Character
Wrench Wench
Posts: 19
Full Name: Dulce Annabella Oppenheimer
Species: Human
Gender: Female
Homeworld: Shadow's Wayne/Earth, 1998
Height: 5' 1"
Weight: 139 lbs
OOC Name: Husher
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Post by Oppenheimer on Mar 15, 2014 20:08:21 GMT
◎◎◎◎◎◎◎ Now, Oppenehimer was a mechanic herself, a car mechanic to be precise, but she worked on diesel too. She used to build cars with her brother, and she too even ran a few delivery services in the past, which, as you can probably guess, were likely illegal too. But when she heard him fling around words like T49 and 12.70 and V90s (what, like an engine with 90 goddamncylinders?), she blinked, and not just because the light of the flame was blaring in her eyes either. Maybe planes were different. Very different. She knew whenever she talked about her profession everyone stared at her in mild confusion. This must be how it felt like. “Really now.”But it was quite obvious now that he was also from a completely different world than her, so it didn’t really matter if it was plane lingo or… wherever-the-fuck-he-was-from lingo. That ‘star map’ made that quite clear. “Was it a competition?” she asked idly. Her voice was very stiff, to say the least, but at least she was trying to be friendly. Her attempts rarely worked, but maybe this time would be different. “If so, where’d you place in the show?”She’d talk about herself, but Darwin Bello had a lot more to say on the topic of Darwin Bello, and she’d include the Tin Man, but he didn’t seem like he had anything to say at all.
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