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 Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:35 am
 As much as Marleia loved all sorts of water, this was too much. Hurricanes were nothing to joke about, especially when one is temporarily separated from the rest of one's family. And she felt awful about it, too. Being the oldest of nine, Marleia felt she need to be there with them, to protect them. But the islands are small and plentiful, and she had been scouting out one of the more remote ones when the storm hit. The watery vixen doubted the existence of other foxes on this island.
Pulling herself out of these thoughts, her eyes scanned all parts of the island visible to her. The most interesting and helpful piece of geography on the tiny bit of land had to be the mountain, and hopefully with mountains came caves to shelter her from the storm. At the very least, higher ground is where she had to be. Marleia began her ascent up.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:37 pm
((I have no idea how the islands of Bateau are situated, so I'm guessing here >_>)) 'What a drag,' Shen thought, on his back staring up at the sky.
He'd had enough of the forest for awhile, and all the annoying females that seemed to find him there. That was when he'd wandered to the coast. He'd noticed an island, not too far out, and had hunted up a bit of wood to rest his front half over and swam to the island. It wasn't a very large one as these things went, only taking the rest of the day to explore. He notice another island in the distance from the first (part of a chain?) and the next morning used the same bit of wood and swam out for that.
This was the third island, and it had proved suitably bigger than the others. Since he'd had the wood to rest on the swims hadn't taken much out of him, though he felt a good stint of quiet relaxing was in order. He'd found a nice spot, near the base of the lone mountain on the isle (possibly a volcano?) nestled among some of the tropical greenery with a good view of the sky.
Then the wind changed, and Shen felt like someone up there really hated him. Contrary to what most who knew him thought, Shen knew quite a bit about the ocean. He'd grown up near the coast, and he'd reached this particular land by hiding away on a human ship. He'd gone through a few storms in his time, and this smell in the air and change in the wind hinted at something big.
Shen just laid in his spot, expression in it's natural default; slightly grumpy/bored/neutral. 'I swim all the way out here to relax, and now a hurricane's gonna hit,' he thought, still staring up at the beautiful blue of the sky. 'Maybe the Deities are running out of subtle ideas to ruin my relaxing.' Though if Cheyenne, Techno, and Stella counted as subtle, maybe he should be glad they were moving on to weather.
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:53 pm
Impossible. Marleia couldn't possibly be seeing another fox on this island, just as a storm is about to hit. And it was a stranger at that. Where had this fox come from, and what was he doing just sitting there? Just as she reached the bottom of the mountain, Marleia had spotted him through the foliage. And he simply wasn't doing anything. 'He must not know,' Marleia assumed, 'of the impending storm.' Making it her duty to inform him, and any other potential foxes on the island, she made her way over to him as quickly as possible.
"Excuse me, sir," she called out, just as she made it through the trees to him. "I'm afraid it's unsafe here. The winds and skies foretell of an impending hurricane. I'm heading to higher ground, up the mountain, and must insist that you join me, for your own safety."
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:24 am
Shen looked around and focused his gaze on the source of the female voice. His first impression; not good. The female's coat was a mixture of various blues, and there was something about the style of her tail and hair that seemed fluid. The fins on her front legs caused him to blink. That certainly wasn't something one saw everyday. So beautiful and exotic, a combination that always made him a bit wary.
His second impression was a little more charitable. She seemed young, a good time for snobbery, but had been polite. The 'insist' was a bit bossy, but she seemed to have his welfare in mind and since she didn't know that Shen was knowledgeable about the sea she probably thought he had no idea what was coming. Well he had kinda been standing there and all, but he figured there was enough time still to get to safety.
He sighed through his nose, rolling his head back to stare at the sky again. "The cloud formations during storms are interesting. I enjoy watching them." He looked back at the female. "You know where you're going? High ground won't do either of us much good if we're still exposed to the wind and rain."
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 1:24 am
Marleia examined the fox curiously. "So you knew there would be a storm and still didn't rush to find shelter?" She questioned. She herself was never one to take anything lightly, especially an impending storm. Glancing back at the swiftly moving and ever-darkening clouds, the vixen supposed she could see why the male was so calm. Technically they still had a bit of time before it hit the island. Regardless, Marlreia's first instinct is always to prepare for the worst.
"Well, I suppose I can't tell you what to do, since you seem well-informed," she said, turning back to the blue male. "To each his own." Marleia bowed her head quickly while her eyes began to travel up the side of the mountain. She was searching for something, anything that might indicate some form of shelter.
At the fox's question, shook her head but didn't turn her eyes toward him. "I've never actually been to this particular island before," she answered. "But I am heading up the mountain in the hopes that I will find a cave for shelter." She finally turned away from the mountain, giving up her search from the ground. "I can't tell from here..." she muttered to herself.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:35 pm
Shen yawned and stood up, stretching lazily and following after the vixen at a somewhat slow place, keeping a bit of distance between them.
"You sure it's such a good idea to climb high," he asked, tilting back his head to start at the mountain above. "Wet, slippery rocks, high wind, flying debris. You'd be taking a risk hoping there's a cave or crack in the rocks to take shelter in."
Shen shrugged. "You probably know more about the storms in this area than I do. I'd look for something more at ground level that's more secure, and leave an escape route for higher ground only if we really need to take it." He turned silver eyes on the vixen. "How likely is it to flood here, and how high?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:58 pm
Marleia nodded understandingly at the points the other fox made. He wasn't wrong, but there was still too much left to chance in any scenario. "I can't say I"m sure about this particular island - it's only my first time here - but I'd say there's a fair chance of flooding. It won't be so much as to overwhelm the entire mountain, but this certainly is one of the smaller islands in this archipelago. Any smaller and the islands tend to be consumed entirely by the waves, but those also don't have the advantage of this mountain.
"As for the risk we'v be taking on a cave entrance up there, I believe you're right." Marleia paused for a moment, looking back over at the approaching storm clouds. "Perhaps if we simply stick to the base of the mountain for now and search for an entrance down here first, then slowly make our way up the mountain as the storm moves closer and closer..." They didn't really have too much time to spare, but Marleia's ability to gauge time had always been a little skewed; her internal clock seemed to run a bit fast.
Shaking her head of her thoughts, she turned to Shen to see his reaction and hear his thoughts on the suggestion. Though certainly not a member of the Bateau Tribe, he seemed knowledgeable enough and Marleia would gladly take his opinions into account.
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 10:24 pm
Shen scraped at the soil. There wasn't an easy answer available too him. Too many scenarios, not enough information.
"If you're certain this island will badly flood, higher ground is our best bet." He looked over at the ocean. "Volcanic rock usually doesn't have extensive cave networks, which we'd need to avoid or the ocean would sweep us away when the water receed."
He shrugged and looked at the vixen. "At the very least if we can't find a cave or deep depression, we can shelter on the lee side of the mountain." He waited to hear her opinion.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:21 pm
Marleia knew they couldn't keep tossing ideas around it at each other forever; it was high time they took action. Thankfully, Shen's last suggestion was a good one, so she nodded her consent. "Right, certainly the best plan for now. We should head out now then and just hope for the best."
She paused for a moment to stare at the storm again. It was impossible to accurately gauge the time left before the storm hit, but to Marleia simply knowing that it was approaching was enough to worry her. After a few too many moments of staring, despite the potential danger, storms from a distance were somehow beautiful, the vixen turned her attention back to the path ahead, charting out the best route along the mountain side. "Right," she repeated, sending a quick glance back at her companion. As a member of Bateau, she would feel responsible for this visitor's well-being. "Shall we go, then?"
Without waiting too long for a response, she began on the path she had already planned out in her head.
[So do you want to roll to see if they find somewhere to hide/where they find to hide or something? XP]
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jinxgirl5 generated a random number between
1 and 5 ...
2!
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:05 am
((Sure :3 I'll do an RNG))
((1. They find nothing and have to shelter on the lee side of the volcano.))
((2. Same as 1, but the storm hits before they make it to the lee side so the going is more dangerous.))
((3. They find a shallow cave, about 4'x4'x4'))
((4. Same as 3, but it's open to the storm. They debate whether to use the cave or whether to travel to the lee side of the mountain and hope for shelter there.))
((5. They stumble upon a tunnel that actually leads into the volcano. The cave is large enough to be comfortable and sheltered, but there's potential for a cave-in if the storm gets too rough.))
Shen followed after the vixen. He'd actually had time to collect himself from a nap state to get ready to move while she watched the storm for that brief moment. Even though he moved at a steady pace equal to the vixen's, the way he slouched, yawned, and looked bored despite everything made him seem a lot lazier and slower than he actually was.
"So on the off-chance we made the wrong choice and this kills us, my name's Shen," he tossed out in an off-hand way. Well if the storm did kill them, it wouldn't really matter if the vixen knew his name or not now did it? But it was one of those polite things to do, so he figured he may as well keep up a good habit, impending doom or not.
About twenty minutes later it looking like impending doom had been a proper choice of words.
The pair had gone for the lee side of the mountain first, since that would be the best place to find a shelter and if there wasn't one then they'd already be on the proper side of the mountain. The intention was a good one, but the storm was moving a little faster than both of them had originally thought. And since they'd started on out on the side of the mountain facing the storm, they were only halfway to the lee side when the hurricane winds hit with full force.
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DemonBoyWonderr generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:21 am
[Okay, obstacles in the form of RNG options~ 1. Their only obstacle is the hurricane itself; 2. A ton of debris in the form of trees, boulders, etc. blocks their path and they have to climb over/around/through all of it; 3. Mudslide]
Under any other circumstance, and had Shen been one of her many siblings, Marleia probably would have reprimanded him for sounding so pessimistic. But she knew he was right, and more than anything else it wasn't her job to teach other foxes right from wrong. Instead, she simply responded with, "My name is Marleia, and at this point, Shen, I doubt there really was a right or wrong choice to make. We shall pull through regardless."
The rest of the way was silent; the rains began, the wind picked up and soon the hurricane was upon them. It was all Marleia could do to continue to tread the uneven path without being blown completely away. The convenient path they took around the base of the mountain was growing less and less convenient. The ground was slick with mud and often littered with fallen trees that had only moments ago succumbed to the power of the hurricane's strong winds.
They had been racing against the storm and they lost. The hurricane already covered the majority of the island and was currently affecting it where ever they stepped. Marleia, having led the way thus far, stopped suddenly. The road had been treacherous before, but it was much worse now. An endless field of debris from the storm lay before them; trees and boulders lay on top of or beside each other. Even worse, occasional shifting continued to occur at the request of the ever-stronger winds.
Marleia's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. "Is there any way around this?" She asked Shen over the sound of the raging winds, hoping beyond hope that he could see something she was missing. But there was no time to continue staring for too much longer.
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jinxgirl5 generated a random number between
1 and 5 ...
4!
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:24 am
((1. They find a way to safely climb over the block.))
((2. No way around, they have to either climb up or down before they can continue to the lee side.))
((3. They find a way through the wreckage, but there's the chance it could shift as they wiggle through it and crush them.))
((4. Something shifts, tipping the wreckage and clearing the path.))
((5. Same as 4, but the path under Shen and Marleia also disintegrates and they have to fight to keep from tumbling down the mountain.))
Shen thought about making a comment, how he always liked to look at all options and keep them open, and that sometimes expecting the worst to happen usually meant it didn't happen. But it seemed sorta.....pointless. Wouldn't change the situation, would probably piss off Marleia.
Ye deities, was he actually learning to think before speaking now? Better just chalk it up to being lazy and avoiding a troublesome argument, that sounded less scary and more him.
They hadn't even gotten to the halfway point when the wind blasted them. Shen took the brunt of it since he was behind Marleia. Despite his maintaining that women were troublesome and the whole lazy, don't-give-a-whoop attitude and the fact that the path really, really sucked, Shen deliberately kept angling himself so he was directly behind Marleia, blocking as much wind as he could so she was in a slipstream.
Hey, just cause he was lazy and kinda annoying didn't mean he wasn't a good guy with protective qualities.
Just when he thought they were finally getting somewhere, Marleia stopped; he almost ran into her. Shen mentally cursed when he saw the blockage. Great, what now?
He stepped closer, trying to get a better look at the rubble in the bad lighting, and stumbled, falling against one of the rocks. Immediately the pile began to groan in a dangerous way, shifting. Shen quickly jumped back, trying to get him and Marleia away without pushing them off the mountain.
There was a horrible, metallic screeching sound, and suddenly part of the path gave way. Rocks, mud, and a few dead trees tumbled down the mountain, their noise loud even in the roar of the storm. Shen stood there for a moment, rooted to the spot in shock even though his face still seemed calm and a bit bored, then look at Marleia.
"I....guess we go forward?"
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DemonBoyWonderr generated a random number between
1 and 4 ...
3!
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:21 am
[1. They finally reach the other side and I suppose it's relatively safer. 2. They finally reach the other side but it's not safe because... mudslide. 3. They reach the other side and then they find a cave for shelter. 4. For some reason or another, they do not yet reach the other side.]
Startled, Marleia turned to help Shen when she saw him fall against a rock, but there was no time. Thankfully, he was well enough and even saved her from being crushed by the swiftly shifting rocks. Suddenly the path was clear again. Was it just her, or was that very convenient? Oh well, a chance at survival was one they had to take the moment it came to them. She glanced back at Shen, who was at the time looking her way as well. "Thank you," she said, "and yes, now while it's still clear."
Marleia took off, leading the way again. The watery vixen noticed the wind seem to weaken compared to when she was just standing beside Shen. It could have been timing, or just random placement, but perhaps her companion was sparing her the full force of the winds on purpose. She didn't have much time to think about this now, though. They were finally nearing the other side of the mountain, where they would both be a little sheltered from the winds...
Finally! The force of the storm was considerably weaker here. Not only that, but could she see... the entrance to a cave? Marleia sighed in relief and glanced behind her at Shen, a slight smile on her face. "Well, we made it here in one piece," she said, all the while still walking. "And up there is a cave that should provide enough shelter until the storm passes. Should we take it, or... what other options do we have now that we're here?"
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jinxgirl5 generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:41 pm
((1. The cave it perfectly habitable and will make a good shelter from the storm.))
((2. Same as 1, but looks like something beat them to the shelter...))
((3. SURPRISE! Er, bad or good, you get the decide XP ))
Shen gave Marleia a suffering look that, under less hectic circumstances, could have been called adorable. Or annoying. It was something of a talent of his, turning stuff that could be called adorable into something annoying. Best part, he didn't really even have to work at it...
"Let's get over there and look in first. Wind's not so bad here, but, and I don't know about you, I myself would certainly like to get out of the wet if at all possible."
Shen glanced towards the cave entrance as they continued inching along the path. It was still dark, with no way to see inside and know what kind of shelter, if any, it would be.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:20 pm
Marleia was inwardly amused by the look she received from her companion, but said nothing of it. It was her own fault, she was normally so decisive, but now couldn't help doubting herself. A lot was at stake here, not just her own safety, but Shen's as well. And Marleia knew she would feel responsible should something bad happen.
She nodded then, and led the way up to the cave. It didn't take too long to reach, and she stopped just inside the mouth of the cave, safe from the wet that Shen had been trying to avoid. "Well, there's really no chance of safely going deeper into the cave," she observed, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness, to no avail. It did seem to stretch on though. Marleia went on to examine the parts of the cave she could see. It certainly seemed sturdy enough, and they were nice and safe for the time being. She would be perfectly content just sitting down where she was now and waiting out the rest of the storm.
So she did, sit down, that is. With danger at her heels, Marleia had forgotten how tired and hungry she was, and now that she was under a shelter it all hit her at once. Inwardly it was killing her to know that it was affecting her this much, even given the circumstances. She didn't want to seem so weak.
Marleia glanced up at Shen, as if remembering he was there for a second. "I apologize," she said. "I need a bit of a... rest." And was that so wrong? To take advantage of this reprieve from the storm? No, Marleia supposed not. She had to remind herself sometimes that she was only a normal vixen.
[Couple posts of rest before things pick up again?]
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