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 Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:43 pm
Island of Moreau ((GM note: none of the wounds incurred (namely Jamal's at this point) will become infected. Are you just lucky? Who knows twisted ))
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 4:57 pm
Antoinette Devereux It was late morning by the time Antony finally stirred, having slept pretty damn well considering. Much better than the night before at the very least. Somehow, she had shifted so that she was using Jamal's chest as a make shift pillow. Not that she'd realize this until she woke up fully. For now, her eyes stayed closed, and Antony willed herself back to sleep. Or tried to anyways. Her actions failed, and she was left half awake and half asleep. Jamal_Reedy Jamal hadn't moved much during the night, but then again, he generally never did once he was out. He was still fully sleeping, as her stirring wasn't severe enough to bring him around. He'd slept fairly well, considering the pain in his ankle...which was now a vivid mesh of blue and black, but the swelling had gone down. Antoinette Devereux Antony really didn't want to get up, but the sun in her eyes demanded otherwise. After rolling over and away from the blasted sun, she sat up and immediately looked to the fire, which was still burning though needed more wood. She made a mental note to gather more today as well. Then her eyes went to the 'fridge' and she was happy that everything was how she left it. At the mere thought of food, her stomach rumbled painfully, and she cringed openly. They should really try a hand at fishing or... something today. Protein was needed, badly. Jamal_Reedy Jamal made a noise...a mix between a grunt and a sigh...and peeled one eye open a little. He was about to ask what time it was, but realized there was no way to tell. Instead, he grumped and rolled onto his stomach, burying his head in his arms. Antoinette Devereux Her eyes moved over to Jamal when he grunted, chuckling softly as he rolled over. She herself took her glasses off, setting them aside so that she could rub the sleep from her eyes before replacing them back on her head. They definately needed more food, and she wasn't about to go hunting after wild animals with naught but a knife from the bar and no experience whatsoever. Maybe they could set some sort of snare trap? Or they could dig a hole and cover it up with leaves and stuff? Jamal_Reedy Jamal would certainly be ueless in the matters of hunting unless he had a gun...but he could dig a hole if necessary. He wouldn't like it, but he'd do it just so he didn't come off as being lazy and unproductive. What else was there to do anyway? "All our s**t still there?" came a grumbled query from against the palm fronds. Antoinette Devereux "Yep, thankfully," she replied, eyes moving to appraise his ankle momentarily. "At least your ankle looks a bit better..." Antony stood, stretching before collecting her discarded clothing. Namely her bra and pants, which she shrugged on easily before she went in search of her foot wear. "We need to find a way to get meat since it doesn't seem like the power is coming back to the village." Jamal_Reedy "Dat requires me ta get up, don't it," came another muffled inquiry before he lifted his head and blinked against the harsh sunlight that greeted him. Hands moved to brush stray grains of sand from his face as he clumsily turned into a sitting position. "How you figger we gonna get some meat? I ain't got no weapons on me...they made sure o' dat when I first got here." Antoinette Devereux "You don't need weapons for a trap though..." She smiled, the more she thought about the trap idea, the more her mind began to put plans together. Pulling a few ideas from both movies and her own hunting experiences, Antony began tweaking them to fit their cause. This may just work. "Have you ever seen Hidalgo?" Pausing, Antony thought for a moment before nodding, "They set traps in it where they dig holes and put a bunch of spears facing upwards in it. We don't have spears, but I'm sure we can fashion sharp sticks or something... Then cover the hole with vegetation so you can't see the hole. Maybe even bait it..." She trailed off, mind whirling over the possibilities. It was the same look she had when she got some hairbrained idea for a tattoo, or one of her mechanic projects. Jamal_Reedy "Hm..." was the only answer he gave at first, staring blankly off into the horizon as he mulled over the idea. s**t, that stuff did work in the movies, but this wasn't a movie, unless someone was -really- good with their special effects. Eventually he got to his feet, hesitantly putting weight on his battered ankle, and was visible relieved when he could walk on it with a slight limp that didn't hurt too bad. He went to retrieve his jeans, which he held at an arm's length away. "Well, if you think it gonna work, I guess we betta try...I'm ********' starvin' for some meat...fruit ain't gonna hold me ova' til' they figger out what da hell is goin' on wit' the duplexes 'n' whateva," he said before trudging towards the ocean to wash his jeans. Antoinette Devereux "Well, we have a shovel and a knife," she murmured, half speaking to herself in thought. It was, in her opinion, quite a good idea, and it didn't involve her running after a wild animal with naught but a knife. Boots on and laced, Antony gave an irritable look towards the jungle before making her way towards it, scooping up the knife on the way there, "I'll be back in a bit." She could have sworn she saw some bamboo earlier, maybe there was some growing around here as well. It didn't take her long before she was in the thick of the forest and unable to see the beach anymore. Making sure to go relatively straight as to not get lost, Antony kept her eyes out for fruit as well. She easily identified a few coconut trees, as well as a few other plants bearing the types of fruit that Anjali had collected several days ago. This was good. After a bit of wandering, she found a rather large amount of bamboo, ranging in sizes. Maybe some of these could be used for more than just a trap. Now came the physical labor. Stooping down on her knees, Antony took out the knife and began to chop. It was slow work, but she didn't mind. The work soothed her to a degree, and soon she was humming happily to herself, despite her stomach's rumblings. She remembered that bamboo shoots were edible as well, and while she was down on her knees hacking down stalks of bamboo, Antony made sure to gather any shoots that she found. Soon she had a rather decent pile of both on either side of her. Standing back up, her eyes went upwards until she spied some low hanging vines. Perfect. These were soon cut free and yanked down. With the 'rope,' she tied up the bamboo stalks she had cut down, wrapping the leftover vine around the bundle and tying that off as well. As for the bamboo shoots, Antony bent down and hacked off the end of a rather thick bamboo stalk at the joint so that she now had a cylinder open at one end. The shoots she had collected were stuffed in there, and without thinking twice of where to carry them, the 'container' was shoved between the girls. Hefting the bamboo over her shoulder so that it was parallel to the ground and perpendicular to herself, Antony made her way back to the beach. Who knows how long it had taken, but when she finally emerged from the jungle, Antony was covered in sweat. Part one of the mission accomplished. Jamal_Reedy While she was away, he went into the ocean to try and scrub the birdshit from his jeans using sand, just like they had used last night. Privately he bitched to himself that they were now ruined; so much for having nice clothes. Not like it mattered much, since they were going to get ruined one way or another with the way things were going. Once this was done, he went to the first to add some more fuel to it (most of the palm leaves they had used for a bed went in), then stood there with his jeans held out to attempt to try them somewhat. He didn't know that she had gone off to hack bamboo, so when she returned with her arms full, he gave her look of mild annoyance. "Ya coulda told me ya were gonna go do dat," he said, testing the dampness of his jeans briefly with a hand. "I woulda helped some. Not dat you 'pparently needed it..." Antoinette Devereux "You can help me now," she replied, giving him a crooked smile, "I also saw some more coconut trees back there, but you can't climb those with your ankle." Not that Antony knew how to climb them either, but she was sure as hell going to learn fast. Hefting the bundle down onto the sand away from the fire, Antony ignored the minor cuts that she had gotten from the bamboo's leaves. Her shoulder and arms would deal. "Okay," she began, handing him the knife, "Do you think you could cut the smaller ones into sharp points? Like cut at a sharp angle. Maybe around a foot long? Scratch that, make it two feet so we can bury half of it." Antony was sure he could handle that, and after pulling out the makeshift container from between the girls, Antony deposited it by the 'fridge' before heading back towards the jungle. Before leaving, she took one of the vine ropes she used to carry the bamboo with her. Just in case. Jamal_Reedy He tugged the jeans on, figuring that they would dry well enough on his body while he sat and cut bamboo spikes by the fire. "A'ight," he answered taking the knife and inspecting the edge on it with pursed lips of disapproval. The edge on this thing wasn't going to last long... He pulled over one of the remaining palm fronds and took a seat, trying not to send sand all over, then grabbed a piece of bamboo to test out his 'technique'. Antoinette Devereux Antony made a bee line for the the coconut trees she saw, and once she reached them, she frowned up at them. Now how was she supposed to do this again? Firstly, she tried giving the trunk a couple of good health kicks, fleeing the vacinity after each as to not be in the way of any falling coconuts. The sound of an object crashing down to the jungle floor made her smile. Maybe she wouldn't have to climb the ******** afterall. Several more kicks and dodgings later, Antony still only had one coconut. Well ******** how the hell was she supposed to climb up a near vertical tree? Trial and error. Wrapping her arms around the trunk experimentally, Antony attempted to grapple with her feet and shimmy her way up. She barely gained her footing after falling from that ******** tree," she muttered, eyes narrowing at it. Pacing around it and occassionally attempting to climb it without success, Antony finally cocked her head to the side and blinked, suddenly feeling really stupid. Grabbing the vine, Antony folded it until it was wrapped around both her wrists, with the tree between her and the vine. Never say that watching the Logger competitions on ESPN 2 is a waste of time. Cackling at the thought as she worked her way up the tree, Antony was pleased once she was at the top. Reaching up, she grabbed onto a frond, testing it with her weight before pulling herself up to stand on it. Ha HA! Victory was hers! By twisting the coconuts, the tattooed woman had eventually stripped the tree of all its nuts. That's what it got for pissing off Antony. Now she just had to get down... Jamal_Reedy Cutting the bamboo proved to be more difficult than he had originally anticipated. The thicker outer part of the bamboo deflected the knife easily, so only after cutting a decent sized notch out of the side was he able to find purchase to get the knife in and then start stripping off sections. The first few were pretty ratty and beat up...the tips not super-sharp, but sharp enough to cause substancial damage if something fell on top of it...but they progressively got better. In any case, it took time and required a bit of muscle, which Jamal had plenty of. Antoinette Devereux Antony continued to peer down at the ground from her vantage, looking very much like a cat stuck up a tree. A cat who couldn't, despite it's retractable claws and ability to climb UP the tree, find a way down in which they were comfortable with. After a substantial amount of time, she finally managed to climb down from the fronds, wrapping the vines back around her wrists and the tree. Her boots were on either side of the tree, supporting her as she started to cautiously slide down the tree. Problem was, as she slid, the vines began to wear away, and eventually, halfway down they snapped. The tattooed woman flailed and screamed, and after losing a decent grip with her boots, began to fall. Her arms instinctively went to wrap around the trunk, and luckily she was able to grab it. With that death grip, she managed to slow herself down enough so that it was safe to jump down from the height she was at. Grunting as she landed with a resounding crash, legs giving out under her and causing her to go flying onto her rear. Right on a coconut. "Oh MY ******** GODS!" She cried out in a sort of half wail, half grunt. Pain shot up her spine and both her arms and chest burned something fierce. After the pain in her a** diluted somewhat, Antony opened her eyes to peer down at her arms. They were bleeding, and she could guess that the exposed skin on her chest was as well. Gritting her teeth at the pain, she willed it to go away, and when that didn't work, she tried to focus on something else. Like... All the coconuts she had knocked down. While she was still sitting, the woman gathered up as many coconuts as she could fit in her arms and stood with the help of the bloody (literally) tree trunk. Her arms throbbed, burning with whatever nastiness that was on the outsides of the coconuts. Pushing the pain from her mind, Antony set her thoughts on making it back to camp. Back where there wasn't any ******** coconut trees. Well, at least THAT tree no longer had any nuts. Antony huffed irritably with each step, cursing something colorful all the way back to 'camp,' which was a sight for sore eyes the moment her boots met sand and she saw Jamal. The coconuts were dumped onto the ground, and Antony's attention immediately went to her arms, which she could only stare at pitifully. Her tattoos~! Jamal_Reedy Jamal paused in mid-swipe, hearing what he thought was a scream, hand poised above the half-carved bamboo as he tried to decide if it was Antony or just some random animal shriek. When he didn't hear it again, he decided he was just hearing things and continued on. That is, until Antony finally came stomping back, swearing enough to where Jamal actually looked up in bewilderment, and was greeted with the sight of blood and arms full of coconuts. "Aw s**t," he said carelessly as he dropped the bamboo he was holding as well as the knife, getting up to cross over to peer at the damage. "What da ******** you do ta get them things?" He sucked in a breath as he saw the extensive scrapes and saw blood bead and trickle down her chest and arms. Those would have to be washed...they looked ragged and somewhat dirty. Antoinette Devereux Shaken out of her trance by Jamal's voice, Antony frowned and tried to think of a good way to word it. "I... Uh..." She trailed off, still trying to think of something better than 'I fell out of a tree.' "Well," she began, "I apparently suck at climbing down trees." Yeah, that sounded a little bit better to her pride. Her thoughts mirrored his once she snapped out of her tattoo woes, her eyes looking towards the alcohol and then over to the ocean. "I'm going to wash these off in the ocean... Um, can you take off my shirt for me?" Sending him a hopeful look, she sighed softly to herself. The last thing she wanted was an even more blood stained shirt. Jamal_Reedy Normally an invitation in taking a woman's shirt off would have him on that task immediately, but the circumstances were way different and he sympathized with her injuries. Damn...that tree definately won the battle...maybe not the war, but... "Hold yo' arms up so I kin do this as quick and painless as I possibly kin," he said as he moved to assist her in shirt-removal, trying his best to not bother her cuts. Antoinette Devereux Antony winced as she lifted her arms over her head, "Just stretch it a bit so that it doesn't drag on the cuts." To her, that would be the best way to do such a thing. Better than ripping it off of her like a bandaid. The moment the shirt was off, Antony would be on her way to the ocean surf. Jamal_Reedy Jamal did as ordered, slipping it over her head with relative ease, then held it out in front of him to inspect the damage. "s**t, our clothes ain't gonna last long at dis rate, ya know..." Antoinette Devereux "No s**t," she called back at him from her way down to the surf. Her pants, shoes, boots, and socks came off in quick succession, and soon Antony was in the ********!" She cursed under her breath, gritting her teeth as her arms and chest positively burned. Once it dulled however, Antony began to carefully wipe her hands over wounds, to gently scrub away any dirt and whatnot that was stuck in it. Oh gods it hurt, but she would not allow herself to cry and instead continued cursing till she was finished. Out of the water, she made her way back to the fire, carrying her discarded clothing out in front of her so they wouldn't rub on her wounds. Tossing them down on the sand, Antony moved to sit down on a palm frond, motioning him to grab some alcohol, "Now this s**t is going to hurt." Jamal_Reedy Jamal shook her shirt, trying to get sand and plant matter off it before tossing it over his shoulder, and nudged his bamboo spears into a more uniform pile. He then stoked the fire with most of the remaining palm fronts and some driftwood. As she came back and motioned to grab some alcohol, he did, not really looking at the label as it was a clear liquor; definately not Captain. If he could help it, he wanted to save it. He grimaced somewhat at the sight of the fresh cuts. Oh damn, those were going to sting tomorrow... Antoinette Devereux The cuts weren't as bad as she had previously thought, since the blood and dirt was cleaned off now, the damage, though definately still there, didn't look so bad. Antony was pleased at this, but at the sight of the up and coming alcohol, her spirit lowered and she automatically gritted her teeth. "Let's do this," she hissed through her teeth, eyes watching the bottle intently. Jamal_Reedy Jamal looked a little unsure about this. If it really hurt as much as she made it sound...he moved his free hand down to his crotch JUST in case. C_C; "A'ight," he said, steadying his hand with the mouth of the bottle just above where the cuts started on her chest. When he was certain she was 'set', he tilted it just enough so a thin stream coursed down from it onto her skin, then moved it slightly across from one side to the other until all the scraps there had been covered at one point or another. Antoinette Devereux Antony didn't even notice his protective motion, eyes focused entirely on the alcohol. A mix between a hiss and a growl came from her lips as the alcohol hit the fresh cuts. She probably would have kicked Jamal if she hadn't understood that this was what she had to go through for the wounds to be sterilized. Her chest heaved somewhat as he finished, and she said nothing until her breathing returned to normal and the stinging stopped entirely. "s**t... Thanks." Now to get started on that trap. "How good are you at digging?" she asked, eyebrow raising as she brought her knees up to prop her arms up on. She wasn't really looking foreward to bending them at all. Jamal_Reedy "Sorry," he said apologetically as he capped the bottle and set it in the sand, privately mourning the spilt alcohol. It was for the greater good...yes, that's it. At the question of digging, he smirked. "Ain't dat hard...plus I ain't gotta use my ankle fo' dat."
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:03 pm
 Awen Zyn Awen took a deep breath standing at the edge of the trees. She didn't want to do this, she didn't want to be here. Everything in her body, phobia, anger, hurt, it all just wanted her to turn away and go back to camp. She could make an excuse, they didn't share the knowledge, they turned her away. Something like that would probably work.
But she knew that she couldn't do that. The fate of the group's health depended upon her in part. They could surive without fruit and veggies.. but it wasn't a good idea. She knew she had to face Jamal and Antony sometime anyway. Why not now, while she had a reason.
Stepping through the treeline and onto the soft sand she started forward seeing two figures by their fire. She frowned a little bit seeing what she did. Antony was...was... And Jamal..? She shook her head a little bit as she noticed the cuts over Antony. Right. She was hurt... they were..uh..taking care of things..right? It still didn't put her in a good mood as she approched.
"Hey there." Antoinette Devereux Awen may have been put into a bad mood, but Antony, thanks to that damn coconut tree, was already in a bad mood. And the greeting of whoever it was caused her to look up, a distinctly disgruntled look on her features. If it was Godzilla so help her... But it wasn't, but who it turned out to be wasn't much better. Awen, oh great. Just what Antony needed, love drama. "Yes?" She said curtly, not moving to put clothing on due to her injuries. If Awen was uncomfortable around girls in their underwear then tough cookies. Thankfully, the fire was doing a good job of drying her off. She'd be able to put her pants on soon. What little fruit that they had, aside from the bloodied coconuts, were in their 'fridge' and weren't visible. Jamal_Reedy Jamal glanced up as he saw Awen approaching and mentally ran through every curse word and phrase imaginable, a hand moving to rub at his chin uneasily. Cue awkwardness right.....now. "Uh," he said articulately at first, trying to decide if he was just going to play this off as nothing, which it was, and hope that Awen would not freak out or get obnoxiouss....or should he try to explain? He decided to just not anything about it. Antony didn't seem to care...and really, he didn't either. He was -not- going to let this little encounter make him mad. "How goes da group at da river?" he inquired innocently, handing Antony back her shirt now that she was drying off. Awen Zyn Antony she hadn't expected anything from. But Jamal... Maybe even just a 'hi Awen' would have been nice. Instead of ignoring her for her completely? But she was on a mission for her group, she wouldn't get into it. Even if seeing the two made her heart twist.
"Well.... not too good actually. A few injuries..." She frowned. "As I guess you guys can sympathise with." She bit her lip a little bit. She didn't want to ask things of them... but oh well. "Joliette said you guys had fruit... we were just wondering if you could tell us where to find some. We're not looking to mooch off of yours, we just...wanna know where to find some. We... kinda need some ediable greens..." Antoinette Devereux Antony attempted to take her shirt with one of her fingers so she didn't have to bend her arm. This ended up making her look quite weird, but she could care less. Her arms HURT goddamnit and she was going to do whatever she could to keep them from hurting more. Hearing Jamal's casual question, Antony raised a brow. Group at the river? But she didn't have time to think over it when Awen started talking, eyebrow raising and eyes darkening at the mention of Joli's name. And that was Awen's first mistake, mentioning Godzilla's name. Like hell she was going to help that girl, and if that meant Awen wasn't going to get her 'greens,' then so be it. But she also didn't want to piss off Jamal, so she told the truth in a relatively 'nice' way. "The botanist found the fruit," she said bluntly, "Somewhere in the jungle." Jamal_Reedy "Oh..." He crossed his arms loosely over his chest...he didn't know what he expected her to ask, but it wasn't anything about fruit. "I ain't got no idea where she found it..it was all herr when I got herr da otha' night," he answered, stating the truth whether Awen believed him or not. He hadn't been in the jungle since he hobbled out after leaving her back with Joli. Awen Zyn Awen nodded, a little bit disappointed to be sure. She looked over the camp that they had and figured it was a bit better than their own. Joliette would just have to find the fruit herself. She was trying to just keep this about survival...but she couldn't just be cold.
"How's your leg doing Jamal?" She asked softly. "And Antony, you're going to be okay too right?" She was genuienly concerned for them too, even if they had hurt her she didn't want them to be too injured or die out here... Antoinette Devereux She would let Jamal answer about his own leg, so that she didn't sound like his mother or anything. Besides, he had to deal with his drama. "We'll see... Hopefully won't get infected. Already washed it and sterilized it with alcohol," she sighed and put her shirt back on daintily. It was a slow process, but she managed not to touch her wounds with her shirt. The shirt would have to be washed later. Antony then stood up to grab her pants, putting them on as best as she could without bending her arms too much. Gritting her teeth to offset the pain, she smiled lightly when the pants were on. Like a proud little kid who had just learned to tie their shoes. "So how are you all doing if you don't have fruit?" She asked, genuinely curious. If they couldn't find fruit then they had to be not so well off. Not that she cared if Godzilla starved to death or anything. Jamal_Reedy "It's gettin' better," he commented as he lifted the leg of his jeans up to show off the ugly mosaic of blue and black that modeled the area around his ankle, down the heel, and under the arch. "I kin' walk on it a'ight but it's still sore." He put on an expression of nonchalance as if it were nothing to worry about. Antony's question did make him also wonder how they were surviving at camp. What exactly were they eating then, if they didn't have fruit? Leaves? Fish? Awen Zyn "Well, you two should be fine." She smiled encouragingly to them both. They did seem like they were doing alright. She shouldn't worry at all. She was taken a bit aback by the question Antony had asked. She wondered what she was going to say. They had agreed that Awen wouldn't talk about the boar so...
"Chubbs caught some fish." Awen smiled brightly. "He's quite the handy man ya know? Made a fishing rod from scratch and everything." She was quite happy about that success, even if it wasn't hers. Antoinette Devereux Antony nodded, frowning somewhat at the 'fishing line from scratch' phrase, "What did he used to make it, if I may ask?" There wasn't any fishing line anywhere, and no string from clothing would have been able to reel in a fish. What was it with everyone else and magically appearing objects? He and Godzilla must be in cahoots or something. "So just a fish over..." She trailed off to count mentally, "Two...Three days?" This was starting to get fishy, bad pun and all. Jamal_Reedy Jamal sort of cocked a brow at the mention of fish-catching and the construction of a fishing pole. How the ******** did everyone else seem to have access to stuff like that while he and Antony were doing it the old fashioned, pain in the a** way.... "Well, good," he said lamely, scooping down to snag the bottle of liquor from the sand and walked over to put it with the rest so it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle or be broke open on accident. He had to really resist the urge to take a swig of it. Fish for several days straight didn't sound appetizing...but...if that was all there was to eat, then it seemed reasonable to him that that's what they'd ate. He had no reason to guess she was holding out on them. Awen Zyn "I don't know I didn't make it. Chubbs had a strong stick and the cord from his pants probably 'cause that was missing." She shrugged. "And 'some' is the word, not a."
She felt herself starting to get edgy with this girl. It was really stupid the way she was trying to challenge their survival methods like this. She wasn't the one with a camp member bleeding from the head because they were attacked by a bloody huge pig. Not that she would mention that but still.
"Well I should get back. I hope you all enjoy your booze and your hidden fruit places." She smiled and kept he tone civil but she was getting a little bit bitter at them, and all the older scars were surfacing again. She didn't want this to get out so she turned on her heel and headed back to her own camp. Antoinette Devereux Whatever, Antony wasn't going to fight with her about the fish. It was just strange that she'd be looking for fruit when the had fish. Fish > Fruit. At least, that's what Antony thought. She didn't know that Godzilla was as vegan, nor did she give a flying ******** was all going to be fine and dandy until Awen made the last comment, and Antony narrowed her eyes. She didn't appreciate smart a** jabs under the cloak of a civil attitude, especially after she'd been honest with this girl. "Wait a ******** second young lady," she called after the blue haired girl, " I've been nothing but honest to you, and I do not appreciate the blanket assumptions." Antony bit back a sneer, taking a deep breath before continuing, "You can take back a coconut or two if you want, but that's all we've got. Honestly, there are a few people on the island that I could care less if they starve, but you're not one of them." Jamal owed her. Jamal_Reedy Jamal o_o'ed from his spot by the alcohol. Oh god, please don't let this get ugly because then he would have to intervene and everyone knows where THAT got him last time. He didn't fancy being 'broke' AND having a ******** up ankle. Especially coming from two girls he had sex with. That would be awkward. At the mention of coconuts, Jamal stooped to pick up two of them and held them out like peace offerings. Awen Zyn Awen paused a moment, not turning back to either of them. She took a deep breath. "Keep your coconuts.... I told you we're not going to mooch from you. We'll find our own." She said very calmly.
They did have the meat after all. They could survive on fish and boar for awhile. It wasn't healthy without the good stuff from greens, but they could survive and Awen was not going to accept this girl's offer.
"...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here. Causing problems and whatnot. We can survive with what we've got. It's not healthy, but that's fine we can survive. You keep what you guys earned and we'll do the same."
She wanted to just leave and continue on. She just... wanted to get out of there. At the same time she wanted to share their boar with these people. She wanted for everyone to just share and get along. But that wasn't going to happen...and it wasn't her boar to give out. She'd talk to the others...but for now. This was all she could do.
"Just take care of Jamal, eh?"
Without another word or any more stalling, she continued back into the trees. Feeling like absolute crap. Antoinette Devereux At the refusal, Antony inwardly seethed. This girl came to ask for help, and when it was offered, she turned it away. It was almost as if she came to spy on the two of them for other reasons. Gods she hated liars, and people who were rude when she was nice. Like Moreau brushing off her handshake when she first got to the island. Something wasn't right with her little visit, and the voice in her head nagged her about it. And then this girl told her to 'take care of Jamal'?! Oh hell no. "We're not in some stupid love-dovey relationship thanks!" She wasn't his mother, but she was his friend. Friends and mutual nookie-givers. First the ******** tree, and now the little b***h. Somehow Antony kept all she wanted to scream at the blue haired girl inside, and stood for simply giving her a death glare as she disappeared into the distance. ******** her. Jamal_Reedy Talk about a bash to the ego. "Take care of Jamal?" WTF. He didn't need -anyone- to take care of him. His nostrils flared as he bit back a comment that would have come out way harsher than he might intent and he let the two coconuts drop back to the sand with a dulled thud. Okay, FINE. It wasn't mooching if people were GIVING them over willingly...but whatever. Fine. He watched her disappear into the jungle with a digruntled expression on his face, a slight anger rising in his chest, but he suppressed it quickly. Resentment was normal...of course Awen wasn't going to be all that nice and accepting...right? Antoinette Devereux Antony seethed, a colorful explosion of curses spewing from her lips at an outstanding rate. That b***h! She was trying to be NICE considering the situation, and what did that get her? A proverbial smack in the face, that's what. This was why she was only nice to her trusted friends and not random people, because friends appreciate these types of actions, other people don't. No more. Her and Jamal were in this together, and Anjali as well. Lily had disappeared, and aside from that no one else had helped create this camp. Something inside her that wasn't anger filled her body, determination. Regardless of the life and death situation that they may be facing, Antony was competitive, and she was vengeful. Her eyes glanced down at her wounds and she sneered. Work had to be done and she couldn't risk an infection. "Jamal," she began, voice rigid and angry, "Grab the shovel and go into the forest and dig a hole, deep enough so an animal can't just climb out, and wide enough to fit a decent sized animal in it. I'll stay and finish up the stakes." This trap was going to get done, and they were going to get meat. That was first priority. Jamal_Reedy Jamal cursed under his breath, not directed at anyone really, and took hold of the shovel. "A'ight...I'll be back when I got it done," he murmured, turning and limping off towards the jungle, heat coloring his cheeks a faint rosy color as he tried to soothe his bruised ego. Pffft...take care of Jamal.... He tromped through the brush and trees carelessly, shovel swung up to lie across a shoulder, looking for a spot that looked fairly thick and potentially a frequent animal pass-through. It was hard for him to decide since it all looked the same and he wasn't a survival type, but he did see tracks of some sort that looked vaguely cloven as well as signs of old chewed fruits and leaves. "Gooda spot as any," grumbled the black man as he started to make an outline with the sharp edge of the shovel so he could get a general idea of how big to make it. Once this was done, he went to the center and started to dig, tossing the dirt to the side for now.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:23 pm
Anjali Frangipani Voices...
Anjali slowly became aware that someone was shouting, very distantly. But she didn't quite feel like moving yet... the sun was so warm, so nice...
But, she began to realize, her muscles were twinging at her. And she was thirsty... and hungry. Why was it so hard to wake up? She moved to twitch the covers over her - and hit only empty air. And when she groped her way down her leg looking for the errant linens, she felt... almost like grass? And sticky stuff...?
Oh, god. The recollection of the transformation shot through her brain like a lightning bolt, and she sat up so quickly that it made her dizzy. She had to close her eyes again until her equilibrium came back, then slowly, slowly opened them again, holding her hands in front of her face.
Her waxy, green, overly-long-fingered, nailless, tentacle-tipped hands.
... so it had happened. Blech, her mouth felt like something had died in it, and she made a face. Well, morning, she could get water and coconut milk and something to get the taste out. Then food. Anjali peered owlishly up at the sun.
... so late? It looked to be mid-afternoon, and she'd gone to sleep at twilight. Ugh. "Antony? Jamal?" she called out, sitting up a bit better in the sand, cursing as grains of it got stuck the mucilage on her fingertips. Antoinette Devereux While Jamal had gone of to dig in the dirt, Antony had sat down to finish his job, ignoring the pain in her arms and chest. The knife was getting dull fast. Antony nearly stabbed herself when Anjali sat up so suddenly, her eyes going wide and hand going to her heart. A wince came to her face when she was reminded of the cuts on her arms. "God damn!" Calming herself, she sighed and gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, you scared me... Jamal's off digging a pit trap while I cut these..." She explained, setting the knife down and turning her attention to Anjali. "Are you feeling better? I didn't want to wake you after..." She trailed off, frowning somewhat before glancing up at the sky. Gods she hoped it didn't rain anytime soon, and at that thought her eyes gazed towards the Beach Bar. Anjali Frangipani "Ugh..." Anjali shook her head to clear it. It felt weird... she tapped at her hair gingerly with one finger, and felt it twitch away by some new reflex, as though it were alive. "Feels like a bunch of little arms grew out of my head," she muttered, then concentrated.
After doing a series of bizzare facial contortions, she finally hit on the right neural command to move something that had never been movable before - and one of the hair-chunks that was fusing together at the bottom flipped slightly towards Antony. "... God, that's creepy," Anjali said with a scowl. "What time is it? Feels like I've slept for forever... probably some changes went on that we can't see, deep-down changes at the cellular level."
She paused, then asked, with some concern - "Do we have, ah, anything like a mirror?" She bit her lip and looked down at her hands. Jamal_Reedy Grumbling all the while as he dug, he threw the fresh, damp over his shoulder into a steadily growing heap behind him as he went. "Dunno what da ******** she thinkin," he bitched to the earth as he shifted forward to get a full shovel scoop, eyes snapping angrily as the spade cut into the soil. "Tryin' ta help...tellin' Antony no...well it's on now, 'parently...them two ain't gunna get along and dat ain't ma problem." Well, actually, it was...but he didn't wish to think that way. A fine shimmer of sweat started to layer onto his dark skin as he toiled away, mindful of his bum ankle every time he moved to a new spot to dig. The outline was filled out now, but only about a foot deep worth of soil was gone. It was slow going from all the roots. Antoinette Devereux Antony blinked at both her comment and the waving of the hair. That was just plain weird, "Uh... No mirror." It was all she could think to say at the moment. Shaking her thoughts back to the situation overall, she looked over at the Beach Bar again a slow smile coming over her lips. "At least we have a shelter if it rains..." She motioned towards the hut/bar and grinned, "We'll be able to keep dry firewood too. I'm scared it's going to rain, I mean... It IS a tropical island... Is there a monsoon season or something?" Anjali Frangipani "I'm not sure," Anjali said, grimacing as she scraped the sand-clogged mucilage off the tips of her finger-tentacles. "I know the season for the Indian Ocean by heart, but the Carribbean... no." She did look up at the sky, though. "Well, you're right - at least we have some kind of shelter, and I can gather more food."
She paused, and slowly got up, swaying a bit on her feet before regaining her balance. "I don't... feel much different," she said, slowly. "Other than the obvious. Maybe the sun is a bit nicer, feels... better, I guess. Warmer. Sustaining. If we weren't out here abandoned I might even be interested in analyzing exactly what was going on. I daresay if it wasn't me - if it was voluntary, it would be a fascinating experiment," she added, regretfully. "But we must do what we can." She nodded to Antony, feeling ready to get back to business. "What now? Has anything changed?" Jamal_Reedy Jamal sighed and paused his digging, wiping his brow whilst looking at what he'd accomplished so far. It was just over waist deep on him...but definately not deep enough yet. He didn't have any idea on what they could possibly catch in this pit; he'd never seen signs of anything large, furry, and edible in the jungle before. What exactly could live out here anyway? The only experience he had with wildlife was what he saw at zoos and what occasionally ran into the streets in the city. Raccoon? Opposum? A deer? Somehow he doubted that stuff lived out here. Maybe a killer horse? He shrugged to himself, deciding that he'd just wait and see what they ended up with and resumed his digging, the dirt growing cooler the further down he went. The soil was turning sort of squishy too from the water table built up from the rains. Ick... Antoinette Devereux "I got some more coconuts?" She said, motioning to the bloodied coconuts and then to her scratched up arms and chest. "Climbing down the tree didn't go so well obviously..." Pushing herself into a standing position, Antony grinned and began heading down to the beach, "I'm going to try to find a stone to sharpen the knife a bit... Do you know how to fish?" Meat was meat, and maybe she knew some things that Antony didn't. Anjali Frangipani "Fish... hrm." Anjali made a face. "Not really, unfortunately... plants are far more my forte. Though I know the basics of using a rod, and... I saw people spear-fishing on a documentary once? Hardly useful, but I believe a sharpened stick and quick reflexes are needed. As for bait..."
A fly landed on one of her finger-tentacles, and once again she resisted the urge to eat it. "I seem to be good at finding that, now," she said, ruefully as the bug drowned in the mucilage. Jamal_Reedy Jamal was now about shoulder deep in his pit and had started to shape the bottom up a bit nicer so it was as wide as it ought to be. He wasn't sure how deep it really should go, but if they made it TOO deep then they'd never be able to get whatever they caught out. He figured that if it was large enough to jump out AND survive the spikes...well...it deserved to live. :B Slight blisters rose on his hands as he finished up the work, much to his annoyance. He was a cityboy...they sure as hell didn't dig holes like this every day. Antoinette Devereux Antony nodded, "Fruit first then? After that we'll try and think of what to do next?" She couldn't think of much else to say as she went down to the water in search of some more of the stones in which she had used for the fire pit. One was found easily, and she came back to camp, sitting down next to the knife before picking it up and running the stone along the blade. Hopefully it would sharpen the blade a bit. "I'm glad you feel better though, you don't look so bad..." She was being honest, and it was a good subject change from Awen. Anjali Frangipani "I don't?" Anjali said, selfconciously. She reached up as though to straighten her hair before remembering and pausing halfway there, letting the hand drop to her side. "Well.. for now, anyway," she said, ruefully. "Perhaps I will end up like the hamadryads of legend. Tree-women, very wild or very loving depending on what you read. An odd thought."
Fortunately, her feet seemed utterly unchanged and they still fit easily into her flip-flop sandals. "How much more do you think we need? I can just scour deeper for a variety of useful things this time, if you like. Thick leaves for sleeping on, perhaps, in addition to the fruit?" Antoinette Devereux "Whatever you see as useful I guess. If you find anymore coconuts on the ground, and whatnot... I found some bamboo shoots earlier but I don't know how we'd cook them..." She trailed off, eyes going to the container from earlier. After a bit of sharpening, Antony eyed down the blade and tested it on a stalk of bamboo, which, with a little bit of muscle, it cut. Much more cleanly than it had been. Much much better. A few more stakes and they would be done. "I just hope this trap works ya know?" They really did need some meat. Anjali Frangipani "Trap?" Anjali glanced down at the stake and put two and two together. "You're making a pitfall? That'll be tough to dig with just my little trowel, I daresay." She tested her fingers experimentally. "I'm not sure how much I can help with that..." and that burned, that did, the idea of her fingers being too pliant - the tips felt boneless, not weak, but certainly not capable of exerting great force - to be able to dig properly. Well, they'd have to see. Perhaps splinted gloves?
She realized her thoughts had been wandering and turned back to Antony. "I can make a survey and bring back as much as I can carry. Has there been any change, any news since yesterday?" Antoinette Devereux Chuckling at her comment about it being tough, she nodded, "Yes, and that is what Jamal is working on... He's big and strong enough I believe. And don't worry about doing anything too physical. Don't want you to break anything." She had seen Anjali's eyes go to her fingers and understood what she was worried about. The tattooed woman didn't mind, Anjali was helping out with something that neither Antony or Jamal really could. A botanist could find more than just coconuts, and as long as this trap worked, they'd have a pretty good system worked out. Her face fell at the question of news. Mental images of Awen caused her to scowl, but she shook it off the best she could. "No news, we had a few visitors, but that's a story for when there is no work to be done," Antony gave her a weak smile, eyes glancing to her arms before returning to her stake chopping. Anjali Frangipani "Ah... I see." Anjali raised one eyebrow. She had been roused by shouting...
Well, it was obvious that Antony wasn't interested in sharing, and she wasn't going to press. Cooperation and getting along was vital right now. "So Jamal is still with us, then. I was wondering... was he, ah, too badly shaken up by my... change?" She looked ashamed for a moment. "Jamal and I had bonded somewhat over tea once, commisserating in how neither of us had changed despite having been here for quite some time. Those who had arrived after us had changed, so we had some... false hope, I suppose." She looked worried. Antoinette Devereux Antony sighed, stopping her work and just sitting there for a bit before looking up and over to Anjali, she might as well tell her now. "He was fine until Awen came over..." Trailing off, she decided to drop the knife before continuing, "Remember me saying how I thought this was a vacation? Well, for me that meant partying, drinking, and to put it blatently sex. And I met Jamal..." Pausing, she ran a hand through her hair, hoping that Anjali could put two and two together. "Awen found out under complicated circumstances, and apparently things didn't go well. She came over to ask where we found the fruit, and I told her you had somewhere in the jungle. I offered some coconuts to her, she refused, and then she left. Jamal was pretty pissed off." Frowning, Antony glanced towards the jungle, but simply sighed and shook her head, "Figured you'd find out sooner or later, and that it'd be best to hear it from me. I had no clue he and Awen were... But what's done is done, and I do not regret any of it." A smile was visible, but not one of malice, "I do not regret good sex, ever... Nor do I regret being myself, it is unhealthy." So either Anjali would think poorly of her, and/or not care. She'd just have to wait and see. Anjali Frangipani "Ah... I see," Anjali said again, after a pause to assimilate all of that information. "I haven't met this Awen, but I can see how that would, ah, be more than a little awkward for all involved," she said, tactfully. "Hopefully it won't cause serious trouble..."
She looked up at the sky again, then shook her head. "I should be off, then. Don't want to be in the forest after dark. Do you suppose I could have one of those sharpened sticks, if you've an extra? It could be quite useful. Especially if, perish the thought, I have to defend myself." Antoinette Devereux "Be my guest," she said with a half smile. At least she didn't get yelled at or anything, or even worse, lectured on the subject. This was something that Antony respected immensely. "Thank you for not judging me," Antony murmured before Anjali left, her eyes sincere. Reaching up, she handed the plant woman one of the sharpened bamboo stakes that had been cut. "Good luck." Anjali Frangipani Anjali offered Antony a grateful smile. "You too," she added, a bit awkwardly. "About... both things. The judging, and the luck." She hefted the stick experimentally in one hand, testing the way things worked now, and shrugged. "Seems to work fairly well. Let's hope I don't need to to impale anything besides fruit... well, I will see you later." She nodded, then turned towards the jungle and took a deep breath before venturing under the shadows of the leaves.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:28 pm
Island of Moreau ((Just before Jamal calls it quits for the night/the day in his digging, and beneath the water table, a glint of white catches his eye as he's digging. If unearthed, his pit reveals a small collection... of bones. At first it's just random legbones... ribs... But they're large. Maybe jaugar-sized.... or... person-sized. Eventually, you do indeed find a skull. However.... it is strange. It has a large cranial case, forward facing eyes, but a short... muzzle? And a set of massive lower canines - tusks. If examined by anyone with any sense of biology, they will notice more: There is a LOT of signs of breakage all over the skull, fissures that have been sealed over - signs of healing. These breakages are found throughout the skeleton. ))
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:57 pm
Jamal_Reedy Jamal had about finished the pit and was rather filthy from the work, but felt pretty damn accomplished. All told, the pit was just over shoulder-height deep on him, which would allow him to still get out but perhaps keep their prey in. He stooped to shovel a bit more earth as an afterthought, but noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye. Was it a root? Or maybe buried treasure! This was like one of those old pirate movies! Curiousity got the better of him, in either case. Nimble fingers clawed at the dirt around the object that seemed to reflect an ivory color when exposed to the sun and soon he was granted with what looked to be a bone of some sort. It was marked with various cracks here and there that had looked like it healed or were in the process of healing...and as he moved more dirt, more bones surfaced. Probably animal bones of some kind. Really not that fascinating... "What da ********," he yelped suddenly as his hand brushed the dirt away from another gleam of white and found himself staring into the eyeholes of a skull. Okay, that was creepy...from what was uncovered, it looked like some sort of animal skull, to judge from the teeth. Ever curious, he continued to dig until he was granted full view of what it really was. His eyes widened in absolute horror and he jumped back, slamming into one side of the pit as he did so. That skull looked NOTHING like any animal he'd ever seen. A panic rose as he stared at the skull, slowly forming his own conclusions; it looked VERY human if you ignored the muzzle and tusks...but all the breakage....something was not right. Not at all....was it a failed experiement? Or...was it someone who didn't follow the Doctor's commands? He pressed his dirty fingers to his cheeks and felt his jaw, staring at the skull. Those break marks could be from transforming...how else did people like Ambrose get muzzles? They had to be made of bone. The other bones that he uncovered also seemed to have marks like this. He knew enough to know that they were healed fractures; he'd gone into the ER for a broken arm when he was younger, then returned once it was healed for another X-ray and saw the odd markings an old break left. "Aw HELL no," shouted the black man suddenly in fright, dropping the bones in his hands, and scrabbled out of the pit, hauling himself to his feet as swiftly as possible. "******** jesus christ. So DAT'S how it works! Breakin' our bones to turn us inta animals!" Of course, there was no confirmation on his thoughts being correct, but all he had -was- his own thoughts and that was enough to terrify the crap out of him. One had to have their bones broken in some manner to allow the growth to happen... He pelted down the path he'd made in the jungle, ignoring the stinging in his barefeet as he stepped on branches or what have you. He needed to get -away- from that pit. Jamal didn't realize that he left the shovel behind and frankly didn't care. "ANTONY!" he bellowed as he exploded from the trees, nearly tripping over a fallen log on the way. Antoinette Devereux Antony jumped at the sudden explosion and yell, nearly cutting herself in the process. Jesus, what was with these people and scaring the daylights out of her? "What Jamal?" She said irritably before turning and looking at him, falling silent immediately. He looked a mess, not only was he dirty and sweaty, but he looked like he had just seen a ghost or something. "What's wrong?" She cautioned, her voice dropping to a more comforting tone. The woman was worried, the only time she had seen Jamal like this was when Anjali transformed, but she was gone. What the ******** was going on? Jamal_Reedy Jamal had to pause a second to catch his breath, sweat rolling down his brow, which he absently wiped with the back of a grimy hand. His chest burned as he struggled to breath, but soon he found his second wind. "Found a ********' skull. It...it ain't an animal...but it ain't full human either." He hoped she caught the significance in that statement because he wasn't sure he could say it or entirely believe it. Antoinette Devereux She listened to him speak, ingesting every word that he said. When he mentioned the skull, Antony's breath caught in her throat, and she had to work to swallow, the back of her mouth feeling quite dry at the moment. "A skull," she repeated, trailing off as she looked at him. The was no way he was lying about this one. A hand ran through her hair as she thought, they had to make that pit. Period. Jamal had put in too many man hours for them not to use the hole. Well s**t, this was going to be eventful. Bending down, she gathered the bamboo stakes she had made, tying them up with one of the vines from earlier to make some sort of makeshift backpack. Swinging it on, Antony motioned to the jungle. "Lead the way," her voice wasn't happy, and she gave him a look that begged him to trust her, "I know you don't want to see that s**t again... But I'm not letting all your work go to waste. This trap will be built, just after I deal with the bones." She figured that saying 'I' would be better than 'we,' this way, he wouldn't get the idea that he had to touch the bones again. Jamal_Reedy "A ********' skull," he confirmed, looking pained as he spoke. "Someone ********' died out here or they got put there...jus' like we got put out." A hand swept the air in a general, inclusive manner about the island as he said this. He watched her bundle the bamboo and tensed his jaw, already knowing where this was going. Hell, he'd dig another hole...somewhere far away from that grave preferably...but he knew that she was right; he had wasted too much time to just give up on that pit. A nervous sigh escaped before he reluctantly turned and started back towards the jungle. As long as -she- dealt with the bones, then fine...but he was not going to touch them again. Antoinette Devereux "I'm not an anthropologist... But we'll see..." She didn't want to make any conclusions before seeing the bones. Maybe they died of natural causes? Who knows how long it may have been there. Antony was trying to be objective. Following him through the jungle, she stopped when she saw the metal of the shovel and set down her 'backpack' before edging close to it. "You may have to help me back up, it's a pretty damn deep hole, which is great." The tattooed woman sat down on the edge of the hole before carefully hopping down into it. She made sure not to land on any of the visible bones. Crouching, she sucked in a bit of the musty air before picking up the skull and turning it over in her hands. Like Jamal, she noticed the healed over fractures on it as well. It really did look like a failed experiment, or someone that had had a lot of head surgery. Maybe? Frowning, she glanced over the rest of the visible bones. There were more signs of breaking on the other bones as well, but Antony didn't come to the conclusion that Jamal had, not having seen anyone such as Ambrose on the island yet. Either way, she was relieved that there were only bones, and no flesh still attached, as well as the depth in which they had been buried at. That meant it wasn't recent, which was good in Antony's book. "They've been here a while, and are in pretty good condition," she murmured as she began to dig them out with her bare hands, piling them up on the side of the hole's floor. "You've been on the island longer than me Jamal... What do you think?" "And can you hand me the shovel?" She added as an afterthought, "I need to get these out of here." Maybe the bones could be used as evidence? Jamal_Reedy Jamal figured he'd have to help her out, but he didn't linger by the edge of the hole while she examined the bones. He really didn't want to check them out again...they gave him the willies. While she was messing around with them, he had unbundled the stakes and was trying to figure out an acceptable configuration for them once they were stuck into the soft dirt. Too close and they wouldn't really do much harm; it'd be like the man on the bed made of nails....yet too far apart and whatever fell in might not be killed quickly on impact. He heard her question and paused, sucking in a deep breath. "I think they belong ta somone none of us ever seen b'fo and them staff people buried it ta hide da evidence...ain't no way they magically ended up dat deep if they as new as they look." He shivered some at the thought, but did get up to hand her the shovel, refusing to look at the pile of human remains as he did so. Antoinette Devereux "Hmm..." She said when she heard his explanation, taking the shovel from him to continue to dig out the bones. It took a bit of painstaking work, but Antony finally got out all the bones she could find at the bottom of the pit. Most of them were randomly oriented; leg bones with rib bones, as well as the skull all in the same area. This obviously wasn't a proper burial. "Toss me the vine... rope, whatever," she called up to him. Jamal_Reedy Jamal obliged, tossing the vine rope down once he had it free of the bamboo, and continued to mess with the spikes. He wasn't sure that this was going to work...sure, it did in the movies, but it seemed that many rules that movies went by had been broken at this point. Antoinette Devereux Catching the rope as best she could, she gathered it up and began to make another makeshift 'backpack' like she had with the spikes. Once she was satisfied with it, Antony stood up and moved towards the edge, whistling sharply at Jamal to get his attention while holding her arms up above the hole. "Help me up," she requested, if he pulled, she could use her feet to climb up the side. Hopefully with little contact between her cuts and the jungle's floor. Jamal_Reedy Jamal nearly jumped three feet in the air at the whistle, not expecting it, and scowled. He got up from the bamboo spikes to assist her out of the hole though...it just seemed like they were alternating the "scaring the crap out of each other" duties. He locked hands with hers and when she was ready, he lifted up while trying to keep from crunching her against the dirt wall. Antoinette Devereux Thank the gods he was strong. With his assistance, Antony was easily on her feet again. Brushing herself off, she immediately put the bones out of sight behind a tree, so that Jamal or her wouldn't have to look at them again. "Thanks," she said with a smile, "Let's finish this trap." The faster they got it done, the faster they could get back to camp and hope for an animal to come by and fall in the trap. Jamal_Reedy Jamal gave a stiff nod in agreement on completing the trap and picked up several of the spikes. "So, we gotta bury these to about herr, yeah?" he said, marking off a height about a foot and a half from the bottom from the couple he held. "We gonna need one of us ta go down there ta stick 'em in o' you think we kin do it from up herr? Gotta make sure they in deep enough so that whateva' falls in don't just knock 'em ova." The thing is that it would probably be hard as hell to get the spikes set in properly if someone was in the hole taking up space...but he wasn't sure if they could manage it from the surface. Maybe half and half? Antoinette Devereux Nodding in agreement, she quickly considered the predicament. "I'm smaller than you, I'll go in and set them... You can tell me where to put them since you'll be able to se it better," she said, and before he could object, Antony was back in the hole, "How's that sound?" Reaching up for him to hand her some stakes, Antony made a mental note to was her wounds again when they got back to camp. Jamal_Reedy He smirked and shook his head. "Ya got in da hole so damn fast, I dunno if I could object..." he said as he handed her the first batch. "I figure start from dat end furthest away from me 'n' sorta stagger 'em....so like put in da first row right 'cross 'n then the next row, put them between da' spikes of da first row. Likes bricks, I guess." Hopefully they had enough spikes; he didn't figure the knife was going to be much good any longer. Antoinette Devereux Antony grinned cheekily and took the batch he handed her, doing what he had said and staggering them out, stopping to check with him to see if they looked alright from above. She made sure that the dirt around each spike was solid and compact, stomping around each of them afer she buried them. These stakes had NO wiggle room whatsoever, Antony made sure of that. Soon, she was finished with the stakes he had given her. Standing up, she reached up for some more, rubbing her lower back absently. Jamal_Reedy He handed her more and notes her slight lower back rub. Mmmm...someone needed a massage...? 8D "Dat looks real good," he commented, circling over towards the end of the hole that had been filled in already and experimentally leaned over to try and wiggle a few with his hands. They were, of course, planted deep and firmly into the earth, but he felt better by checking to make sure. "If we get anything, we're gonna prolly have ta pull 'em out so we kin get at whateva' falls in...but dat shouldn't be a problem." The last comment was added as an afterthought and was really directed at himself than her. Antoinette Devereux "I'd rather have to pry a dead animal out than have a bunch of knocked over stakes," she replied, taking the rest of the stakes and repeating the process till she was backed up to the opposite wall from which she had started. Skimming over to make sure she didn't miss any, Antony gave a nod of approval before turning to face the wall and holding her hands upwards. The universal 'pick me up' symbol of course. "Now we just need to cover it up, and maybe bait it," she mentioned absently, mind mentally trying to figure on what they could put across it that would support leaves but not an animal. Maybe long pieces of mostly rotted wood? Long, thin sticks? Certainly not anything strong like bamboo. Jamal_Reedy Again he obliged, pulling her out effortlessly while considering their options. Damn, this trap might actually WORK. "Maybe long pieces of bark? Cause there's lots of fallen logs 'n stuff...nice 'n skinny...not dat strong..." They could strip long sections off fallen trees pretty easily if it was a little rotted already. "Then jus' kick some leaves 'n stuff ova it?" That's what they did in the movies, anyway. Antoinette Devereux "Hmm... Sounds about right. A few of those for support, and then two or three palm fronds so that the leaves don't fall through." Most of the repeating was for her sake, her mind working it out visually before she fully agreed with the idea. "Yes, that works. I'll grab some fronds if you get the supports?" Sounded like a good plan to her. She knew were a good amount of palms were after her ordeal with that bloody coconut tree. Jamal_Reedy "A'ight," he chirped agreeably before wandering off in search of the proper logs that would give up their bark relatively easily and do so in long sections that would span the hole decently. He was very careful to not get too far away from the trap, as he didn't want to get lost, and paused in front of a large fallen tree that looked relatively old. He poked and prodded the tree in various places, looking for soft spots and cracks in the rough grey bark before succesfully finding a spot that would allow him to get a good hold on it. The bark was pretty well detached from the main body of the tree, but some spots were still tough so he wasn't able to get one large piece, but several pieces that were long...just not wide. Antoinette Devereux While he went to find the supports, Antony made her way back to the coconut tree which she had battled with earlier. There were still some coconuts left laying on the ground. She'd have to remember to take those back to camp when the returned to it as well. Gathering three large, but dried palm fronds, she returned to the trap. The fronds were set down on the ground as she gathered, as best as she could, a decent pile of undergrowth and dead leaves to cover up the fronds with. Jamal_Reedy After a few more logs, which proved unsuccessful, he found a pair of tree that gave up it's bark easily and stripped long pieces from it. The bark held a musty smell that made him grimace, but it would do the job. "Ta da~," he called smugly as he returned to the trap, arms laden with the tree matter. "These oughta do, yeah?" He carefully deposited them next to the hole so they didn't break or disintergrate, and started to angle them across the hole. Some weren't long enough to go perpendicular from side to side, but they could be put at the corners for support. Antoinette Devereux "Perfect," she applauded, waiting for him to finish his supports before she layed the fronds carefully across the supports, covering the entire hole with a bit of overlap even. Once that was done, she carefully tossed some of the jungle floor 'gunk' ou over the fronds, smoothing it as best as she could over any obvious see through places. Standing up, she looked over their creation. "I think we did a damn good job. Let's go pick up the rest of the coconuts I got off the tree on the way back." Waiting for him to start off in the direction in which she pointed, Antony carefully made her way over to the tree with the bones behind it, hoisting the backpack over her shoulders and following after. Jamal_Reedy Jamal admired their work, filthy arms crossed over his chest, actually grinning for once. "s**t, if this don't work, then I don't know what we gonna do," he stated. Hopefully the mere fact that this 'looked' to be a game trail (he'd seen hoof prints of some kind and some signs of half-eaten fruit) would work. If nothing happened, they could always bait it. "I figger we check back lata' tonight or in da mornin'...hopefully we got something by then," he murmured as he turned to lead them back towards camp and where he remembered she headed to for those coconuts. She could always correct him on the proper direction. Antoinette Devereux She nodded, grinning as well before pushing him in the right direction, gathering a couple herself before making her way back to camp. He could follow her, though she hoped that he didn't pay too much attention to the bones on her back. Antony'd have to find a place to hide them out of sight, just in case. "This better damn work," she muttered on the way back.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:58 pm
Jamal_Reedy After a swim and a nap on the warm beach, Jamal's curiousity with the state of the trap was too much. Had they caught something already? He doubted it, but...there was still that what if factor. Taking a few chunks of cut fruit, mango, if he remembered the proper name, he tromped off towards the trap, humming lightly as he went. The fruit was brought as an afterthought; if the trap wasn't messed with yet, then what would a little bait hurt? He was visibly disappointed to see that no signs of ANYTHING were around their carefully designed trap. No prints, no disturbed leaf covering...no nothing. "Dammit," he swore, frowning severely as he carefully approached it, watching to make sure he didn't accidently step on the bark supports, and gave it a critical look over. Well, he had expected this. He carefully leaned forward and tried to roll the fruit pieces onto the trap, scattering them so they were mostly near the center, but not perfectly. Hopefully that would get some beasties attention. Jamal needed some red meat dammit...if he had to go out into the woods and actually hunt because this wasn't working out....he figured things wouldn't go so hot. He went back to Antony to report the news. Antoinette Devereux The swim/bath did Antony's body good as well, and after washing her clothes and disinfecting her wounds, she indulged in a nap with Jamal as well. Her body must have needed the rest, because she slept past when Jamal left to go check the trap. Since her clothes were dry, she put them back on and after she revived the fire, Antony went in search of more firewood. This time, she began stacking it in the beach bar. In case of rain. She also cracked open a ripe coconut, drinking the milk before she began to nibble on chunks of the meat absently. Her stomach grumbled in protest, wanting something more substantial, but Antony pushed away the feeling. Slowly, her mind began to wonder to previous episodes of Survivor, and she wondered whether she could find anything like a pot to cook with in the Beach Bar. Or maybe even in the village somewhere. Making a note to ask Jamal when he came back, Antony continued to pick at the white meat and nibble on it. Jamal_Reedy Jamal broke the jungle's edge soon after visiting the trap, a look of disappointment apparent on his face. Hopefully the bait would help. "Nuthin' yet," he remarked as he came closer to Antony, taking a seat on a newly harvested palm frond nearby and burying his bare toes into the warm sand. All the walking about barefoot was growing less painful for his feet as they had toughened up considerably, but they did still ache from stepping on branches and whatnot on occasion. The warm sand helped soothe them. Antoinette Devereux Antony snapped out of her daze when she heard Jamal's voice, glancing over to him with a frown. "Eh, maybe more things come out at night..." Offering the coconut to him in case he wanted to eat some, Antony stretched out her legs and sighed. Moments later, she brought her legs back, toes bouncing rapidly. She debated a cigarette. Oh how she wanted one, or two, or THREE, but she only had around half a pack left. Those things had to be savored! Talk about going cold ******** I'm hungry and sore." It was the first complaint in a long while, and Antony immediately popped another piece of coconut meat into her mouth, chewing slowly and savoring it. Jamal_Reedy He took the offered coconut and pried a few pieces of the sickly sweet flesh from it, expression pretty nondescript. "Maybe....would make sense. Plus we made lotsa noise when we was puttin' it togetha' so we prolly scared stuff off." He didn't sound -too- worried about this, but he privately hoped that stuff wasn't too easily spooked and wouldn't avoid the area where the trap was located. This whole living in the wilderness thing was getting more and more on his nerves and the discovery of bones in that pit only turned him further off from the idea. Not like they had a choice, but he was just that more unenthusiastic about this. Jamal pulled his jean leg up to inspect the damage on his foot and was pleased to see that the poisonous blue and blacks that colored it from arch to above the ankle were more muted than they were the other day. It still hurt to flex, but his limp was less pronounced now and he could put his weight on it. The scraps on his face, arm, and leg were all scabbed over and almost healed in some places, so he really had no complaints. At her irritably comment, he frowned and scratched his head. "I wish I had some way ta' fix both of them problems, cause we'd be dat much better off, but..." He spread his hands in a helpless manner. "I bet we doin' betta then them otha groups, whereever they be." Antoinette Devereux She watched him inspect his ankle, giving it an approving look, "It's healing well considering..." At his next comment, she nodded, reaching up and ruffling her hair with a sigh, "I sure hope so, 'cause we've been working our asses off." Jamal_Reedy "Could be worse," he said absently as he dropped his pant leg and leaned back, fingers curling into the sand behind him as his arms went back for support. He wasn't sure how much worse it could get, but...at least they were stuck together instead of opposite sides of the island, they did have some food, a fire, and booze. His dark skin had seemingly darkened several shades due to the amount of sun he was getting and being shirtless since arriving outside his duplex that one morning. How he hadn't burnt was a mystery; even black men sunburn given the right conditions. However, the effect of a richer, darker skin color made his tattoos less pronounced than usual to his chagrin. He idly considered smoking one of the remaining joints that sat in his pocket for the sake of something to do, but wondered if he ought to save it when he -really- needed it. Like...if someone else transformed in front of his very eyes. That called for a smoke like no other. Antoinette Devereux "Yeah I know..." She trailed off, sighing inwardly once more before pushing herself to her knees and reaching over to gather some more firewood. Shuffling over to the fire on her knees, Antony carefully tossed the firewood into the fire. She stayed there, stoking the fire with a stick so that it burned more evenly. "M'sorry about your girl... Tried to be nice," she said with a shadow of a frown, glancing back at Jamal before returning her attention to the fire. "And I don't usually do 'nice' to strangers, they've got to earn it." That was the last time she extended a nice gesture out towards someone without a disability and who wasn't her friend. Jamal_Reedy He shrugged noncommittally and leaned forward again, hunching over in an indian-style position with his hands resting lightly on his thighs. He wasn't pleased that Awen had refused their help, but he understood somewhat where she was coming from. At least, he figured anyway. Seemed like she was trying to save what little of her pride was left. The thought was highly depressive...the use of "Your Girl" only made him wince; he highly doubted Awen was ANYTHING like that now. Instead, he spoke appreciatively, keeping those thoughts to himself and substituting with less private thoughts. "I know you tried. Ain't yo' fault she's all mad. I know she's real mad at me 'n' I guess she jus' wanted ta prove maybe da she don't need me no more o' sumthin'. She ain't normally like dat..." Well, she ain't neva' been cheated on b'fo...that's prolly why...Antoinette Devereux Antony shrugged, turning back to him and patting him comfortingly on the knee, giving it a light squeeze, "Eh... I don't like deal with romantic relationships anymore, bad s**t always happened." It was true, every relationship she had ever had went severely bad, whether it be abuse, physical or otherwise, or otherwise. She had eventually vowed to never get emotionally connected to someone again, and hadn't since. "So I stick to sex and friendships, which is why I can tolerate you," she sent him a cheeky grin before sitting back on her legs. "You're a good guy... Just not everyone's meant for relationships." It all made perfect sense to her. Jamal_Reedy He snorted and shook his head slightly. "Yeah, yo right...I'm stupid fo' thinkin' I could change ma'self like dat. Thought I could do it...but ******** it. I ain't gonna make dat mistake again. Ain't likely I'm gonna have ta worry 'bout it no more anyway..." ...god, thinking about all this really made him want to have a smoke, be it a cigarette or otherwise. He pulled out a slightly mashed joint, one of maybe three or four, and rolled it between his fingers as he eyed it contemplatively. Maybe a hit or two...then save the rest for later... Antoinette Devereux Nodding in agreement, she swung her feet out from under her, knees straightening as she reached behind her to rub her lower back absently, "It's been working for me." Antony watched him pull out the joint, raising an eyebrow and shaking her head, "I'd save it. Looks like we're going to be out here for a while." That and she didn't want to have to smell smoke when she was trying to save hers. Jamal_Reedy "Yeah, dat's what I'm afraid of," he said in morose response to her comment of being out here for while. Jamal did put it away after some serious mental debate; there was certainly going to be a time when he'd -really- need it, he decided. Now wasn't the time. "Yo' back both'rin' ya?" inquired Jamal impishly, deciding a subject change was best right now. "My hands are magic~" He gave her a cheesy grin, throwing back one of her lines that she'd used on him the other day. Antoinette Devereux "I am always open for your magic hands," she replied in the same sort of tone, eyebrows raising as she gave him an appreciative grin. Rolling onto her stomach and stretching out on the palm fronds, Antony rested her head on her right arm. The left one reached back to lightly smack her a**, "Take a seat. I'm comfortable enough." Her arm returned in front of her, and she shifted a bit to get more comfortable. Jamal_Reedy No one could resist the magic hands~ "If ya had had said no, I'd have figured you had ta be sick," he said cheerily, putting aside the depressing topic of being stuck in the wilderness and angry girlfriends for an excuse to get his hands on her. Bwaha...not like he needed one... He scooted over and straddled her behind, sitting carefully because he was pretty big in comparison to her but putting most of his weight on his knees. If anything, he could crack her back too since she was lying down. Experienced fingers immediately started at her lower back, as that seemed to give her the most grief, and he started to knead the muscle there. It felt tight and knotted, which was no surprise considering all the hard labor she'd done the past few days. Christ, falling out of a palm tree couldn't be good for one's back either. Antoinette Devereux Antony would never pass up a back massage. Ever. So she sighed happily as he climbed ontop of her rear, letting her eyes close. The tattooed woman immediately melted into the sand under her, a low murr collecting in her throat. This was perfect. Start out with a good back massage, then maybe some theraputic snogging, and then some good old fashioned stress relief. Currently, she was too distracted by his fingers to remember the key fact that she was out on the beach, and her birth control was still hanging out in the bathroom of her duplex. Jamal_Reedy He worked from her spine outwards, using his thumbs for the more intensive work there, alternating between circles and back and forth motions as he went. Slowly the tension eased and as it did, he slowly worked his way up. Her lower back required a bit more work than he had originally guessd, but soon enough he was to her mid-back. Jamal had to scoot forward to be able to reach well enough to put the proper effort into the massage, hovering on his knees over the portion of her back that he had just vacated. Antoinette Devereux She was in pure bliss, her eyelids beginning to feel heavy, the pleasant warmth spreading over her the only thing really keeping her awake. That would be dealt with after the massage. Oh yes. Until then, she'd just enjoy the all around greatness that was a man's hands on her back. Jamal_Reedy Jamal was well aware of the effects and aftereffects of a good massage and they weren't at all a problem to him. A back massage gave him something else to focus on other than their situation, plus he could probably sneak in some self-satisfying gropes if he wanted...which he did manage whilst working up her mid-back and sides. Hehe. He worked the muscle over her shoulder blades now, fingers moving in very slow, wide circles as he alternated between clockwise and counter-clockwise motions, working now from the outside in towards her neck, where he lessened the force he worked with, but still made it effective. Antoinette Devereux The tattooed woman muffled a groan into her arm between the gropes and the continuation of the massage. She was even getting to the point where she would be damn agreeable to anything right about now. Raising the arm she wasn't leaning on, Antony beckoned him down to her face, lazily peering up at him. "C'mere," she said gruffly, voice lower than usual. Jamal_Reedy Jamal paused his massage, nearing the end anyway, and acquired a positively angelic expression. Whatever could she want? He faintly wondered if he was going to get smacked for taking advantage of her, but... Using his hands to support himself, he scooted forward again so he could peer at her from over her shoulder, still on his knees as well so he was semi-straddling her back. "Yes~?" He retained his angelic expression, though his eyes had acquired their characteristic impish glint despite his facade. Antoinette Devereux Like Antony really believed that Jamal and innocence were even possible, but not that that mattered much at the moment. When he was leaning next to her, she reached her free hand up and snaked it around the back of Jamal's neck. Trailing her nails along the skin there, she pulled him closer and pressed her lips against his hungrily. When one couldn't smoke, there was always the next best thing... Snogging. Jamal_Reedy Jamal wasn't really surprised at this action, but it didn't make it any less pleasing. He let himself be pulled down somewhat, though he was still on over fours over her back, and returned the kiss with equal fervor, though he decided to let her take advantage of HIM this time since he'd taken the reigns last time...and because he sort of owed her one since he'd gotten a little groping action in during the massage. Antoinette Devereux Antony managed to roll onto her back underneath him into a more comfortable position, pulling him down ontop of her so she didn't have to sit up in a strange position. The sand was warm underneath her, even with a palm frond between the two of them. She pulled him into her, fingers absently massaging the back of his neck as she tilted her head to the side, deepening the kisses. This was certainly taking her mind off of this whole... Island... Whatever. Jamal_Reedy He willingly let himself be pulled wherever, but was careful not to let all his weight fall on her once she had rolled over into a belly-up position. Jamal was still straddling her torso, but his upper chest was pressed firmly to hers and a hand reached to cup the side of her head and chin, fingers lightly parting through her hair. Jamal took the deepening kisses to their fullest extent, again returning the favor but did so in a slow, teasing manner...completely on purpose. Hehe. ...Damn she was good at this whole making out thing. Antoinette Devereux Antony groaned into his lips, and would have wholeheartedly agreed with his evaluation if she had a) heard it or b) wasn't so busy at the moment. Her free hand moved to roam the muscles on his back, fingertips grasping at his flesh hungrily, her lips doing the same, parting to allow him free reign. She didn't mind the teasing, and was very much enjoying herself. Oh the wonders of making out. Jamal_Reedy Oh how ironic it would be if someone walked onto the beach at this point. Would be hard to explain this one away; they didn't really have any way to get privacy though if they cared....maybe it was that risk that made him that much more into this whole ordeal. The hands at his back felt cool to his sun-baked back and each grasp felt like a psuedo-massage, accentuated by the sensation of lip on lip contact. His hand traced down the nape of her neck, brushing the fine hair there as he nibbled on her bottom lip for a few moments, then released to catch his breath. Antoinette Devereux Sex was always better if there was a chance that the participants would get caught. Period. Not that Antony was thinking about anyone else but herself and Jamal. When he pulled back to catch his breath, that was her cue to tug off her shirt, shifting it behind her head as a makeshift pillow. Much better. Leaning up somewhat, she let her lips trail along his jawline and up towards his ear, nibbling liberally for a moment before continuing her path down the crook of his neck. And she discovered his Adam's apple, grinning to herself before applying her mouth to that next, alternating kisses with 'love bites'. Jamal_Reedy As she trailed kissed along his jaw and neck, he gave an audible, yet low and muffled groan of contentment and kissed her forehead, completely enjoying the fact that she was taking the initiative to 'explore'. He was doing his own version of exploration, his hands trailing away from her neck to trail across her shoulders, down the liberal curves of her side from chest to hips, pausing there to wrap around her waist before reaching back and behind to her butt. Antoinette Devereux Antony didn't mind the liberal groping in the least, arching her back as his hands moved down her paler flesh. His hands were more than welcome simply because they were 'magic hands.' She murred softly against his neck, nipping her way back up to his earlobe before speaking in a hoarse, low whisper, "Tell me what you want." It was a simple statement, but her throaty tone made it far from innocent. That voice in her mind had yet to remind her about the forgotten birth control. She was just far too involved now. Jamal_Reedy As her lips were going up, his were going down, pooling kisses in the curve of her neck as he nuzzled in to inhale her scent deeply. It was like electricity to his brain, sending that familiar tingle down his naked neck and back. His grasp on her behind travelled to the loose waistband of her jeans, fingers hooking above the back pocket. "You know 'xactly what I want," he practically purred, his voice more controlled and less breathy, but sensual all the same. Antoinette Devereux Her hands trailed downwards as she herself laid back down, watching his expression as she took her time tracing her fingertips down the muscles in his back, and then around to the front. She lingered along his abs, eyes watching him still with a gaze that conveyed that she knew exactly what she was doing. Every bit of it. Moving down his hip muscles, Antony abruptly stopped, moving her hands to his lower back and jerking him against her in one swift moment. Not hard enough to hurt him, but rough, a motion of lust. Jamal_Reedy His breath caught sharply in his throat as her fingers ghosted down his back and sides so nonchalantly, yet he could tell by the expression and glint of her eyes that this was fully intentional. He hated it...yet loved it at the same time. The pull on his lower back easily caught him off-guard as he was caught in a daze from her caresses, so she achieved her goal of closer bodily contact much easier than he might have allowed (if he wanted to tease her, anyway). His hands shifted slowly from the back of her jeans, around the hips, and settled against her abdomen, just below her navel. It was all becoming too much, too quickly. "Please," he mumbled against her neck, his breath warm on the space just below her ear as he spoke. Antoinette Devereux When he begged, Antony's grin became wider, and she cocked her head to the side to watch him curiously, as if she didn't understand. Obviously she was not trying to cover up her mock innocence. She shifted her hips from one side to the other, pushing upwards while her hands held him in place loosely. He could always move if he wanted to. "Please?" Her eyes half-lidded, lips parting before she allowed herself to chew lightly on her lip ring. "Hmm..." She drawled on, dragging this part out as long as possible. Jamal_Reedy "Damn you," he growled in an almost pained manner to her ear, yet he didn't move. Why on -earth- would he move? However, all this prolonged teasing was making him feel almost feral at this point. His hands shifted slightly on her belly as she moved her hips, taking up residence at the top of her zipper whilst he brought his head up from the crook of her neck to devour her full lips again, this time in a more forceful, 'needy' manner. Antoinette Devereux Her lips simply curled into a satisfied smile. Oh how she loved to tease men. His kiss took her by surprise since her attention had been on his south traveling hands, but she took it in stride, matching and pushing his vigor almost immediately. She knew this kiss, knew that she had reached the 'pass and you will not get laid' line. The line between teasing and just plain mean. Pulling back to catch her breath, she absently nibbled on his lower lip before reaching down to push his hands lower, a definate signal for him to continue. Green light ahoy. Jamal_Reedy As she pulled back to catch her breath and directed his hands at the same time, a very sly grin slipped to the corners of his mouth and his dark brown eyes practically smoldered with lust. That was all he needed...Jamal liked action, but he wasn't a rapist. With practiced ease, the button and zipper closures were pulled apart and the jeans hastily began their trip down and away from her hips, to eventually be discarded in the sand. With all signs saying proceed, there was no reason to not take full advantage now. And good lord, would he ever take advantage.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:07 pm
Island of Moreau ((Elsewhere... further into the jungle... time for the daily trap-check. 1-4: something takes the bait, but the trap fails in containing it (or snaring it at allon a 1-2, the branches hold while something too light gets the food.) 5-6: nuffink. Unless one of the other Islanders happen into your trap. The bait is left. 7-10: It works! Details if the roll gets this. (7-8, normal, smallish meal-animal, 9- a good meal. 10- ninja )) EDIT - when you go back to check on the trap the next time, you find some of the leaves disturbed above ground, where many of the big ones have fallen into the pit. At the bottom, there is a field of broken bamboo spikes, most of them snapped in two. However, there is also several droplets of blood - but not as many as you'd like to see. Finally, there looks to have been a shift in the soil - a lot of the wet earth has collapsed in on the hole, allowing whatever was inside to climb its way out. The wet earth, however, has left a good impression of footprints: large, cloven hoofprints.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:08 pm
Antoinette Devereux Antony woke up the moment light hit her square in the eyes, the breeze chillier than she had remembered the previous mornings. Her immediate reaction was to nuzzle into the warm body she was drapped over, attempting to bury her head in it to hide from the light. It was only when she realized, after groping around with her hand blindly, that there was no blanket available that they weren't in her duplex. Automatically, her brain went over the amazingly sober events of the previous night, a slight smile coming over her lips. Yep, she got laid good. Ahh... But did you use a condom? The voice nagged. She shrugged it off. It didn't really matter since she was on... Everything clicked and she shot up nearly gasping for breath, hands clutching her chest as she attempted to calm herself down. Fear was the first emotion that flooded her entire body. The voice laughed at her, seemingly pleased with itself. Trying to take a deep breath, she ended up weezing a couple of times before dissolving into a painful sounding coughing spell. Goddamn cigarettes. Antony was positively terrified. Jamal_Reedy Jamal slept on, oblivious to her sudden bolt of fright, though he was slowly coming back around to the realm of the awake and aware from the chilled wind that cooled the sands in the early morning. It was her hacking cough that made him grunt and shift at her side, startled awake briefly by the noise and an arm moved up and over his eyes to block the sun. He didn't look to be waking up properly just yet. Typical...Jamal could generally sleep through anything, anywhere. Antoinette Devereux No. This couldn't be happening to her... Not again. Antony was panicking, her chest burning painfully as it contracted. Not again. No condoms, no birth control, and no morning after pills. She had been so careful ever since... But with her luck, the one time she mucked up would be the second time. Self-consciously, Antony ignored the pain in her chest and wrapped her arms around her stomach. This couldn't happen here, happen now, under circumstances such as these? Right? RIGHT?! By this time, she was having a damn hard time breathing, and was doubled over, knees pulled up to her chest in a more comfortable position. Her mind kept showing her flashbacks, and the voice laughed in the background. "No," she whispered to herself, repeating it several more times, "Stop..." But they wouldn't. Jamal_Reedy Had Jamal been awake, he could be a little more than concerned, but he was blissfully enveloped in sleep again, his arm now blocking the harsh rays of sunshine that had previously threatened to wake him. He probably wouldn't make up until she either made him wake up or he was allowed to come around on his own. Right now she was being too quiet to be a bother....and he could sleep forever if left to his own devices. Antoinette Devereux Looks like he cares, the voice whispered to her sarcasticly, almost nudging her gaze over to the sleeping black man. Antony's fear began to melt almost immediately into anger, which evolved into searing rage. How could he?! How DARE he?! -He- didn't care either. Her mind egged her on, feeding the anger she felt. It had been his fault, not hers, and that was enough motivation for her. Her eyes glowed with an unstable determination, sanity seemed lost. Crawling over to him, she picked up a leg and swung it over his hips, perching herself so that she was straddled over his waist. This was her chance. She snaked her hands under his arm he had sprawled over his face. Slowly. Soon her hands were wrapped loosely around his neck, almost delicately. And then she leaned her weight forward and tightened her grip. "Not again," she hissed to no one in particular, "Never again." To her, he was no longer Jamal. Jamal_Reedy The light wrap of fingers about his neck drew no response, but the tightening did. The effect was immediate. Jamal's eyes flew open, feeling himself suffocating as his throat was crushed tightly in a vice-like grip, hands moving to claw desperately at the fingers that clenched over his voicebox. His sight was blurred, his mind confused...what the hell was going on? He'd been pulled out of a pleasant dream of being home on the streets with his gang brothers straight into a nitemare of attempted murder. He briefly forgot he was out in the jungle on a strange island; the bright sunlight seemed like the bright shine of a streetlamp...the rough sand at his back the concrete of a sidewalk. Had he been jumped? He never remembered leaving home in his dream, but all of a sudden he couldn't catch his breath, feeling a weight on his lower body that twarted any real movement. Feet drummed the earth behind as he tried to roll over to dislodge his attacker. Deep inside, a panic rose that was quickly consumed by anger and bewilderment as he finally realized where he was. An anger to keep himself alive yet bewilderment over the situation at hand. This was no nitemare...this was real. Slowly the form of Antony's face over his, the tattooed arms leading to the hands encircling his neck, and the hissing statement that he couldn't decipher over the roar of blood in his ears. "GOD DAMMIT," he choked, prying at her fingers desperately as a pained snarl of anger surfaced. She had leverage on him, a crazed anger, and the element of surprise...he was in a less powerful position, being down on the sand and only had brute strength and anger on his. He was trying so hard not to lash out at her with his free hands but something inside him was nagging now also...that voice that had told him to do whatever necessary to make sure -he- survived. A voice he hadn't heard in nearly four months. Either attack or be attacked....kill or be killed. Antoinette Devereux Don't let him escape again, the voice hissed, continuing to pull Antony astray from the reality of the situation. This was him, and this was well deserved revenge. Her eyes had developed almost a crazed look, but behind that was one of intense fear. In her mind, if she let go, then he'd kill her. That had always been the threat. Not anymore.Something else inside her cried out. The skin tone was different. This wasn't him. She paid no attention to it, but her hands did loosen subconsciously whethere she wanted them to or not. Her breathing became labored, and her pupils dialated. You will be safe again, the voice purred, coaching her. And she listened. "I want to be safe," she explained, hissing throatily through gritted teeth. However, there was obviously more to this situation than that. Jamal_Reedy Jamal growled, or tried to rather. It came out more as a gargling noise, harsh and painful as he strained to catch his breath. He wanted to yell at her, to curse at her, to demand she let him go...he couldn't reply to her delirious comments and probably wouldn't have if he was capable. He tried to slip the fingers of one hand between the gaps in both hers, pulling with as much force as he could muster to try to remove one of hers. His other hand reached clumsily upward to a shoulder to try to push her away. Jamal couldn't keep himself from becoming more and more violent as this progressed and the shove was much rougher and unrestrained than he'd probably ever release on her any other time. The black man again tried to turn himself over so he'd no longer be on his back, subconsciously knowing how vunerable one could be there. Roll over, get to his feet, and take it from there. Adrenaline pulsed madly through his bloodstream, only fueling agression that was so much stronger than what he remembered experiencing in gang fights and running from gunshots. Antoinette Devereux He, even with the help of adrenaline, was still stronger than her, and the shove caused her to lose her grip. She hit the sand with a grunt, eyes opening only to see him roll over and try to stand. Panic hit her again, and she immediately scurried back and away from him, chest closing in on her again. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and for the first time in a long time, Antony felt utterly helpless. Now look what you did, the voice snarled at her, causing her to jump. "No," she breathed in response. You let him go again! The voice was getting progressively louder, and angrier. "He didn't mean to..." she said softly, voice shaking considerably. He didn't -mean- to, it mocked, whining somewhat before growing serious again, How many times must I remind you... He doesn't love you. Never had, and never will. But you have always been weak."NO!" Antony cried abruptly, reaching up to clutch her head, tears threatening to spill free. Crying doesn't work on him."Shut UP!" The only response was laughter, and Antony immediately wrapped her arms around her stomach again, eyes darting over to him as her breathing tightened once again. He had come to finish what he promised. Jamal_Reedy Jamal got to his feet in a flurry of sand, his eyes narrowed and jaw twisted in complete and absolute anger as he coughed and greedily sucked in air. A darkened rash of welts had formed around the muscle of his neck in twisted, grotesque necklaces that went up over his adam's apple to just below his chin. He didn't...couldn't know what had made her snap. All he knew was that she had, in effect, tried to strangle him to death. Part of him wanting to hang over her and demand an explaination, but the other warned him against even moving in her direction, hands balling reflexively into fists as he glowered at her huddled form. He didn't even hear her random cries. He knew he wasn't in the right frame of mind to try and have a discussion of any kind...the tension and blind urge for violence only continued to build until he was sure he was just going to lash out at her regardless of the circumstances. No. The darkness of the forest would soothe his anger. Why and how, he didn't know, but he just felt this. Hide and wait there until the moment was right...always easier in the dark... Jamal didn't even realize how bizzare these very thoughts were as he turned abruptly, bare feet crunching into the sand as he created distance between the fallen woman and himself. Antoinette Devereux Antony was utterly shocked when he suddenly turned away from her and left. He didn't hit her, he didn't yell at her, and he didn't retaliate in any way. This wasn't him. She was beyond confused for many moments after that. He -always- retaliated. Always made sure to put her back in her place. Until realization hit her like a sharp punch in the stomach. Sucking in a lungful of air, she fell forward onto her hands and knees, a choking noise coming from her throat as her breath coinsided with a silent sob. He wasn't here. The relief was short lived as she forced her gaze to focus on the figure disappearing into the jungle. Jamal. Sinking back roughly onto her knees, Antony brought her hands from the warm sand, and she simply stared at them. What had she done? You tried to kill him. The voice returned, making sure to interject its answer in. She didn't have the energy to disagree, nor could she honestly disagree with the statement. She -had- tried to kill him, but in the end... Him wasn't Jamal. How was she going to explain this to him when he got back? Antony had already decided against going after him, not that she had the energy to if she wanted. Her entire body felt weak. Drained emotionally, physically, and mentally. She was hungry and tired, but she made not move towards the camp. Her face felt hot and damp, and her eyes burned. She didn't even know she had been crying. Jamal_Reedy As he entered the jungle, a place he normally despised with a passion, he gave an inarticulate yell, having no words come forth but literally just a roar of noise for the sake of venting frustration. Hands grasped at fragile vines and broad leaves and violently ripped them from their foundations. Saplings simply bowed out of his way as he pulled on them, only to snap back upright in a manner that was almost taunting him. He wanted to shatter something...to hear the noise of something breaking beyond repair in his hands. He had so much excess anger and adrenaline that simply had no place to go but out, yet the plant-life proved to be ineffective in allowing him to release it. It was too supple to take any real abuse. The darkness enveloped his form completely as he moved further into the protective shade and immediately he felt at greater ease than moments ago. He refused to look back out onto the beach, but instead took up a seat at the bottom of a tree, leaning back against it to rub gingerly at the welts about his neck, lips curled into a silent snarl. Jamal_Reedy He sat in complete silence for a long time (or what felt like a long time anyway) there against the rough bark of the tree, trying to rub the stinging sensation from the delicate skin about his neck that had been twisted and pinched so painfully from Antony's crazed attack. It was no use, however; he could feel the raised skin and felt the heat that came from the welts. It would probably bruise later. Now that he was in a clearer mind set, he remembered the trap and how it hadn't been checked yet...that would be a good thing to do to keep him from going back to camp right now. He wasn't sure what he'd do or say to Antony when he did eventually go back, but perhaps the news of meat would lift his spirits. Jamal heaved himself up and started to blindly wander towards the path that they had taken into the deeper jungle, then followed it in once it was found. The first thing he saw was the disturbed leaf litter and that made him hurry his pace, but as he got closer he could see that there was an odd slope near the pit's edge. Upon further inspection, he saw that it had caved in significantly and that inside, several if not most of the bamboo had been cracked in two. He cursed and kicked at a piece of discarded bark, ignoring the faint blood droplets and the hoof prints. They had something, but it had gotten away....or someone sabatoged their trap. The only thing to do was to either leave the pit or try to repair the damage and since he wasn't up to discovering more bones, the latter would have to do. With a resigned sigh, he turned to head back to the camp, trying to remember the last place he saw the knife and the shovel. Hopefully he could retrieve both and slip back to the jungle without being attacked again. It didn't take long for him to reach the sandy beach again and head for the fire. Antoinette Devereux Antony hadn't left the spot that he had left her in, and when she heard someone crash out from the jungle, she visibly jumped. Immediately going to wipe her face dry, and then her nose. She damn didn't want to look like she had been crying the entire time, even though she had. She was stronger than that. At least, she wanted to appear that way, but her attempts were failing miserably. The tattooed woman didn't dare approach Jamal after the look she had seen in his eyes. The water had risen to the point where it was lapping at her toes, but she didn't pay any attention to it. Her mind had been going through way too many things that she had tucked far away in the back of her mind. Things she had forgotten, or tried to forget anyways. Her thoughts continued to venture towards the possibility of getting pregnant. Not to mention pregnant on the middle of this island, with no possibility of an abortion and not nearly enough food. Finally, after a lot of thought, Antony weakly called out to him, voice cracking, "Jamal?" It took all she had not to break into tears again, "I... please let me explain." Then after that he could ignore her again. Jamal_Reedy Jamal hadn't noticed her down by the water's edge, as he hadn't been looking for her. His goal was the fire where the shovel and knife were strewn in the sand, though his guard was up. He was pretty sure that Antony had some other factor that had sent her off the deep end, but he didn't know what and if it was still an ongoing thing; he didn't really fancy dying there on a beach at the hands of a woman much smaller than himself. He was still angry though, but faintly enough to where he could keep himself in control. It was hard to be genial when you just had the s**t choked out of you. When she called out to him, he had to suppress the urge to ignore her under the pretense of having to fix their trap, but the crack and audible emotion in her weak cry made him rethink that. He couldn't ever remember her being so ******** up as to be on the verge of tears...if he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed this during their 'fight', but he had been understandably distracted. He then noticed that she hadn't moved from where she was knocked down and that she looked liked hell warmed over. Don't be a jerk....She tried to KILL you dumbass!His expression grew bland and emotionless as he veered his course to the fire, opting to at least see what she had to say. She looked horrible...horrible enough to where he almost felt bad. There had to be a good reason for her to go batshit nuts on him...right? Antoinette Devereux She glanced up when he came over towards her, but quickly turned her eyes to the sand in front of her, a weak attempt to hide her face. The broken woman had to open and close her mouth before she could form words. "My birth control's in my duplex." Her voice cracked, tears threatening to spill out again, but she forced them back. No more tears. There was obviously more to her freaking out earlier, but Antony felt that she had to start somewhere. Jamal_Reedy Jamal blinked slowly, not quite understanding why this was something worth choking him over. It wasn't his fault her birth control was in her duplex...was she scared just over that? Yeah, that sucked. He hadn't really thought about this last night (but she obviously hadn't either). He gave her a silent look that remained mostly emotionless, but also gave her the impression to continue if there was anything else. Seriously, if killing him over her lack of birth control was it.... Antoinette Devereux Antony kept her eyes on the sand, but could feel his look, "I've been pregnant before..." She trailed off, running her hand over her face to try and calm herself. "He... More than once... In high school." Each addition to her explanation felt like a new knife being stabbed into her stomach. "Look... I don't want to be a ******** sob story. I don't want pity..." Pausing liberally, she absently dug her toes into the wet sand as a new wave came and crashed over her legs. "I was 'in love' with him, and for some stupid reason, I thought that he loved me. Young and stupid. It was great until I got pregnant the first time... I ran to him, terrified..." She choked back a sob, gritting her teeth and taking a deep breath before continuing, voice unsteady once more, "He hit me... Over, and over... In the stomach..." Her arms instinctively wrapped around herself like she had earlier. "I miscarried..." "Said if I told anyone, he'd kill me... And he still wouldn't use a condom. I was too scared to go get the pill... All of this for love..." She still wouldn't look up at him, having a hard enough time holding it together for her sake, "The second time I tested positive, my dad found the... Tester thing in the trash..." There was a long pause while she swallowed back some more tears, "I had an abortion. My dad went with me..." Antony sigh, reaching up to wipe away the few tears that somehow escaped. "I broke it off with the guy, and he didn't like that... Not at all... I woke up in the hospital. Dad mad me press charges. He would call me with death threats at all hours of the morning..." She stopped, not really able to continue and not thinking that any more of the details were needed. "I thought you were him..." Pausing, she grew quiet once more, glancing up at him nervously. Jamal_Reedy Jamal listened quietly to her explaination, careful to not pass any sort of premature judgement on her sanity throughout it. As the story went, it made more sense...not entire sense, but enough to where he could understand at least a little. Being as he was, he couldn't completely sympathize...he'd never been or COULD be in that situation. What he didn't understand was how she could mistake him for this a*****e she spoke of. Yeah, he could be a d**k...but to intentionally cause a woman...a -pregnant- woman...harm? That was crossing the line. How could she have gone from sleeping into a raving psycho so fast? He sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily with a hand, eyes half lidded as he tried to decide what he ought to say or do at this point. Okay...so obviously the no birth control thing freaked her out...it had never been a problem for him (and somehow he'd escaped knocking anyone up)...but he could at least see where she's coming from. But he didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to reassure her? He honestly had no clue. She didn't want pity and he wasn't going to give it if she didn't want it. This obviously and understandibly bothered her enough to put her in tears though, which was a state he hadn't seen her in before. To spare her from having to look up at him, he settled down in the sand in front of her and just looked at her face, trying to think of something worthwhile to say. Antoinette Devereux "I have an anger problem..." She frowned, figuring she might as well admit it, "Obviously... Blind rages... Earlier, it all happened so fast... Deja vu--" Antony abruptly stopped when he moved to sit down in front of her, startled that he was still there. Her eyes immediately went back to the sand, unsure of what to do or say. It was a long silence, the waves continuing to crash around her, and now him. "Never again..." She murmured, tightening her arms around herself. She looked even more drained, weak even, and that was a rare look for the tattooed woman. Closing her eyes, she shook off a couple of fresh tears, sighing deeply, "I haven't told anyone in a long time..." Jamal_Reedy Anger problem...well...that was the understatement of the year. He had first-hand experience of this fact. But a lot of this explained why Antony was how she was...why all her comments about relationships were clipped, overgeneralized, and showed an obvious lack of attachment. It was all fine and dandy with him; he wasn't looking for anything serious now that the Awen thing was ruined (which was his fault as much as he didn't want to admit it)...but he hadn't meant to make her pull the skeletons out of the closet. He felt like he ought to say something profound but Jamal was never good at that sort of thing unless he was wooing the ladies and this was definately not one of those times. Jamal was instead faced with a very upset woman that might have a bigger problem later on if the worst scenario came to life. He felt bad, but he was still angry, as self-centered as that sounded. Yet she looked so weak and vulnerable there crumpled on the beach as the water lapped impatiently at them. He couldn't help feel protective of her; she was likely the last person on the island that considered him a human being...a friend no less...and dared to confide such personal trauma in him. "Come'ere," he finally murmured, extending a hand palm up to her in a beckoning gesture. She looked like she needed a hug at the very least, and that was something he could offer...as long as she didn't try to kill him again. Antoinette Devereux Antony blinked when he finally spoke, hesitating a moment before pushing herself over and into his arms, and eventually crawling into his lap. Nuzzling absently into his chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist and burried her head into where his neck and chest connected. "I'm so sorry," she warbled, finally letting a few sobs and a handful of tears leak out when he couldn't see her. Nevermind the fact that he could probably feel all of the above. "It won't happen again... I promise..." Jamal_Reedy Being barechested, he could most certainly feel the dampness of tears on her cheeks as she nuzzled dangerously close to the sore, abused flesh of his neck. He didn't care that she cried; from the sound of it, she needed to. The indignant anger slowly replaced itself with a sort of helpless frustration at the situation as she quivered and clung to him like the vines he destroyed not that long ago in his own fit of anger. He cradled her carefully in his lap, arms loosely about her middle as he let his chin and cheek rest lightly on the top of her head. "I ain't mad no more," he said quietly. "Ya scared da s**t outta me. I ain't gonna lie." It was pretty obvious he felt bad about the entire situation. He normally never admitted when he was caught offguard, thinking it only gave people ideas on how to get at him later...he hoped this wouldn't backfire later, even if it was another 'accident' that came to pass. Antoinette Devereux She nodded, tightening her embrace when he said he wasn't mad anymore, relaxing into his arms. "M'sorry..." Antony felt horrible about what she did to him, and was grateful that he was even remotely forgiving her. Hoping, praying even, that he shot blanks or didn't have strong swimmers, Antony sent out a request to every one of the gods that she knew of. Please don't let her get pregnant. Her eyes opened, and when they focused, she gasped slightly at the sight of his neck. "I did... Holy s**t..." Tactful as always. Jamal_Reedy Well, thus far, Jamal had been doing a good job of NOT knocking anyone up...so until he was proved otherwise, he'd continue to believe that everything would work out fine. They wouldn't know for awhile anyway. Her comment about his neck made him frown a bit. He couldn't see the damage, but he could feel it and knew it probably wasn't pretty. Jamal was somewhat astounded he could talk at all; his throat was sore, which was to be expected, but she could have crushed his larynx with the pressure she had on it. "It'll heal," he said blandly, mentally chalking up that injury with all the others that he had sustained thus far during this little escapade in the wilderness. Jamal really didn't want her to freak out about the fact that she made his neck looked like raw hamburger and seriously almost killed him in the process. "It don't hurt dat bad." Antoinette Devereux Antony frowned, but accepted his response, feeling quite guilty. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she blinked, glancing at the jungle. "The trap," she muttered abruptly, "Did you check it?" She was hopeful, and damn hungry. That and she wanted to know if their trap had work, and it was a mighty fine subject change as well. "I'm starving..." Jamal_Reedy Sadly, that subject only brought more bad news...but she asked... "I did," he said slowly, the look on his face clearly giving an impression of disappointment that he felt intensely, remembering the damage he'd come upon. "Somethin' fell in, but it broke off most of da spikes 'n' caved it in on da side...no sign of where it might'a gone. I don't think it got dat hurt cause I didn't see much blood." Antoinette Devereux The news was disappointing, but she wanted to see for herself. "It's a damn good start then... Let's go see what we can do." Standing carefully with a sort of determined second wind, Antony made her way over to where the rest of her clothes were, immediately pulling them on. She was working on her boots when her stomach gave her a grand growl. It only fueled her fervor. Jamal_Reedy He made sure she was out of the way before he too got up and followed behind her, grabbing his jeans and shaking them free of sand before slipping them on. The black man immediately went to gather up the knife and shovel again, since he knew they'd need them. "We might be able ta' fix it...but it's gonna need some work," said Jamal as he rolled one of the mangos over to where he could grab it easily and put it under an arm. They'd need it for bait, should they fix the destroyed pit. Antoinette Devereux Antony nodded, and once fully dressed, she turned and started into the jungle, making a beeline for the trap. It was a walk she would have much rather made with food in her stomach, but she didn't have that luxury. So she kept moving until she got there, eyes glancing over the trap critically. She saw the blood, and then the tracks, heart leaping for joy before she noticed that they also were lost once the animal walked on foliage. "Damn," she grunted. Her eyes went to survey the trap with a frown, "Maybe if we supported the sides with sorts of braces to prevent another cave in..." Sighing, she tried to think of something that would help dry out the bottom of the pit, or maybe make it more solid, stronger. "Maybe add rocks in the bottom to help support the spikes? I don't know..." Jamal_Reedy Rocks...that would take FOREVER. It could help, but he wasn't sure. He sure as hell wasn't an engineer. "Maybe if we use mo' bamboo on da sides...put 'em right in da corners and then maybe a few spaced between against da sides...then try ta put bark o' somethin' between da wall 'n da bamboo there ta hold da dirt back..." He was trying to think of a dam-like apparatus, but wasn't sure if it would work. The discomfort in his neck was forgotten about as they tried to figure out this newest problem. God damn, he just wanted a ******** burger. Antoinette Devereux "Yeah, lets try that first... I'll go back to camp and grab the rest of the bamboo. Try and find something to do what you were saying." She looked contimplative for a moment before turning her heel and heading back to camp. Once she was there, she gathered up two of the long, thicker bamboo stalks that could be clearly cut in half and still be useful for braces. It took her a while to get back to Jamal, and she set down the bamboo stalks down next to the hole, wiping the sweat from her brow.
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Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:36 pm
Stewart Young It had been at least a week since Stewart had last seen any traces of civilization. Other than meeting up with Colche, he hadn't seen any other humans for quite some time. Little did he know, but his changes had not only occured physically. The goat inside of him was really beginning to show. Not only had he been eating anything that wasn't firmy attached to the ground, but he had been thinking of things that would give his poor mother a heart attack. What made it even worse was the fact that the physcial manfistation of his...erm, problem still hasn't gone away. But he was ripped out of his current fantasy by the sound of voices nearby. To make it even better, the voice sounded female. Now determined to find out if others were nearby, he started jogging.... Finally, he came across two people doing something with bamboo. One happened to be a very fine looking female. "I re-" Stewart was about to mumble something very dirty when he noticed all that bamboo they had. For some reason, he was really feeling like eating some of it... Antoinette Devereux Since she could not see Jamal anywhere, and it was definately not ghetto speak, Antony blinked back and was surprised to see someone she had never met before. Wiping newly formed sweat from her brow she raised an eyebrow at the guy with horns growing from his head. "Yes?" She didn't really like the way that he was looking at that bamboo. Stewart Young Stewart could hardly believe his luck, he was alone with a very hot girl in the middle of a forest. He almost started giggeling like a thirteen year old boy who had just discovered Playboy for the first time. But he managed to stop himself. "So uh... What are you doing with all that bamboo?" After he said that, he almost smacked himself for sounding so stupid.... Oh well, hopefully she'll still give me some of that bamboo. He thought as he looked at her, but he was having a really hard time keeping his eyes on her face. Antoinette Devereux Antony was about to brush this guy off and continue to work on the trap when her eyes came across quite a familiar sight. She blinked and stared, absently wondering why someone stranded on the island would dip into the Viagra. Maybe he thought it'd work like a compass? And uh, help him navigate the jungle? This guy didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box. Her eyes dragged away from his little friend and she looked pointedly at the half collapsed trap. "Need to fix the trap." Sadistically, Antony moved one hand to lift the bottom of her tank up to wipe some sweat from her chest, eyes watching for his reaction. Then she asked him a question, "And you are...?" Just to see if he could focus on more than one thing at once. Stewart Young Stewart's widened as he watched her, he had never felt this way before. And his erection still hasn't gone away, if it was possibly he felt like it was getting worse. Turning a dark shade of red he said "Fathe- Er, Stewart. Stewart Y-Young. What's yours?" He still couldn't figure out why she needed a trap for. But that thought was quickly relpaced by many, mostly dirty, ones. Antoinette Devereux "Father?" She questioned, eyebrow raising futher. Well that would explain it. A priest. A way to contain the crazy people of the world. Crazy people who for some reason never wanted to have sex. Obviously this guy was failing at that urge. And since Antony wasn't one to ignore the pink elephant, she cleared her throat and eyed the wood pointedly. "I meant his name actually, but mine is Antony." Stewart Young Stewart finally figured out what she was staring at. He attempted to cover it up with his hands, but that only made it look like he was touching himself. "Am I eh.... Is it supposed to have a name?!?" He asked trying to figure out if it was normal male behaivor or not. Antoinette Devereux She shrugged, apparently not phased by the fact that he had a p***s and it was hard. "Some do, but not all." Though, one had to admit, this was a strange situation to be horny without stimulation in. Getting down onto her hands and knees at around halfway in the middle of the bamboo stalks, Antony pulled out the knife and began to cut them. It didn't bother her that he could probably see down her shirt. In fact, she made sure to push her shoulders a bit more together just to tease him. "Why the problem then... Father?" Antony made sure to speak his title in a sultry voice, eyes glancing up at him through her bangs. Stewart Young Stewart was still confused about the p***s naming, but he could worry about that later. He reached over to grab a leaf from a nearby tree as he leaned foward to get a better look at the trap "So... What exactly is that trap for?" He asked nibbeling on the leaf. Noticing that he not only could get a better view of the trap, but he could look down her shirt at the same time. It was almost too good to be true. Antoinette Devereux This guy had to be kidding right? Antony looked up at him with a sort of 'what the ********' stare, raising an eyebrow. "Uh... To catch food." She gave him a 'duh' look before returning to cutting the bamboo, shaking her head. Jeez, people on this island were ******** stupid. Stewart Young Stewart was digusted at that thought. Even the thought of eating meat was enough to make him gag. He wasn't sure why really, but he really started noticing it after he changed. He paused for a second to pluck another leaf off the tree but before chomping on it he said "Why not just go find fruit in the forest. That sounds much less barbaric to me..." After he finshed saying this, he began to eat the leaf he grabbed. Antoinette Devereux Antony rolled her eyes, "Because I am an omnivore. I like meat AND fruit." Finishing with one of the bamboo stalks, she moved onto the other before continuing, "That and protein helps heal muscle cells, which is helpful when you're doing a lot of physical work. You know, building things, collecting firewood, having sex." Stewart Young Stewart almost choked on his leaf when she said that last one. Did he really just hear her correctly? "Sorry, but what was that last one?" He userstood the other ones, but wouldn't it be kind of strange to have sex in the middle of the forrest... What was even weirder what that thought was really turning him on... Antoinette Devereux "Sex." She repeated, cutting through the last bamboo stalk and standing up. "Oh right, a priest. You can't have sex." Antony grinned, an absolutely devious look flickering in her violet eyes. "It is a physical activity after all, at least... It is when I have it..." She smiled warmly, brushing off the dirt from her knees. Stewart Young Ah sex, he wouldn't mind hav- He stopped himself in the middle of that thought, what a terrible thing to think about! He heardly even knew her, and here he was wanting to get into her pants. And when had sex become a physcial activity? Was it now the new soccer? "Very true, but I've been feeling more like a frat boy than a man of the cloth lately. This island has done terrible things to me." He said lookind down at his now not so human fingers and sighed. Antoinette Devereux "Obviously," she said, motioning towards his little friend once more. Princess Sophia. Antony grinned, "Princess Sophia has made himself known." God that movie was awesome. She had to keep from laughing, fixing a serious look on her face as she nodded. "Really? I always wanted to ******** a priest, simply because they aren't allowed." That and she felt like she was ******** over God. Stewart Young "What? Princess Sophia!?" He said looking slightly scared, at least call it something manly... He didn't have time to dwell on his brused ego though, she actually wanted to do a priest? He couldn't believe his luck today "Really? I wouldn't mind ******** you either." Oh dear god, did he just say that out loud?!?!?!? Antoinette Devereux Antony smirked, nearly choking when a priest actually said that agreeable phrase, her eyes widened. Well that wasn't much of a challenge. "Well do you have a condom on you?" She raised an eyebrow, chewing on her lip ring suggestively. "Cause if you do..." Jamal forgotten, the tattooed woman closed the distance between the two of them. Leaning up and against him (and Princess Sophia), she moved onto the balls of her feet til her lips were hovering over his ear. "Then I'd ******** you." Her voice was low and throaty. And just like that, she moved away and went back to working on the trap as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Stewart Young Stewart almost moaned after she said than mumbeling "Dear god, I wish I did. He cursed then himself for not having one and decided from now on he was carrying a box with him at all times. He wasn't really sure why she would want him, but he wasn't one to ask questions. And he wasn't on asking that anytime soon. Trying to get his mind off her naughty parts he said "Have you seen any of the other islanders around here?" Antoinette Devereux "Well then, you're out of luck," she chortled, grinning back at him and inwardly cursing. Though there were always other options, but until he thought of those... Oh well for him. Nodding in response to his comment, Antony smiled, "My ******** buddy wandered off just before you showed up." Yes, she was trying to make this as hard for him as possible, pun intended. Stewart Young "Your what?!?" He said very confused. The term '******** buddy' was a new one to him. And with his luck, her buddy is probably some large black man that could snap him in half. "He's not here now is he?" Reallym Stewart did not want to get caught hitting on his girl. He perfered his face unbroken, thank you very much. Deciding to hide in the forest just in case he quickly made up a very lame excuse "I'll be back later I need to go eh... pee" Antoinette Devereux "Whatever, but come find me when you get those condoms," she said, smiling in amusement. God this guy really needed to get laid. Too bad he'd probably last like... 1 minute. Two tops. Still ******** a priest was one of those things on her 'to do' list, so that small problem would be overlooked for now. "Just don't put your eye out." With a hard on like that, he just might.
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Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:33 pm
Jamal_Reedy Jamal returned after an extended time, having wandered off to the river in search of rocks and whatnot that might potentially be good for stablizing the new spikes once they had the pit repaired. He'd taken his jeans off, tied the legs into knots near the ankles, and jammed as many rocks as he could manage into it, then hefted it over his back to haul it back. Probably not a good idea as far as his clothing was concerned, but he could carry much more this way. He'd have to make a few trips either way. With a grunt, he dropped the rock-filled jeans at the edge of the pit and surveyed the damage with a sullen sort of expression. Antoinette Devereux Antony was just watching Stewart leave when Jamal returned with a bunch of rocks. Tilting her head to the side, she raised an eyebrow before smiling, forgetting about Stewart for the time being. "Now what?" She asked, running a hand absently through her hair. Jamal_Reedy "Well, first I figger we gotta get all dat loose dirt 'n broke spikes outta there so we kin' try ta strengthen da sides..." he said after a thoughtful pause, shifting into a squatting position at the side of the pit to try and figure the best way to go about stablizing the pit walls. He wasn't sure if it would work that well and he really honestly didn't want to have to do this again tomorrow. Antoinette Devereux She rubbed her face and sighed deeply, looking down into the pit and at the sides. Tilting her head to the side, her brow furrowed in thought, eyes glancing up towards the vegetation around them before returning them to the trap. Antony had an idea. "After that..." She trailed off, pointing towards the corners first, "Bamboo posts there, and then maybe weave vines or something to make a net..." Her hands followed moved as she spoke, motioning towards the caved in wall as well as the others, "And then... maybe weave in leaves to keep the dirt in place? I don't know..." Frowning in thought, she looked up at Jamal for his opinion. Jamal_Reedy Jamal shrugged indifferently, but nodded as an afterthought as he stood up again and started to dump the contents of his jeans onto the jungle floor. "Could work...not like we gotta lotta options. Might as well try. What else we got ta do anyway?" This was probably going to take awhile. Oh well...at least he could keep himself busy and not think about how badly his neck hurt. Seemed like the black man traded off one injury for another one with the way things were going. Antoinette Devereux "Nothing," she stated, glaring at the hole before hefting up one of the bamboo stalks and carrying it over to one of the not caved in corners. Shoving it in sharp side down, Antony leaned her weight down on it till it went in about six inches and would stand by itself. After she repeated the motion with the other three stalks (since none of the corners were caved in) before going to grab a sizeable rock to use as a hammer. "I'll work on reinforcing these walls," she said, hoping he would take the hint and start fixing the 'broken' wall. She then went to hammer in the stakes another foot or so till they were even with the ground. It took a while, but she eventually got it done. Next she cut down vines from the surrounding area, and weaved them betweeen the two stakes on all the walls but Jamals. Leaving enough left for his stakes, she went to cut down some large, sturdy leaves, which she fitted behind her weavings and the wall of dirt. This was repeated on all the other sides, and then would be repeated on Jamal's side once he finished digging it out. Jamal_Reedy Jamal did start working on the broken wall, starting first at the top by trying to pack it down a bit so it wouldn't crumble as he dug, then entered the pit and started chucking the dirt out with his bare hands. He figured that once the vines were up and the leaves in place, they could fill in the hole and hopefully back it in so it'd be somewhat sturdy and not fall in again...or at least allow some sort of animal to walk on it without disintergrating. It took some time just to get the crumblings of the wall up and outside the hole and by the time he was done, Jamal was filthy. Antoinette Devereux Once he was out of the pit, she went in. Sitting on her butt on the side and then carefully sliding into the pit so that she didn't land on any spikes, Antony immediately went to fixing the spikes. She used the same method she had putting them in, and then moved to lean up against the vine and leaf wall that wasn't fully filled in. This way, she could support it more when Jamal was filling it in. Jamal_Reedy Jamal waited until she was out of the way, then started to roll the odd-sized rocks into the pit, careful that they didn't land on Antony as they fell in. The amount of rocks he had wasn't much, and it was obvious that he'd have to go back for more. At least it was a start. As the last ones were put in, he stood and threw the abused pair of jeans over his shoulder. "Gonna go get more," he drawled before disappearing where he had gone last time to get more rocks. Antoinette Devereux Antony waited until he finished rolling the rocks before going to pick them up and distribute them around the pit floor in a way so that they supported the stakes. She did this until she ran out of rocks, working her way from one side to the other. Jamal_Reedy It was probably 20min or so before he returned, somewhat cleaner, but shining from a combination of river water and sweat. Over his shoulder again were his jeans, packed to the max with rocks. The poor things looked about ready to burst....his pants were not going to last long at this rate. Again he dumped the contents and when she was ready, he rolled them into the pit. He went through this process at least twice more and by now, his back was twinging painfully in response to the hard labor and his hands and the skin of his back were rubbed raw and sore from all the rocks. Antoinette Devereux Antony repeated the rock packing procedure with each new load of rocks, and was just as glad when she was finished. "Anything else?" She asked him, wanting to make sure they were finished with the stuff in there before getting out of the pit and covering it. Jamal_Reedy "Naw, I think dat's it," he said, trying to stretch out his aching back muscles by briefly arching his back, then bent over to peer dubiously down into the pit. It -looked- stable... He just needed to fill in the collapsed wall with the spare dirt he pulled from the pit bottom. Antoinette Devereux Antony was sore as well, but didn't complain, she already felt bad enough already for the condition his neck was in. "M'kay." She raised her arms for a help up because she sure as hell didn't want to ruin the walls too much, "I'll work out your back later if you want." Jamal_Reedy He wasn't sure if he ought to accept an offer like that...just...well, in case she decided to go strangle-happy again, but he didn't comment, nor did his let his expression betray that thought. Instead, he reached down towards her, locking his hands around her wrists and expecting her to do the same, then heaved her out with just a bit of strain. "Itta jus' take a minute ta get dis filled in," he commented after letting her go, then pointing at the depression at the wall face. "Yous gonna get the stuff ta cover da whole thing, righ'?" Antoinette Devereux She did as he expected, nodding to answer his question and immediately going off for the same supplies that they had used last time. It took her twenty or so minutes for her to gather supports like last time, and then the palm fronds. Once that was done, she organized them as she did last time as well, scattering some debris on top of it as well. Jamal_Reedy While Antony was gone, Jamal fell to his hands and knees, going to work on the crater with a slightly optimistic air. The trap had to work this time...after all the work they put into it... Of course, Jamal was giving more into the aspect of karma than of realistic trial and error. He felt like they deserved to have some luck about now. When the woman returned, the black man was cautiously stamping the crumbled earth into a more solid mass, careful not to stress the vine-lashed wall supports unnecessarily. It was still obvious, at least to him, that there had been a fault there, but he knew better than to think an animal would notice. He just hoped that whatever was out there wouldn't cause a dirt-slide again if and when something fell in. Antoinette Devereux "Let's bait it and leave, I'm tired," she murmured, yawning slightly and glancing towards the setting sun. "I don't want to be here when it's dark." After it was finally baited, Antony waited for him, and then began heading back towards camp. Gods was she hungry. Jamal_Reedy He grunted his agreement, quickly giving the space a bit more stamping until he was finally convinced that it wouldn't get better, but it could certainly get worse if he kept at it too long. With the trap now baited for a second time, he was eager to also get away from the jungle and get clean. He smelt of musky earth and sweat which caused his nose to wrinkle in displeasure. Jamal was distinctly aware of his personal hygene now especially since he went those first few days absolutely disgusting. Jamal followed after Antony, brushing his dusty, bruised hands on the jeans that were thrown over his shoulder. Antoinette Devereux Antony was also ready to get clean, and she didn't really want to smell herself and figure out just how bad she too smelled. The moment her boots hit sand, the tattooed woman was discarding clothes. Taking her lighter and what was left of her cigarettes out of her jeans, she gathered all her clothing but her boots and went down to the ocean. Time to wash her and her clothes. Jamal_Reedy He was a bit more slow about going off to bathe. As she tromped off to the ocean, he paused by the fire and tossed his jeans to the side. The blaze was small currently, having grown close to burning itself out whilst they were gone, so he fed it some more wood to keep it going. For a few moments, he watched the flames, the light reflecting off the sheen of sweat that was drying on his dark skin, then reached for a bottle of booze. He didn't care what it was; he only wanted a swig, knowing that drinking excessively for no reason was stupid when alcohol had other uses. Jamal kicked the bottle back briefly, then swallowed with a slight hiss as he did so while the liquor burned a bit on the way down. Antoinette Devereux Antony came back a bit later, clean and in a much better mood. She glanced at the bamboo stalks and after hastily making a pseudo lean to by the fire, she layed her clothes out on it before taking the bottle from him and taking a drink as well before putting the top back on. Man was she tired. Jamal_Reedy The bottle was handed over without comment and again he hid the uncertainty portrayed in his wary eyes by turning his head away and scooping his jeans up once more. He slipped away from the fire without a word, all but melting into the rapidly darkening horizon as he headed for the water. His lighter and joints had long been removed and hidden in a safe spot just at the jungle's edge since he knew his clothing would be getting impromptu washing until they finally could get into the duplexes. Antoinette Devereux Sighing as she was given the cold shoulder, Antony couldn't really blame him, and while he was gone, she cracked open a coconut and immediately drank the milk from it. She felt a little better, and when the liquid was gone, Antony began chipping away at the white meat of the fruit. Unfortunately, the two of them weren't getting the nutrients that they needed, and the lack of protein was getting to her. Antony was unusually tired, and this was with the physical work being taken in consideration. The trap better work. Yawning, the tattooed woman layed down on the 'bed,' deciding just to rest her eyes for the moment. She was so tired. Jamal_Reedy He wasn't gone long; the dirt washed away easily with a mild sand scrub and his jeans could only get so clean after being used to haul rocks. His hair was slowly frizzing and turning into dreads at this point, the braids falling apart due to the lack of attention, the ocean water, and not having a pick to be able to brush it out. Nothing he could do about it. Soon enough he was back to the fire, clad only in his boxers as the jeans were soon thrown up on the structure that Antony had arranged so they could dry. He didn't bother going to grab a coconut; the thought of the sickly sweet substance made his stomach clench and almost killed his appetite. Almost. He pulled up a palm frond and took a seat, sitting with his legs propped up and setting his crossed arms on top of his knees. Antoinette Devereux Cracking her eyelids open, Antony watched him lazily as he sat down, "I'm really sorry," she said honestly after a long silence. She stayed laying on her side facing him, gaze turning towards the sand with a slight frown. The coconut continued to be picked at, a few white chunks making their way into her mouth every so often. Jamal_Reedy Jamal wasn't sure how to respond really. He knew she was sorry, but still...that whole thing was ******** scary. He'd never have thought that she'd go nuts like that and do as much damage as she did. The black man turned his head to look at her as she picked at her coconut, resting a cheek on the smooth flesh of his arm. "I know dat, I know," he said as though he was reassuring himself more than her. It was just so...awkward. Antoinette Devereux Antony yawned again, eyes closing during the motion and not opening them again afterwards, but she still nodded to acknowledge that she heard him. "I think... I'm going to take a nap..." She said softly, voice trailing off as she got more comfortable on the palm fronds. Maybe sleeping would take her mind off the hunger pains she was currently having. Jamal_Reedy "You do dat," he mumbled, turning his head away now to prop his chin on the crossed forearms held up by his knees. He could understand she was tired and wouldn't keep her awake. The hunched position didn't feel the best on his sore and bruised back, but he didn't feel like lying down right then. Jamal was content to watch the fire burn and send thick smoke into the evening air, the light reflecting brightly on his dark eyes, giving them an eerie sort of appearance when coupled with the shadows that were thrown on his face from the firelight.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:23 pm
Wherever Antony is, when she wakes up next she finds an odd leafy bundle nearby. It's made out of a large leaf from the jungle, and held together with a familiar-smeling sticky substance. Inside are several fat breadfruit and a few more coconuts. On top of the bundle is a strip of bark, with words written on it using what seems to be a bit of charcoal, or perhaps a burned stick. The handwriting is awkward, with drops of dried mucilage obscuring a few letters here and there, but it is readable.
Antony -
Sorry for disappearing. I'm okay... it's just... the jungle, you can't imagine how captivating it is now. I'm learning so much, or I think I am anyway... maybe I'm just crazy, but I swear... they kind of talk, and I can barely barely understand.
You can find me in the jungle if you wish to look; just call and I'll probably find you eventually. I found breadfruit and... other... things that I can eat but you probably can't... but it's working.
~ Anjali
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:29 pm
Island of Moreau Elsewhere... further into the jungle... time to check the new trap :3 1: something takes the bait, but the trap fails in containing it (or snaring it at allon a 1-2, the branches hold while something too light gets the food.) 2-3: nuffink. Unless one of the other Islanders happen into your trap. The bait is left. 4-10: It works! Details if the roll gets this. (4-5, normal, smallish meal-animal, 6-7 a good meal. 8-10- ninja )) When you next go to check your trap, you hear strange noises as you get close to the dug pit, and a musky scent as you get even closer. When you look in, you notice that your trap did indeed work... but what you caught... It looks about to have the size and build of a wild pig, but the ears are longer, and covered in a white fur. In addition to the protruding tusks are large buck-teeth. Its eyes are bulging and red, and white fur seems to cover its back, ending is a small puff-tail. Its feet are still hooved, leaving marks in the dirt floor much like the marks that were left earlier. It's obviously injured, and squealing in pain. In all, it appears to be the size of a smallish peccary, about 65 lbs.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:30 pm
Jamal_Reedy Jamal slept easily through the night, but as the sun started to rise in the horizon, he found that the falling daylight had a slightly harsher reaction than normal on his body. The faint buzzings of a headache worked about above his eyes until it was a fairly strong ache that made him groan against his better judgement and roll over...then he groaned again because his overworked muscles spasmed in pain with the movement. It wasn't the same sort of ache that one might have after working out extensively. No...there was a vague sense of fatigue that went with the ache that made him think of the last time he had the flu. Oh gods, anything but the flu.... "Jesus christ," he mumbled into the palm frond that seperated his face from the sandy beach. "Make it stoooooop....." Antoinette Devereux Antony slept, but not as hard as usual. Jamal's grunts woke her and after a few dazed blinks towards the ocean, the tattooed woman pushed herself up into a sitting position. Rubbing her hands over her face before pushing her glasses back on, she turned her gaze over to the black man complaining. He looked like s**t, and then some. "Jamal," she said softly before handing him a bottle of water, freshly filled from after her nap the night before, "You okay?" Jamal_Reedy Jamal ignored the bottle at first, too interested in keeping his face firmly planted against the palm frond should his sparce dinner of fruit and coconut decide to make a guest appearance, and mumbled inarticulately something that sounded like "muhurfruhin frew". His head panged unpleasantly as his spoke. Even though it was early morning, his back had a sheen of sweat on it, yet his hands and feet were somewhat cold and clammy. Everywhere else was slightly warmer than usual; not a bad fever, but a fever none-the-less. When he was certain, for the moment anyway, that he'd not vomit all over himself or Antony, a hand reached upwards to clumsily fumble for the bottle that was offered, eyes squinted into narrow slits as he did so. Antoinette Devereux A frown fell on her features as she continued to watch Jamal, and a wave of guilt fell on her before she moved to stand, stretching somewhat. She glanced towards the jungle before returning her gaze to his form on the sand. "I'm going to check the trap," she murmured quietly, "And then I'll try and help you." Not that she was a doctor or anything, but she didn't want him getting sicker. But damn was she hungry, and her stomach rumbled in agreement to her thoughts. Bending over, she picked up the knife and some leftover 'rope,' and then headed into the jungle to check on the trap. Jamal_Reedy Jamal didn't even bother to roll over to watch her go. Instead he sucked greedily on the contents of the water bottle before propping his head up on an elbow and shielding his eyes with a free hand to check out the scenery. His stomach gave a lurch; this did not bode well for ANYONE if he was coming down with the flu. He might be a big, tough black man but he turned into the most useless waste of space in the world when he was sick. The buzzing of his headache flittered about across his brow like some sort of insistent butterfly, but it wasn't too bad yet. Maybe he just needed to get out of the sun. Again he nursed off the water bottle for a few moments before finally sitting up and giving a loud, repressed grunt of pain as he did so. ******** his muscles aching...he swore his very bones hurt too. Antoinette Devereux It wasn't long before Antony could hear the strange noises coming up from the trap, and as she moved closer, she was also hit with the musky scent that was wafting from the pit. She scrunched up her face, trying not to breathe too deep from her nose. Hopefully that would diminish the smell a bit. Despite the smell, she picked up her pace, automatically getting excited. In fact, it sounded a lot like Jamal when he was whining... Shaking the thought from her mind as the trap came into view, the first thing she noticed was all the hoof prints that led to the pit, which was no longer covered. That was the second thing she noticed. Ignoring the smell entirely, Antony cautiously inched her way towards the edge of the trap before peering over it, eyes growing wide with the sight of the peccary. They had food. FOOD! Instinct beat out over everything else running through her mind, and she immediately jumped into the pit, avoiding the spikes when she landed. Antony didn't even bother to avoid the animal, since it was essentially pegged to the ground with bamboo, and now all she had to do was end its misery. And so she did. The knife was drawn across its neck before she could realize what she was doing, stomach and natural instincts taking charge of it all. It wasn't until she noticed the warm blood on her hands and the pink hue staining the once pure white fur. Something about those eyes... Taking a deep breath, Antony took out the rope and tied up the animal's legs, hefting it over the edge of the trap before hoisting herself out. She quickly made a makeshift carrying 'bag' out of the rope for the catch, and then she headed back towards the camp. They were having meat tonight! Due to her pace, it didn't take her long to return to the beach, absolutely beaming, "We caught something!" She cried happily, forgetting for the moment that Jamal was sick. He'd deal. Jamal_Reedy "Huh?" he managed to say as he heard her approaching far before he saw her. They had food!? They had meat?!... Jamal tried to peer at the thing that bobbled at her side and when she got closer, the pungant metallic scent of blood mixed with musk wafted over him. And it was this moment that Jamal turned away and retched on the sand on his left. It was all water, since thankfully that's all he had consumed recently, but still...Ew. Antoinette Devereux "Okay then," she said indifferently. So he was sick, that meant more food for her. Luckily, Antony had gone hunting loads of times with her father, and had to deal with the deer afterwards. Firstly, she made sure to move as far as possible from Jamal while still being near the fire, where she had built a sort of rotisery of sorts. She then sat down and skinned the wild pig with the same mentality in which Antony had killed the animal: emotionless. Though she was having a hard time shaking off the strange feeling at the back of her mind. (To save gory details...) After she had finished all the dirty work, there were several skewers with meat on them cooking over the fire. Plenty of meat was still left over to cook or smoke later, but currently the fire was quite occupied. And despite how bloodied she was from carving the pig, Antony was positively estatic. They had meat! Jamal_Reedy Jamal wiped his mouth with the back of a hand and shuddered, shoving sand over his little "accident" with the other, then got up slowly to drag his bed away from the damp spot on the beach. His headache eased a little as he stood up, so he remained doing so for a bit and tried to stretch his aching muscles. Probably a side-effect from not having meat for so long, he had decided. He ignored Antony and the mess she was making on the pure principle of not wanting to hurl again and sipped gingerly at the water this time while moving back down into a lying position on the beach. He was tired, cranky, and now he was sick. Lovely. Fortunately, Jamal ended up falling back asleep whilst she was carving the poor mutated animal into meal portions, dragged to sleep by the ever-present pounding in his skull. Stewart Young Stewart had been wandering for what had seemed like hours. God, he was so tired... and he thought that Boston was a jungle. Ha! That was nothing compared to this hell-hole. Then he noticed the trees were getting less dense. s**t, had he wandered back to the river?!? No, rivers didn't have waves! Finally escaping through the jungle he found himself on a beach. Could this be where Antony's camp was? He thought looking around for any signs of others. Island of Moreau As stewart is wandering along the beach, it's a welcome relief from the humidity of the jungle. The salty January breeze carries back and forth from the ocean, the tide surging at your feet. However, as you walk, your foot nudges against something. Something that doesn't feel like sand or seashell. You look down and see a small black, leatherbound book at your feet. The letters across the cover are faded with age and abuse, but you can make out - due to familiarity, "Holy Bible" The book is lying face down, but if picked up, the pages are pretty thoroughly waterlogged and stuck together, but it is open to a very familiar story. The story of Job. ((take a look up of the gist of the story, if you're not familiar with it OOC ^_~ )). Stewart Young
[Reply for the earlier GM]
Stewart paused and looked down, what had he he just found?... Was that... A Bible?!? Picking it up he flipped it over and couldn't believe what he saw. It was the Story of Job. No, this wasn't just chance. It had to be, he knew it. It was, a sign. Jobs' faith had been tested, and now it was his turn. Oh how stupid he had been before! All of the events, none of them just happened. Satan was testing his faith. These transformations, his new 'desires'. And there was no way he would let the Black Man steal that from him. This also ment what he suspected all along was true. Moreau is the Devil! In a better mood ke carried his 'sign' along with him and continued walking along the beachAntoinette Devereux The next time Antony looked over, she was surprised to see that Jamal was asleep again. This worried her, but she let him sleep and continued to tend to the meat that was skewered. While waiting for it to finish, she went down to the surf and scrubbed her hands clean of the blood. Damn if she was going to get sick from raw meat. When her hands were clean, Antony made her way over to the beach bar, and after a bit of rummaging around a smile came to her face. She had found some ziplock bags and two or three tupperware containers, and that was plenty enough for her and Jamal. Making her way back over to the fire, the tattooed woman was pleased to see that the meat was done and not raw. After tasting a few bites, she deemed it absolutely amazing and ate half a skewer of meat hungrily. Luckily, she had the sense to know not to stuff herself after not eating much for days on end, and she immediately put the meat away into one of the tupperwares. Putting a lid on it, she set it by the fire so that it'd stay warm, but far enough so the plastic wouldn't melt. Her attention was turned back to the rest of the pig. Time to smoke the rest of this. Antony didn't want to take any chances that this stuff would go bad, so it wasn't until late afternoon that she finished smoking the last bit of the meat. Overall, she was quite proud of herself, and after making a sort of disposal bag of sorts out of palm fronds, the remains were carried far down the beach. There, she dug a deep hole out of range of the surf, and then buried the animal's remains. The fur was not buried, and had been skinned properly. Antony just couldn't seem to throw away the pelt. The animal had obviously been an albino, which was rare, and there was also something else that tugged at her. It was hard to place, and she didn't really want to think of it quite yet. She had a sick black man to take care of... Yippy skippy. Jamal_Reedy Jamal had slept the entire time in a fairly restless manner; every now and then he'd make a noise and roll over, brow squinching as though in pain or making a noise, before dissolving back into a deeper sleep that never lasted very long. He continued to sweat despite the fact that he wasn't as close to the fire as before and his forehead and cheeks were flushed a faint tinge of rouge while the rest of his facial skin looked slightly blanched, like any normal person's would when they were feverish or ill. He was probably going to dehydrate himself with the amount of moisture that he was sweating off, plus the fact that all the water he'd ingested earlier was no longer in his system anyway. The black man was having some crazy dreams too, brought on by his fever, hence the noise and varied facial expressions, but they weren't really of anything in particular. Rather, they were dreams that were in slow-motion one moment and fast-foward the next with explosions of bright colors here and there. If he had been awake, he'd swear up and down he'd been slipped some sort of magic mushroom and that was the cause of these weird dreams. Antoinette Devereux Antony returned shortly, and put away the ziplock and tupperware'd meat in their 'fridge' of sorts. A frown came across her features when she saw Jamal's state, and immediately fetched some more water. After a pause, she shrugged off her shirt and soaked it under the shower head they had been getting their water from. Once it was soaked and the bottles filled, Antony meandered back to where Jamal was laying. Carefully lifting his head, she slipped under it so that his head could rest in her lap. Maybe that'd be a bit more comfortable. Ringing out her shirt on his face before pressing the damp cloth onto his forehead, Antony frowned at how much he had sweated out. "Jamal... You need to drink some water," she said quietly. It wasn't a request, but more of a do it or else kind of tone. Jamal_Reedy Jamal made a noise that you could ALMOST call a whimper as his head was moved into her lap, eyes squinching tightly as the 'marching band' in his skull blared and set up a whole new volume of throbbing. However, he did wake up sufficiently to where the strange dream disappeared into blinding sunlight when he did open his eyes and he winced. It was darker than it had been the last time he was awake, but his eyes were sensitive enough to make it seem as though it was high noon. His lips pressed into a thin line and he clumsily brushed damp sand from his palms before give his face an exaggerated rub. "Don't want no ********' water," he murred irritably in a slurred, sleepy manner even though he knew he had woken up to the worst case of cottonmouth ever. Her soft tone of voice didn't even really register; all noises sounded the same to him right now...loud and painful. Jamal didn't look like he was really in a shape to really fight anything though, so if she forced him, he probably would give up and just take it. Antoinette Devereux She rolled her eyes, leaving the damp shirt on his forehead before opening the bottle and tilting to his lips. "Drink," she demanted, voice still rather quiet as to not hurt the obvious headache that he had. Glancing over towards a noise of someone, Antony squinted to see the God-man explode from the forest. He didn't seem to notice her and since he was out of hearing range, she continued to take care of the oaf in her lap. Luckily, Antony was in quite a good mood now that they had meat, and a damn large supply of it too. Jamal_Reedy Jamal gave a growling sort of sigh and resisted the urge to swat at the bottle only because he didn't feel well enough to really get into a fight with her right now. It was just ******** water...he wasn't giving up his pride by accepting water, right? He sipped from the bottle with eyes half-cracked open, oblivious to the appearance of the strange goatman preacher dude. Probably a good thing...he was liable to flip his lid over the appearanc of a random transformed stranger in the state he was in. "What'd we catch?" he managed to inquire between swallows, still slurring his words a bit despite his best intentions to not do so. Antoinette Devereux Antony grinned slightly, dabbing him with her shirt again before putting the water bottle down at her side, "Some kind of pig... We have meat to last us a long time." She positively beamed at this, proud that all the work that they had put into their trap had finally payed off. Somehow, she couldn't shake the red eyes out of the back of her mind... Jamal_Reedy "Pig...pig is good," he said absently, eyes closing fully as the thumping in his skull increased tempo for a few moments. That and he swore he saw some sort of violet-colored thumb-sized feline of some sort sit down on the bridge of his nose and peer into one eye. WTF. "Glad we got somethin'. Maybe I'll feel better if I eat some...but I ain't hungry righ' now..." He opened one eye hesitantly to see if the little cat was still sitting on his nose. It was, only it was now green. He wrinkled his brow nervously and forced himself to look up at Antony as he debated in asking her if she saw what he saw. Antoinette Devereux Nodding, she lifted her shirt and wrung it over his head, he definately had a fever. She frowned deeply at his faces, taking note of the fact that he looked like he was in fact on a bad trip. Just great. "You have a fever," she murmured, eyes glancing over towards the man that was slowly making his way down the shore towards them. Well this was going to be interesting. Jamal_Reedy As the water trickled down his face, he had a distinct feeling that it wasn't water moving across his skin, but it was his actual skin that was sliding off the bone. A brief look of panic and a quick accessment of his facial skin with a hand assured him that this wasn't the case, but he realized that his kitty-of-another-color was still sitting on his nose (now a brilliant shade of red) and started to lick the space between his eyes. Damn thing. "Get off," he growled at it as he ignored her comment of fever, trying to flick the 'cat' off his nose but found that the little beast was apparently a gymnast in it's spare time. It all but did a somersault over his fingers as he flicked, then settled in to lick between his eyes again, giving a rumbly purr as it did so. Argh. Giving up on the cat again for the moment, he followed Antony's gaze down the beach, biting his tongue as the motion made his headache become a more dull thump, relieving some of the pressure. He could sort of see a figure approaching, but none of it was of a description that he remembered, plus it was all blurry. Well, whatever.... "Tell 'em we ain't got nuthin," Jamal said groggily as he drapped a hand over each eye as his head moved to straight up and down in her lap once again. "Ain't got nuthin'....nuthin' nuthin' nuthin'...." Antoinette Devereux "I won't," she murmured, pressing her hand over his eyes to block out the light, and whatever he thought was attacking his face. Her eyes simply glanced over towards Stewart, tilting her head somewhat before gazing out towards the ocean. Eventually she zoned out as well.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:52 pm
Island of Moreau Late that night, after finally being able to drift off into a rare sleep between nasty pains, Jamal is woken up by pain again. Even in his nightmares, he can't escape the pain from the fever and the sore muscles, and then it only starts to get worse. It feels like the skin of his arms and back is on fire, and if he wakes, he finds that the pain is no phantom dream. The skin of his arms is changing before his eyes, paling and whitening everywhere except for a few stripe-like marks, starting at his fingertips and spreading all the way down his arms to his shoulders, and then down his back to his tailbone. But as the burning reaches his tailbone a new, throbbing pain begins, the base of his spine aching and pushing out from his back. A small num begins to form.... Then, as if his fingers and toes had been smashed with a hammer, they begin to hurt and ache, and before your eyes all of your nails fall off. From the vulnerable, pink flesh a searing pain begins as it feels as if your finger bones are pressing through the surface, and then, with a spurt of blood, fresh 'nails' - more like claws, tear through the surfaces. Sharp and pointed. You can feel them flexing around strange muscles, but at this point, unlike a feline, you can't retract them yet. Then your ears start to ache pull out, and itch. A fine dusting of white fur prickles them as they grow, and the pores under your mustache feel strange as long, white whiskers sprout quickly, sensitive to the subtle movements of the air. Finally, your eyes, your teeth, and your nose all begin to ache, your eyes watering as the same burning, leeching feeling that happened to your arms happens to your very eyes. You have to close them against the pain. And when you finally open then, they are a vibrant blue. Chiming in with your sensitive whiskers and eyes that pierce the darkness is a more sensitive, moist noise. And finally, huge, sharp canines that make your sneer an intimidating snarl.  Jamal_Reedy Eventually the fever had gotten the better of Jamal and he fell into another restless sleep, lying as comfortably as one can on the lumpy beach in the midst of some sort of bizzare sickness. Again his sleep was filled with a strange mix of color and shapes, but now something slowly became distinguishable in it this time.
Jamal found himself on a dark street, void of streetlights except for one that shone dimly above his head as though it were on the verge of flickering out. The air was cold and heavy, stiff with the scents of alleyway garbage and sewer. This was home...it smelt so distinctly of home, anyway... He started to walk down the sidewalk, eyes searching the brick walls beside him for a sign of something familiar.
"Mangy animal," came a bitter snarl from the shadowed doorway of a closed store front a few paces away. "Lettin' people like you out herr at night. Get back to yo' place, ya damn nig!" Glints of metal reflected off the figure near the chest and at the hip, yet the shadows easily hid the form of the person there that confided in the shadows.
The black man paused, a hand instinctively going to his hip where he once had always carried a pistol, memory of being stuck on a deserted island far from his mind as the flat of his palm actually hit the cool metal of the weapon. It was drawn silently as Jamal's eyes narrowed.
"Gonna show yo' ********' face o' you just gunna talk?" he snarled back in challenge, clicking the chamber of the weapon open to check for rounds, which he found. The bullets looked odd from what he could see from the back, but he thought nothing of it. Bullets were bullets, right? If he had taken one out, they would have looked like syringes...familiar syringes of light blue that he had seen once before in his life.
The stranger in the shadows moved forward and the reflections of metal soon lit up the badges and pins that lay on the breast pocket of the individual there as well as the snaps and buckles on the belt. It was a cop. He smiled wickedly at Jamal and drew his own weapon, but held it lazily unlike the larger black man, who held it delicately with a finger over the trigger. "Oh come now, Jamal. You knew it was coming. You knew I was waiting for you after what you ******** you. I didn't do nuthin'," Jamal shot back, waving the gun warningly.
The cop smiled a condescending smile and shook his head like an indulgent parent might. "Always refusing to admit...but Jamal, you know you screwed up. You told me so."
Jamal snorted, growing somewhat leary. He never told a cop about anything....
"You don't know s**t," said the black man brashly, weapon lowering a tad.
"I know too much, Jamal. Perhaps you thought we forgot about you? Tsk tsk tsk..."
'We?' Jamal suddenly felt a prickle at the back of his neck.
From the shadows, an eruption of clicks came...the sound of a chamber being put in the barrel of a gun. It was a sound Jamal had heard enough to know exactly what it was. As Jamal's wary eyes started to circle his surroundings, he was met with the shadowed forms of several other individuals...yet these forms were not the same as the cop before him. Some looked furry...others scaley. Some were taller and some shorter...and he swore up and down he saw features that were nothing like he'd seen before on a human. All held guns that were leveled square at him.
"Don't worry...this won't hurt much," the cop said genially, stepping forward fully. Jamal was treated with a gaze of deep green and from beneath the hat were sprigs of red...there was something about this man that Jamal found strangely familiar. As he moved forward, the circle of people around him did also.
Jamal snapped his head around, looking for a way out of the circle but found nothing. The circle closed in too rapidly.
"Get da ******** back o' I'll ********' shoot!" he shouted suddenly as he whirled around again with the gun lifted, yet realized how futile of an effort that would be. Nearly forty bodies pressed in around him, closer and closer, an intense smell of something musty and...almost animalistic swallowed him.
Once more he turned and found the cool barrel of a gun pressed to the very center of his forehead abruptly. Jamal went to slam the butt of his own weapon into the individual's face but stopped sort as he was greeted with violet eyes, bright blue hair, and a solemn face that was all too familiar. Awen?
The girl said nothing...just stared at him as she held the gun to his head...he didn't even think to see how she could so easily reach his head when she was so damn short. Jamal went to touch her shoulder but the woman easily evaded the touch without moving the gun.
"What da ********, Awen?" he ventured slowly. "Put da ********' gun down."
The woman didn't acknowledge his words.
Jamal again tried to touch her but again it seemed that he could not touch her. She gave him a very ghost-like smile.
"You thought you were untouchable, Jamal," she said in a oddly sweet, solemn way that made Jamal grow even more nervous. "I should have known better...but it's okay. You'll be like me soon enough."
The black man's gaze darted around the circle, falling now on familiar faces: Ambrose...Greer...Amaya...Chubbs... All of them held guns that were leveled calmly at his chest, each giving him no inkling of emotion. Jamal knew that one move and he was done, but deep inside he knew it was over. He saw it in Awen's eyes.
"I..I didn't do nuthin'," he insisted again, but did so to those assembled around him. Oddly enough, the cop had disappeared. Jamal was surrounded by his peers now. The 'islanders' all gave him emotionless stares, save Awen, who looked almost sympathetic.
"They all know...they know about everything. But it's okay. You'll be like us and see that you are not invincible. That you hurt ********, Awen," he hissed, dropping his gun to the sidewalk. "I thought I meant somethin' to ya..."
Awen shook her head ever so slightly. "Something...you -did- mean something, but times change."
Jamal went to move forward, to try and sway Awen. If he could get her, maybe everyone else would drop their weapon. He knew he was outnumbered.
As he moved, pain of the upmost intensity suddenly scored his body. The air around him erupted with coils of smoke...coils of discharged and spent gunpowder. He turned to look in shock as the gun in front of his forehead also gave a coil of smoke and behind it was Awen's face, completely void of emotion like the others. He felt something cold dripping down his forehead and pooling around the sides of his nose.
He screamed suddenly as his skin felt like it was set on fire and his hands reached out to grab at Awen's arms to hold him steady, but the woman's skin felt so slippery...like wet rubber. His hands could find no purchase as he fell backwards among the forest of clawed and padded feet that surrounded his body. It was over...he was going to die.Jamal's dream scream was not just emitted in his head; he suddenly jerked violently as he lie there on the sand and gave the same scream into the chilled beach air. Antoinette Devereux Antony was pulled out of the daydream by the sudden jerking, and then the bone chilling scream that quickly followed. She jumped, a piercing gaze immediately turning frantically to Jamal, the source of all this madness. And it was indeed madness. Her eyes opened in horror as his skin, before her very eyes, began to pale. He was turning white, and all she could think about was that this was so Michael Jackson. Snapping out of it, she hefted him up against her in a strange sort of hug, as if to comfort him, and to possibly keep him from hurting himself. "Jamal!" She cried, not even thinking of his sensitive headache, but instead, her attention was completely focused on Jamal, a mix between fear and horror. And then it hit her... He was transforming... Jamal_Reedy The headache was definately the last of his problems. He cried out again as the feeling of burning raced from his fingertips, over his wrists, and quickly up his arms and shoulders, the pain of the physical change completely overshadowing the visual effect of his skin paling. Jamal was easily hefted into a kneeling position and clenched to Antony's form, completely at the mercy of the transformation that spread like a cloak of flame down across his shoulders, down his back, and started to pool at his tailbone. The pressure of Antony's arms around his side made the sensitive bleached skin jump and spasm and he blindly reached out to push her away, another moan of agony escaping his mouth. As the palm of one hand touched her shoulder, the disgusting sight of fingernails being pushed free of the tender nailbeds greeted them both, the spent 'bodyparts' falling into the sand before dribbles of blood started to seep from his naked fingertips out of no where. Shards of white bone started to protrude from these tips, stained with the blood that flowed freely from both hands now, one placed on Antony's shoulder and the other tucked to his chest. His hands gnarled into fists, the fresh claws that were forming slowly piercing both the flesh of his own palm and that of Antony's shoulder. He didn't realize what he was doing, of course, but he couldn't stop the urge to clench the mutating digits in a futile effort to ease the pain. "Make...make it..." he struggled aloud in a piteous whine, the terror on his face easily outdoing any other time he might have been afraid. He struggled to look at Antony's face, pleading with her as though she had control over this. "Antony do somethin'....I can't..can't...this...." It was uncertain if he understood what was really happening or if he was in some sort of denial. Antoinette Devereux Antony winced painfully as the claws dug into her shoulder, sucking in a gulp of air so quickly it sounded like a hiss. Still, she continued to hug him to her. She could take pain. Even though she wanted to comfort him, Antony couldn't find any words to make the situation any better, and simply gave him a pained look. Adrenaline caused the searing burn in her shoulder to go ignored for now. In all honesty, she had no clue what to do, and she was scared. "You're strong," she whispered to him, in hopes of providing some kind of comfort. Highly doubtful considering the look on his face, but it was worth a try, or two. "I won't leave." It was all that the tattooed woman could really offer him at the moment. The change was happening, Antony couldn't stop it, and she highly doubted that telling him this fact would bode well. Jamal_Reedy A similar transformation had happened with his feet, but most of the pain was occuring at the top of his body, so it almost went completely ignored. The blood crusted unpleasantly with the sand that surrounded his feet, for now effectively hiding the lengthened foot bones and new claws from view. A new frustration rose with the fright he was feeling as he instinctively tried to retract his new claws but found them unmoving and the attempt only brought fresh pain as the muscles continued to rearrange themselves for later use. Jamal suddenly tried to tear himself away as he realized that he was bleeding, eyes focusing on the red blotch on Antony's shoulder; the blood at his finger tips had now started to ebb at this point with the formation of his new claws and the muscles made his digits feel less nimble and delicate as they used to be. Then he realized what was happening. This wasn't a continuation of his dream. "NO," he shouted suddenly, the word garbled somewhat as his mouth started to change to give room to the enlarging canines that started to peek through his drawn, thin lips. "********' NO." He roughly pushed himself away from Antony, struggling against her arms until he could finally get free, newly clawed hands raised in disbelief in front of his face as he spun away clumsily to fall to a knee in the sand more than an arms length away. He caught himself from falling face first into the sand...one small saving grace. The whiter tips of his hands contrasted eerily with the dried blood and sand that covered each nail...yet...the scent of blood caught something strange within him suddenly as he crouched there, chest heaving. He lifted a sand-covered hand up towards his nose, which had flattened height-wise and spread into a more typical feline nose. He almost looked in awe of the blood there for a moment...like he was going to lick his hands, but then spooked suddenly as whiskers erupted from the fleshy portion above his lips and brushed against his vaguely aching hands. His ears were not noticed, thanks to the development of a new pain that drifted over his face towards the center. A strangled hissy scream left his mouth as the pain trickled upwards to his eyes and he jammed his lids shut as hard as he could, head drooping down towards the hand as he felt his remaining energy starting to sap away. He couldn't tell that he was getting the distinct black 'skin' patches at the bottom and top of his eyes that amplified his feline-esque changes since he had no reflection nearby. His eyelids parted slowly when the pain started to leave, giving Antony the 'pleasure' of watching the last bits of deep brown iris of each eye be swallowed by the icey blue that he was now stuck with. Most of the drastic changes had finished but everything hurt. EVERYTHING. His new eyes easily cut the shadows in the jungle that spanned the distance behind Antony and with it came the musty scent of comforting wood and dirt. He had felt this feeling before, but it was so much stronger now. Jamal moved slowly to stand, grimacing as the remaining ache in his muscles flared, eyes flitting from the jungle to Antony. He...smelt her. At least, he thought it was her...and he smelt a vague sort of fear about her. It almost made him laugh, but mostly it made him angry. Lips parted to show his new fangs, the normal warmth that was easily found in his once dark eyes now replaced with a chilling, almost calculating air. Then it hit him again. What had really happened. His chest heaved painfully and his newly clawed hands pressed to his bare chest that was now littered with faint dark stripes. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it...he WOULDN'T. He gave Antony another look of terror and confusion but he didn't know what to say. Antoinette Devereux The pain became fresh when he withdrew his claws from her shoulder, and she winced at both the throbbing and his shouts. Not that she had expected him to remain calm when he finally did transform. Stumbling to the ground from the force of his shove, Antony hit the sand hard, and luckily missed any of the sharp objects (and fire) that were around. Her first reaction was to immediately turn her attention back to Jamal, just in case. And then she watched. It was all that could be done after she had been shoved violently away, but that didn't mean that it was a pleasant view. A worried look came over her face when he dropped his head down, his expression causing her breathing to quicken, but she knew better than to try and approach him like this. The opening of his lids caused a new set of chills to run up her spine, and she swallowed, eyes transfixed on his. The replaced blues were, in her opinion, beautiful, but the fact that they lacked Jamal's expressiveness worried her even more. It wasn't right. Nor was the way he was glancing at her, almost predatory, and not the lustful predation she was used to either. Then everything seemed to stop, and Antony sat up with a soft sigh of relief. It was over. Concern washed over her features as she climbed to her feet slowly, still ignoring the blood that oozed from her shoulder. "Jamal?" She asked tenatively, taking a step towards him, "It's... It's over..." She didn't know what to say really, but at least he hadn't attacked her. Jamal_Reedy It's...It's over...Jamal's face suddenly contorted into a fierce snarl as Antony's words sank into a reverbing echo in his addled brain, lips parting clumsily over his lengthened canines. His mouth was not accustomed to making such gestures to work around his new mouthful of teeth so it was no surprise that he cut the tender flesh of his lips accidently. Weak spiderwebs of blood fell into the creases of his dried lips, a side effect from his previous dehydration. "Ova? OVA?" he erupted, a hand lashing out as though he was going to catch her in the chest or abdomen with his new weaponry. Thankfully he was too far away to reach her; if he was in the right mind, he'd have never tried to gut her anyway, so surely once this was all over he'd be grateful for this... But the fact she was out of reach only seemed to spark a new flame of intense anger that flashed in his cool, steely eyes and bristled his newly formed whiskers. He inhaled sharply and turned, the small tail nub snapping painfully with the motion as it peeked over the back of his tattered jeans. "How ********'? You think this is OVA? How kin' you ********' SAY dat? HOW CAN YOU." He screamed the last line to the ocean as he tripped over his oddly formed feet, hitting the sand hard on his knees. Thankfully this area of his body had the least change so the impact just stung a little. However, his lack of grace only made him more angry and he pounded the dirt with his thickened hands until the pain was so bad that he had to stop because he thought his hands were going to split open again. No, this wasn't over. This was the beginning of the end. He was so close...so close to being free. He had them ALL beat...everyone else was changing and he had made it so far...for this? FOR ********, ********, ********, ********, ******** <******** was distinctly aware of the jungle now. There was safety and protection in the jungle...the beach was not safe. Antoinette Devereux She managed to jump back, even though he wouldn't have hit her if she had stayed still. His words stung. Antony hadn't meant to be mean, or to trigger something like this. He was only hurting himself more, and she knew she was too weak to stop him from all this. Though she knew all too well the feeling of intense rage he was having, Antony, against her better judgement, took another step or two towards Jamal, a pained look gracing her features. "I didn't mean it like that Jamal... Just that... For now..." Antony trailed off weakly, moving her opposite hand to experimentally touch the wound on her shoulder. Biting back another wince, her deep violet eyes searched his newly changed ones. "It's stopped..." Somehow, she stood her ground as he continued to snarl and curse at her. After he had forgiven her for nearly killing him, Antony wasn't about to leave him in his current state. Jamal_Reedy Jamal's expression lacked any sympathy for anything he might have said that come off poorly. He didn't care. "Look at dis. LOOK," he practically keened, lifting his clawed hands to shove them in the air towards Antony whilst practically vibrating with rage and disgust, staring at the shiny new claws against the paler flesh with revolt coiling in his stomach. He was turning white. WHITE, WTF. He was NOT Michael Jackson...this was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong. He clasped his hands together with a loud slap then after speaking, starting to systematically tear at the foreign skin so welts started to rise, followed by bloody scratches. His rougher palms started to smear the ruddy fluid across the very palest portions of skin in a crazed ploy to cover the change...as though the blood would bring back the medium brown hue if he had enough of it. It obviously was not going to work and with each pass of claws on skin, his nostrils flared and his whiskers bristled. "This ain't me. No. No no no no," he challenged, eyes darting from hand to hand as he wiped and tore, caring little for the strange striping that retained his normal skin hue. This was too overwhelming for him. He couldn't handle this. Tears started to spring at the corners of his eyes as panic and pain rose in unison. He was a freak. He was one of -them- and now there was nothing about him that he could use to distinguish him from people like Ambrose. Like -AMBROSE-. He gave a tortured cry and crumpled forward in a heap, bloody arms reaching over his head to clench at the back of his neck, claws digging into the frazzled and torn edges of his cornrows. Racking sobs mixed with gutteral yowling noises took over the odd silence that had fallen once he had stopped shouting. Antoinette Devereux "Enough!" She hissed, not able to take his self destruction any longer, and immediately closed the distance between them both. Grabbing his wrists, she held them as tightly as she could, prying them from eachother despite how bloody they were. " This," Antony said sharply, refering to his actions, "Is not you." She was disgusted, but understood why he was doing what he was doing, even if it was horrible. Falling to her knees with him, she tried to keep hold of his wrists, but they were too slippery and she simply let them wrap around his torso in a tight hug. " You," she murmured solidly, looking into his face seriously as she snaked a hand from around his body and pressed it over his left pec, gripping the skin there slightly, "Are -here-. And if you think otherwise, you're just like them... Judgemental." Antony paused, searching his face for a moment before continuing quietly, but sincerely, "I know you're not like that..." At that point, she didn't really care if she got torn up for trying to help him. He was her friend, and that's that. Jamal_Reedy He couldn't bring himself to look at her directly at this point. He was so disgusted and ashamed of himself. The air reeked of blood and sweat now and it was so distracting; he couldn't concentrate on what was going on amidst the strengthened instincts and the new sensory skills. Jamal stared at her hand in a sort of muddled stupor, not really hearing a word she was staying. She had normal hands... human hands. The sight of it made the anger in his chest tighten in envy. The entire feeling of just being generally pissed off had taken up almost the entirety of his emotional capacity. She could probably feel him physically start to tense as he started despise her normalcy. She could say all this but she had no ******** idea. Now he understood all the other islanders when they spoke of transformation and how they felt. It all made sense. "What if I be like dat?" he practically spat into the silence, drawing his whiskers in towards the flat of his cheeks, purposefully trying to start an argument for some reason or another that he couldn't quite figure out. Jamal just wanted to go off...he just needed the trigger pulled... "Maybe I'm jus' a good ********' liar." Antoinette Devereux She indeed felt him tense, and wasn't surprised in the least that he was reacting like this. However, Antony snorted at his next comment, raising her eyebrows before shaking her head. "Like hell you're a good liar." Frowning, Antony let her hand fall to his stomach, where she lightly, almost cautiously, trailed her thumb over the skin there. It was supposed to be comforting, and hopefully it was doing just that and not irritating him further. Antony knew that she too would eventually change, and while she wasn't looking foreward to it, she also wasn't going to deny its future happening. Still, she didn't want to really accept it, and it also wasn't the right time to remind him of the goodies that were yet to come. In the end, the truth was that she had no idea what it felt like to transform, and because of that, she felt quite helpless. After the long pause, Antony finally spoke, sensing his need to get it all out of his system. Her voice was still quiet, but firm, "Jamal... I'm your friend, and I'm not just going to abandon you. Do what you want to me..." She trailed off, frowning somewhat before continuing, "I can, and will, take it..." A light scritch or two later, and Antony released her hold around him entirely, stepping back and watching him carefully and returning her hand to the shoulder wound. It was still throbbing painfully. "Just..." She started, "Don't do anything else self-destructive... Please?" Her tone was hopeful, and sincere as her eyes searched his out. "You're still Jamal." She didn't know what else she could do. Jamal_Reedy The light touch on his abs was not entirely unpleasant but given his current emotional status, it also brought another wave of resentment. He understood that she was worried and didn't want him to hurt himself but he had this inclination that he just wanted to be left alone. That her mere presence only spiked his irritation. "You ain't gonna have ta take nuthin'," he said slowly as he stood up, trying his damnest to keep his anger at the situtation in check and not go ballistic on her. "Cause this ain't yo' fault. I ain't takin' it out on you...don't make me do it..." Jamal raised a hand to point at her, canines again pointing through between his lips. The timbre of his voice was clearly that of someone having an internal struggle...trying to remain calm yet obviously the situtation at hand would not allow it. He felt like he needed to go away somewhere. The beach was not comforting, the words coming from Antony's mouth weren't comforting....nothing was. The drying blood on his hands and arms were now giving a pungent smell of into the air that prickled at something in his brain. It fascinated him but also scared him at the same time. It was all too much. Jamal's gaze fell from Antony's form as she spoke, taking in the sight of the striping on his limbs and the nasty claws tipping both toes and fingers. He hadn't seen his face yet and couldn't bear to right then. Was he really still Jamal? How could he be? This was not Jamal. She didn't understand. The black man looked almost hopeless as he stood there on the beach, staring at the rough palms of his hands, ears twitching as the sensitive hair on the rims caught the breezy ocean air. For a moment, he stood completely still, then he gave a gutteral yowling shout, throwing his hands from his face, and stalked for the jungle. Everything inside him was blowing up faster and faster until he lost sight of exactly what was going on. The jungle was where he'd find comfort. The tiger inside him knew. He needed to be alone. Antoinette Devereux Antony simply watched him, neither backing up or advancing on him. She could hear the struggle in his voice, and she wasn't about to push her luck with him. It didn't take much for her to be able to imagine the vast distruction he was capable of normally, much less when he was emotionally unstable and equipped with claws and teeth. And she wasn't about to get in his way. So she let him go, her eyes following his form as he took off towards the jungle. A chill continued to run through her from the yowl that he had let out just seconds earlier, but she continued to watch him. She watched him until he disappeared from sight. Her hand immediately went to her shoulder, and she sank to the ground, all the pain and emotional drain from the event and day suddenly hitting her like a truck. The blood had soaked into her tank top, and was slowly still bleeding, the rest of the blood drying on her skin. Antony sighed deeply, hissing as the deep breath stretched the claw wounds on her shoulder. What a day... What more could happen?
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