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 Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:29 pm
"Well, at first she was like you are now- not really wanting to go back into the village but also not too keen on running back into the wild," she said, trying to ease into the state the deer-woman had been in. "She said something about how no matter what she did, she was always letting people down, and hurting people. She was slightly cut up, so she ended up going back into the village. I hope she got herself taken care of."
She skipped graciously past the breakdown.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:05 pm
Ian managed not to gape. Emerwyn thought she was hurting people? It had been his fault.
His decision was clear, he couldn't allow himself to see Emerwyn anymore. Much as it would hurt him to do so, he couldn't allow himself to keep hurting her like that.
"Thanks" he muttered staring down at the ground. She's better of without me. It still hurt though. "I hope she is okay as well."
He would inform no one about his decision, but he would try to get on with his life, one should never dwell on what could have been.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:12 pm
The way he averted his gaze while he talked set of a red flag for Emelyn. She leaned forward, her palms flat on her downy legs. "Are you alright?" She said it softly, as if to tell him that she truly did want to know.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:30 pm
Was he alright? Ian didn't really know. He had just made the hardest decision he had made since arriving on the island.
"Yeah, I'm alright. I guess. I just keep causing everyone pain."
Ian decided that he might have to take Emelyn's example. It would be easier to distance himself if he stayed in the jungle. After he finished talking to Emelyn he would go to his duplex and grab a few things, then he would head to the jungle for awhile. And he would go swimming.
"I need to stay away for awhile." then he paused, "Thanks, thou hast helped me make some very important decisions."
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:38 pm
Emelyn narrowed her eyes- both against the sun, and Ian's words. "You're not causing everyone pain. You sound just like Emer, and no matter how wonderful you both are... you're wrong. You're not causing anything when your heart is in the right place." Her words were harsh, but heartfelt. She didn't want these two people orbiting around each other, afraid to reach out for fear that they would cause some imagined, all-consuming hurt.
She shook her head slightly, quills rustling against her sides. "Anyway... you're welcome, for what it's worth. I hope you find what you're looking for."
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:53 pm
"What I am looking for," he echoed softly then smiled again genuinely. "Yes, I think I can"
He reached out and grabbed Emelyn's hand giving it a quick squeeze before letting go. "Thou hast my most meaningful thanks again."
His green eyes shone with a new hope. He, Ian Campbell would return to the wild, but this time with a certainty of who he was.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:50 pm
New Rp
The entrance to the cave was low, a dip in the mountain like the great old rock had become depressed, sinking into itself with the weariness of the years. Em didn't think she could squeeze her body past the entrance if she'd tried- which she wasn't. The only part of her body she wanted in that cave was her arm- to reach that piece of stone she wanted.
Emelyn scooted closer to the entrance, shimmying in the sand on her stomach, and turning her head to the side so she could stretch more of her arm into the sloping entrance. She'd been canvasing the island for days looking for the right type of stone. She didn't know the name of it, but it was more malleable, and would chip off to the edges without shattering (if it was struck just right). She'd been gently picking through the other, more accessible caves for hours- but they steeped off so quickly and became so dark so suddenly that she hadn't been able to find much to work with. Only in this tiny eyelet of an entrance had she spotted the right sort of stone.
"Come on you." She inched her arm closer, wiggling her fingers as if to give her arm more length. "I know you're in there."
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:12 pm
Idly, Zach twirled some more thick rope between his gloved fingers. Every once in a while he hand to disentangle his pants legs from sharp spiky plants that grew low on the ground, but otherwise it was a nice day and the shade was helpful. From what he'd seen so far of the eastern half of the mountain, there were very few caves a grown man could enter and exit. A few holes here and there, but none he would bother with.
The squelch of jungle mud gave way to the hard crunching of dry sand beneath his feet. He looked down, surprised. He'd managed to cross both east and west of the island now. The roar of waves crashing into rock was evident. The relentless ocean eroded away the mountain little by little, creating a vast amount of cliffs jutting from high above.
Below, however, Zach very nearly tripped on a wriggling body on the ground, one arm reaching well into a miniature cave. The woman's brown fur and spikes were a giveaway though. She was looking the other way from him, and must not have seen him coming. He leapt backwards in surprise of her being there. "Emelyn?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:17 pm
The sound of someone's voice- saying her own name, no less, startled Emelyn, and she pulled her hand from the cave, rolling over on her side both to unobstruct her veiw from the mass of sand, and to protect her back from the sting of laying flat on the infant spines.
"Zach," she said with a smile. "I was just..." she indicated towards the infant cave, "trying to get a stone out of the interior. It's a little further down the slope than I thought when I saw it, though." She looked him up and down, sitting up as she did so, admiring his gear. "Doing a little spelunking?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:50 pm
She seemed to be doing well, for living in the jungle. After throwing the rope over his shoulder, he squatted down, splaying his hand in front of him for balance. "Fancy meeting you all the way out here."
He gave a sidelong glance to the cave. "I can give you some light," he offered, moving into a sitting position. He tapped the beaten-up miner's helmet he wore. Doubful that his arm was longer than hers, so he didn't think he could fish the rock out of there. "Yeah, I was sort of hoping to. I haven't seen any big caves yet, though. They must all be farther up the mountain... not that I'll be going that high up anytime soon." He shuddered. He'd never get used to heights like those.
Her presence, however, reminded him of something. His brow furrowed a moment in memory. After reaching into his pants pocket for a note, it was crumpled it in his fist and thrown toward the sea.
"I tried the intercom when I got back that day," he muttered. "I think Moreau was murdered by Duvert."
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:54 pm
"Really?" She spoke with a practiced ease, tainted only slightly by a tinge of surprise. "Well, I've only met Mr. Duvert once- he saved my life when I washed ashore the island." She flattened herself once more, readying herself to snake her arm back into the hole. "But... then again, he also brought me straight to Aubrey for my "immunization". ...So I don't know if either of them are the lesser of the two evils." She looked back up at him, wincing at the sun that hung overhead. "That light would be great now, thanks."
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:09 pm
He didn't say anything to that. Weren't these doctors evil? So Duvert saved Emelyn - only to turn her into a hedgehog. That wasn't something Zach considered courteous.
Judging by her uncertain tone, he figured switching subjects seemed like a good idea.
"Oh sure! You keep looking, I'll turn this on." He reached up for the switch on his helmet. The bulb buzzed and flickered, but soon emitted a bright ray of light, though its intensity was lost to the sun's harsh brightness. He turned his head toward the rocky hole and got down on his stomach as well, making sure not to point the hemlet at Emelyn's face.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:15 pm
Emelyn turned her face back to her task just as Zach illuminated the thin beam of light that lit up those few inches she needed to see.
"Oh... I pushed it into a little crack. That's why I couldn't see it anymore," she said, her mouth close to the warm sand. "I can... just... reach it." Her words were halting as her hands probed the cool stone floor, dipping into shallow crack like a cat's paw might gingerly pat at the water of a fish pond. Her hand eclipsed the stone slab the size of her palm, and she lifted it up with an exaggerated giggle, complete with a triumphant "HA!" as her arm came into the light, complete with the stone.
She sat up again, putting the stone to the side, and did something that was very typical of Emelyn- which was a brand of action that, at any one time could be strange, unpredictable... and sweet. She wrapped her arms loosely around Zach's leg and gave it a sandy hug, laughing.
"Thank you. I would have driven myself insane trying to find that on my own."
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:49 pm
"Nice!" He grinned. Once she'd pulled the rock back out, he sat up. His hand snapped the light back off. He was fearful of getting a new helmet from the doctors here, so he planned to make his lightbulb last.
Before he could pull his hand back down to earth, it froze. What was she...? Slowly he looked down, to find the girl hanging off of his leg, giggling. He let his hand drop to his knees and felt a flush creep up his cheeks. "I-it was no trouble, really..."
She's adorable, he thought. His gloved hand was lying close to one of her clawed ones.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:54 pm
She released his leg and stood, brushing sand off her downy fur. She'd hugged his leg for the distaste of that awkward moment of standing, brushing off, and then hugging him- so she'd simply eliminated the moment and hugged what was near. Now that she'd thanked him, however, she could crawl to her feet without feeling awkward or stilted. Everything had... 'flowed', and that was how it suited the hedgehog-girl best.
"Anyway, this will come in handy," she explained, bowing to pick up her rock. "I'm going to make a knife out of this. ...Help a lot," she said, looking at it and feeling quite pleased with herself.
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