In direct opposition to her best friend, Lenore wasn't enthusiastic about the concept of camping. Not at all, in fact. Even if it was feigned, it was still annoying. She doubted she could bring a book along, for one. Let alone as many as she'd actually wish to. Then again, if they were going to be dumping water on their make shift shelters, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that the girl was unable to bring along literature.
As the class had left the compound, Lenore was filled with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was leaving her books behind. On the other, she was also leaving Santos Baldy. After a moment's deliberation, she decided that the lack of the King of the Jerks was a fair trade for being without her books for a while. And, as Shakuntala had said, in just three more years she wouldn't have to deal with him at all. Three more years. That was a quarter of her short life thus far, and so it still seemed like a very long time away. But the rewards would be great when it happened. No more Santos. That alone seemed worth the wait. She wasn't sure what waited for her after that, but for now, the thought of escaping Santos was good enough.
The twelve year old girl listened with vague disinterest as Ervette Phaedra droned on about spending weeks at a time out in the wilderness. She couldn't help but feel that she'd heard something similar before, when she was even younger. After thinking on it for a few moments, she remembered the source - her parents. Viktor and Anastasia Abendritter were members of the Scouting Legion, and they routinely spent a lot of time out in the wilderness for their missions, leaving the young girl behind. When they returned, they would regale her with tales of their time out in the wild and the creatures they'd encountered, like large deer and even larger bears. Conspicuously, they never did mention the titans they no doubt found and battled, but Lenore had never really cared, wrapped up as she was in their retellings of events.
The girl's attention faded away from the memory and onto the words even now spilling from Ervette's mouth. She was talking about first aid, now. They were going to be given injuries? Real ones? Or pretend? Lenore shook her head slightly. They're obviously going to be pretend, stupid. Why would they trust untrained people to treat actual injuries? That would be complete and utter folly. Surely it was just going to be practice for the actual thing. Then Ervette began to call out injuries and pairings. The girl perked up slightly when she found out she was going to be paired with Zin. And, apparently, they were to suffer a sprained wrist. But first things were first, and the duo had to build a shelter.
After Ervette allowed them to go, Lenore turned to walk over to Zin, but the older girl was already in front of her. Lenore remained silent as her best friend rattled off word after word, trying to soak in what she was saying so she could respond appropriately. When Zin paused, Lenore spoke up. "I'm fine, and everything has gone better than expected so far." She quietly wondered how long that would last. Nodding at the older girl, she went with her to gather the supplies, all the while looking for a good spot that wasn't already taken. Seeing a pair of trees off in the distance, Lenore pointed at them. "What about there? We could hang the tarp over the spot where the branches get close together." She suggested to her companion quietly, so as to not attract attention to the spot she had found.
Renekai rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-4)
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:46 am
"Good idea," Zin said with a conspiratorial wink. "Let's grab our stuff and hurry over there before anyone else takes it." She hustled over where the bundles of sleeping bags, tarps, and ropes were waiting and grabbed their share of the supplies. She walked as quickly as she dared with the mountain of supplies obscuring her vision, but luckily they made it to Lenore's spot before anyone else could snag it.
She set the sleeping bag, tarp, and rope on the ground and examined the branches that Lenore had indicated. They did provide good cover, and it would be a simple matter to drape the tarp over them.
"Nice find!" she complimented her friend. "This will work great. We just need to tie up the tarp so it won't get blown away by wind or washed down by rain-- or, well, buckets of water. We need to make sure that it covers all of the sleeping bag as well..." She put a finger to her lips as she pondered her battle plan. "First of all, let's tie it to the branches," she suggested. She tossed the tarp so that it hung down over the branches. It was large enough that the edges touched the ground, forming a makeshift tent. Zin grabbed some rope and began securing her side of the tarp.
Qixel
1: Zin fails to tie the rope at all and needs to try again 2: Zin ties the tarp down, but it isn't secure at all 3: The tarp is tied down reasonably well 4: Zin's side of the tarp is so secure that not a single drop of water will be able to get through!
Renekai
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Qixel rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Qixel
Adorable Trickster
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:17 pm
Lenore reached as high as she could, but unfortunately, the branch was simply too high up. Nevertheless, she slung the rope over the tarp and tied the best knot she could. Which was to say it was a terrible knot that could only just barely be referred to as such.
Renekai
1: Lenore fails to tie the rope at all and needs to try again 2: Lenore ties the tarp down, but it isn't secure at all 3: The tarp is tied down reasonably well 4: Lenore's side of the tarp is so secure that not a single drop of water will be able to get through!
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:32 pm
Preacher really, really didn't even want to look at Axel's face, much less be partnered with him. It was simple, she would have to pretend she'd not cried on him, clung to him like a lost child, forget that apparently, he had carried her back to her dorm. Tucked her in. Placed her on her bed instead of the floor. She would forget that she'd slept soundly that night - the first night in a long while. The horses she'd been able to handle, watching him from afar, laughing at his awful luck. But now, he stood in front of her, smiled his stupidly sunny, glorious smile, and spread the bedroll out on the ground.
She sighed.
"Wipe that damnfool grin offa ya face, Axel. I ain't never pitched anybody's tent afore so I dunno why you're looking all sunny-like - like I got all the answers to your dumbs." She coiled the rope in her hands, feeligng the studiness. Preacher supposed they need a tree, with a branch. And... rocks? She made a grumbling noise and grabbed the tarp. Wait, she needed to further Harper's cause. Axel was annoying and irritating and really, his smile was too brilliant; it hurt. But Harper loved him and deserved him more.
"C'mon, ya dickweed. I betcha Harper knows how ta pitch tents. She's so pretty and right smart. It's too bad she ain't here, right?" Preacher walked closer to the tree and stared at the branches expectantly, as if one would suddenly grow to the exact height she needed. Sighing, she looked down, scanning the ground for thick branches to prop the tent up with. She tried to ignore the way her skin prickled.
Preacher seemed irritable, which was really better than he had hoped for. Feeling quite cheerful, Axel gathered up the bedroll again and followed her over to the tree. He wasn't sure what she was looking for. Sticks, maybe. Yeah. Sticks!
For firewood!
Axel wandered around, gathering up sticks willy-nilly. Long sticks and short ones, thin sticks and thick ones, until he had a great big armful of sticks. A bundle big enough to please even Terry Tuggle and his wood-cravings. Axel dumped the sticks at Preacher's feet, grinning at her.
"What, d'you have a thing for Harper? She's sweet. I bet she'd go out with you."
Axel gave Preacher his most winning smile.
"You're the only girl I want to pitch my tent, Preacher."
The Semblance of Unity
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:07 pm
"Ugh, no, Harper's the bestest, sweetest girl and no one appreciates her right. Jus' cuz I like men don't mean I can't see how much a catch she is," she said pointedly, eyes still scanning the ground. Preacher finally found a long, study-looking stick. Bending, she grabbed it. At Axel's stupid quip, and no, Preacher had not missed that innuendo, she whirled, dropping her stick. Crossing her arms, she leveled a hard stare at him. Then, she saw his pile of sticks and groaned. Preacher marched right up to him, close enough to feel the heat from his body, and she stepped on his foot.
"Axel," she said sweetly, leaning all of her weight onto his left foot. This closeness was dangerous, though; her eyes dilated slightly, yellow irises darkening almost imperceptibly. "What tha ******** are you doin', ********' around?! We dun need ya lil twigs. Ain't building a fire, but putting up a tent. And don't-" she poked him fiercely in his chest, eyes narrowing dangerously. "-be gross, ya arse!" Oh, she hadn't missed his awful attempt at flirting. With a sweet, gentle smile, she hopped off of his foot and turned around to pick up her large fallen branch.
"I'm stuck witcha for this, n' you'd be flat on that ground iffin it wouldn't make Harper mad or get me ********' kicked out." It was honestly kind of difficult to talk up Harper, despite Preacher's affection for the girl. But she had decided to give the lovely girl her full support. "Need a big stick, n' not that one up ya a**. Two big ones n' we kin start pitchin'."
Axel did not shout or pull his foot away, although he was sorely tempted to. He knew as well as Preacher did that fighting in class was a big no-no. Axel narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the navy-haired girl. Why did she keep harping on about Harper? What was her game? It seemed highly unlikely that Harper would spill the whole sad story, but Preacher must have heard something. And now she was taunting him about it.
"You started it with the tent-pitching stuff," Axel pointed out. "And since when've you cared what Harper thinks?"
Severely annoyed at both the teasing and the poke, Axel kicked at his pile of sticks, trying to sort it out. One of the sticks was probably big enough. He tossed it to Preacher and set off looking for a similar one. A fallen branch not far away looked suitable, but it was studded with several smaller branches and dry brown leaves. Axel pulled out his pocketknife and started sawing the little twigs off on the way back to Preacher. Success! The stick looked totally awesome, and Axel shoved it into the ground a short distance away from Preacher's.
"So what next?" He picked up the piece of canvas, looking at Preacher for guidance.
The canvas felt kind of funny in his hands. Glancing down, Axel saw a dark red blotch spreading under his left hand.
God damn it. He'd cut himself with his pocketknife.
Axel sighed.
The Semblance of Unity
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:01 pm
"Let's see... Next..." Zin unrolled the sleeping bag and tucked it beneath the tarp. "The edges are all flappy," she noted. She observed that the tarp had an eyelet in each corner, where they could easily drive stakes through... if stakes had been a part of their supplies.
"We could break off tree branches to use as stakes to keep the tarp down," she suggested. "That way we can keep the sides taut, and the water won't get on the sleeping bag. She reached up to find a few suitable branches.
She broke off a couple suitable branches and stabbed them into the earth through the eyelets. She couldn't get them all that deep, but they would do a fairly good job.
Qixel
1: Zin is unable to break off any branches. 2: Zin's branches are flimsy twigs, and too short to make adequate stakes 3: Zin secures her side of the tarp decently with branch stakes 4: Zin's side of the tarp is so secure that not a single drop of water will be able to get through!
((I forgot to roll the dice so I rolled on another site and got a 3.))
Renekai
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Qixel rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-4)
Qixel
Adorable Trickster
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:23 pm
Instead of grabbing branches off the tree, the small girl instead looked around for decently sized fallen wood. Finding two good looking branches, the girl drilled them into the sockets until they were fairly deep in.
Renekai
1: Lenore is unable to break off any branches. 2: Lenore's branches are flimsy twigs, and too short to make adequate stakes 3: Lenore secures her side of the tarp decently with branch stakes 4: Lenore's side of the tarp is so secure that not a single drop of water will be able to get through!
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:41 pm
leon_a_darkangel
Does Ervette wanna dump water on them?
Qixel
"Great!" Zin said happily. "That looks like it'll stay pretty dry." The tree branches and stakes held the sides of the tarp at an angle, so when water fell on it it should roll off harmlessly. The sleeping bag fit snugly beneath the tarp, sheltered from potential rain- (or bucket) fall.
Unable to resist, Zin crawled under the tarp and sat on the plush sleeping bag. "Come in, Lenore!" she called. "It's like I'm camping in a tent!" She giggled.
Renekai
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Qixel
Adorable Trickster
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:55 pm
Lenore stared blankly at the makeshift tent containing the giggling girl for a moment, but then joined her inside. The girl hugged her legs to herself as she looked around at the, well, cozy interior.
Renekai
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:31 am
Alec had left behind the horse activity with a small sense of whimsical regret, he had really enjoyed the previous weeks activity even if it had ended rather comically. He'd lived his entire life within Shiganshina, and hadn't spent a lot of time out in the woods, but he had adventured a fair number of times as a boy. Nothing that would help him in this situation, with some amount of luck and hope neither task would be that awful. The facts were simple, faced with first aid and having to setup a shelter Alec was mostly out of his element. That didn't stop him from being enamored with the whole situation. He wasn't one to enjoy text books much, so being handed the materials they needed and told what to do was good enough for him.
Following along with Ervette, Alec listened closely as she explained several topics to them. When he heard his name being called, and whom he was assigned too he realized he'd never meet this particular trainee before from what he recalled. Looking among those assembled, he had to do a bit of asking around, finally, after a bit of asking and Ervette's pointing out the auburn, pale blue eye'd male to him Alec nodded his head in greeting. As unsure as he'd been about the task, the process of greeting the other was something Alec didn't mind trying to engage in.
The shorter male was quick at offering out a hand to shake Lip's hand. "Are you Phillip? I'm Alec, it's nice to meet you!" Alec ended with tilting his head. All the while, that friendly smile continued spreading across the short fifteen-year-olds face. All the same, the red head flashed him a rather pleasant smile hopeful they would be able to get along for the duration of the exercise. Even if he wasn't the friendly type, Alec was certain they could come to some kind of common ground.
Hobo Pixi
Wanna do dice mechanics for shelter building owo/ ?
leon_a_darkangel
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Doutei
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:21 am
As the trainees dispersed, the second twin grinned and waved down Larisa. Now that he'd gotten to talk to the blonde a few times he'd begun to learn she was generally up for trying weird things even if they didn't sound like the best of ideas. Snagging one of her pigtail loops with a finger, he began to march towards the designated shelter area while calling out a thank you to Ervette for giving him such a lovely partner. The teacher had been raising through the ranks of instructors here at the Military Academy in his mind, giving them tips and noticeably not giving anyone a hard time. He liked that she had so far been generally nice and lenient with the lessons, allowing them to learn however best worked for them, even if that meant damaging a hurdle and not having the money to pay for it in his brother's case.
"I've never been camping before but it seems pretty straightforward. Not a lot of options besides tying things to trees, right?" Chattering as they walked, he lugged the heavier bedroll with his spare hand while the rope was looped around his wrist, letting Larisa handle bringing along the tarp. They passed his brother and Shakuntala and he nodded his head in acknowledgement to them, hoping them the best. Hwan and him needed to pass this class and get through the courses on schedule in order to reach a squad quickly. A part of him wanted them to stay safe inside the walls for as long as possible but he also knew that Yoon Su's fees and needs would only increase as they grew older and it would be a long time before she got a job to care for herself. There weren't many guaranteed raises in pay but the higher they climbed, the better it would get.
"Good luck! Betcha my tarp stays up longer!" Giving their team a playful grin, he winked at the pair as they passed by. His last challenge hadn't gone how he'd wanted (though it had certainly ended spectacularly) but that wasn't going to stop him from still issuing them! He had the winning player from the last one on his team now! Continuing to lead around the edge of the trees, he dragged Larisa out into the open field and seemed to assess the ground. Dropping the supplies into a pile, he nodded his approval of the site and then got to his knees and began to dig his fingers into the earth.
"We already know how to survive in a forest, let's try finding shelter in an open space!" It was a risky move but a lesson he felt more important than having a good grade. The stories of how dangerous titans were outside the walls had not failed to alert him that when they ventured out they would need a plan. Tree cover would be ideal for dealing with shelter from the titans or even abandoned buildings but he also wanted to figure out how to be prepared when faced without either. Erecting a little mock tent in the middle of a field would obviously stick out so all he could think to do was dig down!
"I'm gonna make a hole and then cover it with the tarp! Maybe even some dirt and stuff when we figure out how." A tunnel of some sort was probably necessary but he didn't have a concrete idea in his head yet. Jeong-jae hadn't completely mapped out a plan but wanted to just get started for now! It took longer to dig a hole than to toss a tarp at a tree!
KitsuneAura
How's that for crazy? XD Also I figure we'll do the dice but maybe after we semi-set up!
Yamashii
Can't wait to see what you guys do!
NaomiNaomi
Just a quick quote because Jeong briefly interacted with Tala!
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 3:49 am
Ervette came around with one of her buckets, slipping it into the lake that was located not terribly far away. While she watched over the group, she made sure to have her ammunition ready. Making her way over to the girls and their surprisingly well constructed structure she gave it a critical once over before pouring the bucket of water on the tent. Much to her amusement it didn't look like it was leaking. If it had, it was only in the slightest and with stood the rain test.
"Nice job ladies! Keep up the good work, you can move on when you are ready." She flashed both of them a delighted smile giving them the thumbs up. She hummed thoughtfully her golden gaze sliding over the tarp. Lenore and Zin had made short work of the task it seemed. The instructor crouched down before she left, noting how the structure had withstood her minor fussing with it. Neither would have to suffer the fate of a wet bedroll, even if they'd failed she would have just showed them how to better set their tarps up. They weren't as convenient as a tent, but they could get the job done in a pinch. Standing back up, the instructor moved along, ready to inspect another tent should another pair finish.
Renekai
Surrrre xD she's been watching over the girls and is rather amused anyway!
Qixel
leon_a_darkangel
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Renekai
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:03 am
Qixel
Zinnia squeaked in surprise when Ervette suddenly up-ended the bucket over their shelter. Luckily, their hard work paid off and only a few drops of water managed to leak in. She beamed up at Ervette when she paid them a compliment.
"High five!" she said to Lenore, holding a hand up.
