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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 2:42 pm
Thom frowned, but only backed a short distance away to wait for Newt to reappear. Disgusting. Once he did return, however, Thom darted forward and snatched the bundle out of his grasp, only to make a face at the mud now coating it. Edging away from the mud-covered frog, he set the bundle on the ground and carefully unwrapped it.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 3:47 pm
Newt flinched back as the snake struck, yanking the package from his jaws and huddled back to let him look. "I... d-didn't have much to work with, but I managed..." Inside the roll lay an unstrung bow that had been carved from a strong piece of wood he had found and experimented with, several arrows made from bark-stripped sticks and other straight objects he could pilfer and sharpen or tip with tiny shards of glass and wire or slices of soda can that had been sharpened on a rough stone. There were three home made knives made from trash he had collected carefully or taken from the supply cabinet carefully. A sharpened toothbrush like he had so long ago used for his own act of violent rebellion. He said nothing, but somehow felt better if Thom had been armed with one himself. There was also what looked like a pouch connected to straps on either side- a sling. "It t-took a while... ah... to... to m-make something that... that was durable and... ah... wo-wo-worked. I c-can make more... or t-try with som-something different if they're not...KrrIIT- Er..."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:04 pm
"This is a good start," he admitted, almost, almost praising the frog man's work and he lifted the bow for inspection. He hadn't even shot such a thing in his life, but maybe there was someone on the island who had, or who could teach him. He had plenty of time to try to learn, anyway. There wasn't much else for him to do. He attempted to bend the bow, and was somewhat surprised when the bow gave, but didn't break.
Setting it aside, he picked through the other objects one by one, nodding every so often as if satisfied with the assortment. "A good start," he repeated, and glanced up towards the frog. "We'll need more, but at least we 'ave somethin' to go from. Try to make a few more bows to start with, per'aps some more slings as well. I 'ave a feelin' we're more likely to need th' long distance stuff."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:32 pm
Newt puffed up almost proudly at the compliment, inching forward to reach for the bow, "Y-you... you know how to... how to er... p-put the st-string on? I d-dont'... er.. recall the proper word for it... ah.." He reached for the carefully spun bowstring. He had managed to make a good strong one before they had taken his spinning wheel away. "H-here, let me sh-show you...!"
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:36 pm
Thom was fairly confident that he could string the bow without any trouble, but the frog man seemed so proud of his accomplishment that Thom opted to let Newt demonstrate himself. He handed over the bow, and picked up one of the arrows to examine in the mean time, lazily twirling it between two fingers while he watched Newt. "Do you 'ave anythin' for me to carry these in?"
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:44 pm
"Ah... y-yes! Yes! Ah... well, n-no, not yet, but... but I th-think I know how I c-could- I'd just need some cardboard and a d-drinking glass and some r-rope and wire..." He said the list out loud as though trying to commit the items to memory more so than asking the snake for them. If he would offer them, Newt wouldn't say no. Any reason to avoid the village himself. As he spoke, he worked to try to bend the bow enough to hook the wire over the groove he had carved into the strip. It seemed he wasn't quite strong enough to do it, though, skinny frog arms wobbling with the effort of it, but the loop remained a good inch too far.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:53 pm
"I can't go in the village." He frowned, watching Newt's fruitless attempts at stringing the bow. "Can't. I'll see if I can find anythin' of us, or get someone else t' get it, but I can't risk leavin' th' jungle." He watched for a moment longer, then nudged Newt's hands away and plucked the bow from his grasp, mirroring his attempt to place the string. However, unlike Newt, he managed to string the bow without too much difficulty and experimentally drew back the bowstring, grinning his approval when it didn't snap free or pop. "Brilliant. Well done."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 8:18 pm
His throat inflated as his chest puffed out proudly, positively beaming at the praise he'd been dying for. "I... I... I'm g-g-glad you like them!" He said it hurriedly before his mouth attempted to muddle the words again. He swallowed a croak, gathering up the arrows to refresh his memory of how thick he'd need to make the quiver. "I.. er... d-don't worry about the ah... sup-sup-supplies..."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 8:33 pm
Still nodding in approval, he unstrung the bow and wrapped the string around it a few times to be sure that he wouldn't lose it, then bent to wrap up the bundle once more. "So, let's aim for somethin' to carry th' arrows an' maybe a belt of some sort, make it a bit easier on me. Otherwise, as much as you can come up with. I 'ave a few people in mind who I'm sure would be interested in 'avin' some of these things for themselves. I'll check in again soon."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 8:50 pm
Newt nodded, "Ah... y-you... you know... if... if you need... any help with... " He let the words hang, mouth trembling too much to be reliable for speaking. Hopefully the snake would catch his drift. Hopefully there weren't any tape recorders this far out. Hopefully the snake and the frog together wouldn't draw too much attention from anywhere. He didn't know about the status of Thom's chip and he didn't know what the lab's opinion of Thom was. Hopefully they suspected nothing. He'd lay as low as was amphibiously possible.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:14 pm
"If I did need your help, Newt, could you do whatever I asked you?" He glanced up from the bundle and raised a brow, clearly skeptical. Gathering up the bundle, he wiped a bit of mud from it, then tucked it under one arm. "You ran an' hid at th' sound of my voice. How do I know y' won't do it again?"
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:19 pm
His throat jumped and he sagged back down from his somewhat-standing position back into his crouch. "It's.... it's hard n-not to... it's in-in-in-in-krrIIIT stinct, S-sir." To his credit, he kept eye contact with the snake despite his gentle tremble.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:25 pm
"Then, once you learn t' control that...instinct, you can help." His lip curled, but he soon simply shook his head, double-checking the bundle before starting away. "Until then, you're helpin' best by continuin' t' make things like this."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:45 pm
Newt stayed quiet, swallowing as he flattened himself back down again amongst the rocks. As the snake turned, his eyes caught sight of an irregularity to his scales- a scar? what could have pierced his natural armor like that? Suddenly, the deep and slightly suppressed memory from long ago of a brown hairy figure goring out her own chip between blunt feline claws from the back of her neck bubbled back into his recollection and he visibly flinched. Did that...? Could he possibly...? "J-just... just let me know!" He croaked after him.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 9:53 pm
"Will do," Thom called without looking back towards the frog. He lifted a hand in goodbye, but continued away, weaving off through the trees.
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