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 Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:15 pm
Fascination
They're watching The Two Towers for probably the thousandth time. LotR is one of those series that Chris returns to as a default state. Treebeard takes up nearly the entire screen as Chris rants, beer sloshing dangerously with his wide arm movements.
"He's just ******** cool, Chels. Everyone else they're practically ******** variations of human yeah? Little short, big feet, pointy ears. Boring as s**t. But Treebeard barely imitates human. And he just steps on a ********' orc and crushes it. Legendary." he sighs, sinking back into the bed.
Chel snorts beside him, mouth full of candy. "Nerd."
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:33 pm
Scouting
Chel had to take a second to catch her breath. When she'd fallen the wind had been knocked out of her momentarily.
But she was a sun, and suns got up. She ran to her daggger and threw it into a glowing sphere in the ent's bark ribcage. She assumed it had to be a weakpoint- if video games had taught her anything it was that glowing objects were how you beat the boss.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:57 pm
Scouting
The ent ???roared??? as the dagger sunk into it's core. It wasn't animal, like it had sounded in the movies, but more like trees rubbing together during a storm. An awful screech that left goosebumps up and down Chris's arms.
It scratched at it's chest, trying to dislodge the knife. The knife when flying to the ground, sticking in the mud, followed by a slow moving slick of something translucent gold. "Bad move, Treebeard. You're gonna bleed out now. Can you bleed out?"
The ent made no acknowledgement that it huge or understood Chris, just keened loudly as it pawed at the hole in it's center. Chris swung himself out of the way of what he was pretty positive was sap, jerking his arm as he tried to escape. It took him planting his feet firmly on the ent's shin and pushing to finally send him tumbling off and to the ground. "God, ow, ********> He rolled ungracefully to his knees.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:04 pm
Scouting
Sap went everywhere and pinned down one of Chel's hands. It was a heavy substance, like molasses but ten thousand times stronger. It wasn't impossible to pry her hand free, but it certainly wasn't easy.
"One down." She tried to wipe her hand off on her jeans as a kneejerk reaction, but then her hand stuck to her jeans. "Oh ******** me I walked right into that s**t."
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:09 pm
Scouting
Chris made a face as the sap covered her. It was stuck to the blade of his weapon, but he at least has the sense to pick up some snow and dead leaves to wipe it off.
"If you rip your pants tryin' to unstick yourself you can't have mine."
The ent slowly crumpled in front of them, dying in stuttering, slow stages. A second screechroar filled the air, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:15 pm
Scouting
Chel clicked her free dagger into place and then threw it, creating a barrier underneath the giant's foot, which unbalanced him. It was so perfectly placed that the ent began teetering backwards, falling over and crashing to the ground with a force that terrified even Chel. So that was what it sounded like when a tree fell in the forest.
"All yours!" she called, having detached her hand from her pants now. A giant drop of the stuff had gotten stuck to a tree branch, but gravity had pushed it down and like an apple falling from a tree it slammed right into the side of her head. "This isn't how I wanted to die," she called woefully. "I'm too pretty Chris, why?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:22 pm
Scouting
Chris flinched hard when the ent hit the ground, but he dutifully moved toward it. It seemed to be stunned from the fall - who wouldn't be after your head went from nine feet in the air to 0?
He leaped up onto it's rough, gnarled chest and went straight for the glowing core like Chel had before. His weapon sunk in with a sick squelch and he nearly lost is balance as the ent screamed and thrashed.
He jumped down, but was still connected to the ent by a thin string of sap, spreading from the core to his weapon. He shook his hand vigorously but it didn't snap. "They try to suck you in with their dying breaths," he called, deadpan.
When he turned to look at Chel he nearly bust something he laughed so hard. "Holy s**t you look like you fell in Pooh's honey pot. So ********' gross."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:52 am
Wind
He still feels sticky, even worst which the wind whips against is skin, making it feel tighter. He'd gotten the sap off that he could with snow, but he suspected it would take an actual shower to make him feel clean again.
The sound of the motorcycles drowns out everything but the rush of air past his ears. He sees more than hears Chel tell off one of the Matthews for getting too close, and can't help but to think she looks way more badass than he ever will. She was made to ride a motorcycle, looking dangerous and determined. The only one of their team that might look better is Captain Beautiful, only because he bends low and steady over the bars of his bike and his coat whips out behind him like an actual super hero. It's disgustingly poetic.
Chel fits in like this, Chris thinks. Despite the trouble she's gotten into, despite the silver hunk of metal glinting on her wrist when she shifts on her bike, shes made it far in Deus. Farther than he would have put money on her making it in the 'real world'.
He's proud of her.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:04 am
Drop Off
Just under a dozen bikes skid to a stop at the open mouth of a dark cave. Only the moons got off, pulling loaded down backpacks out of the shell of their motorcycles. Chris swept off his own bike and tugged the straps of his backpack over his shoulders.
Captain Beautiful stood at the opening of the cave and looked over the team. "This is where we split. Cave's gonna be too tight to take in more than necessary. Moons only from here out, Sun's are headed home." He turned to clap a hand on each of the Matthews' shoulders and talk quietly with them. Chris almost felt bad that Chel would have to deal with their s**t the whole way back.
He picked his way over to her, small smile playing over his lips. "Thanks for the escort, Jeeves." He knocked his shoulder into hers, in lieu of a hug or any other chick flick moments. "Check on Dawson and Lyds when you get home, make sure they're not missin' me too much, yeah?"
Chris code for 'I'm a mother hen and I need you to make sure my chicks aren't getting into trouble.'
He left her with one last smile and followed after the other moons, squeezing himself through the small entrance.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:25 pm
20 minutes
The cave is dark and damp. The light from their lanterns and flashlights is hazy at best, and though they cast a soft runic glow out before them Chris feels like he can't see more than a few inches in front of his face.
He's pretty sure it's just because the tunnels are so tight, and he's a little freaked by that. Every so often they walls will narrow so much that his shoulders will brush against rock, or they'll all have to turn sideways to get through. Dust and dirt is already sticking to the sap left on his coat.
He has no idea how Captain Beautiful is deciding where to go, but he hopes they get there soon because it smells like suffocation here.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:44 pm
2 Hours
He doesn't know why, but he'd expected the inside of the cave to be warmer. Maybe he'd thought there'd be insulation or something. But instead it's just as cold inside as it had been out. Maybe not as biting, without the wind, but certainly chilling.
Everyone is quiet as they move. The longer they searched, the more anxious the whole team seemed to be. Even CB's shoulder's seemed to be more tense the farther along they got.
Most upsetting was that they hadn't found anything. They hadn't even heard so much as a whimper from the supposed lost humans.
Nor had they heard anything else.
The only thing they did hear was the echoing of their breathing, puffing out in small clouds, and the heavy fall of their boots on the stone. It was eerie.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:59 pm
2 hours, 25 minutes
"We're lost," Chris said, voice pitched low. He wasn't sure why, he was beginning to think there wasn't a ******** soul in here besides them.
CB stopped and shook his head. "We're not lost." As if what he said was final.
"We're lost," he said again, more urgent. "We've been walkin' for two and a half hours, and we haven't gotten anywhere. Look at these ******** tunnels how big could these system be? We need a better plan."
"We're not. We've been heading east this whole time, look-" CB held up a the compass strapped to his wrist, but his voice cut off. The needle was spinning wildly, first clockwise, then counter. "s**t."
Chris pinched the bridge of his nose. "Son of a b***h. We gotta head back, we can't do s**t if we're lost."
CB nodded and looked around, and his features went tight and concerned. When Chris looked away from him to the caves around them, he realized why. They were at a fork in the tunnels, standing in the middle. "I don't know which way we came from," CB said.
Chris looked to the other moons, but they all shook their head. "None of you?"
Ava piped up for the first time in over an hour. She sounded concerned.
"s**t." He scrubbed a hand over his face and looked to CB. "Pick a way, then, boss. We don't have a lot of choice."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:22 pm
3 hours
He doesnt...
He doesn't ******** know. He doesn't know where they are, or how they're supposed to get back. He doesn't know that they will.
He knows that they've been walking for three hours now, maybe more, and that their compasses stopped working somewhere along the way, though he doesn't know when. He knows that they've got supplies, sure, but they packed for a fairly simple search and rescue, not for being out here for longer than that.
Panic settles in his gut and his fists clench around the straps of his backpack a little tighter. He's not going to freak out. He was trained to deal with this.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:23 pm
3 hours, 4 minutes
Something rumbles.
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:27 pm
3 hours, 37 minutes Cave in
He screams out as the first rocks fall, knocking into Captain Beautiful and sending him staggering. He goes to run forward, but there's too much dirt and rock falling heavily and he can't, he'll be crushed.
He stumbled backwards.
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