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 Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:59 pm
Quote: Trees stretch in every direction, tall and dark and full of unfriendly shadows. Nothing about the area seems safe, and there is a darkness in the forest. If you travel into the forest, you will find that no matter what path you take, the village is always within sight behind you. Any direction, any distance, any time you spend--the village will always be within sight. There is no barrier to stop you, just a strange, infinitely looping forest. Within the forest you find no recognizable trees or landmarks.
He hadn't necessarily invited anyone to come with him, but in the given circumstances he also accepted that it was unlikely that he'd be left alone to wander on the outskirts. That, and there were some individuals who preferred not to be left on their own here anyway. Therefore it came as no surprise that he did have company today, the moment he had stepped out of the door he'd been followed.
Fortunately, he had no intentions of starting fights or drama.
With his only purpose to actually gather materials this morning, he fully intended to do that rather than to poke, prod and push at whatever influenced their ability to traverse this particular region. Perhaps if he was list insistent on going where he 'shouldn't' he might be able to find considerably more useful items, and by extension, continue to seal up the smaller cracks in the house.
...Maybe if he did that, it would get a little damn warmer too.
Aged, but not entirely blunted, axe pilfered from a nearby house, he made his way back towards the forest with the aim of acquiring more than a few twigs. However, if worst came to worse, he was just going to have to start raiding the more dilapidated houses, they weren't safe to be in anyway so he might as well put them to some use, right?
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 7:45 pm
If he minded the company, Athalia said nothing. Metis saw no reason to not accompany him--seemed like Nami and Shaowei were usually running off together, with Realta either following them or going off on her own. Perhaps Metis should have been more worried for the safety of her feline friend, but the apparent survivalist had already 'awww'd a few times at the Eternal's concerns. Even patted her hand with her paw, which just had the brunette roll her eyes.
No, wandering off after the occasionally grumpy Super Senshi was the easiest option. Simply put--Metis herself didn't really like the idea of being alone outside the house. It was too... creepy. If she were to be honest with herself, she wanted to be around someone with working physical eyesight, help her fill in blanks from her own vision.
So she trailed along as he dipped into one of the broken houses they'd nixed on their search, and came out with... something in his hand. Metis tilted her head this way and that, trying to get a better view of it with her vision, but parts of Athalia's body blocked the shape that was somewhat outlined by his energy. "What did you find?" The question was easy enough, hands clasped behind her back as she picked up her pace to walk alongside him and match his longer strides with quicker steps. The fact they were heading towards the forest wasn't lost on her.
Nor was the fact they couldn't get very far in it before things seemed to get turned around and the village was still... just, nearby.
"Are you aiming for anything in particular, or just wandering and seeing what happens?" Again, an easy enough question. Plus kept her from getting in the way, if he had an actual goal in mind. Better if she could assist. A thought swirled and she hummed slightly before clicking her tongue. "We probably should have some firewood stocked up. Or raid some of the other houses for more blankets. Last night felt like it had to be close to freezing," she added with a shiver.
Though, Metis was likely biased--she enjoyed wearing layers even when it was in the 60s and above for temperatures. Only once it got to the high 80s or even the 90s did she relent and either go for lighter layers, or just a lack of layers. Her body ran on the colder side, she supposed, and waking up to find her limbs extra chilled wasn't uncommon for her even back home--where she could pull out various extra blankets to snuggle up into. Never mind press herself more against a warm, furry canine body that liked to occupy a good chunk of her bed. Realta was helping to take Raja's empty space for the moment, but she still missed additional layers to cocoon herself within.
Really, if she had the option to just snuggle up next to the fire, she'd be content as could be...
"How about you? Are you sleeping alright?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:54 am
Was she nervous, uncomfortable, feeling decidedly awkward? Metis was filling in the silence with chatter even if the conversation pieces were genuine questions. She did however get a pass, after all she couldn't necessarily see what he was holding and it was fair to assume that despite her ability to adapt, there were always going to be some limitations.
"An axe," he replied simply, balancing the handle behind his neck with both arms draped over it. The blade had been deliberately cast down towards the ground to avoid catching him unawares and he did seem to know how to handle the thing, even if he had taken a more casual stance.
"And you should know me better by now," he added to the next part of her sentence. He'd already meandered about obliviously, he'd scouted and observed, and now it was time to take a much more direct and targeted approach. They needed to be smarter about how they looked after one another if they were going to be comfortable and up until now he hadn't exactly excelled at that himself.
"No random hunting today," he clarified and glanced back towards the village briefly before shaking his head. "We're getting more wood, proper wood that is," he explained after a moment and began to walk again. "There was method to the corrupt's madness when she mentioned planks to me," he conceded and pursed his lips.
"I don't need to be a genius to know everyone's cold," he continued and ducked into the forest. Immediately greeted by a bizarre rush of heat, it was still something he found unusual...for something without all life within it, the forest certainly had a means of reminding him that it had the advantage of insulation. "I need to seal off the drafts, we need firewood, we need kindling," he ran down the list.
"And that may eventually lead to hot water which I can only assume will make me an exceedingly popular man," he mused. It was safe to say that while he didn't enjoy being grimey he did seem to be able to adjust to it a little more easily than the women in the household. He wouldn't question their need for comfort, they were entitled to it, but he would have been all right with a dunk in the river if he needed it.
Privacy, heat, hot water... Yeah, he knew how these things were supposed to pan out in the end.
But was he sleeping? Technically yes, comfortably not so much.
"I sleep as well as you can do on a floor," he offered in a non-committal fashion. "But I've slept in worse places so I wouldn't worry too much about it," he added.
...Like the time he'd gone camping and his friends had selected what was probably the rockiest piece of grassland they could have possibly stumbled upon.
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:11 pm
Annoying him with chatter was not her goal, so she bit her tongue a bit, giving him time to answer things. When he clarified it was an axe, she blinked a few times, moving up ahead of him a few paces to look back and take in the empty shape his energy outlined. "Oooh... that's what that looks like," she mumbled, having never... seen one. Before. Her father had carefully taught her about tools he had in the garage as she'd grown up, and she vaguely remembered moving her hands over a small axe with a heavily blunted, padded case over its edge to prevent accidents. But it wasn't till he mentioned what the item was that she recalled that old memory, and could attach the sensation of the shape to what she was seeing now.
Falling back into step with him, she listened and nodded as he clarified his objectives for the outing. Wood collecting was on the day's agenda--planks to board off holes in the house, firewood, and kindling was always useful even if even she could easily collect that on her own.
She followed him into the forest, her ears adjusting slowly to the way sounds moved around thick trunks and between leaves.
The mention of hot water made her perk up, undeniably, but she tried to smother that a bit. "If that does become an option, that would be nice, once everything else is taken care of," she said, even if she was already internally crossing her fingers for even just lukewarm water to scrub herself with. She'd deal with icy water as needed, but even something warm enough for tea with some of the herbs they had growing around would be amazing.
Never mind to actually feel decently cleaned...
His mention of sleeping on the floor though concerned her. "Have you tried sleeping in one of the beds? The mattresses are just... straw filled sacks, but they might offer a little more comfort than just the floor." Furniture in this era was rather different from what she was used to back home, but not entirely alien that she couldn't figure out how to make more mattress stuffing if needed, or try to help make the experience slightly more comfortable.
"...probably can't get a wagon or cart into the forest for wood," she murmured after a few moments though, looking around at how dense the forest was. "Is... it easier to cut everything out here, or bring stuff back to cut at the house?" In this, she was absolutely clueless, but since he seemed to know what he was doing...
Her brow furrowed. "Wait, have you done anything like this before?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2021 6:17 am
"Uh, it's easier to cut in the forest if you can remember where you piled it up," he replied after a moment, reaching out to tap at one of the tree trunks with the butt of the axe. There were some that wouldn't be suitable, either too young or too wet, but others would likely be ok. For kindling, life was a touch simpler for him as he'd have the joy of whacking branches and twigs off, those didn't require finesse and wouldn't murder anyone if they happened to fall on them.
"And with the added cover, if it rains then it takes them longer to get wet," he added and began to unceremoniously knock some of the thinner branches and twigs off. If anything he was simply giving this one a good pruning. It was safe for the tree, and the more kindling he could gather the more hot water he could probably achieve. He'd need a lot of this stuff to keep everything burning constantly, but at least it would give him something to do and keep him active.
"Burns far better, smokes less, when it's dry," he explained and clucked his tongue briefly. Bit by bit nudging the stack into a pile near the trunk of the tree where it would remain shielded from any unpleasant onslaughts of rain.
As for her other question though...
"And which bit have I done before?" he asked. "The camping or the woodsman thing I've got going on?" he continued with a wry smile. He'd technically done both, but he definitely wouldn't have considered him a pro at either. He didn't much enjoy camping, and he didn't really see himself as a gardener, let alone a tree surgeon. He got by though and that was kind of the point, right?
"But I wouldn't worry about where I'm sleeping, I've slept in worse spaces than this," he murmured reassuringly. "They just haven't always been as cold or...haunted," he muttered.
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