(no subject)

[resnipstance]

Who: everyone!
When: Day 6
Where: everywhere!
What: regrouping after the event

Well, the swarm is over and the queen has died. What are you doing now, friends?

Heading back to the boneyard to regroup? Staying at the queen's carcass to harvest meat and pearl things? Staying maybe to heal if you're banged up? Or maybe you're arguing with others over what to do.

Comments

[resnipstance]

01. ᴡᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ
[Ahsoka comes to and sits up with a groan, rubbing her head.]

Ugh... what happened?

[Then it all comes back to her at once, and her eyes open wide.] No! The queen!

02. sᴜʀᴠᴇʏɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ
[First, she goes to the queen. She puts a hand on the carcass, sorrowful.]

... I'm sorry.

[Then, she goes to her comrades. To the injured, she asks:] ... Are you all right?

[To anyone else:] ... I think we should send a runner back to the others. [If they haven't already.] Everyone's beat.

03. ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴄᴀʟɪᴛʏ
[Much later, after a headcount has been done and everyone seems to still be alive, Ahsoka returns to business.]

We should smoke or cure as much of the meat as we can. This much should last us a while, and if most of it spoils, we're going to have gone to a lot of effort for nothing.

On another note ... does anyone know what these pearly things are?

04. ᴡɪʟᴅᴄᴀʀᴅ
[Hit me up on plurk @ exclamationmarks or send me a pm to this journal if you want something else! I'm easy.]

02

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt's finally back to a mostly functioning level after resting for a bit. "Sleeping it off" is the best medicine. ]

To bring them here? Or just to deliver news? Because they might be better off there where we have cover and a makeshift camp.

[resnipstance]

I don't mind leaving them where they are, but they deserve to know at least that we have food.

[She keeps her voice carefully neutral as she says it-- deliberately shutting off her feelings around the Queen's death.]

sometime between 2 and 3, what are timelines

[ceruleo]

[ The long trek out to the nest is doubly long and difficulty under the crushing heat of day and with his leg still numb. It leaves him with nothing to think about except the remnants of vague panic clawing at his insides, the memory of a thousand angry little mouths snatching at his skin and his suit. He's still having difficulty breathing with his suit so damaged, but as the hours go by it stitches itself back together like a living, oozing thing. He definitely tries not to think about that.

By the time they make it out to the nest he looks even worse than he started, hobbling and scratched and sweating. Still, he lights up with relief when he sees her, letting the sand carry him down into the pit. ]

Ahso—Ashla! [ See? He remembered. Maybe it's the heat, making him think of fire. ] Hey!

[ He may have one damaged leg, he has two working arms, all the better to hug her with. Sorry about him, he's so tired he's looped right back around to being keyed up. ]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka accepts the hug, but then she pushes herself back to survey Lance.]

--Lance, you're hurt. What happened?

01 // ahsokA STOP

[superblack]

[Bruce had held back, trying to make sure those that weren't heavy hitters could damage some from safety. Without the suit or at least his weapons, he wasn't much help to the others.

The fight hadn't been pretty, to say the least. Standing on the sidelines wasn't something he was used to anymore.]

Easy, there. Not too fast.

[Gently, but firmly, he keeps her from moving too fast. Whether or not she had any sensibilities like a regular human, Bruce wasn't willing to risk furthering an injury on the account of sudden panic.]

The queen's dead.

[resnipstance]

[She senses him before she feels him, so she doesn't startle.]

I'm fine, I promise. [The words come almost automatically. But then Bruce says that the queen's dead, and her expression falls. She can feel the truth in his words, too.]

... Oh-- oh no.

3

[dateme]

Maybe they're boss loot. [ This is Inui helping and not at all being sore over the fact that he can't move his legs right now because they're numb from trilobite....bites. He's had a rough day okay? He wants to be able to do more than sit on his butt but he can't :c ]

We can sell them to a vendor if we ever find anyone else on this giant awful planet of death.

[resnipstance]

[Guess who's never played a video game in her life.]

... What?

idwiw 4

[sandhate]

[ sometime after his first trek inside the hull, anakin returns to the boneyard - to padme, where he drops off the medical supplies he found and then to ahsoka. he sits down beside her and watches her carefully, grave concern mismatched with the lightness in his next words. ]

You have to be more careful, Snips.

[ ironically, he has zero'd out twice already. but she doesn't need to know that. ]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka just smiles at him innocently.]

I haven't done anything you wouldn't do.

[adamance]

improving

[Midway through the day, Lexa's condition begins to improve considerably. Although it's still difficult for her to feel the ache that she knows she should feel from a bite of that size, other parts of her are improving. The wound is beginning to close up without any outside influence and the suit begins to repair itself where it's been punctured. All in all, it could be worse.

Stubborn though she is, she begins to walk the area around the sink hole before the effects of the vertigo are completely gone, and it's apparent from how she tries to proudly keep her head up.

Still saving face, she glances over to someone near her, peering at them mostly out of the corner of her eye.] We should go into that, but we may need a plan for how we get ourselves out.

disapproving lamentations

[It's not until Lexa is definitely in a position to no longer feel like she's about to throw up while standing that she rises and does what she can to get everyone's attention. She motions up with both her hands to capture people's attentions, and then waves for them to come closer. It's not her first time making a declaration since she's arrived, and it won't be her last.]

The fight we engaged in was reckless. By deciding to act, you put the lives of everyone in danger. I engaged in the fight because I hoped to help it end quickly by distracting her, and I was injured in the process. We already chose a reckless route by coming out here, and though we have something to show for it, we're fortunate to be alive.

Next time, consider reconnaissance, consider observing, and then we can regroup. Many of you are warriors, but I assume few of you are used to acting without someone planning for you. Consider that in the future.

[Yes, that was incredibly condescending. But she's frustrated.]

the wildcard option

[Once she's up and ready, Lexa will want to get a headcount, get people to bring the others back, and will want to ensure that people are collecting enough food to carry on. She isn't a medic, but they've gone a while without proper water, so she'll be checking in on that, as well.]

[anewhope]

[ taking stock ]

[ Clark doesn't know how many people left or stayed. But it's important to check on everyone. See who is injured, who needs help. After a few hours in the sun, his suit feels easier to move around in and his senses seem to flicker back to life, more alert and powerful than before.

Surveying the carnage, his heart aches. No matter what he chooses, every decision leads to someone or something getting hurt.

Quietly, he breaks off a few bones to use as makeshift clubs or canes for people to use. Clark also picks up the carcasses of the trilobites and puts them in a pile. People will be hungry. He also wanders up to anyone on their feet to ask. ]

Can anyone help gather the creatures? We should pool our supplies and move on soon.

[ Clark has lost any desire to remain here. ]

[ surveying the land for the exploration party ]

[ With power slowly returning to him, Clark hovers in the air. Not too high up, but enough that he should be able to spot anyone coming their way from a distance. He wanted to know what happened to the party that left.

Once he sees anyone approaching, he lands near to them with a pensive expression. ]

What happened?

[ choose your own adventure. ]

[ Clark will be helping anyone who needs support, catching up or trying to figure out the new messages he got. ]

[ex_bossily211]

reunion;

[Once those that stayed behind have found their way back to those that went away, Clara looks around for anyone that she knows. She's concerned about loss all around, not only on the Trilobite side but their own as well. She didn't know many of the others yet, but those that she does, she seeks out. Upon seeing a familiar face she makes her way over to them, looking them over to ensure they're fine.]

Next time, think I'll be coming with you. Are you alright?

exploring;

[Being in a new place means that there's exploring that needs to be done. As exhausted as Clara is, her curiosity wins out in the end, and she takes to looking around. But to do that, she needs a companion. It's never enjoyable to see new things alone. So she grabs hold of the hand nearest to her and drags them along with her, glancing up at them with a tired smile.]

You don't mind coming with me, do you? It won't take long, promise.


message;

[After helping some of the others cut and prepare the meat to be cooked, Clara withdraws from the others and finds somewhere to sit. She replays the messages she received back at the boneyard over and over, attempting to etch notes on the ground in order to figure things out and make sense out of all of it. She works for quite some time, only glancing up when she notices that she's not alone. Seeing someone standing there, she sighs and erases some of her work by rubbing her foot along the ground.]

You don't happen to have an ear for making sense of languages, do you?

because we can't have enough threads

[anewhope]

[ Clark pauses. Then, with a weighted tone, he replies. ]

I might. Halfway through those messages, they changed. They started to make sense.

no we can't ever have enough

[ex_bossily211]

[She's not expecting him to say something like that, so her eyes widen as her eyebrows arch upward. Maybe she's just not understanding what he means, so she needs to get him to clarify.]

Make sense how...exactly?

exploring

[dateme]

[ You mean glancing down, right Clara? Because Inui's legs are totally still numbed from the Trilobite nippings he got and he hasn't quite managed to get them working again. They all kind of got roughed up by things and he isn't offended or anything; Inui actually winds up grinning a little up at her. ]

You gonna carry me?♥

[ex_bossily211]

[She just laughs at that. No really, she stands there and laughs. And gives him an affectionate hair ruffle. Kids these days.]

You're likely taller than I am. I'm not carrying you anywhere, ruined legs or not.

exploring.

[naberrie]

[ tired as she is, unwise as it could possibly be, padmé does not mind at all. surprise colors her when clara takes her hand, but she does not pull back her arm. nor does she regard the other woman with anything but curiosity for her abrupt familiarity. perhaps she found something. ]

Where are we going?

[ex_bossily211]

[Always pleased to get a chance to meet and work with some of the others here, she takes comfort in the fact that this other woman is short and reminds her of herself, a trait that's instantly endearing to her vanity. ]

We're going to pop off and look around. You don't mind, do you?

[sobriquette]

01

[The group from the bone start to arrive, and Jess realizes that she's been holding her breath, worried about what might have happened to them while the rest of them fought the giant trilobite. Or, more accurately, there's one particular person she's worried about.

Luke might be bulletproof, but there are more dangerous things than bullets in this place.

She's on her feet, watching the group approach, searching for Luke and growing more anxious by the second as everyone except him seems to appear. Until now, she had no intention to actually talk to any of them, not even Luke, but as the last of the stay team arrive and there's still no sign of him, she changes her mind.]

Hey! [She isn't yelling at anyone in particular, just whoever is closet.] Where the hell is Luke?

02

[It takes her a little while to calm down, to stop pacing, to manage to resist the urge to run back to the bones in an attempt to find Luke. But she still isn't exactly calm, so she puts herself to work instead.

One of the pearls from the queen's carcass is laying nearby, so she picks it up to experiment.

It's too slippery to get a proper grip on to break it open, but Jess is determined to see if there's anything inside. There are knives, though, as rudimentary as they are. Jess braces the pearl in the sand between her knees and brings the knife down hard into the top of the damn thing.

The pearl cracks and all Jess can see is white light, flashes coming from both the pearl and her suit, and she's left blinking as it fades.]

What the fuck?

02

[superblack]

[Bruce makes his approach towards Jessica, wonder what she's holding when...

Light. Blinding white. The moment the light shines is the moment he drops to the floor, waiting for an explosion, waiting for something to rip apart and smell of burnt metal and flesh.

But then nothing.

Thankfully. Just light, likely a method of protection or something of that nature. A warning as much as a defense. It could've been worse.]

I'm going to go ahead and say things shouldn't normally do that.

[sobriquette]

[Jess looks over when she hears Bruce; there are still spots dancing in front of her eyes that make it difficult to actually see him, but she knows his voice.]

No shit.

[She almost sounds amused, though.]

I'd been hoping for water.

[Not that it makes sense for their to be water in a weird pearl that came out of a giant trilobite, but you know.]

1

[ex_bossily211]

Who?

[Thanks to being injured and then the attack to their camp, Clara still doesn't know as many others as she'd like. It's something that's bothered her, but it upsets her greatly now that Jess is insinuating that they've lost someone. Her eyes narrow a bit as she glances around at the others, realizing that she really has no idea who Luke even is. Slowly, her eyes widen, and she wonders where exactly someone's body could have gotten off to. Was it brought underground by some of the spiders?

God, she hopes not.

In a matter of seconds, she pales and looks like she's going to be sick.]

I'm not sure who Luke is. Shouldn't he just...be here?

[Maybe he's just misplaced himself and will find his way to the rest of them later. She really hopes that's the case.]

[sobriquette]

The six foot two black guy?

[The way she says it suggests that it should be obvious who she's talking about, considering Luke is incredibly hard to miss due to his size.]

He stayed with you assholes to keep you safe. What happened to him? Where is he?

[The list of people Jess cares about is short, but Luke is high up there, and it's pretty clear she's starting to panic.]