[IC] The Two Sides

[Fionraella]

Destin looks at her and shakes his head. "Nah. If you can survive a murderous mud pit I'm pretty sure you can handle whatever sickness passes through the camp. I'm worried about the stupid people. The ones not sleeping, eating, drinking enough. The ones going off alone. The ones getting injured and not seeing me. The ones getting a cold and not coming to me to take a look..."

[Hawksnest565]

@Azereiah
"Oh, of course!" Aya quickly ran to her tent to grab her backpack, and then returned to him.
"This is great timing actually, I wanted to get some more herbs and I don't really like to go out alone." She felt grateful that Brick had come when he had. "Maybe we could collect some firewood while we're out too, or keep our eye out for some food." Her mind was racing with the thoughts of what everyone in the camp needed. "It gets kind of hard out here in the winter." The words were tinged with a slight warning. Although Brick seemed like a man who was capable of taking care of himself, she wanted to make sure he understood the danger of living out in the forest like this.

[xiaomiau]

@Fionraella Misha smacked her hands together. "Maybe we should do a public service announcement. 'Heya, kids! If you don't take care of yourself, you're disappointing everyone you know and love.' Would that work?" Not for those edgelords who think they got nothing to lose.

[Fionraella]

@xiaomiau
Destin laughs. "Do any of the Broms actually love anyone?" He asks curiously, trying to think back to the last time a fellow Brom even felt kindness towards abother human being. He couldn't think of any, but he could remember Fabine and Evelyn. Was what they had love? He shakes his head. Couldn't be.

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

Brick stood with his hands atop the hilt of his sword, giving off his best Eddard Stark impression when she mentioned the winter. "I'm no stranger to the cold. Do we have any water buckets lying around? And an axe of some sort?"

He wasn't so sure about the food situation, so he would leave that to some more experienced hunters and gatherers. But everything else - simple enough. A reliable heat source would be easy, though time intensive. Animal pelts could be stitched together into warmer sleeping bag liners if necessary.

[xiaomiau]

@Fionraella Misha snapped her head back and laughed. "Love?" She grimaced. "What's that?" The woods around her were familiar, sure, she noted, but his words held truth: she didn't know how much she really cared for or 'loved' many of the same people she lived and worked with every day. "It's 'cuz we're all bad guys. Real monsters."

[Fionraella]

@xiaomiau
Destin sighs sadly. "Something can be said for teenagers who spend most of their days trying to figure out the next best way to kill each other.." he shakes his head. "It's hard to imagine being....normal I guess..." he looks at her sadly. "Did we lose our humanity when we figured out we weren't alone in this world? When we found more like us, did we become...animalistic? Are we all just killers under the surface?"

[Hawksnest565]

@Azereiah
Aya felt comforted by his confidence. "Water buckets... No. But we might have an axe?" she gestured to a small covered area underneath one of the trees that bordered the camp. There was a collection of miscellaneous items that everyone shared, from cutlery to whetstones. "Take a look. It's hard to know what we have and don't have. Someone should really write that down."

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

Brick did as she suggested, kneeling down to check the haphazard heap of equipment. There wasn't a proper axe, unfortunately. A heavy-duty knife - perhaps a foreign knockoff of a bowie knife - called out to him, and he took it. A faint Made in Pakistan was etched in the side of the blade. The metal was thick enough to easily survive whacking away at tree branches and such, though he wouldn't be able to take any full size trees down as he had hoped. The knife slid neatly into his belt.

He would have to procure a hatchet - or better, a real axe - some time later. He remembered that there was a nearby town. Perhaps he could get some supplies there later? Surely a place like that would have a hardware store - and he still had a few hundred dollars left in his bank account from before he wandered off into the woods.

"This'll be good enough for now. If you're all set, I think we can start the tour of this place."

[xiaomiau]

@xiaomiau
Destin sighs sadly. "Something can be said for teenagers who spend most of their days trying to figure out the next best way to kill each other.." he shakes his head. "It's hard to imagine being....normal I guess..." he looks at her sadly. "Did we lose our humanity when we figured out we weren't alone in this world? When we found more like us, did we become...animalistic? Are we all just killers under the surface?"

@Fionraella

[THIS IS... UPSETTING..... CONTENT BELOW......]

Misha shrugged, sighing. "I don't know, I mean.. for me, it doesn't feel to different than 'home.' " She raised her fingers in theatrical air quotes. "It was.. pretty bad. Pretty violent. Got pretty nasty." She shrugged dismissively. "I booked it outta there and somehow ended up here. Here kids die but at least they don't pretend to love you before they hurt you.." She shrugged. "Still sucks, though."

[Fionraella]

Destin blinks at that. "My family was okay. But when my sister died, her boyfriend decided I was to blame. So he's been after me. Hasn't managed to catch me, but there is that fear." He hugs Misha again. "I'm sorry. But I think I love you, at least as well as I can with barely knowing you. I think I love most Broms. Even Fabine. I might be sad if he died."

[Hawksnest565]

@Azereiah

Aya watched with some satisfaction as Brick took the knife, although slightly bothered that they hadn't an axe. She considered bringing it up to Sacha later. Sometimes trees would fall in the winter, and it would hardly do if someone ended up trapped behind a tree. Or worse yet, underneath one.
"Alright! Let's get going!" Aya's words were upbeat and she beckoned him to the entrance with her smile. "There's not really too many points of interest around here, but we'll head up to the hill. That should give you a good view of the territory."

[xiaomiau]

Destin blinks at that. "My family was okay. But when my sister died, her boyfriend decided I was to blame. So he's been after me. Hasn't managed to catch me, but there is that fear." He hugs Misha again. "I'm sorry. But I think I love you, at least as well as I can with barely knowing you. I think I love most Broms. Even Fabine. I might be sad if he died."

@Fionraella

Misha smiled crookedly, patting his shoulder. "That's sweet. You really are still human." She considered his words and clenched her fists. "You know, if that guy ever finds you, I'll kick his ass. I'll straight up take him down. I'll protect you."

[she's like 5'2" and maybe 110 pounds rip misha too much rage for your tiny body]

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

Brick nodded once and followed behind Aya, his eyes constantly scanning the environment for anything or anyone of note. Even though he was pretty much certain the chances of being ambushed right outside the camp were very, very slim, he didn't particularly want to make a bad first impression by letting his new friend get hurt.

He made note of any and all large tree branches lying around or hanging off of dying trees on the way towards the hill. He could go back to retrieve them later.

[Hawksnest565]

@Azereiah
It was quiet in the forest and despite the cold of autumn the sun was shining through the trees. Aya followed an invisible trail known to her only through traversing it many times.
"If you ever get lost, just follow the smoke from the campfires back to camp." she mentioned as they walked. She suddenly realised how little she knew about Brick and found the silence needing of a conversation. "So, what brings you out here?"

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

"Boredom, plain and simple. Worked at a call center for a car insurance company, decided I needed a bit of adventure, followed rumors of murder and cannibalism. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, come to think of it. Saw what was going on, felt like I should try to help out a bit."

He looked back towards the camp and saw that they, indeed, had a very visible smoke trail. Hopefully he wouldn't need to rely on it too much. Good, solid feels for the area are always better than praying a smoke signal stayed up. Aya was walking a bit further ahead when he looked back, and he quickly caught back up.

"How about you?"

[Hawksnest565]

Aya nodded thoughtfully at Brick's explanation. It was hardly the most interesting she had heard, but if anything it was actually nice to hear a story that wasn't tragic for once. "That's good of you." she laughs a bit. "Ah, I hope you do know that we're not cannibals now. I don't even know how that one got started."

The path they were taking began to incline quickly as they reached the base of the hill. Aya carefully stepped around fallen branches as they climbed.

"My grandmother is a shifter, and she lived out in a group when she was younger. She said it was good for shifters to live together at this age." Aya shrugged. "I think it might have been a little more peaceful in her time. Anyway, she suggested this place to me."

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

"Yeah, given that you didn't charge at me with a fork, I'm pretty sure you're not a cannibal." There was a slight smirk on his face - he found that bit of the rumor to be rather stupid anyway.

"Assuming Sacha was right when she said I was a shifter, I'm pretty sure I'd be the first one in my family. I suppose I can see why your grandmother suggested hanging out in the woods - probably would be pretty un-fun if someone shifted into a hippo for the first time in the middle of Walmart or something."

Brick continued walking, using the sword as a walking stick to drag himself up the hill. The sticks and fallen branches beneath him crunched and snapped in half under his weight, and a couple small birds flew away at the sudden sounds. He wasn't exactly suited to being subtle.

"I wonder why the fighting started in the first place."

[Hawksnest565]

Aya laughed at his comment about the hippo. Brick seemed easygoing enough and she was sure he'd fit into the Rabins just fine. "Yeah, I have no idea if the kind of thing is genetic or not." Aya sighed. "In fact, we really know so little about what we even are." she shook her head, trying not to dwell on it. She couldn't help but flinch slightly at the noise he was making. "You doing okay?" They were almost at the top. "You know, I wonder that everyday. I just wish it would stop."

[Azereiah]

@Hawksnest565

"Aye, I'm fine. Sorry for walking so loudly, by the way - not used to being even vaguely stealthy."

Brick quickly made his way to the top of the hill, moving ahead of Aya, and looked over the other side for any sign of other people that may have been lying in wait. Seeing nobody in immediate view, he turned back towards his companion.

"Can't help but wonder whose fault it is that it keeps on going, too. I didn't get a whole lot of details, and you guys don't feel like you're all that violent. Maybe I just haven't met the right people to get an accurate opinion, though. Are there raiding parties or something?"