Skies of Rain

[Rarek]

Cody groaned slightly and fell backwards onto the soft earth, still shivering. He nodded slightly in response to Karrin's question, he hated being useless for long periods of time. If he could, he would get up immediately and start helping.

 

If one was paying attention, they'd notice Cody's silence. It shouldn't really strike anyone as odd that he would say nothing, except to those who knew him well. Cody was a chatterbox, he tended to talk a considerable amount. For the moment however, they were all new to him, and they'd have to learn this for themselves.

 

He figured he may as well be somewhat useful to the academic community, if he wasn't currently to the group at hand. Luckily his backpack was nearby, and he pulled out a very thick sketchbook. As he looked around, his trained eyes gazed over the trees and landscape around him. Mostly trees and things, a couple of toucans, but those were not of interest to him. He never did like drawing plants, they were always too much alike and you had to get up close in order to see some of the subtle differences for some of the smaller specimens. As he looked around, a bird that was unfamiliar to him caught his eye, and he looked long and hard at it.

 

It was a black bird with a silver beak and feet. Its eyes matched its featherless portions, as silver as they were. He found it strange that such a dark bird would be found in the daytime in such a green forest, which is why he focused on it alone. Scrutinizing it, he memorized its shape and contours, even as the bird took off and flew away. With the image ingrained in his mind, he took out his sketching pencils and set to work, drawing the bird from his memory.

[shadow_claw]

"Pretty glad I found you guys myself. I don't even know how I mustered the energy to get up and start walking." Lani admitted. A small grin twisted on her lips out of amusement. For crashing into the jungle on a plane, they had a pretty good team. "I'm perfectly fine with it, but I may be able to construct a simple stand to help hold it up. Using your good hand to keep it in the air isn't doing any good, is it? I just need a few supplies..." Black eyes darted about the camp, scouring for anying of use. A big stick, some cloth, and rope or string would do wonders.

[Shyrus]

Feli picked up the splints and tucked them under her arm. Yes, this should be enough. She started to walk back. The ground was uneven and she had to be careful not to trip and fall. She stayed focused on not falling down the hill. She placed her foot firmly at the foot of the hill. Well, hardest part of the trek was over. In all honesty it was a steep hill. She heard a metal clank. She looked down to her feet. Had she kicked something?

Her eyes followed the path she was heading. About three feet away from her was a mug. A tin mug with a handle. She walked over and picked it up. As odd as it was this fascinated Feli. Sure, it was a mug, but it was something to drink from. It might serve some other use. A smile spread across her lips. How proud she would be when she presented her treasure to the group! A mug! And she found it all on her own! An intimate object that survived the crash! She found it! Her! Of all five people! Feli!

It had a small crack in the lid but it was fine.

Within a few minutes she reached the clearing of their camp site. "Guys... guess what I have...." She placed her hand around the handle of the mug and thrust her arm into the air, proudly displaying it as if she had found a real treasure. Her smile was big and idiotic. "I found a mug!!"

Feli, of course would probably get all kinds of weird looks from this. It was a mug. So what?

She ignored the obvious fact that it was probably nothing more than trash.

 

[Rarek]

Cody looked up from his sketches momentarily and hopefully as Feliceia's voice rang excitedly across the camp. Had she found a radio? Some flares? Was there an over passing plane? But no. It was a mug, a cracked one to boot. He scowled slightly and returned to his drawings, his shivering continuing.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin gestured to the scorched campsite as she answered Lani.

 

"While you're free to build things once I've had a chance to set that arm, we literally have nothing to build with. Unless you can construct a stand from pieces of scrap metal... Feli should be able to help you once she gets back, she had explored the area a few times and can probably get what you need. Until then -" Karrin looked around her. She had already used Derek's and Feli's backpacks as an improvised stand for Derek's bottle, and Cody seemed to be busy with his, so she folder her empty backpack and placed it atop Lani's. If Lani made a little effort to keep her arm lowered, it should do, so she propped the bottle up on that and injected the IV in Lani's arm.

 

"The same goes for you as for Derek - make sure to keep your arm lower than the bottle and call me when it runs out. If you want to make plans: we'll need a shelter, Feli suggested something called a lean-to; a way to repel insects, rodents and predators; a fire without risk of setting everything ablaze; water that's safe to drink; and a way to signal any planes that might pass overhead."

 

 

Then the moved on to Cody. She paused for a while when she saw him sketch. He was quite good and it was nice to see one of them taking a moment to something that was small, quiet and beautiful, even if his leg did effectively force him to. Karrin suspected they might have need of small, quiet and beautiful to keep them sane out here.

 

"That's lovely," she told him as she tried to find a way to place the bottle high enough, "Where did you learn to draw?"

 

 

Just as Cody might have looked up to answer, Karrin heard someone shout: "Guys... guess what I have... I found a mug!!"

 

Looking up, she saw Feli holding a chipped, tin mug high in the air. The mug looked like it would have been worth less than a dollar new, but Feli's enthusiasm was catching and Karrin felt herself grin.

 

"That's pretty cool; we can use that to boil water in."

 

Then another thought came to her; "Did it comes from the plane, you think? Or -" she vividly remembered the fear she felt when she thought Derek was FARC. There might be people out her who were not friendly.

[shadow_claw]

Lani frowned at Karrin's instructions, but did nothing to object. She slouched sightly to rest her cheek on her good arm. Sitting still had always bothere her, because it was a notion het family never accepted. Always moving, always doing somethin yo either do good or keep yourself busy. Time spent doing nothing was time wasted, she said. Her head anapped up at a sudden idea. "A parachute! I need one of the parachutes! That way we can hang our food and other valuables up away from ground animals, and if none of you want to do that, we can use that to hold up the bottles up!" She exclaimed suddenly. Eyes drifting to Feli's voice for a moment, she was clearly more excited with her idea. But...that cup could be a useful thing...

[Rarek]

Cody looked up at Karrin curiously. He was glad he was getting attention for his work, but at the same time he felt embarrassed. By being noticed, he almost felt as though he were showing off. "I used to draw a lot when I was little. As an honours student, my work was always done early, so I had lots of free time. It became such a common practice for me to drag my desk to the same window every class, that they had one permanently placed there for me. When I had finished my work, the teachers would usually stop what they were doing and watch me draw. I got my work into a number of frames in the school. I'll bet they're still there today."

 

He looked up at Lani however, and pointed to a small red bird. "Watch him." The bird jumped from tree to tree, appearing to look for something. When he found a tree that had what looked to be fruit similar to coconuts, he paused, then smashed his head clean through the hard shell of the fruit, and began to eat it. "I saw him a couple hours ago, I've taken to calling him the Red Sharpbeak. Our food isn't safe in the trees." He looked back down at his sketches.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Answering Lani first, Karrin replied: "Well mine is stuck in the canopy somewhere, but maybe one of the others is salvageable. And I can see many potential uses for the cloth. Feli, Derek, Cody, do you remember if your 'chute might be retrievable?"

 

Then turning to Cody again, she placed his backpack on a large rock nearby and the transfusion up on that. It looked a bit awkward, but it would hold.

 

Sliding the end of the IV into his non-drawing arm, she gave him the same warning: "Keep your arm below the transfusion bag, call me when it runs low."

Still, she made a mental note to keep an eye on it, as he might forget if he was focused on his drawing.

 

She shuddered when Cody pointed out the bird. She'd never seen such a strong bird before and she was silently thankful that it had an appetite for fruit. Pushing the thought from her mind, she thanked Feli for the sticks and started to pick out the best ones to make splints for Lani and Cody,.

Edited May 18, 2013 by Mistress of Whispers

[shadow_claw]

Lani's eyes widened at the scene the little red bird made. "Holy...there's some more functional ways to break open fruit...certian species of monkey learned to smash them open with rocks..." She replied. "But you're right, then. There's much more we can do with a parachute than just hide things away, I'll make sure of that. I wonder if we can catch a bird like that...Its skull and beak could be a useful tool..." She rambled on about the many uses its head could be for construction, not seeming to care about her one-sided conversation. Excitement replaced the pain in her eyes. Even if their situation sucked, there was plenty or things Lani was more than happy to work on.

Edited May 19, 2013 by shadow_claw

[Shyrus]

Feli handed the splints to Karrin. "So I gathered wood a while back but I had to leave it when I heard Cody scream. I think I’m going to run back and get it. It might take me a few trips. However some good news, some branches and twigs were drying on the ground so it's possible that we can light it in a fire without having it dry for too long. There are some bigger branches I can carry but not do anything with due to how heavy they are. We can use them for a number of things but I’ll need help once I get them here. Anyways, how is everyone? Where you able to patch them up okay?"

[Mistress of Whispers]

"Thank you, Feli", Karrin said as she took the splints. "Yes, everyone is out of the woods for now. If you can get the bigger branches here, I'll help you with the lean-to. I have to tend Derek's wrist first."

 

With that, she selected the right sticks to make a splint for Lani's arm. She also made sure to place Lani's arm in a sling. She smiled to herself as the engineer talked, no, babbled about birds and tools and whatnot. While she didn't think the bird could be caught, much less trained to do anything, it was good that she was making plans.

 

Turning back to Derek, she took his left wrist.

 

"I think that's the large of the serious injuries. After that, it's just scrapes and bruises. So, let me have a look..."

Edited May 20, 2013 by Mistress of Whispers

[SkullKrusher]

Derek cringed slightly as the IV needle went into his skin and into a vein and the fluid immediately starting to flow into his body. And it started working almost immediately - only around two minutes later, he could feel how his body became more relaxed and the pain decreased a lot. Also, he felt himself slightly more able to move, but he was too tired anyway and the scratches on his body were going to keep him on the ground for at least half an hour. Turning to Lani when she asked for a chute, he nodded in response as he turned his gaze.

"My chute's nearby. Over the hill in that direction, after which slightly to the right and forward. It should be hanging from a tree around... eight or ten feet from the ground. It is slightly tangled, though, so you might want to bring down the branch instead - it's low enough to be reached and with some hits to the base with a knife and a rock it'll fall off. I am sure you could find a rock, and as for a knife - it's on my right hip's side. Feel free to take it." He spoke and then turned to Karrin, nodding slighly.

"Guessing it's only a sprain... maybe cooling it would work out. No ice bags around, though. Still, your guess."

[Rarek]

The forest suddenly got a whole lot darker. Cody looked up to see the sun dip behind the tops of the trees. Evening came suddenly in such a large canopy. Oh no, we're not going to have shelter... "Karrin, leave me without a splint for now and start helping whoever can still move to make a shelter. We're losing light, and that's more important than my leg."

 

Cody looked down and turned his head to the side. Why do I even need a splint? Nothing is broken. He shooed Karrin away, he knew a little too rudely, but it was the only way he could ensure she was doing the priority task right now.

[shadow_claw]

Lani rose to her feet almost as soon as her splint had been secured, and her arm had been placed in a sling. "Great! I'll go get it now!" She set off towards the given direction. The dark that rapidly swallowed the foliage deterred her from doing so. "You know what? I think I'll just stay here. As for shelter, fire would be our first necessity. Shelther can't be made without light. Luckily for all of you, think I brought myself a lighter." Sliding the pack off her shoulder, Lani unzipped it with her good hand, and began tossing out objects. A toolbelt loaded with tools, a pack of nicotine patches, a thick spool of wire, a roll of string, a notebook with assorted wrting utensils in the ring, and a pair of leather, fingerless gloves. Finally, she pulled her lighter out with a cry of triumph. "Got it!"

[Shyrus]

"I know the path by heart. I'll be back soon with an armload of wood." Feli said turning around and running off before anyone could object. Cody was right, the sun was setting now. The light level was lower than usual but it was still possible to see easily. The day slipped by so fast. I guess that's what happens when you’re busy, right?

As she continued up the path she found the light level was still lowering. By the time she got to the pile she realized it had been much brighter then when she started the trek. She had to hurry.

 

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin winked at Derek and smiled. "I can do you one better than water; I have cooling spray."

 

Spraying an ample amount of the cool liquid on Derek's wrist, she bandaged it for extra support, then moved to the last thing on her list: Cody's leg.

 

Suddenly the light dimmed and she looked up at the sky at the same time the student did.

 

"Karrin, leave me without a splint for now and start helping whoever can still move to make a shelter. We're losing light, and that's more important than my leg", Cody said

 

Karrin gave him a stern look for a while, then decided he was right.

 

"You are right. But I meant what I said earlier; do not dare to rip that leg open again. I might not be able to stitch it again."

 

With that, she set 'Cody's sticks' aside and prepared a fire-stack with the rest of them. They'd need something to catch fire quickly since the sticks would take a while, so she looked around for dry moss or something of the like.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Mistress of Whispers

[SkullKrusher]

Dereccio smiled as Karrin tended to his hand and even more when the cool spray touched his skin. It felt so good, the pain washing away slowly as he stood. Then, opening his eyes once again he turned to the IV bottle and saw it was running dry by now. His gaze returned to Karrin, who was now searching for something to light the fire with.

"Transfusion's almost done, doc." He said slightly as he sighed softly. His mind went back to that time he'd went camping with some buddies from the firearm school. They had brought real hunting guns and tents. Three days, they would hunt small deer, rabbits and occasionally catch a glimpse of a bear with it's cubs. At night, they'd pop a beer open and drink it with the grilled meat, then tell tales of their past and finally go to sleep. Now, he sure missed his shotgun.

"I guess that if you take this thing out, I can try and help - though I do have to be careful with my right hand," he said as he watched how the liquid went down the tube and into his hand before it went completely dry and the flow stopped.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Returning to Derek's side, Karrin checked the transfusion bottle and removed the IV.

 

"Consider yourself fit for duty under duress, but be careful of your wrist and, more importantly, your shoulder."

 

She then moved to check Lani's and Cody's transfusions and, satisfied that she had done what she could for now, took out their IVs too. Then she focused her attention on finding dry moss again. Not surprisingly, in a place this humid, she couldn't readily find any. Perhaps tree bark?

[Shyrus]

Feli started down the path yet again with her bundle of wood. Now she could get it down to their camp, right?

She had some larger branched draped over her shoulder and dragging along the ground behind her. This made it easier to carry the largest branches.

She came back to the camp, wood and all. Feli felt a sense of relief when she saw that Karrin had started to make a fire. "Okay, I have all the wood I gathered." She breathed. With a heavy sigh she dropped them all on the ground. Even though she hadn't done much she still felt tired. "I'll start on the Lean-to. It has to be rather large seeing how many people we have. If there's a spare parachute lying around we can use that as a cover instead of sticks and leaves. But of course if we only have one we keep our food and items out of reach like Lani suggested. Anyways, if someone could help that would be great but don’t push yourselves."

 

[SkullKrusher]

Dereccio hissed softly as the IV was removed from his hand before smiling slightly and rising to his feet. Now that he was mobile and on feet once again, he could- wait... wow, everything was quite wobbly. Placing his hand on a nearby tree for a second, he looked to the ground and struggled to focus. When he finally was done, he raised his gaze back up to the others and drew his knife.

"I'll go get my chute. Don't know if it will do you any good, but I have some paracord in my bag. Around 25 or 30 feet, hiking type. Quite solid." He said slightly before turning around and starting to trudge down the familiar path he had taken to come here. He went up a steep hill, almost tripping at two places before continuing and going past the rock and the snake he killed. Soon, he was back where he was for the first time and looked up. His chute was mostly intact, with only a few scratches on the outer parts. There was one larger gash on the middle, but with some stitches it would provide ample shelter. Grabbing the branch from the tree, he pulled it down to his height with his left hand before he started cutting the chute bag off. Once that was out, he started pulling the actual parachute itself off of the branches by the strings hanging down, being careful not to rip it up.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin had finally collected a small handful of dry bark and was using Lani's lighted to light it. The lighter hardly weighed anything and she feared it might run empty soon. Still, that was a worry for later times; for now, she focused on getting the fire started.

 

She couldn't remember the last time that she had started a fire that didn't involve indoor fireplaces and fire starters, but nevertheless she managed to get a small flame started. Slowly feeding small sticks to the fire, she began to build on it.

[Shyrus]

Feli started to sort the wood she had brought into separate piles of large, medium and small sticks. The made another pile for sticks that split at the toy making a 'y' shape. Those where useful to say the least.

She picked out the two best 'y' shapes sticks and stuck them into the ground, split side up. This would be used to support the branch that all the other branches would rest on top of. Now she needed some sort of rope or string. Someone said something about Paracord "Hey who said they had Paracord? It could be useful right about now."

Edited May 22, 2013 by Shyrus

[Rarek]

Soon, Cody became unable to see as the sun dipped too low. He carefully put his sketchbook back and laid back against the hill he shuffled himself against, looking up at the stars as they slowly appeared in the darkening sky.

 

The constellations were bright out here, no light pollution to spoil their starshine. In fact, he saw more stars than he was used to, in what seed to be a swirling vortex of light and dance, the ever running clockwork of the universe at work. Each star burning brightly, making some new materials for the universe to use. The bright blue shield of day only seemed to limit his view to the sky itself. Sometimes he was thankful for the night, especially being able to see it here in the Amazon.

 

Soon, the constant sound of birds began to fade as the animals of the night came out to play. Even here, it was such a wonder at the complex system of life Earth offered. He smiled as he watched it all, content to look and listen.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Satisfied with the fire, Karrin took a moment to repack her supplies before it got too dark to see. She regarded the pile of discarded bandages, gauze, gloves and syringes on the forest floor: they were covered in blood and would attract parasites or even predators if left there. In addition to attracting unwanted visitors, small animals might be drawn by the smell of the blood and try to eat the supplies and choke on them.

 

Back home, Karrin recycled faithfully, drove a hybrid car and carefully regulated her ecological footprint. She wasn't one to litter and she gave serious consideration to tying them in a bag so she could take them with her, but between the blood and the syringes, that was neither hygienic nor safe. Looking around, she selected a sharp, medium-sized stick brought back by Feli and used it to start digging a hole. If they were rescued soon, she could always dig the used supplies back up and recycle them safely. And if not, then buried in the ground was the safest place for them - for humans and rainforest alike, as it would at least keep them in one place and away from unsuspecting animals.

[shadow_claw]

Lani was more interested in helping Feli out, once her IV had been removed. "I have twine here from my bag." She offered. "Anybody got a knife? It'll be more secure if you cut notches into the sticks before you bind them. That, and I need something to cut the twine." She most certianly wouldn't have been of any use in holding conversation and keeping everyone calm, so building kept her mind busy and away from the pain that was slowly starting to come back.