Skies of Rain

[Rarek]

Cody nodded and blindly followed along, just wanting to get away from whatever it was. But then, a thought trickled up his spine, sending chills of worry through him. That animal path had been pretty winding.

 

"Um...which direction did we just go?" They had a plan. They were sticking to the plan. The compass would only help them determine what direction they were going right then. Another shiver. How are we going to find Derek now if we need to? Or better yet, how is he going to find us? They had promised him that they'd try to go straight so that he could find them if need be. Fat chance of that now.

Edited October 14, 2013 by Rarek

[Shyrus]

’Oh that’s right. Derek’s still back at the crash site.’

Feli had almost forgot about him. How selfish could she be?

"Urgh that's right. Hold on let me think of something."

Feli looked back along the trail, what did she have to work with? She looked at the stake in her hand and tried to think about how to use this if anything. A thought popped up in her head. Derek was told to go the direction they were going right? So she didn't have to go too far back in order to start a trail. "Hold on I think I have an idea concerning Derek."

Feli bent down and started to sharpen more sticks into stakes. This was the jungle, no humans in sight aside from them. So nothing man-made would be seen throughout the jungle right? "Okay here's what I’m thinking. I'll go back just a litter ways and start marking the path with stakes. I'll pin them to trees along the way and hang leaves from the stake. Animals wouldn't do that, now would they? It's a thin chance it will work and honestly I don't think it will, but I’m out of ideas and I don't have much to work with." Feli started on the third stake while she was talking. Her idea where childish and stupid, yes, but at least she would try. She wasn't going to just leave him without even trying.

 

[Mistress of Whispers]

"Good idea in principle, but there's an easier way to do that," Karrin suggested as she pointed to Feli's pack: "Take a spare piece of clothing and tear strips from it to tie around branches. That will be easier, quicker and more visible than stakes and leaves."

"However," she added, "a more pressing concern is whether we've shaken our unwelcome visitor or not."

 

She took a moment to get her bearing and listen to the jungle. After their earlier encounter with the spiders and their frantic escape over the animal trail, it seemed eerily quiet. Far overhead, a single bird sang; startling Karrin as its sound broke the silence.

[Rarek]

Lani listened carefully to the dilemma the rest were having with direction. "We're traveling east right now. The sun is an indicator of that." She motioned to the ball in the sky. "I was sure to follow our path carefully. We started going northeast prior to the trail. I don't think we're too far astray." Lani pointed in a direction after consulting her compass. "That's our original heading."

 

Cody looked at the engineer, impressed. What an amazing sense of direction. "Well I for one am good to go with that. That also means Derek will still be able to find us since we're still so close to the path." He smiled at the tattooed girl. "Good work Lani."

[Shyrus]

Feli took Karrin's advice and started to get to work. "I'll just go back a little ways and meet up with you again. I'll be back soon." Feli darted down the animal trail and ducked behind some trees out of veiw.

She kept an ear out for any preditors or possibly that thing that was following her. It wasn't until now that she realized it wasn't a good idea to go alone. She started mummbling to herself, making a mental note that no one goes anywhere alone.

"How could i be so stupid?"

She tied the spare fabric around the tree limbs and carefully made sure not to ripe it more then needed, she didnt want it to fall off.

She heard soft footsteps padding towards her. she turned around and saw the leaves rustling, oh no this was it. She was going to die. She picked up a lrage branch that had fallen off a tree and held it close and started to back away. The leaves rustled some more and then out jummped...

A little puma. It came up to maybe Feli's knee but it was no major threat.

However, the mom who woudl be trailing behind was.

 

(sorry for the short/cliffhanger responce, i'm late for something.)

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin was about to object as Feli prepared to run off again - didn't she just say that there was still the issue of the predator to consider - when she decided to let it be. From the beginning, the journalist had continually struck out alone and Karrin was tired of fighting the tide. She had voiced her concerns at the campsite talk and thought she'd been heard, but apparently not. The only thing left to do, was to let it go and hope for the best.

 

Instead, she took out her compass and worked with Lani to double check the engineer's theory. Karrin didn't have the other woman's natural talent or practical experience, but she had watched a lot of survival shows, read a ton of books and even took a few classes, before her journey. After all, she had *hoped* to arrive at her destination and spend several years working in an outpost clinic, and she liked to be prepared for all eventualities (though she had never quite considered the plane crashing as one of them). Maybe she could use some of that knowledge to work now and besides: two minds were better than one.

 

Turning to compass this way and that as she got a reading, she stayed alert for any sign of their predatory friend or Feli.

 

 

((Since there is currently no running, fighting or screaming going on between Feli and the puma, I've went on the assumption that the main group doesn't hear anything yet. Let me know if I'm wrong.))

[SkullKrusher]

After letting the others leave and watching their backs until they were finally lost in the thick Amazonian vegetation, Derek sighed and sat on the frame that they had built last night. He groaned, feeling how sore his shoulder was. That wound had really kept him up almost half the night, and now he felt quite sick. That was one of the main reasons he decided to stay behind for a 'helicopter' - to rest his head and maybe, if he was lucky, actually catch a helicopter and save himself, as well as the others, from this nightmare. His hand went into a side pocket of his backpack and pulled out one of the protein bars that was left for him after he handed a whole pack to Karrin. Silently, he opened the packaging and took a bite, enjoying the flavor as well as the energy that rushed through his system. In a minute, the snack was gone, and he simply left the packaging inside of the lean-to, feeling way too lazy to dig up a hole and bury it inside like Karrin had done with the used medical supplies.

 

Now feeling better, Derek got up and took a few sticks from the top of the frame. Adding some firewood left in the campfire, as well as stones that had been used to surround it as to not let the flames spread, he made a sign that pointed in the direction that the group had taken. Then, following the sign he'd made himself, he raised his hand parallel to the ground and started walking into the forest. His hand was practically catching the shadows cast by the trees, and as long as they went over his hand the same way, he would be in the right direction. After three minutes of silent walking, Derek had heard something approaching from above, and raised his head up quickly. He turned his head in desperation, and managed to locate a hill that came out just a bit over the treetops. Rushing, he climbed up it and turned around toward the camp. It was a helicopter, and it hovered over the area where their camp had been. Seriously? It seemed like somebody was surveying the place. Quickly, he tried to raise his hands, but before he could attempt to signal it, a strange object emerged from the treetops and with quick speed slammed into the helicopter, creating a huge explosion.

 

Derek immediately ducked down, as shrapnel flew all the way to where he was. Spotting a large chunk coming exactly his way, he jumped down the slope, sliding and barely avoiding the huge piece of metal that cut through the hill's soil before slamming into two trees.

"Holy! What the heck are the militia doing here!?!" Derek said a bit loudly, knowing that nothing could down a helicopter that fast except a RPG shot by those 'freedom fighters'. But, as he wondered where the heck he had to go, another loud noise from behind him made him dodge to the side. Looking at the spot where he was, he saw a metal box that had stabbed right into the soil. If he hadn't moved, he'd be simply squashed by this thing. Silently, he freed it from the soil and quickly opened it. Inside were unusable weapons - mosly because they were broken into pieces by the sheer force of the impact - but he managed to find a machete that was intact, as well as a set of binoculars. Deciding that he was not going to hang around to wait for the rebels, he placed the machete in a small holster of his bag, hanged the binoculars around his neck and started moving through the jungle, using the same method with the shadows and his hand to locate the proper way.

Edited October 20, 2013 by SkullKrusher

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin's head whipped up as a distant explosion shook the world. Briefly, the jungle was illuminated by bright light starkly outlining each leaf, each branch, each pebble on the ground. 'Feli!' was her first thought, even though she had no rational explanation how a lone journalist with no significant equipment to speak of, might cause an explosion. She sat Cody down on the trail and was running back down the path before the roar from the explosion had even died down. Like most young doctors, Karrin jogged to keep in shape and between her fit physique and the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she was lightning fast. Ignoring branches, leaves and roots as they whipped in her face or tried to entangle her legs, she kept running at a headlong pace.

 

((Shy, given that Karrin is probably making a LOT of noise right now, there's a chance that puma will take off - cats don't like unexplained ruckus.))

Edited October 22, 2013 by Mistress of Whispers

[Rarek]

Lani nearly jumped when the sound of a ripping explosion tore through the trees. Her first reaction was to run, but then she made a quick turnaround as she remembered Feliceia was in that direction. She bolted off into the trees after Karrin, who seemed to have the same revelation.

 

Cody was surprised by the series of events which transpired next. By the time the explosion had reached his ears, his support nearly had him on the ground. He found himself dumbfounded and confused, trying to make sense of the situation.

 

He looked around frantically. Lani had disappeared too. What happened to them? What was going on? Adrenaline surged through his veins, panic overshadowing pain as he tried to get up. Soon Cody was on his feet and moving as fast as he could in the direction of the noise. He took a brief moment to look down at his stitches. Holding for now.

 

There's only so much that adrenaline can power through however, and he soon collapsed on the ground once more. He winced and looked down at his leg. The stitches were remarkably held together, but they were screaming bloody murder at him. He wouldn't be moving again until they returned, which frightened him a little.

 

What was that explosion? Surely it must've been another aircraft, there wouldn't be anything native Amazonian that could do that on its own. He just hoped that one of his fellow party members could make the best of it...and find him afterwards.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Rarek

[SkullKrusher]

Derek huffed as he moved through the brushes, attempting to avoid going through the vegetation without forcing his way through. But, at a certain point, he wasn't able to advance, and he felt surrounded by the shrubbery. The current position also didn't allow him to see in which direction he had to go from there, so he was left turning and looking around like a madman. Finally, he simply took a breath, drew his machete and chose a mostly random direction, with the only thing assuring him that he'd chosen right being the direction that his foot was facing when he walked off.

"Come on, come on, come on..." Derek said, skillfully removing any branches or thorny bushes from his way and keeping the direction he went straight with distant objects that he approached one after the other. His eyes quickly surveyed the surroundings, and started noticing small trails that were reminescent of both humans and a big cat, maybe a puma or panther. He slowly walked and followed the trail of footsteps, as well as the trail of animal prints that passed right next to the ones of boots and shoes.

"Something's following the others..." Derek spoke, then grasped the handle securely and walked slowly and silently along the trail. He was making sure not to make a lot of noise, so as to not alert the creature and possibly resolve this encounter peacefully. He could hear rustling in the distance - were those his friends? Whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't attack as he approached the brushes.

Edited October 22, 2013 by SkullKrusher

[SkullKrusher]

(( Bhump ))

[Shyrus]

A loud, thunderous explosion sailed across the sky making Feli duck under a nearby tree. The little Puma ducked his head down to the ground and flattened his ears to his head before running off in some random direction.

Feli looked up at the sky, around on the ground and into the distance trying to find the source of the mysterious explosion. After a couple minutes Feli emerged from the tree and cautiously continued what she was working on. It wouldn’t be too long before she met up with the others again. Maybe an hour, at most unless for some reason they decided to stop walking.

She kept thinking about the causes of exploding. First she realized that whatever happened it had to be manmade. Unless for some reason a Volcano was nearby and was acting strange, but she disposed of that thought immediately realizing it was stupid. Maybe it was Derek? No, probably not. Maybe something happened to Karrin, Cody, and Lani. She hoped not.

She heard some footsteps quickly advancing in her direction. Feli cursed before quickly scampering up a tree. Before getting even a couple feet off the ground she looked down the animal path. Karrin and Lani where running towards her. Feli nearly dropped out of the tree when she started her climb down but kept her balance. She waved them over. “Hey over here!”

First Feli thought that the explosion came from their direction and they were running away but they didn’t seem injured, just frightened. “Hey is everything alright? I heard an explosion; don’t tell me that was you guys…”

 

[Rarek]

Lani had met up with Karrin, and the pair were running side by side towards where Feliceia had disappeared. At first she thought they were getting nowhere near the younger girl, seeing nothing for long stretches at a time. Soon however, Feliceia could be seen waving from the trees above. Lani looked confused when she was asked if the explosion had come from them.

 

"The noise came from behind you somewhere, we were running towards you to figure out what had happened. The real question is, are you alright?" A sudden thought struck her, looking around wildly. "Is there any sign of Derek? Something tells me our transportation home just crashed along with us, and it's likely he saw it and came bolting out this way."

[Mistress of Whispers]

“Hey over here!” Feli waved them down. “Hey is everything alright? I heard an explosion; don’t tell me that was you guys…”

 

Breathing a sigh of relief when Feli appeared in sight - although 'jumped down on the path' was a more accurate description - Karrin didn't slow down until she had gathered the other woman up in a short hug.

 

"We thought it was you," she answered by way of explanation.

 

"Is there any sign of Derek?"Lani asked behind her. "Something tells me our transportation home just crashed along with us, and it's likely he saw it and came bolting out this way."

 

"Derek?" Karrin asked, "But he's -" she fell silent when she realized how little distance they had actually covered and then added sheepishly "- not that far away."

 

"If it is Derek, he'll see the marks Feli left and turn on the path. We should return to Cody - he is alone and must be worried - and then we can come back to look for Derek. Or we could split up: one of us returns to Cody and the other two find Derek. Either way, I don't think anyone should go off on their own any more."

[SkullKrusher]

"Nah, nobody's got to search for me." Derek spoke out, suddenly coming out as if nothing had happened around a bush and approaching the group. He silently looked at Karrin and Feli, standing in a hug, with Lani near them, and wondered what they were doing and where Cody was. But, letting strange thoughts go into the trash bin, he cleared out his throat.

"Okay... to explain it simply, we've got rebels inbound. Downed a helicopter that came searching for us - I almost managed to signal to it before... well... an RPG flew out and right into the helicopter's interior through the open door. Thing came crashing right on top of where our own camp was... let's hope that the attackers don't decide to search for valuables - they may find the arrow that I made which showed in the direction we went." He spoke out, sighing softly as he knew that he now risked their lives by making that arrow. He slightly moved his shoulder around and wondered if the wound wasn't bleeding - by now, he'd slightly hit in in hills and rocks and painfully scratched on the whole body by thorns and bushes.

"Where's Cody?" Derek asked, obviously worried as to how they moved back all the way here and left the wounded boy. His leg was still non-functional, or at least mostly wounded, and maybe they didn't want to risk moving him. Then again, someone could've remained by him and not gone to search for Feli, as it seemed that they'd done right now.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin smiled in relief when she saw Derek. Somehow, it felt good to have their impromptu 'family' together again.

 

"Cody is a little this way," she said as she turned and began to jog back.

 

"We were worried that Feli had been caught in the explosion and Cody is still recuperating - if Fel had been hurt, I wouldn't have made it in time with him. But he's not far off."

 

Even while running, her voice came out easy and clear - it was obviously that she was accustomed to jogging.

 

"By rebels you mean the FARC?" She tried to keep her voice level for the sake of Feli and Lani, but astute observers would hear a tinge of very real worry creep through.

 

"Do you think there are any survivors from the helicopter?" It was clear that her instinct was to go back and help, but right now she needed to get her group back together again.

 

She wasn't worried about the arrow; even if the rebels did find it - and that was a long shot - the crashing helicopter had likely thrown it from its original position so it probably pointed to nowhere.

[Rarek]

A warm flood ran through Lani's face as the realization hit her that she would've been the last to leave Cody behind. The responsibility was on her that the boy was alone now, susceptible to a potentially dangerous predator that they'd already been running from. She suddenly felt heartless, until she realized she was running to protect Feliceia. Maybe it was just a natural reaction and instinct that kicked in.

 

"Derek is right, Cody cannot fend for himself, we should get back to him soon." She followed Karrin into the trees to where she left the injured boy.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Rarek

[Shyrus]

Feli sighed when she saw Derek, happy to see him alive and well.

‘Well’ might be too strong a word, he’s stuck in the forest for Pete’s sake; but at least he isn’t dead.

Between the conversation Karrin and Derek started, Karrin started to run off with Derek following her. She could have sword she heard Karrin say something but she decided to let it pass. Probably wasn’t too important. Lani started to follow behind the too. Feli picked up her bag which she had dropped whilst climbing up the tree and started to leisurely walk after them. She knew she hadn’t gone far from the group originally so she didn’t worry too much about being left behind a couple of feet. Cody was still up ahead so Feli did have a sense of worry about him seeing how his condition wasn’t exactly spectacular but let the feeling go upon realizing they left him alone for no longer then a couple minutes and that he could take care of himself for at least a little while.

 

[SkullKrusher]

Derek silently followed while listening to what the others had to say before actually replying. He was slightly jogging, but his body was easily taking the stress as if he was calmly walking to the nearby store to get snacks for the family. After he caught up with Karrin, he spoke to her a bit quietly so as to avoid letting Lani and Feli hear this.

"Yep, it's the FARC... bunch of troublemakers with huge balls and weapons decided to go ahead and play big men. Took kids with them, taught them to use guns... a big mess, if you ask me. And no, the helicopter's probably mostly gone. I've seen the effects of an RPG-7 live and only 200 meters away, so I know when it's fatal for everyone there or not even dangerous. I am guessing that only one person might have survived - if he was lucky to jump out early and run off - and even then, the FARC'd probably hunt him down before he can even get his bearings properly. The helicopter's a ruin, though, and will probably explode once again after a few minutes because of the fuel. Whoever survivies that and doesn't escape the crash site will experience something ten times worse than what happened with my shoulder." He mouthed off, stopping from time to time to get a quick dose of air before continuing to speak. His eyes slowly started noticing the tracks of the team as they came rushing backward, as well as the steps that Feli had left, which were very different from the ones of Karrin and Lani. Soon, Derek spotted Cody in the distance, and approached the boy on the ground.

"Hey there. Long time no see... heh. Come on up," Derek spoke as he offered the boy assistance with both hands and helped him get up.

 

[Rarek]

Cody felt much better when he saw everyone come through the trees. Something he didn't anticipate however, was the return of Derek. He still had fresh thoughts of how Derek had put him under makeshift anesthesia. He shuddered at the memory, but let himself be helped up by the stronger man. When he got to his feet, his injured leg nearly collapsed under him, but he caught himself on a nearby tree.

 

"Indeed, it has been a few days since I've seen you. Anything to report? Perhaps that large explosion?" Cody was still very unaware of the situation having sat in the vegetation alone during all this.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin was not at all happy with Derek's report on the shuttle. On the one hand, it seemed unlikely that anyone had survived; but on the other hand, it was still possible and in that case, a lone survivor was in for a world of pain. Karrin took her duties as a doctor very seriously and she felt obligated to go back and help. In fact, the only thing preventing her from returning to the crash site to investigate, was the knowledge that this group needed her too - their injuries were far from healed and any untreated infections, if they occurred, would surely be deadly under these circumstances.

 

When they arrived back at Cody's position, she was glad to see that he was all right, though not surprised; the distance between him and Feli had been fairly minimal and if something had happened, they should have heard him call out. Still, they did need to address the issue of staying together...

 

"Anything to report? Perhaps that large explosion?"

 

Karrin turned to look at Cody. "There was another crash; the local militia shot down a helicopter."

 

She knew that her next words should be "Let's leave before they find us", but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Without realizing it, her body was slowly twisting back in the direction of the crash site; her oath urging her to seek out any survivors.

[Shyrus]

Feli caught up with the rest of the group. Cody was fine as she expected.

She heard something about a helicopter but she let it slide. If it was important she would catch on later.

Feli climbed a nearby tree and sat on a branch. It was at a lower height, being only a couple feet off the ground. She liked being a look-out; she was useful. Not to mention she could just listen to the conversation. She liked listening; not giving her opinion. There where all just little things that made Feli… well, ‘Feli,’ if that makes sense.

 

 

[Rarek]

Cody noticed Karrin's slow turn towards the explosion, and he shook his head and grasped her arm.

 

"Oh no you don't. There's no way there are any survivors there." Despite having one leg that was useless as an anchor to pull her back around, he still had enough strength to do it.

 

Cody decided he should be the one to restart the group's movement. "It's getting to be mid-afternoon, and we haven't gotten far. We should continue northeast, as we've been doing to this point already." He took out his compass on his multi-tool and got his bearings. He pointed in a direction, starting to drag his injured leg in that direction. "This way. Let's go."

 

Lani already had her compass out. Now it was Cody's turn to have his arm grabbed. "Cody, that's southwest. You need to use the white needle, not the red." She showed Cody her compass before hooking her arm under his to support his injured leg. Cody only stared blankly at the compass before giving a slight unsure nod.

 

Lani turned back to Karrin. She mouthed words so that Cody couldn't see. Something is wrong with him.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Karrin nodded to Lani. Normally she wouldn't worry about someone not being able to read a compass properly - lots of people couldn't - but there had been more small things off with Cody lately. She didn't think it had a physical cause, but she made a note to rule out a concussion at their next stop.

 

Swallowing hard and with a sad look, she turned away from the direction of the crash and followed Cody into the jungle. He was right - the odds of someone surviving that were practically non-existent and she owed it to this group to stay with them.

 

"So," she said as they started trekking again, "what brought you all here? I just finished my training at the New York Presbyterian and was on my way to work in clinic in Lima. How about you?"

 

Normally she wouldn't waste her energy on talking under these gruelling circumstances, but she was hoping that a conversation would provide more clues about Cody's lucidity. She threw Lani a glance, hoping the other woman would catch on and help draw Cody out.

[Rarek]

Lani gave a slow blink to indicate she understood. "I'm an engineer. I came to Belem to work as a boat mechanic, but was taking a flight to Lima for a special call. Seems there aren't many like me in South America, especially with such a wide range of boats I can fix." She smiled slightly before turning to Cody. "How about you, hopalong? What got you into this mess?"

 

Cody gave a brief laugh at his nickname. He punched Lani in the arm playfully. "I'll get you back for that one later." He then turned his head to the sky, as though pondering something for a moment. "I came to South America as part of a Masters degree in Biodiversity. Funnily enough, I was on my way into the rainforest already, the only difference being someone would actually know where I was." He chuckled slightly. "Lima was meant as a stop on my trip to Belem, although we certainly didn't get there in one piece. I had hoped to see some of my former classmates in Peru."