Rapture

[Fangirl05]

((If there must be a second pet, can it be a puppy ?))

[Marcus Pheonix]

((Don't you mean third pet fangirl, what about Lucy? And why can't we get a cat, that way we can appeal to both ends of the spectrum ))

[Mistress of Whispers]

“Is it selfish of me to think of my own needs rather than worry about the group?” Emily asked.

 

"No," Wisperlee replied without hesitation, "everyone does that. I mean, I try to think of the group when I find supplies, but if I could trade any of you for my own family, I would. It'd be crazy if I didn't feel that way."

 

She fell silent for a moment as she thought of her family, then continued. "Don't give up hope of getting back to SA. We've found a motley crew already. Maybe we'll run across a pilot yet."

 

By now the pair had left Stanleytone proper behind and was venturing into the English countryside. Nougat was chasing the stick whenever one of the girls threw it and, engrossed in the discussion, they missed when it took the Labrador longer to return.

 

"Nougat?" Wisperlee called out. To her relief, she head the dog barking. No, wait, she heard TWO dogs barking. She smiled without realizing it. If she left the group, at least she wouldn't be alone.

 

((Sorry, I want a full grown dog for Wisperlee. Something big too, like a bullmastiff.))

[Fangirl05]

((How about a Saint Bernard? Those are awesome. Also, I apparently don't count insects.))

 

"Well," Erin patted her thigh absently, "I think I'll check the back for anything that might pass for food."

 

She pulled one of the black bags out of her suitcase and filled it with bar food, then filled another with real food; meats, vegetables, fruits, even a bag of rice. She would've slung them both over her shoulders and been on her way, if not for the high, squeaky "Mew!" that sounded behind her.

 

She turned toward the sound and smiled brightly at its source: a small, light brown tuxedo kitten with a ring of kitten-blue around its wide pupils. "Hey there, little guy" she cooed. She dropped the bags of food and walked up to it. It started walking toward her and leaned into her finger when she extended it. "What're you doing in here?" she asked, "Where's your mama?"

 

Convinced that it wouldn't bite or scratch her, she picked it up and put it in her lap. It rolled onto its - his - back and grabbed at the finger she used to scratch his chin, like a puppy with a chew toy. She giggled and shook her hand free, tucked him into her elbow and carried the food back into the bar. "Hey, guys," she called, "look what I found!" She swung the bags of food onto the bar and held the kitten out to the group.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Avialae]

Micah didn't really notice the kitten but instead locked his eyes on the bag of food Erin had gathered. He hadn't eaten since yesterday, but he'd been too upset to notice until now. Feeling a sharp pain in his stomach, he walked over to Erin and studied the food in the bag intently. "Do you mind if I have some of this? I haven't eaten yet today," he asked the girl, after all, the food seemed to be hers.

 

He then flinched as he felt a prickling pain in his hand, and looked to its source to find the kitten Erin had found wrapping its arms around his wrist, claws out. It seemed to be just playing, but it still hurt. Trying to disengage the kitten without hurting it, which proved to be of some difficulty as the small feline seemed to think it was a game and just batted as his other hand, he asked Erin, "Did you find him here? I know places like this sometimes keep cats to take care of mice and rats, his mother might be around as well."

 

OOC: Don't feel obligated to make the kitten male, Micah is just using he pronoun 'him' as default, he can't tell its sex.)

[DragonSpirit009]

((Hey guys before everyone gets a pet just wait and hear from Kestra if he is fine with this, please!))

[Mistress of Whispers]

((Hey guys before everyone gets a pet just wait and hear from Kestra if he is fine with this, please!))

((Don't worry, that's specifically why I've held off on us actually seeing the dog. If Kestra doesn't like it, it will simply be awol by the time Emily and Wisperlee arrive.))

[Fangirl05]

((Oh, I'd already decided it was male And I'll get rid of it if Kestra asks.))

 

Erin detached the kitten's claws from Micah as gently as she could. "That's what I thought" she answered, wriggling her fingers to distract the little ball of fluff, "I figure his mom's probably living up in the attic or the rafters. Didn't look like anything lived back there." Suddenly a little brown speck rose-and-fell on his face. "Eww." She put the kitten down on the table, sat in the nearest chair and went to work pulling all the fleas she could find off of him.

[Fortune86]

It seemed Jaune's antics had caught everyone's attention yet again. James sighed, shaking his head, and walked outside for some fresh air.

 

Everything felt so confusing at the moment. He still wasn't convinced this was the Rapture, but what he did know was that it was as creepy as hell. He just couldn't work it out in his head just where everyone had gone, or how.

 

What would Theo do? Or Edward? Stick to what they knew, what was for sure.

 

So what did he know?

 

There were several 'survivors'. They had food. They had water. They had transport. What else did you need in a situation like this? Shelter.

 

James turned around and looked at the pub. It looked just about as safe as any other building, but that was the thing, it wasn't. Apart from Micah, it seemed the entire village had been emptied. No where here was 'safe'.

 

Something had been nagging James for a while now. Who or whatever had taken everyone had either missed or purposely left some people behind. This was a big operation, no matter how you looked at it. If you were undertaking something like this and you had a few oversights, what did you do?

 

Send in a clean up crew.

 

The thought sent chills down James' spine. What if, what if who ever had done this didn't want there to be any survivors? What if they wanted to do the job properly? What if they took steps to ensure this?

 

James ran through his options. He hadn't really spoken to any of the others much yet, not including Jaune, but he figured he could already tell who the most leveled headed ones were.

 

"Hey Mak!" he turned around to look for the other guy. He hadn't seen where he had gone.

[Fangirl05]

Having cleared all the fleas she thought she was going to get off of him, Erin dusted the few crushed bugs that had stuck to her off her hands. "There ya go, little guy" she smiled at him and scratched his back. He stretched up on his hind legs and rubbed against her cheek in thanks. "Aww," she giggled again and scratched his withers, "I like you, too."

 

She noticed Micah eyeing the bags of food, slightly desperately, she though. "Go on," she nodded at them, "they won't bite."

 

She turned her attention back to the kitten, who had turned his attention to Juane. Specifically to his shoulder. The little pink insect on his shoulder. The tip of his tail twitched back and forth in focus. She smiled darkly. "Hey Juane," she rubbed the kitten's back in her best imitation of a Bond villain, "looks like Lucy's got herself a new admirer."

[Marcus Pheonix]

Jaune kept his eyes closed ignoring the happenings around him. This counter was surprisingly comfortable.

"Ill have you know I never liked cats," Jaune said not looking.

"And if that cat gets near lucy I can introduce you to that dislike... very stringy," Jaune said quietly before pulling out his frying pan and a can of butane. With a flick of his wrist he hurled a lit match into the pan and a plume of fire flew into the air, it was only a small amount of butane but it was impressive.

"I believe marinated in many different seasonings with a pinch of lemon zest brings out the taste the best... but I always preferred well done!" Jaune exclaimed. He then rolled over, resting his head in his hand.

"If that demon cat gets near me witch, I look forward to its untimely end," He finished, smiling intently at the cat.

 

 

((Hey everyone I figured out the solution if Kestra doesn't approve the kitty))

Edited July 21, 2014 by Marcus Pheonix

[Avialae]

As soon as Erin gave her permission, Micah began to rummage through the bag of food. He saw a lot of things that looked good, but as he couldn't cook to save his life - that had always been his sisters' job, and although he supposed he could ask one of the women here to do it for him he didn't feel comfortable enough around them yet to do so - he kept looking for something he could eat raw. Or at least he did before he caught a flash of bright light out of the corner of his eye.

 

Turning to see what was causing it, Micah's stomach dropped in horror as he saw Jaune brandishing a frying pan with a bright orange flame burning inside of it. Almost worse, as he looked around at the other people sitting in the bar none of them seemed to be that surprised at what was going on.

 

"You're all letting him light fires? Do you realize what someone like him could do with that?" he angrily demanded of the others there. Fire was a favorite tool of the devil, and as he still wasn't convinced that Jaune was safe to be around he was not anywhere near comfortable with letting the possibly demon-possessed devil-worshipping young man have access to it. Walking over to Jaune, Micah told him, "Put that down right now before you set something else on fire," in what he tried to make a commanding tone.

[Marcus Pheonix]

((Just saying theres no fire left in the pan, the butane burned away instantly and didn't leave any residue))

 

Jaune rolled backwards off the counter as the demon worshiper got too close. His eyes widened in fear and he brandished the frying pan.

"Stay... Stay away from me!" He screamed. He then hurried over to a nearby cabinet and smashed it, pulling out a large bottle of whiskey.

He then proceeded to start pouring it on the floor, before throwing the bottle down with enough force to shatter it. He ignored the glass as it didn't pierce through the thick onesie he wore.

"If you don't get away from me I will cook you and that demon witch and her cat! You should be cleansed anyway!" Jaune spat at Micah. In his hand was another match, lit and flickering eagerly towards the spilled alcohol on the floor. Jaune winced slightly as he pulled the frying pan up and over his shoulder, ready to swing.

 

((Hooray the panic attack returns! If there're problems let me know))

[Avialae]

Micah was startled as Jaune unexpectedly recoiled in fear, but he realized it made sense. The forces of the Devil hated righteousness, after all, so it was only natural he'd fear a servant of God. And that thought gave him some comfort as he realized that that meant maybe he was still a servant of God after all. Maybe he'd been kept down here for a reason, like to keep Jaune in check. He had been a fool to question the Lord, he'd have to ask forgiveness later, but first he needed to deal with Jaune.

 

Micah blew down and blew the match Jaune was holding out, taking a mental note as he did so that someone was going to have to clean all this glass up soon, someone could really hurt themselves walking on it. He was surprised no one had been badly cut when Jaune shattered the bottle. "I'll move away from you after you give me all your matches," he told Jaune, his voice noticeably more confident than it had been before.

[Fangirl05]

Erin's widened at Juane's threat. The booze fire would be easy enough to put out, but she had no idea what those pajamas were made of; polyester freaking melted when ignited, and pain in the ass or not she didn't want him hurt, especially not that hurt. She dropped the kitten on the table, jumped up and held her hands out. "Juane, please, don't" she begged, hoping to God it was convincing, "If you light that booze, you'll go up a lot faster than the rest of us. I swear, I won't let Micah or the kitten hurt you or Lucy. If it does anything to either of you, I'll snap its neck myself, I swear!" She swallowed the dryness in her throat fearfully. "Oh, God, where's James when we need him?" she wondered.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Mistress of Whispers]

She tilted her chin toward James. "Any time now, James" she sing-songed fiercely.

((Check Fortune's last post - James isn't in the pub any more.))

[Fangirl05]

((D'oh.)) *edits*

[Kestra15]

((GM Note: Pets are fine.))

 

Taking Wisper's supplies Mak thanked her as he put them on the back of the ambulance, but her desire to head off to London was a bit of a shock. In the last five hours or so she was probably the most practical and level-headed of the group so far, and had been resourceful to boot. Perhaps if they lost the cyber-world she may not be able to help in that regard, but she certainly seemed like someone who would put her mind to another task. Before Mak could say anything otherwise Emily and Nougat appeared, and the young lady decided to spend some time with the au pair and the dog. Although her body language was such that she was still ready to disappear off on her bike, perhaps some time with one of their quieter members would help quell this sudden urge to disappear.

 

He certainly hoped so. He wasn't sure how else he was going to keep his headache in check.

 

Letting the two girls chat Mak quietly backed off and started to jig the supplies in the back of the ambulance; he wasn't sure the bar was the best place for the headache that was building up. The new guy - Micah - was easy enough. Sure, a bit of a Bible-head from the sounds of things but what made his theory any more ridiculous than any other? But the running verbal battle between Erin and Jaune was starting to test his patience.

 

"Hey Mak!"

 

Mak looked up from the back of the ambulance to see the biker - James - approaching. Mak paused and tried not to tense when he saw the shotgun slung over the man's shoulder. While he wasn't openly aggressive there was still that confidence about him, as if struggling to stay alive was not a new experience. Firearms were more than a rarity in the UK, so it was fortunate at least one of the more sane members of the group had found one - and, Mak hazarded, probably knew how to use it too.

 

"Yes?" he asked, straightening up as he put the petrol can on the ground again, rubbing the sweat forming on his forehead. But before he could ask further what the man wanted there was a commotion from indoors - and Mak was glad that Wisper had gone for a walk and hopefully couldn't hear it. It would probably be the last straw. Heaving a sigh, Mak swept past James and into the bar.

 

"There will be no snapping of necks, cooking of cats, or otherwise," Mak's voice cut across the conversation, sharp and now clearly that of a man reaching his tolerance levels. While he was not banking on it, part of him hoped James had followed him and the sight of both men - who were both rather physical specimens - would get across the point that they were not here to play games.

 

"Erin, outside. You too Micah," he said sternly, voice and gaze brooking no argument.

 

[Fangirl05]

Erin flinched at the tone of Mak's voice; she'd had enough lectures about her mouth to know the signs. His demand for Micha to follow made her unexpectedly defensive. "Leave him be," she said, "I started this, I'll take the rap." She picked up the kitten - not trusting either Juane to not stomp him to death just to do it, or the kitten to not try to hunt Lucy - and headed out the door.

[Avialae]

Micah didn't understand what he had done here for - Mak, was it? - to reprimand him. In his view of things, he was only trying to prevent a potentially dangerous person from causing harm to the few people left in the world. His family didn't keep pets - the stray cat that sometimes went into the back of his father's store to hunt was the closest thing they'd ever had to one - so he didn't really have strong feelings about the kitten one way or the other, but after seeing Jaune almost drop the lit match from earlier into the spilled puddle of alcohol on the floor left him with no doubt that the young man would have no hesitation about burning down the bar and everyone inside it if he felt like it. Nevertheless, Micah had been taught to obey authority from a very young age, so as Erin subdued to Mak, he did the same and followed her out the door. He had no intention of leaving her to be disciplined alone, whatever she might say to it.

 

Nevertheless, there was one person that Mak seemed to be leaving out, one person that Micah couldn't see why the older man seemed to be defending. "What about Jaune?" he asked Mak, though his tone wasn't defiant in the least. "He could have set something on fire earlier. I just think it would be better if he didn't have the matches anymore, it seems safer." Or any weapon really, but fire and all its associated unpredictability seemed especially dangerous.

[Fangirl05]

Erin sighed. "I applaud your intentions," she told Micah, "but we went over this a while before we met you. Juane isn't exactly easy to rein in, you saw how he freaked out when you got close to him. The majority of us leave him be, and he and I go at each other light fighting dogs, so crisis is averted for the most part. The only one who's really able to talk him down is the hood with the shotgun here. He found him before we all crashed into each other." She nodded at James.

[Avialae]

Micah blinked at Erin, shocked at the girl's words. Her method of dealing with Jaune just seemed to be an extraordinarily bad way to handle the situation. "Wouldn't the fact that he's hard to rein in make it all the more important to get any potential weapons off of him, at least at some point?" he asked, the question directed not just towards Erin but anyone who might be in earshot. "Even if everyone leaves him alone, that's hardly a guarantee he won't do anything - especially since it sounds like you only met him today. And what if he wanders off on his own and meets someone else who's been left behind who sets him off? They could be dead before the rest of us even know about them." Micah was a little surprised at his ability to think quickly in a crisis, but then he'd never really been in on his own in a situation even remotely like this before.

[Fangirl05]

"My thoughts exactly," Erin agreed, "but they all shot down my offer to tie his hands together when we found him and James. Besides, as long as he doesn't feel threatened the worst you can say about him is he's a jabbering dumbass. Hence why he and I don't really do more than yell at each other."

[Salix]

The small village of Stanleytone was just how she remembered it, except it was deserted, just like everywhere else.

 

Petra hopped out of the minibus and walked slowly over to the pub along with everyone else. She was glad to note the arrival of Wisperlee on her motorbike; although she probably hadn’t acknowledged her at the time she did remember that the young woman had shown her sympathy when she had returned to the group after her search of Steve and Sally’s house.

 

Upon entering into the dim pub she was met with a surprise, the pub was not as empty as she might have thought, James was there and so to was a young American, judging by his accent. She listened quietly as the conversation with Micah and the rest of the group progressed. The mention of the Rapture sent cold shivers of fear through her body.

 

Petra’s parents had been deeply religious and her childhood had been filled with talk of sin, punishment, obedience and redemption. It wasn’t until she had reached her mid teens that something in her snapped; she had rebelled against her parents strict and uncompromising doctrines. She would never forget the disgust and horror on her parents faces when she finally found the courage to tell them that she was pregnant, and then came the torrent of abuse and vile words, and how they had disowned her, thrown her out of their house. Now, now it seems like they were right!

 

While the part of her mind that still believed her parents religion and ethos urged her to fall to her knees and start fervently praying for redemption, her common sense told her that the Rapture couldn’t possibly be happening, there had to be some other explanation. What she needed to do was to concentrate, and organise her thoughts on what she needed to do, and how she needed to adapt in order to get though all of this.

 

The dimness and confines of the pub suddenly became oppressing, walking back out into the car park Petra paused to try and calm herself, she felt better being out in the open. The quite village felt peaceful, and as she didn’t think the group would be going anywhere any time too soon, she decided to have a walk around the village, visit the shop and see if she could find anything useful.

 

[DragonSpirit009]

Emily didn’t know if she found the words comforting or not. She still felt bad about thinking about her family above the current survivors. When her attention was brought back to their furry friend, Emily placed her fingers on her lips and gave several high pitched whistles.

 

“Oh! Sorry if that was a bit loud.” Emily spoke looking at Wisperlee. “I usually call all my animals like this.” It wasn’t long when Nougat appeared from the high grass followed by something a bit bigger than herself. Emily held her breath as her imagination went wild but when she saw it was another dog she sighed with relief.

 

“I think Nougat made a friend.”