Rapture

[StarriAngel]

”okay!” Ari said. ”I still remember the way,back. ”I,know they were making food, so they may have started eating without us.” She got on the bike and held on to Dingo as Erin started,pedaling. ”you can turn right here,” she said when they got to the end of tthe street. ”the pub is right there!” She smiled triumphantly at having found her way home, but that smile turned into a frown. If they talked about Erin when she wasn't there, what would stop them from saying stuff about her as well? Ari jumped off the bike, gave Dingo a pat on the head for luck, handed him to Erin and turned to step inside.

 

((Sorry for the weird capitalization, my phone is clearly not as smart as I've been told. I'll edit when I get to a computer))

[Mistress of Whispers]

If they talked about Erin when she wasn't there, what would stop them from saying stuff about her as well?

((I'm a bit confused by this. People have been running away from Erin left and right, but I think the only time she was talked about was in the pet shop and that was two lines (basically: "I think Erin has an issue with me" and "I think Erin has an issue with everyone right now." And Ari wasn't even there for that conversation. So why would she suddenly think people are talking about her and Erin?))

[Marcus Pheonix]

((Everyone seems to be getting pets. I wonder can I have one?))

 

Jaune opened his eyes, he was lying in the back of the ambulance on his back. Gazing up at the roof he rubbed his eyes briefly, they felt sticky, some liquid had been on his face. He paused as he recollected his thoughts.

This wasn't a dream, Lucy was gone. He was alone amongst a group of people he hated. There was that annoying woman who yelled at him, he recalled she had tried to offer sympathy. James was growing more reclusive each day and Mak was throwing his weight around as the 'leader'. Jaune sat up and rubbed the back of his head. The hood to his onesie had fallen off, Jaune paused and looked at his sleeve. The bright yellow had entertained him for some time, this onesie's capability to store so many items was also highly beneficial. Jaune scowled at it. He stood up and gazed out the window of the ambulance. He saw most of their party were gathered in the pub. Jaune slowly slid out of the ambulance, his eyes riveted on the others making sure none of them turned their heads this way. He then hurried off.

He walked for some time, he wasn't painting the road as he went, which was what he usually did when walking. He didn't want the others to follow him, he would return of course, but for now he wanted solitude. He continued walking until he happened upon a small shopping area. He tilted his head as he looked at it, it contained a small grocers a butcher and a little outlet clothes shop. Jaune walked up to the butcher and gazed in, the window was shattered open. He looked inside and to his surprise saw a couple large dogs eating the meat, one of them had dried blood on its shoulder, obviously the one that had tackled through to the meat.

Ignoring them he continued on to the grocers, it was a small affair with only a single asile. Probably family owned, he thought. With a swift kick he broke through the glass door, then using the frying pan he cleared the remainder of the way into the building. He walked around and gathered some foods and stuffed them in his bag. Pausing at the tea section he grabbed some boxes of tea bags and chucked them in the rapidly filling bag. Lastly he grabbed a bottle of cooking oil, some spices and a bottle of red wine. He sniffed experimentally at the wine and smiled with satisfaction.

Walking outside Jaune quickly set up a small campfire, using several wooden items from the shop to sustain the fire. Placing his frying pan over the fire he walked into the butcher, pushed one of the large dogs aside and grabbed a chicken, that hadn’t been salivated on yet. His mother had tried to turn his fondness of fire into a desire of cooking and as such had drilled many recipes into his head. Quickly and expertly he carved off pieces of the chicken and added them to the pan where they began to fry. Sizzling with juice he applied the spies and moved back towards the grocery to grab some vegetables. He looked over at the butchers, some of the animals inside had smelled his food and were looking out the window. Jaune walked up and sprayed a line of paint outside it, then with a flick of a match lit it. The dogs all seeing the danger hurried back inside. One creature did not, however. Jaune paused in his movements. The creature that remained near the fire, eager to get at his food was a ferret.

He knew that this country permitted Ferrets as pets, and it would be eager to get onto food, the dogs would most likely prevent it from having its share of the butcher shop. Jaune stepped onto the lingering flames and crouched down and held out a chicken leg. The ferret swiped at it and began chewing off the meat. Jaune then stood up and continued towards the vegetables.

A couple of minutes later Jaune tipped the remaining juices onto the concrete. The food he had prepared was now in an a couple airtight containers next to him. He looked down at the Ferret, after it finished the chicken leg it had left the butchers and sat near the fire, it was smart enough not to approach but still desperate for food. Jaune had complied with giving it a couple of pieces of breast, before eating some himself.

“Now then,” He said quietly to himself as his gaze lingered on the clothes shop. Jaune walked into it, breaking through the window to do so, the Ferret at his heels. He discarded the onesie, and began browsing the merchandise. It was a small selection but he found it suitable. He grabbed a black shirt, matching jeans and a belt to support them. He then looked down at the onesie, the ferret was sniffing at the many things hidden inside it. He was willing to discard some of it but not all. His gaze lingered on a jacket with a thick fur trim, it had several pockets on the inside, obviously it was designed for people venturing into the snow. Pulling it out he swung it on, satisfied he stuffed several pockets with the trinkets he had inside his onesie, mainly his fire starting equipment. He slipped his mask onto his neck and gazed at himself in the mirror.

To be honest the look suited him much more than the bright yellow onesie, he had naturally dark hair and his face could be called menacing, his red eyes added to that. Jaune picked up the onesie and dragged it outside, casting it onto the fire pit where the many incendiary items inside caught alight, consuming the onesie. Smiling with satisfaction at the flames he then turned and crouched down towards the ferret his arm outstretched.

“How would you like to come with me little Juni?” He asked it, the name entering his mind in a fly. Juni sniffed at his hand and then scurried up his arm and curled up in the thick hood. Jaune stood up carefully and shouldered his backpack. He began his walk back to the others he could feel Juni’s warmth against the back of his neck as well as a slight tickling sensation as it sniffed him.

“If you bite me, you’re going to be my next meal, chicken and ferret likely wouldn’t have much difference,” He said. As if Juni understood the tickling stopped. Jaune smiled and popped open the lid to one of the food containers and began eating the chicken, it was still fairly warm.

After a while he found himself back at the area with all the others, he had nearly finished all the food in his container. He walked up to the ambulance and climbed on top of it, his feat resting off the side as he finished his meal.

 

 

((This large post is to make up for my hiatus, Kestra would you be so kind as to modify my form to have this as the appearence?))

[Mistress of Whispers]

“Cujo!” Petra raised her eyebrows in question at the dog’s name, “he doesn’t look like a Cujo”

Wisperlee grinned at that. Admittedly, Cujo was no Saint Bernard, but he was a pretty big dog. "Wait," she said to the dog as she pointed to a place by the door. Cujo stared at her balefully for a while, then turned and settled down by the door as instructed. So far, so good.

 

She sat down and was already digging in, when Micah folded his hands and seemed to say a prayer. Pausing her fork halfway to her mouth, Wisperlee waited until he was done. She wasn't religious herself, but she didn't begrudge the young man his need for prayer in a time like this.

 

She resumed her dinner when Micah was done. Just then, Ari walked in. And was that Erin she saw behind her? "Ari, Erin," she called out to the two, "Petra made dinner so we set up a buffet. We've just set everything out if you're hungry."

[Fangirl05]

((Personally I like the idea of a ferret for Juane ))

 

"Thanks," Erin nodded at Wisperlee, "I thought I smelled food." She hauled the wagon inside and set it by the door, but the movement of three little bodies, and the stark whiteness of a fourth, got her attention first.

 

"Aww!" she gushed, "Where'd this little posse come from?" The calico and orange tiger-striped ones padded up to her right away, but the white one just crouched nervously by the far door. Dingo squirmed out of her arm and started wrestling and play-fighting with them. Erin clicked her tongue a few times and drummed her fingers to attract the attention of the brown tiger-striped one, but it just glanced at her in confusion before returning to climbing up Micah's leg. "Looks like you made a friend" she nodded at the confused-looking man.

 

"Oh, that reminds me" she picked Dingo back up and scratched his chin, "when you're done here, Wisperlee, there's something I wanna show you."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Avialae]

Micah frowned at Erin as the girl spoke to her. To be honest, he wasn't sure what to make of her anymore. Her rapid mood swings confused him. At least the others mostly reacted how he expected them to. "I'm pretty sure they're your kitten's brothers and sisters," he told Erin in response to her question of where they'd come from. "And I don't think they're interested in making friends, they're just hungry." Since no one had said anything in response to him asking if it was okay if he got them some food, he took another plate, filled it halfway with some meat - he wasn't sure how much the five of them should eat - and put it on the floor. He wasn't that worried that doing this would leave anyone there without. It seemed as if there was more than enough for everyone, at least as far as he could tell.

 

As soon as Micah put the plate down, the tiger, who had been on his heels and yowling loudly the entire time he'd been doing this, promptly bolted over to the plate and began eating. The other kittens quickly followed in his footsteps. Even the shy white slowly headed over. Satisfied with what he'd done, Micah headed back to his chair and resumed his meal.

 

OOC: I actually hadn't intended for Micah to keep any of the kittens himself, it's not really in his character to spontaneously adopt a pet, I thought it would make sense to introduce Dingo's brothers and sisters since we established he probably lives at the bar earlier . . . if anyone else wants to keep them, it's totally fine by me, though. Also, as for genders, the calico is female and the orange is male due to the colors of their coats (yes, orange is sex-linked, though they can be female if both of the parents are orange, but it's extremely unlikely that there'd be a black and white kitten in such a litter, so our orange is a male) but if anyone else wants to decide the genders of the others they can feel free.

[Fangirl05]

((I thought they would all be male save for the white one, but I'll keep the calico female out of deference ))

 

Erin nodded in acknowledgement of Micah's sentiment; the brown one had been happy to abandon him in favor of the platter of meat he offered. As each one ate its fill and started grooming itself, she picked them up to confirm which ones were male and female. "I think I'll call you Caramel," she told the orange tom, "you can be Bruiser," she stroked the large brown tom's back, "you can be Jeanie," she scratched the top of the calico's head with one finger, "and you-" she picked up the white queen, "will be Millie. Like Milli Vanilli." She chuckled at her own joke, set her in her lap and stroked her back.

[StarriAngel]

((Ari's a worry wart. She takes everything too seriously and blows things out of proportion. So even though no one has actually talked a lot about Erin - she blew that little bit into something worth panicking over))

[Salix]

Petra was impressed when the Cujo obeyed Wisperlee’s command to wait, and settled himself by the door, resting his head on his front paws and watching them all with mournful eyes as they ate, she smiled sympathetically and commented “he’s very obedient, but he’s not above using emotional guilt”.

 

Pausing in her eating while Micah had said his short prayer before starting his meal, she offered up her own silent prayer but wondered who it was that she was actually praying to, and what kind of twisted sense of humour he/she/it possess - but she was immensity grateful to who ever it was that she wasn’t going through all of ‘this’ on her own.

 

The arrival of Ari and Erin lifted her mood further, as did the appearance of the little group of kittens. She watched while Micah got up to get the demanding bunch some food. It was a little unfair that the kitten’s demands for food were pandered to, while the poor dogs had to be patient and wait, and she thought she heard Cujo utter a disgruntled sigh at the unfairness of it all, but then waiting didn’t seem to be something that cats did, cats did what they wanted when they wanted, and if Micah had not got up to get them some food they would have continued to pester the humans until they caved in to their demands.

 

Excusing herself Petra got up from the table, on her way to behind the bar she stopped by Erin and scratchy scratched the head of the white kitten that Erin had christened Millie.

 

“Would anyone like anything to drink?” she asked the group in general.

 

[Fortune86]

"Good grief" said James stopping to look at all of the various animals the group seemed to have collected. "We're going to end up with our own petting zoo before long. I guess they might all come in handy though, catching mice and stuff. If we are going to have to resort to growing our own food we don't want rodents eating it all."

[Fangirl05]

James' logic stopped Erin from snarling something she probably wouldn't regret as much as she should, but she did give him a look of displeasure before nodding in agreement at his sentiment. He was making it increasingly difficult to remember that he was a gorgeous badass, rather than just an ass.

 

Jeanie wormed her head under her arm, jealous of the attention being paid to her sister, and Erin smiled and rubbed her scruff.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Fangirl05

[DragonSpirit009]

“I know.” Emily spoke to James as she finally took a bite of some greens. Then everyone’s attention was brought to the kittens. They were cute but it might be a problem when they get older. Sure James pointed out a plus point but there is a lot of other things to worry about as well.

 

“Well if we’re going to keep them then we should get to a vet. They need their injections and we don’t want sick kittens or any other animals.”

 

[Fangirl05]

"I don't know about you lot," Erin said, "but the only one I'm keeping is Dingo. The rest of them will probably just leave when they get bored of us. Cats are flighty." She craned her neck around when she felt something jump on her ankle and found Bruiser trying to wrestle with her foot. She wiggled her toes indulgently and giggled when he dug his claws in and bit the toe of her shoe. "Aww, they're so when they think they can kill things."

[Salix]

The possibility of just leaving the kittens caused Petra to put the cider bottle down on the bar top a little harder then she had indented. She suddenly felt very protective about the little kits, they had fed them, and named them, they couldn’t now just leave them!

 

“The kittens will come with me then” she heard herself say, using a tone a voice that all Mothers can adopt when they make a statement that is not to be argued with.

 

Realising that she my have sounded a little hard she smirked and rolled her eyes “Oh great, this is my first step towards turning into a cat lady.”

 

“Sick kittens or animals are not the only thing we need to consider. Does anyone have any medical problems, asthma or diabetes or anything along those lines, that may need prescribed medication? If so then perhaps we should think about finding a chemist or pharmacy to stock up on medical supplies.”

 

[Marcus Pheonix]

Jaune watched the others from a distance... there was a lot of movement at feet level.

He casually chucked the last piece of chicken in his mouth and then held out the container for Juni to lap up the remaining juices, which he did so happily.

"There's a lot of animals down there huh Juni? I wonder whether they were all domesticly owned or whether those people released them from the pet shop... what do you think?" Jaune turned his head to the ferret who looked up at his words and blinked in response, he then turned back to the container.

Jaune frowned, Juni wasn't as talkative as Lucy had been... speaking of Lucy. She was a devout believer and Jaune had known her her preferred funeral form. He frowned, he hadn't been looking forward to this but he knew that its what she would have wanted.

Jaune jumped down off the amublence he turned and smiled at Juni.

"Finish that first, then follow," He said. The ferret ignored him.

Jaune walked over to the pub and weaved around all the animals inside it, ignoring everyone else. He walked over to the counter and delicately grabbed the dead body of his beloved mantis. He then pulled out one of his spray cans and walked back outside. He lifted up his mask and blasted the mantis' body with the paint.

"Oh great lord Ho-oh I bring you this followers body. She has been a believer in your majesty since she was young and all her deeds in life have been in accordance to your wishes as a follower of the Rainbow fire. On her wishes," He paused and pulled out a separate colour and blasted her again.

"On her wishes I give to you her body, so that her soul may have a place of refuge in the great Valhalla at the summit of your might abode," He sprayed her with another colour then twirled the frying pan in his hand, casually lighting a match with his fingers as he did.

"Please keep her safe," He finished and dropped the match on the freshly painted body of the mantis. Before the flames could burn his hand he through the mantis into the air and sent it flying with a follow up swing from the frying pan.

Jaune watched as the rainbow comet soared off away from the vicinity. He then scowled at his hand, now coated in several different colours of paint.

"Ahh damn you Lucy, this is why I didn't want your funeral to be like this," He angrilly wiped his hand on the ground, not wanting to stain his new clothes.

 

((Hope thats alright, if Kestra doesn't approve Juni I can still send him off))

[Fangirl05]

"Okay then" Erin said in response to Petra's claiming the kittens, "I think Dingo missed them, anyway." She smiled at the pile of sleeping-Millie-and-Dingo that had settled next to her knee.

 

She looked up in surprise at Juane's entrance. At least, she thought it was Juane; it was a little hard to tell when he was wearing people clothes. She smiled inexplicably, but genuinely at him. "Nice to see you're up and about" she greeted him with a nod. It shouldn't have surprised and annoyed her as much as it did that he ignored her, but the annoyance only lasted until she saw him pick up the little Preying Mantis carcass. She watched him leave with his dead pet sadly. She kind of wanted to attend the "funeral," but the nagging suspicion that he would brain her with a frying pan held her back.

 

She watched him spray-paint the Mantis in confusion, until she realized the paint was probably flammable. It struck her as oddly and honestly touching.

 

Until he yanked her off the ground and smacked her though the air with his frying pan like a freaking baseball.

 

"And just like that he's back to being off his nut" she declared.

 

((I was wondering, does Juane still have that sorta-kinda-pseudo-crush on Erin?))

Edited August 9, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Kestra15]

((OOC: Pets are fine, just keep in mind that they will predominantly be domestic at this point. -KM))

 

Sat near the back of the pub's main room Mak watched as Petra supplied a well-needed spread for the others, his grumbling stomach reminding him that in among all this madness he had not yet eaten properly today. Taking a plate for himself and another glass of coke - pointedly ignoring the free alcohol - he sat back and enjoyed his meal, eating quickly through habit.

 

The litter of kittens did not light up his eyes as much as it had the others; Mak's solitary nature extended to pets, who to him seemed more trouble than children. At least children would eventually learn to communicate and cooperate. But what place did he have to demand they leave them all behind? He was not the group's militant leader, and he was hoping that the decisions they'd made so far were in concordance with others and not a dictatorial command. It would make the logistics of travel, accommodation and food much more complex though, given how many extra mouths they would have to feed. Small mouths yes, but mouths nonetheless.

 

And perhaps, he thought as he quickly glanced at Petra, it would give those who had lost so much something new to hold to.

 

As he finished his plate and took a swig of his drink Mak stood up and moved around the table to lean against it, calling for the group's attention.

 

"A couple of us were discussing what to do from here," he said without preamble to fill in those who had not been part of the prior discussion. "And concluded that the best thing would be to set up camp somewhere appropriate. There's a little village outside Cambridge called Oakington that fulfills our projected needs; surrounded by farmland, easy access to the region's biggest hospital and several overlarge superstores as well as the city of Cambridge itself, just out the way enough not to be bothered unless someone specifically wanted to go that way but also close enough to major routes into and away form London. We thought that stay here tonight, enjoy the food and drink as we wish, and set out tomorrow. Does everyone agree?"

[Marcus Pheonix]

((He does, yes. And I checked Kestra Ferrets are legal pets in England))

 

Jaune looked up from his hand and saw that the she-witch was looking at him. He angrily glared at her, then snapped his fingers loudly. To his surprise Juni responded to the click and scuttled over. Jaune bent down and let the ferret hurry up to his new nest in the hoodie.

He walked inside the pub looking at the various animals present and scowled. It appeared that Mak was talking about moving near Cambridge.

"I'd just like to put out oh Mr. Makky that currently we've managed to pick up a larger following since arriving," He gestured to the animals.

"Yet maintain the same amount of transport, some of which consists of motorcycles. While I love animals and their soft cuddly nature... they have a tendency to shed, and it makes me itch..." Jaune said, turning his stare back towards the dog seated near her.

"Perhaps the procurement of further transport would be a better plan to adhere to before searching for a more permanent residence.

 

((Hey Kestra in case you missed it could I ask if you could alter Jaunes form to show his new appearence, the link is in my post on page 23))

[Fangirl05]

"That sounds perfect" Erin agreed. Juanes aside, the idea of Oakington painted a very rosy picture of the immediate future. "Oh, and one of the houses I raided had a van parked outside," she added, "one of those big ones that take up two parking spaces. It looked big enough to fit everybody, and plus it had one of those moving-company trailers hitched up to it. I admit I didn't check how much gas it had in it."

[Fortune86]

James didn't say anything but shook his head before returning to the rest of his meal. What was with Erin's deal about living things to die? When Petra claimed responsibility for the unclaimed kittens he felt a little better, although he had to admit he was no cat person himself.

 

He didn't say anything as he finished his meal, just ate in silence and listened to those around him, or at leas he tried to. Lack of sleep was making it hard to concentrate, but it sounded like everyone was okay with moving on to Oakington later.

[Fangirl05]

Erin didn't miss the dirty look Juane shot her when she explained she wouldn't be taking the whole litter along. A mean-spirited smile crawled across her face. "Aww, look who has a soft side" she mocked him, slurring her "s"s a little bit for a "sh" noise. The mockery was born more from what she thought was his bad attitude than his actual "soft side."

 

"They're cats" she pointed out, "They need, like, three months tops of coddling and then they go on to jump anything that moves. I'm more worried about the cat that's gonna wake up tomorrow and find her babies gone." A soft thump from behind her caught her attention. "Speak of the devil" she said of the source: a large grey tuxedo cat with hugely swollen breasts. She looked at the kittens snoring softly behind Erin's knee and hissed at the human. Erin blew a raspberry at her in reply.

[Avialae]

Micah had no problem with heading to Oakington; since he currently had no way to get home, one place was as good as another. Not to mention this little town didn't seem to be the best place to live long-term, since there didn't seem to be anyone left behind here but him. But his surprise when a seemingly new young man entered the bar washed away anything he might have said in response to Mak in any case. He didn't realize that the "stranger" was Juane for a few very long moments; without the cartoon hood on his head, the other man looked completely different. Of even more surprise to Micah, however, was the fact that Jaune was now speaking coherently on a subject actually related to their current situation. In the admittedly short time he'd known the other man, he'd thought Jaune only had a faint idea of what was happening to the world at best. Did Lucy have a spiritual origin after all, even though she had turned out to have a corporeal form after all?

 

Micah didn't say anything about keeping all of the kittens, either. He just didn't have much to add to the conversation. Although he had felt sorry enough for them to feed them, he hadn't really considered taking them along with the group, since it would be difficult to chase them all down whenever they needed to move. When the mother slowly stalked into the room, Micah couldn't help but put a finger to his brow in frustration. He had not thought the kittens' mother would show up - an adult cat in a situation like this was often partly feral, and would be far too wary of all the people or the large dogs or both to show her face in front of them, although the kittens were still too young to have developed that kind of fear. Goodness knows he hardly ever saw the cat that kept pests out of his father's store. But apparently her mother's instinct had won out and the adult cat had come down to protect her children.

 

"I don't mean to sound heartless, and I don't want any harm to come to the cats," he started out a bit hesitantly, not wanting them to think that he was being heartless, "but it might not be practical to take all the pets we come in contact with along with us. These kittens are one thing, but their mother may not be used to being handled, and it will be difficult to bring her with us if she won't let us get near to her." And sure enough, the gray and white female was as far away from the humans as it was possible to get and still be in the same room, poised to run at the slightest hint of a threat. "I'm not sure we can provide for a large number of animals either, and there should be plenty where we're going," he added a bit wryly. "And they shouldn't have problems getting food either - I'm guessing this place will be overrun with pests before too long." It was hard enough to keep rats and mice out of a storeroom filled with edible items in a normal situation, Micah knew from experience - even with the cat around he'd see droppings here and there. But with most humans gone, and food just left sitting where it was, vermin should soon be flooding into inhabited areas, and with how fast they bred, he doubted anything that hunted them would be going hungry for the next few months.

[Fangirl05]

"That's why I only wanted to bring Dingo along" Erin agreed, scratching the back of the kitten's head. He stretched and yawned, somehow managing to keep purring through the latter.

 

"Speaking of which," she raised an eyebrow, "the dogs seem weirdly uninterested in all these felines. Wisperlee, what did you do to them?" She meant the last question as a joke, although you'd never know it from the serious look on her face.

[Fortune86]

((James didn't give Erin a dirty look, he just shook his head, which could have been at anything ))

 

James ignored Erin's taunts. So he wasn't her favourite person, that didn't mean much to him. James only cared about the opinions of people he cared about, and Erin wasn't one of them.

 

His plate cleared James got to his feet and wandered into the kitchen, plate and cutlery in hand. Even though he had no reason to do so and there wasn't much point to it, he put the dirt items into the dishwasher, ready to be cleaned.

 

He went back to the bar room and looked down at Emily.

 

"I'm going to find somewhere to go and get some rest. I don't think I've slept in the last 30 hours. If anything happens give me a shout."

[Avialae]

As James said that he was going upstairs to sleep Micah hastily rose to his feet. "Wait!" he blurted out at the other man, and ran over to him, afraid that he wouldn't listen to him and continue up the stairs. "I just want to get my sister's things packed in case you decide to go into her room to sleep," Micah explained quickly, knowing his actions must look a bit strange to the others. But he couldn't help it, he hadn't expected anyone would want to sleep for a while and he didn't want any of the men to see Esther's luggage, since some of the things she'd packed were private, not meant for a strange man's eyes.