Character Hike

Gant stays back, hands folded behind his back as he watches, a careful blankness on his face. He does not trust anyone who arrives on a mountain in a suit, bearing the equipment for a picnic. Too odd, yet very stereotypical at the same time. He has carefully constructed the appearance of a slightly weathered man, comfortable outdoors and without much money. This one seemed to have thrown together a slipshod identity, counting on the oddity of his appearance to distract from the rest.

Look also at the name. While the presence of two first names in the full construction was heard of, it was often a mark of something constructed. And nobody introduced themselves with their middle initial in such circumstances unless they wanted to give themselves an air of validity. A small probe into the circumstances may be in order.

"Those are awfully high-quality clothes for a trip onto a mountain," Gant says. "Unless they have something to do with the 'festivities' you mentioned." He may rise to the bait, but it would matter little.

edited 3rd Oct '10 8:39:51 PM by Morgulion

"Why certainly! Fine liquor deserves to be enjoyed with fine company! Drink up!" Anthony pours a generous serving into his glass.

"Cheers!" He clinks his glass to Raki's and tilts back his head.

He turns to Gant almost quizzically. "I'm sorry, did I forget to mention? I stopped on the way to my lodge and thought I'd have a picnic. It was rather spur of the moment."

Anthony rustles through his basket, taking out a knife, some cheese and crackers and summer sausage. He sets down the glass and begins to slice, slowly and methodically until he's produced a plate of sliced snacks.

"Feel free to partake. What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine!"

edited 3rd Oct '10 8:45:25 PM by KSPAM

Raki scoffs at the cynical Gant. "Ppft. Or maybe he's got a better suit on than you. It's perfectly alright to feel envious. I'd give him points for his classy personality too. Hehe. Cheers."

And he downs the sparkling champagne, savoring the sweetness and all its nuances on his tongue, and gulps. Ahhh.

edited 3rd Oct '10 8:46:40 PM by QQQQQ

Fucking kid. Gant doesn't change his bored expression, for two hundred years of refining his self-control have built a masterful composure. But then this idiot spoils a neat hook that would save him the effort of observing this stranger. Bloody hell.

He is tempted to answer with a witty retort, or better yet, to show his true appearance. No need for that yet, it is an option in this contest, but cheaper ones exist for now. Like observing this man as a third party.

"No need for such hostility," he replies. "Besides, a civil question merits a civil answer. I am interested in whatever happens here- that is all. And your answer has been quite sufficient," he says to Anthony.

edited 3rd Oct '10 8:49:48 PM by Morgulion

Raki finishes with a smacking of his lips, adding salt to the possible wound Gant is feeling right now. Oh.. however much Gant tries to hide it, Raki knows. That glimmer of bitterness in the grey eyes.

"See.. it's not half-bad," he says. "And to you Mr Scott, it tastes fine vintage. Good taste." As Raki wonders what sort of view Gant holds on life, he pauses and reflects — maybe he shouldn't be too provoking. Everyone has different views on things. His shines bright and dapper knowing there can always be good around a corner.

God knows what memories anchor Gant to be so downcast when every day above ground can be a good day.

edited 4th Oct '10 10:05:15 AM by QQQQQ

Dammit I got a guy named Anthony who I wanted to start with on this thread. But someone else is already called that. So should I change the name?

Try having him call himself Tony.

k ^^

o-kay this turned out a little disturbing. But He Gets Better...... I hope

Tony woke up in some forest in the mountains hanging in mid air. With both his hands and feet painfully tied up in barbed wire connected to trees in the vicinity. All his weapons and supplies had been taken from him, with him being stripped down to his underwear.

"You think this is FUNNY?" Was what he tried to yell out. But all that came out was, "MMMMMPPPPPHHHHHH!" seeing how there were a few socks tied tightly around his mouth. He had just remembered now that the previous day he was off on a mission to chase down some teenage terrorists. His encounter with them didn't turn out so well and now those idiots thought it would be fun to leave him like this.

"MMMMMPPPPPHHHHHH!" Tony tried yelling as loud as he can. Hoping someone through the forest would catch the sound and save him. But then it just occurred to Tony, would those people be more busy laughing at him than helping him down?

edited 4th Oct '10 10:55:53 AM by PsychoFreaX

The faint moans echo in bellows, snapping Raki to attention. Is this a wolf's howling call?

"You hear that?" Raki mentions.

But it seems disgruntled, not like the calling he's accustomed to, but more like a pained groan than anything else. "Whatever it is, it sounds badly hurt.."

Without waiting, he starts down the hiking trail into the woods. "I'm gonna go help."

His boots crunch moist dirt and fallen twigs with each step. Raki finds his paces grow frenetic with apprehension gnawing at his gut. Don't worry holmes.. I'm coming.

"Um..." Loki hesitated as she assessed the newcomer. He wasn't human, but he didn't seem to be dangerous. Clearly she wasn't blending in as well as she'd hoped, but it didn't matter. She'd always been a good liar.

"Nope, no danger here," she smiled and brushed her blonde hair from her face. "Well, unless you count possible dehydration. Scorching today, isn't it? You wouldn't happen to have any water you could spare, would you?"

Loki was acutely aware that she was talking way too fast, but that was more from shortness of breath than anything. Besides, it wasn't a lie that she needed a drink.

Ibbis surveyd the trail. Still no sign of anyone, and it had been an hour. he checked the time for what could have been the tenth time in as many minutes and blew out a sigh of frustration.

"This is shaping up to be a might fine day." Since he had the comlink already in his hand, he called back to the ship. A tinny female voice answered.

"What?" Diana said.

"Tell Len this might be a bust. I haven't seen hsi stupid contact yet, and I'm not looking forward to camping out in the boondocks."

"You want some cheese with that whine, dear?"

"Just let him know that he might have to cancel the deal, or reschedule or something."

"Okay, I'll do that. Oh, and Captain, watch your back... We're picking up some odd readings on the passive scanners, but no one can make heads or tails of 'em."

"Got it. Ibbis out." He closed the link and pocketed it. "Out-freaking-standing." He briefly considered heading back to the truck, goof off for a bit and head out, with some made-up story about not being able to find the contact, but he owed Len a favor. A big favor.

Scrabbling his hand inside his knapsack as he jogs, Raki finds his bottle — the water sloshing inside. He tosses it over to Loki ("Here ya go homie.").

He's sucking wind, tired already before he knows it, and so he slows to a crawl. There's a rock outcropping alongside, it looks all mouldy green. That'll make a good resting stool. So let's lay back and kick some later, 'kay?

"I've— I'm going to take a breather," he tells them.

It's like a haunted forest he's in. Mildew sopping out the gnarled aged woods, and the scattered cones amongst decaying leaves that likely will starved for space upon growing. A bird's cawing completes the foreboding uncertainty, and doubt begins to poke where once there had been a sense of exploration.

Should he carry on to save a poor wolf? Ohh, he doesn't like the dark. He hates it, there'd always be somethings that could wait in every nook unseen. Don't like that kinda surprises. Maybe the local rangers can do the job.. he's getting outta here.

He'd sworn to make it there by then, but that silly dream never took account for the looong driving time. Well what now? He remembers that lively hotel he'd passed — he might have the look-see there as an opportunity before he drives the looooong way back home (with only the story "Hey, folks, I'm still scared of the dark, what do you know?" and a nervous chuckle.).

Raki hums a half-remembered tune, waiting for the spring to return to his knees. He feels the chill penetrating him too, curling his skin, and he rubs his knees and hands together to keep warm also.

Fiat Lux. Let there be light. These words God has spoken to bring daylight to the world. If Raki says them.. it's wishful thinking.

edited 4th Oct '10 12:40:03 PM by QQQQQ

Ibbis observes the failing daylight and his scowl deepened.

Too late to head back now, he thought. A chill breeze whips by him, ruffling his duster around his legs as he fastenes the chin strap on his battered soft leather jet-bike helmet. More of a hat, than a for-real helmet, as he didn't have the metal plates inside it, and his days of riding a jet-bike were years behind him. But old habits died hard, and he kept wearing what Diana called "The Eyesore".

He didn't care what she called it. It had slowed a bullet once, enough to save his life.

Another breeze, and then he hears it - voices? A wild animal howling in the faiding daylight? His right hand goes to pat the revolver holstered under his duster, the weight and shape comforting to him. It had been a long time since he had needed to draw it out in anger, though.

"Just a hike. Meet the guy, get paid, bug out. Simple," he says to reassure himself. But neither the heft of the revolver or his hollow-sounding words bring much more than passing comfort to him, as he trudges along the trail, still alone.

EDIT: How do I meet up with others...? QQQQ, did you stop on the hike for a bit? Feasible I might link up with you that way, or not.

edited 4th Oct '10 12:53:01 PM by pvtnum11

Loki catches the bottle and gratefully gulps down the lot.

"Uh, thanks...homeslice!" she calls after the running man.

Finally free of the distraction of thirst, Loki becomes aware of the distant howling, and immediately feels uncomfortable. It doesn't sound like the sort of noise her old captors would have made, but who can tell? Still, it's a welcome occurence at this point, if only to take the strange demon-man's suspicion away from her.

"Whoever that is doesn't sound to happy, does he? Maybe we should check it out..."

Jack nodded once and jogged after the running man, into the brush and towards the sound of a captured human.

As Jack runs, Loki saunters after him and notices someone else on the trail in a jet-bike helmet.

Immediately she notices the gun and the rather pissed-off expression on the guy's face, and notes that this is a man who could be useful as an allie. Loki retraces her steps back onto the path, and grins warmly at the man, again checking that her broken shackle isn't visible.

"Alright mate, are you coming to see what all the fuss is about down there?"

edited 4th Oct '10 1:22:42 PM by thewerepuppygrr

Ibbis looks up at the sound of words, spoken in his direction. The accent is quite odd, he finds, but he can't put a finger on why. At least was understandable. He had worried that the planet was going to have some wierd local dialect - or worse yet, Mandarin. Diana was giving him some lessons on proper Mandarin, as all he could manage was the butchered pidgin form of it.

"Evening," he says simply, touching his hand to the brim of the jetter helmet. He searches the face, seeking a trace of recognition, but there is none. Not his contact.

Well, he ain't human - Loki decides to herself.

"Evenin'. Nice gun."

Nice gun?! What are you even saying? Loki blames her current state of slipups on her tiredness, but she can't really afford stupid mistakes. Another loud howl sounds from the undergrowth.

"So anyway, I was going to go see what all the hullabaloo down there's for. Wanna come?"

Ibbis is human.

Ibbis consideres the offer for a beat.

Seems pleasant enough... But something is unsettlling to him - the glance to the hip of his duster, the flash of recognition that Ibbis was packing a firearm, and he can't help but think a dark thought as he shifts his weight ever so slightly so that any present hip bulge disappears into the fastened duster. He hadn't expected to have to actively hide such matters, but Ibbis was well-versed in the arts of concealment and sleight of hand, as befitting a smuggler.

She knows that I'm armed. Could be some local law enforcement, or what passes here for a thug. Well, not like I'm a saint myself, so...

"Sure. What sort of bruhaha was this again? Sounded like some wild game or something," he speaks slowly, trying to sound natural.

edited 4th Oct '10 2:27:56 PM by pvtnum11

Jack pulled up short at the approach of the man in the helmet—the man from the vehicle. "You smell like the sky." he said simply, blurted out before he could think.

Loki looks back at Jack for a moment and frowns, before shaking her head and answering the man's question.

"Dunno what's going on, but to me it sounds like trouble," she shrugged, before continuing towards the noise.

True, she had turned her back on the stranger, but she was still focussed on what he was doing, listening to every sound he happened to make: the rustle of his clothes, his breathing, his footsteps. Now he had disguised his gun, which was odd considering that earlier she had judged him to be someone very much accustomed to using a firearm.

There's no way he could be working against her, was there? Hell, she's in the middle of the quiet end of nowhere. It was enough that the possibility was there, and though turning her back meant an unspoken sign of both trust and submission, she was neither trusting nor relaxed.

Gant had seen the man there after three seconds of pinpointing the source of the sound and a minute of a quick trot, but jumping at hundreds of kilometers an hour tended to put people off. SO he walked with the rest, seeming to move with a slow grace but somehow ending up a few steps ahead of everyone else. He didn't particularly care what happened to him, but it was logical for a human to help an injured compatriot.

"Well, this is a fine predicament for you," he says. Reaching into a pocket, he extrudes a knife into his hand, the liquid metal settling into a razor's sharpness that he colors a matte black.

"Do not wriggle," he says with a grin, reaching around to a strand that the tied one can't see, and that his body covers from the eyes of the others, if they had even arrived. with a gradual pull, he snapped it open, unwinding the wire from around the man, absentmindedly removing his gag.

Before it was free all the way, he stopped short, pinning both ends of the wire under his foot. "So," he asked cordially. "Why are you like this?"

Ibbis supressed the urge to laugh out loud, and only smiled. he had heard comments like that from others before, usually on Fringe worlds, where ship stopovers was worthy of a feast, as ships brought in fresh tools, supplies, food, and business. Some of it actually legit, too. It might have been the smell - Ibbis thought he kept Milk Crate pretty clean, but each ship and orbital station had it's own peculiar smell, the result of cramming human beings into a tin can. At least Diana brought a pleasant odor to the ship.

He finally noticed that his jetter helmet was earning odd looks. Simple fix. He doffed the helmet and as it was free from inflexible metal plates, folded up the chin straps and fastened it over the top of hte helmet, bending the sides of the pliable leather up, revealing the felt lining underneath. He figured it looked like a cold-weather hat of some sort, and he had used the helmet in like manner time and again.

"Bit warm to be wearing it down, anyway," he offered, putting it back on.

As for the other person... Enigmatic. Alert. Keen. Not bad qualities in and of themselves, as he had been forced to develop similiar traits to survive his teenaged years. It was the motivations behind those qualities that was the crux of the matter. He inwardly shrugged - highly unlikely that one of his few enemies would've tracked him this far. Ibbis had met too many people in the 'Verse that had some past they were running away from, and the survivors proved to be alert and observant, and slow to trust.

he wasn't much different in that regard. A kindered spirit, perhaps, on this backwater planet.

Time will tell, but here's hoping.

Edit: Ninja'd, dang it.

edited 4th Oct '10 2:26:39 PM by pvtnum11

Loki cocks her head to one side as she and the strangers reach the man who had previously been hollering at the top of his voice.

She looks at the armed man to her left. She looks at the strange man to her right. Then she gestures to the scene playing out before them.

"Uh...you guys see the dude in just his pants too...right?"

It felt a familiar sensation crawl across its hide. Even though the days were long and its link feeble, it could still feel it clearly. Loki. It kicked the meat-bag into high gear, straining the vessel's finely crafted muscles. It noted, perhaps sourly, that more life needed to be consumed after such a biathalon as this. But that did not matter. If Anthony got hold of Loki's considerable andi (Loki was of his same flesh, after all), he may awaken yggdrasil prematurely.

That could not happen.