Players:
Summary: Those who wake up in the strange land decide to hold up in the Farm House.
Date: October 3, 2010
Log Title: Farm House Comfort
Rating: PG-13
Tegu-Haaz - Salem (Old Farm House)
Over grown grass covers the landscape of the old farm. An old water pump stands in front of a stone trough with a metal pail hanging from the spout. The farmhouse is one story and in pretty good condition. Beds are made, the carpet is cleaned and there is surprisingly no dust in the house. There is a long porch with a rocking chair and a few other chairs and tables on it. The rocking chair never seems to stop rocking though. On one of the tables is a chess board where the pieces never seem to be in the same position the next time one looks at it. There is a root cellar off to the side of the house with large wooden doors that close shut. The barn off to the side is home to old horse pulled plows and tillers and many tools for farming. The stalls and pens for the animals lay empty.
First half can be found here Cold Comfort
After ten minutes or so Cloud wanders back in carrying a pile of slightly more broken than nessicery pieces of firewood, "Here we go, i brought some rocks which i think are flint aswell".
Connor taps the small leather pouch at his side as Cloud passes, "I got a flint and steel from the blacksmith shop… so don't worry too much." He's got the iron cauldron from inside full of water, and proceeds to walk it in, moving easily because it glows with his power. Once inside, he gets everything in place, "Bring me some dry straw from over there, we'll pack it under the wood to light it."
After wandering around for the last..who knows how many hours, Robyn eventually hears voices coming from one of the farms while walking down the old road. He recognizes Connor's voice and starts to hurry over to the area, breaking into a bit of a run. The porch creaks as he walks into the farm house and peeks in the door. "Hello? Connor? Cloud?" He asks uncertainly as it's the first human encounter he's had since he's gotten to this place.
Cloud nods and tries to focus the energy borrowed from Connor to move the straw over to the two of them ready to start the fire, Connor really makes it look easy, he finaly has it moving when Robyn's voice breaks his consentration, "Whoa Robyn where'd you come from?"
Connor immediately goes for the scythe-blade he's got on his back, still not having strapped or prepared it for easy use like a machete. Moving to the front door, he looks out there for a moment, "Robyn?! Holy hell… hurry up and get in here!" Opening the door and motioning him inside.
Robyn walks into the the house and catches his breath. "I woke up…in the Mansion…well, it's not the mansion it's..something else." He looks around the farm house. "I've been wandering for hours, not much here…where ever here is. You're the first two people I've ran across." He says pushing his hair back out of his face. "This place…it's like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore."
Cloud groans at Robyn's quote, "Dude you did not just say that, soooo lame", wait, if Robyn woke up in somewhere like the mansion?, he runs over to where Robyn is standing, "Did you see Star anywhere?!"
Connor gets the straw and packs it in under the fire, then gets some more, and starts to try and spark some light on the fireplace's stones. Looking up at the others, he motions with his chin towards the door, "Close the door, the smoke from the chimney is going to be enough of a signal for others. I'm boiling some water so we can drink it. No telling WHAT is in this crap. Sit… and… sorry. I wish I knew what was going on."
Robyn shakes his head at Cloud. "I haven't seen anyone, like I said, you're the first two people." He hasn't seen anyone else. "Yeah, we have to find a way to get food too this…place is weird and empty." He says as he explored a bit but then the walk from the mansion to here was not a short trek and his clothes are quite dusty. He shuts the door and takes a few more steps into the room. "Who else have you guys seen?"
Connor finally gets some pieces of straw to spark with some flame, and gently pushes them in with the others, blowing to get the flames to begin to kick up. When there's signs of smoldering, he moves back from the tinder and other things so they can get going, building some of the wood around it into a more proper fire, "There's no animal life. Plant life for sure… but it's like everyone just got up and left… really strange. There's a guy from SHIELD upstairs asleep.. his name's Troy. Chloe's here catnapping until we can find some food. Looks like we're all going vegan for a bit."
"Yeah, there's tons of plant life." Robyn says as he wanders around the farmhouse looking for…anything. Oh so right now it's you two, me, Chloe and this guy Troy?" Robyn nods. "Well I wonder if anyone else is out here. I did see a bar type place by the…town center? Maybe there's some stuff in there that might be useful. And how much have you looked around this area since…are we setting up here for now?" He's not really sure what's going on.
Connor motions for Robyn to come close, and takes the woodsman's axe off the loop in his belt, and passes it over, "There's a blacksmith just south of the town center we raided for some stuff… here… I know it's not cool… but we don't know how safe we are." And with that he starts to wrap a purloined leather strap slowly around the base of the scythe blade he's taken fro himself, "Setting up here seems best. It's a farm, so there has to be stored food among other things. Plus it's away from the town and defensible. From here we can explore around and get more intel."
Robyn takes the axe and underestimates his weight as he falls over a bit before getting the weight under control. "Heavier than I thought." He says as he holds onto it with two hands. "This place is quite a bit off from the town center and the school. Well..have you seen the school? Or what was the school?" Robyn asks as didn't really stay there long. "I wonder if we're all alone here." He says as he starts looking through the kitchen. "So do you think there are like…water pumps or something?"
Connor licks his lips a moment, "There's a water pump out front, and I'm trying to boil some of it… but a school… wait… you mean OUR school?!" Asked with a sense of incredulousness, "Wait… so this is an alternate reality." Gulping once, he then looks around, crossing his arms, "Then we must be in Salem. But it's no kind of Salem I know. This makes me think Witch Trials, not Coldstone."
"I..I don't know if it's our school it was called Xavier's but it was Xavier's Insane Asylum, I didn't stay there long or look around much. It didn't feel right." Robyn says with a bit of a shudder as who wants to be in an old abandoned Insane Asylum alone. "We should look around to see if we can find food and others and I am glad I found you guys here." He says opening all the cabinets and such. "There's a few knives in here that might be worth while and there was a barn out there."
Connor sits back down at the table for a moment, and looks away from Robyn and Cloud as he stares towards the outside, "We should apply some basic rules here, Robyn… to be safe. No one goes anywhere alone, sleep with watches… and… watch who you trust. If we meet someone we don't know… well… for all we know something else is going on here." His hand begins to tap on the table before he frowns once more, "Insane Asylum… an old school Insane Asylum…" And he shivers.
Cloud sighs, "Well the whole altinate reality thing kinda supports my dead theory, did you see the Reaper or the zombies Robyn?", he tries again to start focusing the borrowed energy to move the spoon without breaking it.
"Dead theory and reaper or zombies?" Robyn shakes his head as he walks back over. "No, I didn't see either. I don't really remember going to bed last night but I just know I woke up here. But I think we do need to stick together." He agrees with Connor as he finds a place to sit down on the floor. "So..should we have a password or something and just let each other know. I mean..right now we're all trusting that we're who we say we are."
Connor almost snaps for a moemnt, "WHY TH.." But he stops himself and shakes his head, going back to working on turning the farm-blade into a makeshift machete, "I dunno… we know most everyone on sight… maybe we'll get lucky and one of the school telepaths will show up…I… I just dunno." He then stands up, "I'm gonna check the barn and see if there's something better I can use than a sack for a sheathe for this thing." Almost ignoring his own advice as he moves towards the door.
"Connor, what was the first rule you just listed?", Cloud looks over at Robyn, "Last night some guy showed up at the mansion, he said he was a mage and the 'Dark One' followed him, then there was an army of Zombies and the Grim Reaper turned up, next thing i know i'm waking up in this world, so i think we're dead".
Standing up Robyn looks to Connor and gives him a smile. "I'm not saying you guys aren't you or anything just…that this place is creepy." He then nods to Cloud. "He's right, how about the three of us go together. I'm not sure about the dead thing but…I hope not." He shivers a bit as he looks down at the axe Connor gave him. "Connor…really, let's stick together." He's kinda scared.
Connor sighs once and scrubs at his face, "Sorry… no really…" He goes back to sit in the chair, and goes back to braiding the grip onto the bottom of the scythe-blade, "I don't like the pressure of feeling like I'm in charge. I'm great for ideas, but I'm gonna fall apart if I have to keep up too long." Shaking his head once more, he looks at Robyn and smiles gently, "Allright, we'll stick together. Wanna check the water? Once it's boiled, I think we can scrape the scum off and see if it's drinkable. Or pour it into another pot or somethin…"
Cloud leans back in his chair and listens to the other two talk, as much as he wants to find his sister, if they're dead nothing can hurt them anymore anyways, not like they can die twice right?
"What's the last thing you remember Cloud?" Robyn asks as as he walks over to Connor and pats him on the shoulder. "Hey, if you need someone else with you, I'm here. I don't know, I think we're all lost right now and have no clue what to do. We're all in this together right now so, once I check the water the three of us can go out check the barn and check anything else around here too. See if we can scrounge up some food too." He says going over to look at the water and see how it's doing.
The water is getting close to a boil, and it does look like some of whatever's in it is trying to cook off and either rise to the top, or burn away. Connor finishes weaving a hand and a half grip and stands up to give the reverse blade a couple swings. Nodding to himself, he slips it into the bag he's got for it, "We'll need to dig it up… I just HOPE we know what we're getting."
"The last thing i remember was the army of zombies and the reaper pointing his sythe at Lucas and saying something like "The fun begins now" or something like that, so thats why i think we're dead", Cloud stands up and walks over to lean against a wall.
Robyn listens to Cloud and shakes his head. "I dunno, I don't think we're dead." He says as he takes his finger and runs it across the blade of the axe lightly but enough to give a cut and bleed a bit. He winces as he does it and then holds it up. "Do dead people still feel pain and bleed?" He asks as he then sucks on his finger a bit. "And I'm gonna need to…feed soon." Robyn says forlornly. "Yeah, lets just hope the food is recognizable like a carrot is a carrot or something."
Connor moves outside after grabbing a lamp and lighting it from the fire going in the fireplace, "I'll go check it out for the meantime… I'll take Cloud with me. Robyn stay here and relax, allright? We'll figure out the feeding situation in a bit, okay? Just don't go hear Cloud… I don't want to see what happens if you two get into some kind of funky mutant feedback loop."
Cloud sighs and follows Connor, "Ok Robyn maybe we're not dead, theres no need to start cutting yourself to prove it", freaky mutant feedback loop?, "That sounds potentually painful".
"Don't worry, it's just a nick." Robyn says as he's gonna look around for something to use as a bandage in a bit cause it does hurt and he's not itching to do that again. He stands up and looks around while Connor and Cloud go out. "You too shout if you need anything, I'm gonna see if I can find some blankets or anything that aren't on the beds and just pile stuff in the main room here that I think we can use." Cause Robyn's not going to be sleeping by himself.
Connor spends a good twenty minutes outside with Cloud, and ends up getting a bucket that he puts some cabbages, some potatoes, some carrots, and a couple good heads of garlic into. Then he manages to scrounge up a few things that taste like spices, and a head of celery. As he gathers, he looks to see what Cloud can find for tonight.
There is a sign of lights inside the single-story farmhouse and the billow of smoke from the chimney is possibly the first sign of civilization others might have seen in hours. In the actual farm area itself near the barn two forms are currently using a pair of wash-basin buckets to gather things from the ground. A good sign for others might be in the form of an X-in-Circle that has been roughly carved into one of the fenceposts by the path in. One form can be made out in the open shutter to the kitchen as well for those close enough.
While outside with Connor, Cloud had been paying with the energy he absorbed, so while he comes in with a solid stash of veggies for the group, he is also much dirtier than Connor, shaking the soil out of his hair he offeres the buckets to Connor, "This enough?"
Inside the farm Robyn's been gathering what he can. There's a pile of spare blankets and pillows in the main room and some chairs pushed together in the same area. He's got a woodman's axe tucked into the back of his belt. He's checking over the water starting to skim what he can off the top with a metal spoon and putting it in a ceramic bowl he found. He's also found an old brown jacket that he's since put on to keep warm a bit since a pair of jeans and a t-shirt isn't doing much to keep warm.
Hosea arrives first. His teleports aren't as flashy as Connor's, and it's clear quickly that they are also not as precise. Up in the air, he appears about fifty feet away, and starts to fall. And then he teleports again. He is now falling upward, just outside the farmhouse, and then gravity reverses on him, brining him back down again. His landing isn't pretty, but he manages not to make a complete mess of it. He has brought his rabbits with him. Looks like someone remembered the meat. The African peers in the window, spotting the three fellow students. "Haha!" He exclaims, and runs back to the road. He calls back to Mike and Tara. "It is safe! Dey are wit us!" With his excitement stirred, he rushes back to the house, and doesn't even bother to use the door. He phases straight through the wall, appearing in their midst with the rabbits in hand. "Friends! You are here and you ah safe!"
Tara trudges along the path, with her hands thrust in her pockets and a rather put out expression on her face. Hosea's excited call to her and mike just elicits a grunt from her and she trudges towards the sound of where she last heard the boy, until the details of the cabin fall within the range of her senses. "So," she says opening the door. "I'm here. We can now officially start the party."
Mike doesn't like teleporting, so wouldn't ride with Hosea… it makes him feel uncomfortably stretched, although Connor's ports are less horrible that way than those of other people (and have their own drawback) … nevertheless, the house isn't that far and he can still run fast. Smoke means fire, and if there's a fire there's either people, or a problem. OK, no fire, but a chimney, and people … he recognizes. He runs back. Like a robot terrier.
"Come ON, Tara…" He's carrying a bottle of something, most likely wine, he hopes. So he comes in last, following after.
Connor draws the scythe-head turned machete from his back at the first sign of others, not really recognizing Hosea in the wan light of the place. Motioning for Cloud, he murmurs, "Take the food inside… we got plenty." And then towards the spear-wielding person, he approaches slowly. However, Tara and Mike's appearance makes him pause in his otherwise ominous presence, his eyes with a soft glow that marks him more as a mutant than anything in the city could have, "Hey guys… we're boiling some water inside, and there's blankets and other stuff. There's a SHIELD agent inside in a power suit. He's sleeping. Chloe's here too. Can't promise much but something hot to sip and a place to rest. Mike… maybe we'll get lucky and find you some moonshine in the root cellar." His voice slightly gruff and confident, but with that light background air for people who know him that speaks to him hanging on by nails.
Cloud nods at Connor, waves to the approaching group and heads inside, "Hmm, Mike's still a metal, guess we're not dead then, don't know if i feel better or worse about that, Robyn!, i come bearing crops!".
Something about Cloud's exclamation causes Robyn to laugh as he walks to the porch to help him bring in what he scavenged. "You're a regular farmer now Cloud." He says as he waves to the newcomers. "Hey guys, looks like you found us. Have you seen anyone else or just each other?" He doesn't know who, if anyone else, is here with them. He looks over at Connor. "I wonder if they have anything like tea or anything here so it's not just hot water." He says with a hint of uncertainty. "Where did you get a spear?!" He asks to Hosea.
Hosea takes his spear, and walks over to Robyn, handing it to him. "A speah is not a hard tool to make," he tells Robyn. It has a wooden head rather than a flint one.. "You only need da right stone, and a good young tree, or a branch, and you have a speah. I grew up making dese in my village as a boy," he says brightly. He takes the rabbits, and places them by the fireplace. He pulls a piece of flint from his pocket. "See, I find da right stone, cut da stone a little, and den make da spear by cutting da wood."
"Power suit?" asks Tara, sounding for all the world a bit jealous. "Cool." She wanders into the cabin proper and finds a seat next to the hearth. "Frankly, I haven't seen a damn thing since I've gotten here, Robyn," she says. "But these guys are the only people that I've met so far. Whassername… the mad scientist chick… I think she's stuck out there, though, since she was with us when the horde of skeleton zombies came at us.
"I dunno, Rush, I've been told I'm already dead twice." Mike's engaging in morbid humor. "Hello, Robyn. Connor. You doing OK? I've got wine, I hope, and hopefully it's strong enough for my filters to process. I've run on kerosene once or twice, and heavy diesel once after being a fire truck, so I might be able to use whatever they use for lamp oil here."
He looks around. "OK, definitely creeped out. Have any of you guys noticed that there's people around? I mean … I went in that Inn back in town, and things MOVED when I wasn't looking."
Connor rolls his eyes a moment, taking the makeshift curved blade and sliding it back into the cloth on his back as he replies, "The rocking chair doesn't stop, they've played three games of chess since we've been here, and there's a constant sound like someone's walking the house. But I'm actually kinda used to seeing things that don't exist." Moving inside he goes to the kitchen table, and then looks at the stuff, "Allright… knives… everyone's on peeling duty. Save the shavings… we can clean then later and make some kinda broth with them, I think." Frowning some as he takes up a cabbage and begins to take off the outer leaves, "So you ran into skeletons here? Great. Everyone takes a watch… two hour shifts. Once everyone's gotten a good six hours, we can go back into town and do some more scavenging. For now, no one goes to the mansion on the hill… apparently it's Xaviers. Xavier's Asylum for the Criminally Mad."
Cloud laughs with Robyn, "I am kinda dressed like a farmboy", he walks in and dumps some of the veggies by the sink, he nods at Tara, "See, Tara was around for the zombies and the Reaper too, and Mike your soul wouldn't have car parts i don't think, so i'm pretty sure we're not in hell", he looks around, he never noticed anything moved, "Where are people moving now?", hmm, he's gonna try absorbing in that general area, see if he can feel anything.
"I wandered here from…yeah, the Insane asylum. It was called Xavier's, but I haven't ran into anyone until I ran into Cloud and Connor here." Robyn then looks over at Connor as he speaks and walks over to him. "Kisha, so if me, cloud and Kisha are here, that's half of our squad. Ummm….can you guys keep an eye out for Star?" He asks concerned for Cloud and the possibility that his twin might be here. "I hope the wine works for you Mike, I think there was some lamp oil in one of the closets." He looks down at the rabbits and makes a face, noone wants to see their food in animal form still. "Umm, Connor, you mind checking out something with me outside quick?"
"Dis is da work of some great evil," Hosea says. "Da devils will try to claim us," his tone is very serious. "Do no worry. God will prevail. I have faith. We shall pray, and we shall all be safe. We must be careful, though. It will be good to have guards. Dere are enough of us to have two awake for every shift. We should do it dat way." He goes back to the window. "We ah not in hell, I can say dat for certain!" His tone is brighter. "I cannot go to hell. But I heard voices in da houses when I woke up. I knocked on da doors, but no one answers. I tink dat dere may be people somewhere in town. But dere is someting dat scares dem. We would be wise to be careful when we are outside. No one should go alone."
Tara shakes her head at Connor. "No, not here. Back at the mansion. When it was a Mansion. I haven't come across anybody but us since we got here." At the mention of the rocking chair she wanders over to it and reaches out a hand to feel with her fifth sense around the area of the thing, to see if she can get a grip on what's making it move.
Mike won't mention that he already took a run around, and actually saw the mansion… the layout of this area is similar to the place they came from.
"I'll try the lamp oil then. Although if there are people here, I feel as bad for depriving them of their lamp oil as I do of depriving them of their wine and beer." He's already tried praying in one situation, and his gas gauge still goes down, so he's not going to be getting a Hanukah style 'free ride' out of this. There are resources, so no miracle.
He looks at Hosea, and shakes his head, "This is the work of a person, Hosea, we saw it when it took us. It may or may not be evil, but it's careless of others, and it seems to have commanded, or animated, the dead. There was magic involved. A man named Blackmoore was fleeing from it. He was taken before we were. And prayer is not a bad idea, but prayer didn't stop it from taking us. It'll need more than just that alone."
He looks around, but he doesn't expect to 'sense' the people here any more than he did at the other places - if they're not solid enough to interact with directly then they're not solid enough for him to sense.
"Blackmoore. Allright, we've got a name we didn't have before. We've got a magic-user, we've got skeletons, and now we're all here… it's a puzzle, we just need enough pieces to start making the edges out. But before that we all need food and sleep." Patting Mike on the shoulder, and then touching Tara's shoulder on the way out the door, he checks the blade on his back before moving slightly off to one side and turning his back from the group so he can scrub at his cheeks with his hands, and hide the look of sheer anxiety passing over him, nor the shuddering inhale and the tightness in his chest.
Cloud walks over to where Tara is sensing and reaches out to where someone would sit and tries to absorb to see if he feels anything, this whole not being able to see the invisable people is kinda like that movie with Nicole Kidman, maybe they're the ghosts and the other people are alive, but then why would Mike be all metal?
Looking at the others, Robyn nods. "When it's light out again I'm gonna see what else I can find. Since you guys are here now, we're recommending we go out in pairs and trying to stick together. The water should be good to drink once the rest of the stuff is skimmed off of the top." He speaks to the others before walking over to Connor to stand next to him. Robyn throws his arm over his friends shoulders, making sure to touch fabric, and offers him a smile. "It's okay Connor, at least we're here together." He says quietly to his friend. "I gotta go lie down for a bit, I have a headache kickin' in really bad. You wanna come with me or stay here?"
The African raises a finger, while still looking out of the window. "If dere is magic, dere is da work of da devil," he states. He turns back from the window, and picks back up the rabbits. He moves to the knives, and picks one up to start skinning the dinner. "To call da dead, dat is evil. God says it is an abomination. Dat is how it is. We act by faith," he states. "We pray and know dat God will act. He does not fail." He shakes his head as he rends the skin from the first rabbit. "We can get a pot, we will boil dese," he suggests. "Wit da vegetables, it will make a good stew. Who will get da pot?"
"Uhhhh, right," says Tara uncertainly at Hosea. "What ever works for you." She sighs, not getting a read of anything strange on the rocking chair and then decides to just sit down in it to see if it it'll rock her, too. She giggles a bit when she finds out that it does. "So. We've got food. We've got shelter, and we've got our own haunted house. Now all we need is an axe wielding maniac and then we're complete!"
Mike starts three times to say something to Hosea, and shakes his head and gives up. How to explain to someone whose worldview is so fiercely binary, that there IS such a thing as non-demonic magic. Oh well. "I'm going to try the lamp oil, and if it works, I'll let you know. I'm also overdue for a backup cycle," Mike says, and looks in the closet for the lamp oil. Only one cup, sip it slowly… So far no problem… bleh. Add more later.
"I'll see you when I wake up, no axe-wielding maniacs please," he says, and sits, motionless, out of the way.
Connor pats both of Robyn's shoulders in reply as he pulls back from the hug, "Look… I'll keep it together… we need it. I want you to talk to Tara. She's the only psychic here, and the only one I think with enough juice to keep you from going into a coma. Tell her the truth, and I think she'll be willing to help." And with that he goes back inside and to the cauldron over the fire. Using his grav-bolts to pick it up, he floats it away from the fire, and checks it once, taking a knife from his belt that he purloined from the blacksmithy to peel the stuff that's floated to the surface. Once it looks clear, he gets a clay cup and dips it in, seeing the water only slightly discolored. Leaving it to cool for a moment, the hot water goes back on the fire to continue to boil, "We're going to want to keep a supply of boiled water close by for everyone. We don't know what's in the water here, and being laid up from a stomach bug or worse will be bad for any of us."
Cloud quickly pulls his hand (with absobtion on) out of the way as Tara sits down, "That was close", he takes a few steps backwards to lean against the counter, "I don't think all magic can be evil Hosea, from the looks of it, it seems to be like anything else, depends on who uses it".
The door swings open, and here appears a girl who looks far too upset for the faded pink 'Hello Kitty' pyjamas that she's wearing. Heather's hair is a little more tangled than usual, lacking the small amount of morning maintenance she gives to it. In her high-pitched squeaky voice that people almost never hear her vocalize, Heather says, "WhtSGonOnHer." There are intentional pauses left between words to space them enough for some comprehension, and between each sentence she taps her hands together twice "ThSetnChanWhlISlip?" She glances around at the various people in the room and crosses her arms. "SLikThMadHis."
Hosea nods to Connor. "It is good to know dat I am not de only one heah who knows how to live outside of a city," he says to Connor. With the abrupt entrance, he pauses in the middle of skinning the second rabbit, and he turns his head to see Heather's entrance. He arches his brow. "Heather?" he says. "It is good to see you," he says, but his face betrays that he doesn't really know what she's saying. "We do not know what is going on yet," his deep voice says, as reassuring as he can manage. But alas, only the first sentence did he catch. "Maybe we should get you some paper to write on. Is dere any paper around here?" he asks. He discards the second rabbit skin on top of the first. "Are you hungry?"
Tara lazily translates for her ex-roommate as the rocking chair continues to rock her. "She says, first, 'What's going on here?' then, 'The setting changed while I slept?' and then 'It's like the mad house.' Or something like that." She turns to Heather and shrugs. "Idunnowerallinthedarkonthisone." She, then, yawns hugely as the rocking is putting her to sleep. "I think I'm going to find the blanket and then curl up on the haunted rocking chair. G'night everybody."
Cloud gives Heather a nod in greeting, "Well while you guys get Heather all caught up, i'm gonna head outside and do a quick patrol, i'll signal you guys if i see anything", grabbing the sythe he got from the smithy, he heads towards the door.
Connor watches Tara wander off and settle into the rocking rocking chair before he just sighs once and then turns to look at Heather, "We're not sure where we are, but this looks like an alternate dimension. There is a place like Xavier's here, but it's an insane asylum. We've left signs that will hopefully draw others. If you want to settle in, Robyn put as many of the blankets and other things in the center room as possible. We'll divvy up from there." Then nodding to Hosea, "If you can find a barrel or something to store the hot water in here, we can use some to clean it, then store it so we can re-use this cauldron for food." Looking towards Cloud, he holds up a hand, "Wait… stay close to the House where we can see you. Don't go wandering too far. After that, come in and settle in. We've got enough people to vary watches for the meantime."
Instead of the usual distracted look, Heather gives a very concentrated stare to everyone that offers her some sort of an explanation, though she nods thankfully to Tara for meeting her partway in the communication effort. "FICoodWritSWuhtBeGut." She glances back outside as Cloud passes her by. "ThsThngsHpen."
Hosea finishes skinning the third rabbit, and leaves the last two for later. "Heah," he says to Connor. "Take da rabbits and put dem in da pot when it is ready." He steps out into the next room, but then returns. "Nothing heah," he says, and goes into the next room. "Aha!" He comes back out, sporting a worn slate, and a half used piece of chalk. "Dere you are, Heather. I will go wit Cloud. We must be safe." The tall African retrieves his spear and follows Cloud out the door and into the night.
Connor gives silent thanks to Hosea as he leaves something that Heather might make use of, and then goes back and flops in the chair he was using before in the kitchen. Picking up the somewhat cooled cup of hot water, he blows on it and then makes a bit of a face, "Well… it's better than nothing… wish it tasted better." Sipping down half the cup he offers the rest to Heather as well, "Try some… it's got this weird… umm… I really can't describe the flavor. It just doesn't taste right."
Looking down at the slate and chalk, Heather nods in thanks towards Hosea. Conservation of words seems wisest, since the chalk will not last forever. -Asylum?- she writes, tilting her head slightly and tapping on the board once. -Significance?- It's not like Heather's perception of the world has changed. In fact, this shift has only fortified it. So she still believes that whatever setting she's in contains some kind of important psychological information, most likely about herself. She takes the offered cup, also taking a sip and giving a raised brow back to Connor to indicate she also thinks it's odd.
Connor motions for Heather to continue drinking, "There's more, but if you've been up and about this long, you're at least thirsty." Standing up, he ends up going just outside the place and bringing in what looks like a rain barrel. A rag and some hot water, and some hard soap from the kitchen area for their limited dishware as he begins to clean the inside, "According to the others, someone named Blackmoore came to the school, being chased by a magic user. That one started popping people off. This is an alternate Earth, but why here I'm not sure… we're still gathering ourselves." The strain in his voice catching through as he continues to scrub and distract himself, "I can't corroborate. I just ended up getting very ill and passing out. And then woke up in the center of what has to be Salem. Only it's more like a Witch Trial Salem… without the torch and pitchfork groupies." Smiling wanly.
-Thirsty. Hungry.- writes Heather, rubbing out her previous statements with her sleeve. She speaks and says, "WillRstrainDNotWntToWastResorce." She finishes off the cup, though, and crosses her arms under her chest. She seems a bit frustrated for a moment, by the expression on her face. Quickly, but carefully, she scrawls in smaller text, -I just woke up in the streets. I have little information since I wanted to find inhabitants before anything.-
Connor nods a few times to Heather he continues to scrub at the inside of the barrel, trying to use as little water as possible from the heated water present, "Allright… standing rules are no one goes any place alone, everyone takes watch and does their fair share… and no one goes near the Asylum right now. We need to stabilize our base before sending out a scouting party. So far we've see you, myself, Chloe, Cloud, Robyn, that guy from africa, Tara who's asleep on the rocking chair, Mike who's out in the corner… and a SHIELD Agent who was on his way to the school when this went down. We're hoping more will come here as they come to." Finally it's clean enough that he can use his grav ability to move the water and pour it into the barrel, "There… give it a try in a bit and see if it's still clean?"
-Chloe is here? Good for me.- writes Heather on a lower part of the slate. The writing is pretty small, so that she conserves the chalk a bit. -For awhile, I can do more than my fair share, but I want to see the asylum. Maybe it's something I've seen in my dreams.- She follows Connor's instructions and checks the water pretty compliantly.
Connor gives a yawn and then proceeds to taste the water as well, and makes another face, "Well… at least it's not going to give us all stomach cramps in the meantime." Motioning for Heather to follow him, the young man goes back out in the fading light to get more water into the cauldron, the cast iron sizzling as cool hits the fading heat, the water with a slight brown tint to it. Coming back in, he sets the new batch to boil before he gets another cup of the cooling water and proceeds to delicately clean his face and hands. With no one else around at the moment, he says softly, "I can't be a leader, Heather… and they can't expect me to be… it's not fair. Why won't one of the staff, or one of the X-men show up. Why the hell does it have to be me?!" A note of panic infecting his tone.
Heather tilts her head slightly at Connor. She perceives this in very slow motion, but still catches Connor's expressions if not his tone. She rubs off her messages on the chalkboard and writes a new one for Connor, "You are their leader because they trust you and you are smart. I can help take some burden, I'm resourceful, intelligent, but people do not like me. This is a kind of world that I am used to. It's familiar." She gives Connor enough time that she thinks he'd be able to read it before she writes, "Hug?" It's an unusual gesture for the normally cold speedster, but she remembers the last time she saw Connor seeming in a panicked state. She even opens her arms slightly to invite such a thing should it occur.
Connor looks back and forth for a moment and then comes around and gives Heather a hug as well, taking a deep breath and gathering himself once more. Then he moves back to his spot and sits down, "I wish you knew sign language… I wish -I- knew sign language… it'd be easier for us to not waste chalk. If we're lucky, we can find some more in town tomorrow when we go back."
It seems that Connor and Heather aren't the only ones around right now after all. From down the road, a slim figure in a green and black Alpha Squadron uniform approaches. Star's hair is pulled back into a very messy tail that was high on the top of her head when she blacked out yesterday, but is now loose and more tangled than not. A cloud of fear and confusion hangs around the empath and her pace picks up when she spots the old farm house, though she pauses just outside for a moment before she knocks on the door, "Hello? Is anyone there?" Beat, "Could I borrow your phone? My cell doesn't seem to be working anymore." Apparently, the elder of the Rosen twins doesn't really get it, yet, that she's not in Westchester anymore…
-We can generate signs, but it does not seem time effective. Perhaps signals for common words,- scrawls Heather, after the hug is pulled away from. She's kind of an awkward hugger, but she legitimately tries her best to be comforting. -I feel frustrated with no translation device.- She raises her brow at the spike in emotion. Fear is generally pretty unfamiliar to her, so she finds the emotion suspicious. That explains itself when Star arrives. Heather zips towards the door and opens it up. She's not particularly scary, with the pink Hello Kitty pyjamas with sleeves now covered in chalk. "ComInCamDon." squeaks the girl.
Connor says from over Heather's shoulder, "Hey Star… your phone is dead, like the rest of our Xavier phones… some of the other tech people had with them works… for now. We've got hot water and we're working on making a veggie soup and maybe some rabbit another student brought in." Moving out of his seat, he goes to where the supply pile is and gets two blankets… one for Heather, and one for Star. He is moving tiredly now, his stomach making a sound as he hasn't eaten for almost the whole day. Even his voice sounded tired.
When the door opens, Star steps back, her hand raised to knock again, "Oh!" She blinks a couple of times at the way Heather is dressed and almost manages to stiffle a giggle, "Uh… Hi, Heather." She steps inside at what she takes as an invitation, her eyes wide as she looks around the room, "What in hell is going on that our phones aren't working? I was in the Danger Room and just suddenly woke up at this creepy old train station a couple of hours ago." She winces at the mention of food and shakes her head, "I'm not really hungry right now… Just kinda tired." She pauses for a moment and moves over to where Connor is with the supplies, "Hey…" The fear fades now that she's not all alone anymore, though it's replaced with concern for how tired the boy appears to be, "You doing alright, Connor?"
Concern is something that Heather does experience a little more normally, though there may be a mix of her own natural concern. On the board, she writes a very authoratative, -If you get tired, sleep. I will keep watch for a few more hours. If you're exhausted you won't be your best.- There's a pause as she adds, -If you nap, I will bring you food when it's ready. I can tend it.- She cooks all the time after all.
Connor exhales hard, "Allright… You're right." Taking a blade off his back that looks like a scythe-blade he's wrapped the bottom with a leather thong to get it a decent two-handed trip, he leaves the makeshift weapon on the table before moving towards where the blankets are. Moving to one side from the kitchen, in a spot where he can still get some warmth from the hearth, it's not even a few moments before the boy is out… and the two girls see something only his roommate has seen… his eyes glow brightly of their own accord, and his head sags, but behind those lids his eyes move rapidly back and forth.
Star sighs and hunches her shoulders a little, a little chilled due to the way her uniform leaves her arms bare, nodding in agreement with what Heather's written, "No sense in making yourself sick just to stay awake a while longer." As Connor falls asleep, the costumed mutant just shakes her head in wonder and moves to find herself a somewhat clean place to sit, "Where are we, anyway. I don't think this is the Danger Room…" Though the Danger Room can be pretty much anything that the person running it wants it to be. She still wouldn't have been left alone there for this long, anyway.
Heather watches as Connor falls asleep, exes drawn towards the glow, and turns back towards Star. -Another dimension. Someone named Blackmoore, chased by magic user to school. Not all features explored. Puzzle unsolved.- She glances about and zips to attend to the food before coming back and displaying the board to Star, -You should also sleep. You look tired, too. I will take care.-
"Blackmoore?" Star shakes her head and grimaces, confused again, "Everythings just so freaky around here…" She pauses for a moment and pulls her knees up to her chin, "Well, if we're in another dimension, then has anyone seen Cloud? And was it all of us at the school or just some of us?" Sudden hope blooms around her, "Maybe he didn't get scooped up in whatever it was that brought us here…" Maybe? Hopefully. She nods and closes her eyes for a moment at the suggestion that she sleep, "Yeah… I am kinda tired."
-Cloud: Accounted for.- scrawls Heather on the chalkboard, -Status: Foraging. Companion: Hosea. Not everyone accounted for. Assessing when more information.- She tucks the slate under her arm about zips towards the blankets set out by Connor, -Use this. Sleep.-
Star takes the blanket, an odd bland of relief and dread flavoring the air around her when she reads that her brother is here in this scary place, too, "Well crap. Now I've got to look out for him, too…" She sighs and shakes her head after a moment, "Thanks. Wake me up if you get tired. I'll take watch if you need to sleep." With that, she wraps up in the blanket and curls up on the floor to attempt sleep.
Heather nods at Star and then puts, -Goodnight- on her board before heading off to tend to the meal cooking. It's nothing that she would make, but she can take care of what other people started at least.
