oasismods | JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

"-̭̫̜̩̪̑̈́̓̌̐-̞͓̘̩͖̿́͒͑͘░͙͈̥̦̼̌̊̒̾̅░̨̢̠͙̖̉͊̽͌͝░̫͔͎̤̘̀̑͋͛̾ȩ̨̬̙͛̐̋̀̕͜m̻̬͈̠͒̌͌̍͌͜ ̡̲͈̙̼̽̾͆̊̃f̖̟͉̲̪̈́̾̀̂̀ą̢̯̘̙́̇͑̈̋i̪̱̙̘̟͌́̄̊͘ļ̢̛̲͕̣͐̎̿͛u͕̣̥̘̳̓̃͗͠͝r͉̠̗͖̰̉̅͗̚͘ę̛̺̥̝̘̄͑̌̈́.̣̫͕̰̭̓͂̈́̓͊ ̟̗͔̟͋̿̒̚̚ͅA̠̫̬̼̣̒̇͛́̊l̫̬͎̤͈͑̀͂̐̆ë̡̧̝̺͖́̍̂͂͝r͙͍̱̫͕̆͊̾͐̕ţ͙̻̣̝͒́̄̈́͆!͕̫͓͉̹̌̍̽̂̓ ̧̛̲͎͖̳̌̆̾̏░͖̲̞̼̹̇̄̌̈́̊░̡͍͎͍̘̇̈́̕͝░̪͚̼̦̃̋͊̆͜͠è̛̞̬͙̠̖̊͌̂m͖̝̟̗̣̽̄̐̚͠ ̛̹̯͈̮̼̈́͊͌͠f̧̰̖͋̊̈̊̑͜͜ą̨͚͎̹̀̎̑͋́i̞̬͓̭̳̎́̓͘͠l̢͈̲͇͕̈́̆̐̌̈́ư̰̞͚̻̺̔͑̓̑ṛ͎̯͚̇̔̾̔̏͜ę̛̻̼̭͊͆̕͜͝.̯̖̫̣͔̔̋̔̽͠ ̺̼̟̲͌́͒̔̅ͅĄ̹̝̖̺̂̇̽̒͊ĺ̛̺̰̰̤͎̾͗͝e̛̗̭̻͕̹̓̔͆̆r̢̛͙͖̘̻̈̚̚͘t̰̲̠̖̻̉͂̆̓̇!̬̞̟͉̺̂͆̊͑͐"

You awaken to godawful static overlaying a female voice that's too monotone to be anything but a recording. The static makes it difficult to understand the warning, but it's clearly a warning if your surroundings tell you anything...

You're buckled into a sturdy seat bolted to the wall behind you. Around you, there are dozens of others like you, some awake and others still unconscious, but it seems most of the seats lining the walls are occupied. The lights are dim, likely auxiliary lighting, leaving you mostly in the dark. You smell smoke and hear the sizzling crackle of electrical systems popping and shorting out. Some of the seats were jarred off the wall, leaving the occupants either wounded or dead. Count yourself lucky all you have is a headache and various aches accounted to whiplash.

You appear to be in a drop ship or an escape vessel of some form but the pilot is dead and the hull bears a massive gash where it buckled under the impact and sheered off. Through the door-sized opening, you can see vegetation. The air that wafts in is heavy with a humid heat, but it's obviously breathable.

Once you make your way outside, you'll see greenery: Trees, grass, and shrubs tangled with vines that grow wildly and suffocate the trees they climb. In the distance, behind the ship, you can make out a sandy desert that seems to stretch on endlessly. Forward through the trees, however, you may see a crumbling wall, but more importantly, you'll see signs of civilisation. Buildings and other structures seem contained within those decrepit walls. Maybe the natives can fill you in on what's going on, because the last thing you remember isn't being in an escape shuttle. As a matter of fact, you don't remember much about your arrival or where you are. But it's going to be a bit of a hike, better get moving. Though you might want to grab the backpack of supplies under your seat before you go.

"W̞͓̝͓̓̀̍̒͘͜ȃ̢̗̪̤͇̔̃̚͝░̟͙̯̳̱̈͂̈́̈́͠n̬̘̬̤̠͛̅̈́͋͝i͓̟͈͎͙̐̆̈́̔̓n̡̟̤̟̤̑͐͋͐̚g̩̱͖͉̻͌͛̈͆̈́!̧̪̰͇̦̓̂̆̌͝ ̢͔̣̠̗̾̉́̌̒C̢̥̟͍͊͊͑̀̚ͅr̛͙̪̙̟͐̽̓̅͜i̫͖̻̣̘̽̑͂̾̎t̩͇̦̬̞͊̌̑̈́͝i̡̳̠̞̐̿̍̎̀͜c̡͕͙͕͕̓̊̌̾͘å̼̯͍̙̲̍̏̚͝l̢̥͉̮̙̋̆͐̆́ ̢̰̞͕̯̋̈́̈́̋͌f͇͔̟̻̈̽͌̒̉ͅa̳̰̠͉͔͒̑̈̈͘i̟̭̦̺͎̍̾̽̈́̐░͕̣̥̭͛̿̓̽̐ͅ░̰̪̠͇͍̆͛̀͝͝░̘̱̩̳̘͆̈́̆̀̚e̛̻͈̳̳̺̊̔̚̕.͙̟̳̼̾̀̅͊͊ͅ"

With that, the power dies, leaving the drop ship in the dark, crackling and groaning as the hull cools from its catastrophic re-entry.

[MOD NOTES: TDM threads may be used as game canon.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She realized then that despite his gruff nature, he was a good man and that he wanted to make sure she was safe while also pushing her to hold her own weight. He wanted to make sure she was fit to survive in a place like this. It was a very sweet gesture, one that had her smiling as she gripped firmly hold of the knife.

"I won't let anyone take it. I promise." And then, since she felt the need to offer him the same sort of protective sentiment, "Stay safe until I get back, Daryl. It won't take me long."

She knew that she didn't need to tell him to wait for her, because he was likely the sort of man who would do just that. So she moved to climb out of the hole, hopping out to land flat footed on the other side. She only spared him a final parting glance, smiling and waving before setting off with a determined look on her face.

He watched her long enough to see her disappear into the tree line. Stood there trying to look like he didn't care if she came back or not. Put on a face of indifference for anyone who might have caught them talking. When she was gone, he turned back to his self-imposed task of trying to salvage what he could and get supplies put on one of the hull panels James had torn off for him. The water and dry foods, as well as another large pile of backpacks long since sorted through, torn up seat cushions, twisted lengths of metal, and some wiring that wasn't quite long enough yet. It was his group's supplies and what he'd be carrying to the ruins now that most of those still living were moving off and away from the crash site.

Athena was part of that group, now. He could probably sneak a couple more boxes of the non-perishable food without anyone stirring up a fuss over his hoarding. He was planning rationing for at least three people now. Maybe four if that guy he'd seen James with was one of them.

She returned hours later, wearing a thoughtful frown on her face and leaves in her hair. She had obviously been climbing trees while she was away. The knife he had given her was still held firmly in hand, since there wasn't anywhere appropriate to hide it with the dress she was wearing. Her backpack was shifted off, and without prompting she launched into her findings.

"There's sign of civilization, but it's going to take a day's walk to get there. Possibly longer, depending on the pace set. Luckily, the path through the trees seems safe. All wildlife I encountered was harmless, but the walk can be strenuous for people who aren't used to hiking. I thought I should come back and get you before going all the way there. I can point out the poisonous plants versus the edible ones as we travel, if you'd like."

He would need food, and potentially something better than what was in the supply rations. She wanted to show him she was useful beyond scouting a route to the ruins, and food seemed like a good place to start.

When she came back, he stood from his work, which was long since done but he'd been checking and re-checking the make-shift bindings he'd knotted together out of the rope since it was the first time he'd ever really made a sled like that. He wiped his hands on his jeans and otherwise gave her his full attention. Scanned over her appearance and made note of the leaves in her hair.

"I know what's safe to eat and not," was the first thing out of his mouth after she was finished. His jaw worked a bit before he crossed his arms, fingers curling into the arm-holes of his vest, which was worn over his long-sleeve coat. Far too warm of dress for the environment, but it was his and he was used to being over-dressed just to keep his belongings on him.

"Didn't I tell you to stay on the path?" Daryl asked once he was done chewing his thoughts around in his head. "What part of staying on it had you going off and prancing through the bushes?"

An eyebrow arched at that, and she gave a simple shake of her head. "I climbed. To try and see how far the walk would be. I didn't realize you had given a command." Not that she always did well with commands, but she generally tried to follow them.

She smoothed down the sides of her pale blue dress before reaching up to fix her hair. Finding the leaves there, she removed them and cast them aside. "It was more practical than walking the entire way there and back to time it. I would've been gone for days."

Her arm extended, so she could give the knife back to him. She didn't need it any longer and knew he would want it back.

"No? What did you think it was? A polite suggestion?" Daryl asked, head cocking to the side as he made no effort to take that knife back. She didn't know it, but he'd been given another already. He was set. He could tell her that after they established the pecking order.

"Let's get some ground rules in right now, then," he said, meeting her eyes. His tone was a little condescending, but it was the same as he'd address any adult who'd done the same as her. Well, maybe not exactly the same. He was actually more patient with her than he would be with an adult.

Daryl took a few steps closer to her so he could effectively tower over her for a moment. Then he knelt down so he was at eye level and unfolded his arms to hold up three fingers, "Lesson Three. You cain't do anything without people no more. Until they know they can trust you to save their asses, you gotta work with 'em and do what's asked of you. You're the one that asked to run with me, so you gotta do the work here. I tell you to do something, you do it. As close to the letter as you can.

"I tell you to stick to a path, you stick to a path. You think you shouldn't, you come back and you tell me," he paused to make sure that she understood he wasn't actually mad she'd gone and done the smart thing. "Then we decide, together, how we're gonna proceed. Deviating from the plan like you did only happens if you don't got the option of talking out a new one. Not until I know you can protect yourself the way you're gonna need to. You got that?"

She was used to David Nix telling her what to do. He had created her, he was obligated to give her a purpose and direction. She had become aware and unique enough to begin creatively interpreting his orders, and often was like any other teenage girl in that she did what she wanted when she felt the situation warranted free will. Daryl didn't seem like he was needlessly bossing her around. It seemed, based on his tone and the way he was looking at her, that he wanted her to follow orders so she would be safe.

It was almost a concept foreign to her that she found herself smiling as she nodded in response to his question. "I came back." She agreed with him on the fact that she had done the smart thing, nodding eagerly as she crouched down to grab hold of her backpack. The knife couldn't be stored properly under her dress, so she needed to hide it there. People would be frightened if someone who looked as young as she did was running around with a weapon.

"Now we should make a plan on what to do next. Together." She held her head high and looked him in the eye, not apologizing for the fact she had deviated from his plan when she went off on her own. She wasn't sorry for doing it, since it had saved time. And he didn't seem to actually be cross with her, just worried she was going to do something to get one or the both of them killed.

Girl was too spunky and happy for her own good. She was gonna be the death of Daryl, he could tell already. And there weren't a thing he could do about it, neither. He'd already gone and made her his in his head.

He couldn't complain that she was too smart, though. Well, he could, but it would be about as stupid as letting himself care about her. And since he'd already gone and done that one stupid thing, he didn't need to be doing another.

"Need to get you some new clothes," he muttered, standing up and turning to his sled of supplies. "Make you some, maybe. That dress ain't practical. For now, we're gonna go to the ruins." Daryl pointed down a different path than the one she'd take, "That way. Seen some people getting to another part of the ruins that's a little closer. Shorter walk. Just a few hours far as I can tell. Walls aren't as high, though. So it's harder to see unless you get the right angle on it from the roof of the ship here. Don't know how connected to the other ruins it is, could just be an outbuilding. Could be something bigger. But it's closer and that's the important part right now."

He pointed at his sled, the ropes to drag it gathered in his hand, "Hop on. We can check out the ruins you were looking at in the morning."

"There's likely clothes my size where we're headed." She was partial to her blue dress, but clothes were only clothes. They weren't that important in the end. What was important was blending in with the others and being able to move about freely. So she wouldn't argue against the necessity of other clothes, but she did have an argument against his pulling her around.

"You'll tire faster if you're pulling my weight." She clearly felt uncomfortable with the idea of causing him to drain his energy faster, but due to his telling her that she had to do exactly what he told her she was already moving to stand on the edge of his makeshift sled.

"If I walked, we'd get to the ruins faster. Before nightfall." She stressed that point, because she didn't want him out in an unfamiliar area when it was dark. Even with flashlights, it sounded like a dangerous course of action.

"Fine, then don't hop on," he snapped back belligerently. "Ain't no skin off my nose if you wanna tire yourself out like that."

Because he was perfectly fine tiring himself out. If he had to. But he had plans to ask James for help with the hauling if he could find the man before they got too far. Guy was strong enough he could take an hour or two shift without breaking a sweat. Needed to introduce him to Athena, too. Make sure he knew who was with them.

She gave a startled jump at his snapping at her, and was unsure of how to proceed. She didn't want to make him angry at her, but she also didn't want him wearing down because of her. So she quickly made a compromise in her head and spoke it aloud so they could be on the same page.

"I'll ride. Until you need help pulling." It was an unspoken desire to help him pull, although she knew that he wouldn't think she would be able to do it. But in her mind, if they were going to work as a team, she had to quickly prove she could pull her weight before he tired of watching after her.

She sat down, taking a moment to smooth out her dress so she could sit prim and properly. There was a brief moment in which she glanced up at Daryl with a warm smile but her eyes were quickly on what lied ahead. They had a big adventure ahead of them, and she was excited for every second of it.

Her utter tolerance of his grousing was disarming in a big way. He was used to people cringing and tucking their proverbial tails between their legs. Or barking back and getting in his face so he had an excuse to keep yelling, let out the frustration and anger and worry he had in a relatively healthy exchange of screams before he did his level best to apologize. Something he wasn't exactly good at, but he tried. Basically, she wasn't feeding into either expectations he had for creating himself an emotional outlet. Left him on unstable footing, as it were.

Daryl didn't answer her, but his lack of argument on her helping him eventually could easily be taken as an acceptance. If he couldn't find James on the way up, then he'd need the help even if it was coming from a girl who couldn't be more than 12 or 13. 14 on the outside. Wasn't like he hadn't trusted other kids her same age. Though when it came Carl, he'd seen the kid grow up fast and knew what he was capable of. He was still having to learn with her.

"There's a guy. Name of James," he said after they'd started off and been walking for a bit. "Shaggy dark hair, metal arm he keeps mostly covered with a red shirt. He's one of us."

"James. Shaggy dark hair, metal arm. Understood." She gave a firm nod of her head and committed that information to memory. She realized that likely seemed like an odd answer for someone who was supposed to be a child to give, so she tried explaining without giving too much away. She had become good at selective truth telling in the company of Frank Walker.

"I recruited people back home. I can find him." If he was one of their people, it was her job to make sure she kept a lookout for him. Daryl was going to be pulling the supplies, and wouldn't be able to focus on watching others around them. That was her self-imposed job.

She rose up to sit on her knees, so she could perch high enough to look around and see others more clearly. She was eager to get to get a chance to see some of the others that were here. There was just one thing that put doubt in her mind. "Are you sure he won't mind my being around?"

A recruiter? Maybe she wasn't as sheltered as he'd thought at first. Maybe she just had more people to rely on to keep her safe.

"Not his call to make," Daryl answered easily, grunting a little at the effort of pulling as she shifted her weight. "He ain't lived through this shit. Been isolated. He gets a say in people he knew from before getting dropped here. Anyone else, that's my choice."

Daryl was taking charge of the group he was making. Taking responsibility for them. It wasn't big, but it didn't have to be. Just as long as he could rely on them to watch his ass and keep him alive. Then they could rely on him to do the same. The group came first. And until they were big enough to need to delegate, really delegate, he was going to take a page from Rick's book.

"Ain't a democracy yet, girl," he said, glancing over his shoulder at her. "Best remember that."

The 'yet' he left in because he did believe the council method worked better in a larger community. But as small as they were, with so much unknown, there needed to be a clear line of command. People needed rules. Something to give them a sense of structure when survival was so uncertain.

Edited (verbage) 2016-02-01 03:55 (UTC)

The look she gave him was one she gave Frank when she didn't want to go through the effort of arguing or telling him that she was going to be stubborn. It was a smile that could've been patronizing, if she didn't have warmth and humor in her eyes. People were always amusing to her, especially the ones who were strong enough to take charge and be a leader. It took a special kind of person to do that, and an even more spectacular one to do it successfully.

"It's not an autocracy, either." Though that wasn't really what she wanted to be stubborn about. Terminology wasn't important when survival needed to be focused upon.

"I trust you to make the right choices, Daryl." Maybe that was what he needed to hear her say to realize she wasn't out to fight against what he wanted to do. All she wanted to do was prove herself to him, because he had quickly become someone that she admired in a way that someone often did when someone treated them with respect and care.

Autocracy. Big word for such a tiny girl. He turned his head so he was facing forward again. Away from her. Where she couldn't see the smirk twisting at his lips. Her cheekiness and the admission of trust were amusing, to say the least.

"What kind of group were you with before?" Daryl asked, changing the subject. Wanted to get a sense of how much she knew. "The one you was recruiting for. Big? Small? Place you could defend and hold or more of a nomadic thing?"

She shrunk back a little, clearly upset at being asked about where it is she's come from. Everything related to "home" was such a sore spot right now that it was difficult to think back to it being a place she once adored. There was silence as she looked downward at her hands, which were tightly gripping hold of a pice of the wreckage.

"Tomorrowland. I lived primarily in a location called Tomorrowland, but we'd travel to other locations on Earth to recruit new people. That was my job, seeking out the brightest minds and the strongest dreamers. The ones who refused to give up on moving forward. We didn't need to worry about defense there. It was safe." She smiled a little as she spoke, at least phrasing things like that made her feel better.

"The man I recruited for was named David Nix. He was my..." She hesitated, not sure what to think of him as any longer.

"He was like my father. Up until he threatened to tear me apart because I tried to change his mind about exiling someone I cared for very much. I ran away after that. Then I woke up here."

"An autocracy," he repeated her word back to her. "Nah. Our group definitely ain't like that." They didn't abandon their own like that. If someone was alive, even if they'd screwed up, they were still valued. They were still worth protecting.

It sounded like her group of survivors thought overly-well of themselves. Thought they were above the other groups. And worse yet, the man who'd adopted her had threatened her life for questioning him? No wonder she was so defensive of being allowed to make her own decisions.

"Ain't no one going to kill you for backtalking," he sighed. "Glad you had the smarts to get out of there when you did. Even if it was a safe place, it ain't worth putting up with that kind of shit just to be safe."

A lesson it had taken him until after the world went to shit to learn. Was still working through. She'd had the backbone to get out of her abuse. She was already stronger than he'd ever been.

She wanted to explain things better, to clarify that her home hadn't been a place where she belonged to an actual group. It had always been just her and David, and then she had a wonderful friendship with Frank Walker separately. That even if she had been a part of a group, they weren't focused on surviving. But it felt like the wrong time to try and explain, especially since she was feeling sad and couldn't begin to understand the emotion properly.

Her eyes began to sting, and she rubbed at them in irritation. It was when they started to leak that she thought she had a fault and needed to get help immediately. She recalled Frank crying on one of his first nights at the institute, when he said he missed his home and was homesick. She realized what she was doing was crying, and she tried to stop it from continuing. Adults always would think crying children were weak.

"I'm not sure if this place will be any better." She was still crying, her voice heavier as she tried to mask it. "But it must be, if our group will actually work together. "

She moved to sit back, the wind taken out of her sails for a moment. But she composed herself silently after that, wiping at her face and biting at her lip so she could refrain from embarrassing herself further.

Daryl knew exactly what she was doing when he heard her speak. There was no mistaking that tone. The hard, effected toughness like she was going to force herself to stop the tears. He'd done it enough himself to know.

He stopped moving forward, shoulders dropping with his head. He took a deep breath, not wanting to call her out on the tears. She didn't seem like the kind to want that.

"What do you know about Athena? The woman you're named for."

She wasn't expecting him to ask a question like that, and it surprised her right out of attempting to quell her tears. She blinked, peering up and over at the back of his head. She knew she shouldn't be shocked someone was asking about her namesake, but it delighted her that he knew of the Greek pantheon at all and was willing to talk about it.

"Athena. She was the goddess of wisdom, strength, courage, inspiration, law and justice, and civilization. She was also supposedly very beautiful, and hard to provoke to anger. She would only fight for just causes, and she is who David Nix wanted me to be. I think he thought he was like Zeus, and I was supposed to be his favorite daughter."

There was a very clear snort as she stopped speaking. She clearly thought that was completely ridiculous and worth scoffing at.

"I want to be like Athena, someday. When I'm fully grown. I can't be a beautiful warrior that stands for strength and courage looking like this." Looking so young was a weakness, she knew. It was going to be an issue here, but with Daryl on her side, she stood a chance at making it.

"Course you can," Daryl countered. He let the rope drop from his hands and rubbed them on his jeans as he turned around. "Hell, you already are."

He didn't consider himself good at comforting the women in his life, but he tried all the same. Every time they needed it and his head wasn't in a bad place. He wandered back to where she was sitting and hopped up on the stack of boxes next to her, legs swinging a little.

"Takes courage to stand up to someone you care about and respect," he said softly, leaning his shoulder into hers for a brief moment. He didn't look at her, stared at his hands, which rested between his knees. "Takes strength to leave them and make your way on your own when they become bad for you. Don't let anyone tell you different. Not even yourself."

Her head turned to look up at him as he spoke and it was only after she had processed what he said that she leaned back against him with her shoulder.

"I won't," she whispered, as if she were making a solemn promise.

She found that for the first time, she wasn't sure what to do or say next. She usually always could come up with something to say. Even if it wasn't the right thing. She hadn't ever had someone give her a pep talk like this, though. It made her chest feel warm and full. She'd come to realize a few moments later those were defining characteristics of being happy.

"It's more important to focus on the here and now, rather than what happened in the past. I can't change what happened but I can make the future better."

A smile tugged at Daryl's lips despite himself. She was unknowingly echoing sentiments he'd expressed to Carol not long ago. Only a month or two back. That they gotta start over, make the future theirs, and say fuck you to the past.

He slid off the boxes, reaching out to pat her on the back as he did so, "You keep that in mind, you'll be fine. Come on, now. You can help me pull if you want. We've wasted too much time yammering on already."

She always loved a chance to prove herself to be useful. At his suggestion she nodded and hurried off of the sled after him. She stood ready at his side, hands going to grab hold so she could help him pull. She was stronger than she looked and was able to start moving it all by herself. She really had to dig in and grit her teeth to do it but she wanted to show him she wasn't weak despite crying a moment ago.

"We'll get there before dark, if I pull as hard as I can."

He seemed to value productivity and efficiency as much as she did. That would make them a good team, as far as she was concerned.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

JANUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject