[open] arrival

[cactusy]

Who: Sameen Shaw & OTA
What: August 2024 TDM prompts, getting bearings
When: Mid- to late August
Where: Milton and the surrounding environs

arrival / you lying next to me TDM prompt

It doesn't make sense for this to be real, Shaw thinks, because reality rarely involves falling asleep in a New York City flophouse and waking up completely alone in the middle of nowhere - but it also doesn't make sense for it to be a simulation, because the simulations hadn't worked like this, either. That means that this is more confusing than unsettling - and all that confusion does is make her angry.

No enemies are in sight, which is a bust for her; it means she can't jump right into a shootout, take down some kidnapping bad guys, and get some answers. She does keep her handgun out and at the ready as she walks along, keeping up a brisk and steady pace in an attempt to ward off the chill that she can already feel seeping through her tight jeans and leather jacket. It just figures that this crap had to be pulled on her when she was woefully underdressed for winter weather - but she can at least count herself lucky that she'd passed out fully dressed. As much as this sucks, she knows it would be downright impossible if she were barefoot and wearing PJs.

Luckily, she spots the far-off lights of town in a matter of minutes, which spares her from having to cross her fingers and pick a random direction to walk in. She has no illusions that this place is going to be either safe or full of friendlies, but considering the lack of immediate options at her disposal, she can't afford to be picky. She'll sneak over and scope it out, do some recon, and get a feel for what's going on before she makes herself known. Whether she approaches as a civilian or as an agent going in guns a-blazing will depend on what she finds.

Or that's the plan, anyway. What actually happens is that she tromps across a small frozen pond that's been completely hidden by drifting snow, and the ice underfoot only makes itself known when it cracks unceremoniously under her feet, depositing her into two feet of slushy, marshy, freezing water.

Methuselah's feast TDM prompt

One way or another, Shaw will find her way to Milton. Maybe whoever helps her out of the water takes her there directly, or maybe they warm her up elsewhere and she makes her way to town on her own later. Either way, she eventually ends up in a free bed in the Community Hall, where she'll crash for ten or twelve hours straight.

Shaw herself isn't sure how long she sleeps, but it's comparatively warm, and there's no immediate, obvious danger, so she'd guess that it's a good long while before the smell of fish stew wakes her up. After that, barely a minute passes between her opening her eyes and dropping herself down into an empty chair at the feast table. Questions later. Sustenance first. She's halfway through with her bowl of stew and plate of grilled fish before she looks up for long enough to turn to one of her seatmates.

"So - where are we, and what's with the old guy?"

hot springs

Freezing cold water is fine for sponge baths and washing clothes, but for someone who just recently took an accidental bath in a pond and isn't looking to repeat the experience, the hot springs sound a lot more enticing. Shaw makes her way there a few days after her arrival, the blanket from her bed wrapped around her shoulders (she'll want a way to dry off and warm up before redressing, she figures). Once in the cave, she sets the blanket aside, the strips down bare and walks directly into the water, letting out a heavy, relieved sigh as she settles herself down on the rocky bottom and sinks in almost to her nose.

"That's more like it," she murmurs, more to herself than to anyone else that might be nearby. After a moment or two, though, she does glance over at her fellow bather. "Guessing the conditioner in town's all out, though."

[OOC: Feel free to reply with either prose or brackets; I'll match format!]

Comments

Hot springs

[meadqueen]

“I don't know what that is,” Randvi answers mildly. “It's for bathing?”

Undressed in the water, she isn't as obviously displaced in time as she tends to be in her light armour and fox fur. However, healing scars mar the right side of her face, neck and shoulder, and a gauze bandage covers her right eye, even while bathing. A grey puppy hovers anxiously on the edge of the spring at her right side, visibly nervous about the water.

[cactusy]

"It's for keeping your hair moisturized," Shaw replies, though she's not looking at Randvi as she says it. She scoots a little closer to the edge of the pool, holding out her fingers for the puppy to sniff. "The minerals in hot springs dry out your hair and skin."

[meadqueen]

“I see.” Randvi still oils her braid when she can, so she hadn't noticed.

She makes a small gesture above the water and the puppy surges forward to sniff and lick the offered fingers.

“My name is Randvi, and this is Ulfrùn. If you have already met Diefenbaker, she's his daughter. She is training to help me travel more freely.”

[cactusy]

"A smart little girl," murmurs Shaw - allowing the licks without complaint, and wiggling her fingers to tickle the puppy under the chin. Almost as an afterthought, she adds, "I'm Shaw."

Sorry, Randvi. Dogs are always a bigger draw than people, at least at first.

"So, she's gonna become a sled dog or something?"

[meadqueen]

Ulfrùn is clearly relishing the attention, snuffling in delight. Randvi lives in a multi-wolf household so she's not always getting this much one-on-one attention.

“Shaw.” Another of those strange hissing names that the people of the future like so much. “Not a sled, just for me. I was blinded on one side in an accident and she helps me avoid low obstacles in unfamiliar places.”

[cactusy]

Finally, belatedly, Shaw looks up. She's a scar connoisseur (though her own are hidden by the water), and she can tell at a glance that Randvi's are new: barely even scars yet, really, especially the one that's hidden behind the bandage. She lets out a low, long whistle.

"Must've been a doozy. Animal attack?"

[meadqueen]

“Yes,” Randvi confirms. “A bear. I am lucky to be alive.”

If it hadn't been for Lalo’s quick action and Sveta’s steady hand, she would not be having this conversation.

“I was using a stick to get around at first, but then the puppies were born to exceedingly clever parents and one was chosen to help me.”

[cactusy]

Shaw pulls up out of the water a little more, coming precariously close to exposing herself: getting nose to nose with the puppy is of higher priority than social propriety.

"Lucky's an understatement; I've heard most bear attacks end in death. How's she doing in her job so far?"

[meadqueen]

It's fine, communal bathing is something Randvi’s people do at home as well, and Shaw isn't exactly bad to look at.

“This one would have as well, I think, but a friend happened to be nearby and managed to scare it off, and got me to a healer quickly.”

It's still strange to remember, dizzied by agony with fire all around her, watching Lalo strike the bear in the face with her hammer.

“She’s doing well so far. Fortunately, she is very food-motivated. We are building up her strength for longer walks.”

[cactusy]

Unfortunately, Shaw has no food to offer, but she can wave her hand around and wiggle her fingers to give the puppy something to pounce on. Hopefully that's a good consolation prize.

"Sounds like there's a lot of homesteading going on here," Shaw says, not particularly surprised. "But has anyone tried to hike out? Find civilization?"

[meadqueen]

“Yes,” Randvi says, pained, as the puppy pounces clumsily at the other woman’s fingers.

“The road you arrived from becomes impassable if you follow it far enough. We have passed through the mine to Lakeside, but the bridge there is blocked by a rock fall and ice blocks the potential path through the hydro dam.” The way she says that last bit indicates that she does not know what the dam is actually for.

“Several people have left looking for other ways out, but none have returned.”

Her friend Edward Kenway had disappeared that way.

[cactusy]

Shaw pauses - confident enough in her skills to think Maybe I could do it, but not quite cocky enough to declare it out loud. She's skilled and she's trained, but she's well aware that no one is infallible, including her.

"That sucks," she says instead. "I'm guessing it's been a while?"

[meadqueen]

“Yes. Do you measure months by the turning of the moon?” Not everyone here calculates things the same way. “If so, my friend set out six months ago. Another left earlier, I believe. No one has returned.”

[cactusy]

"I'm from a place where we don't even pay attention to the turning of the moon anymore," Shaw admits. "Someone else does that for us, and makes us calendars. But yeah, I know what a month is. What are the chances these people just found a better deal and decided not to bother coming back for the rest of us?"

[meadqueen]

“I don't know about the others, but Edward gave me something valuable of his and vowed that he would return for it.” She hadn't expected him to, in the end she believed that he had gone off to die on his own terms, but she does believe that if he had found a way out and returning was possible that he would do it.

[cactusy]

A good friend, then. Oops. Open mouth, insert foot.

"Sorry about that," Shaw murmurs, letting her fingers come to rest on top of the puppy's head. "That more than sucks. Sounds like solo trips isn't the way to go, though. If anyone else is set on it, they should go in groups. Even two is better than just one."

[meadqueen]

“I agree.” The puppy tilts her head, almost going cross-eyed trying to look at the fingers resting between her ears. “At this time we cannot rule out the possibility that they have all fallen to some natural hazard. Two people, one with the Aurora Call, would be ideal.”