Mysterious Circumstances (pm to discuss joining)

[Othermoose]

Erik led the group through the woods going uphill following the sounds of the giant beast. The reached the summit of the hill and looked down to see the trees thin into a large valley. "How fucking big is this place?" Erik breathed looking down at the valley below them.

The group watched in stunned silence as the dragon roared and flew overhead, before landing in the middle of the field. The dragon was covered in thick red scales and roared a challenge at the group cowering in the trees. "Well, I'm feeling less confident now." Erik said watching the dragon breathe fire into the air. "Any plans guys?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia whispered, "Most animals have softer undersides. Look, he's only got heavy scales on top. If we could get a shot at his neck or belly..."

April scoffed, "That's insane. It would mean getting up closer to it."

Natalia pointed at the waterfall. "If we climb near there... somebody should distract it, get it to take flight again. Then, we'd have a better shot at vital organs."

"And, when he comes crashing down on us?" April asked sarcastically.

Nat shrugged, "Calculated risk. Shoot well, then move out of the way fast."

 

[Othermoose]

"Alright. Who's going to be on bait duty?" Erik asked looking around the group. Austin shook his head. "No fire." He said giving a significant look to April and Natalia hoping they'd understand his aversion to the flames. "Alright. I'll be the distraction." Erik sighed. "Who can shoot?" He asked, handing his pack and spare rifle to Natalia.

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia grinned, "I can shoot, my dear. Don't worry."

April patted Erik on the back, "We'll all try if she misses. No worries. One of us'll get him."

Kate watched nervously, wishing she had a rifle to help. She really hoped this was all holograms and illusions but had no way to know if the Dragon or anything here could really hurt them. Given the treatment of those who never revived...she wasn't going to chance trusting the artificial intelligence on the ship to value human life very much.

 

[Othermoose]

"Valhalla awaits." Erik joked. "You guys get to the waterfall then give me a signal once you're up there. Then I'll pick a fight with that overgrown lizard." Erik said cracking his knuckles.

 

[slippedhalo]

The trio headed for the falls, climbing carefully but quickly up toward the hilltop, getting wet up to the knees in the process, but they hardly noticed.

April signalled Austin to whistle loudly for Erik once she'd gotten close to the top, Nat was close on her heels, positioning her rifle...Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red and knew what she'd seen. Not taking her eye off of the dragon, she whispered, "I think I saw Kate up top. Somebody take the extra rifle up to her. I'm busy aiming."

April tossed the rifle to Austin, "I promised Erik I'd cover the dragon if Nat missed. This one's on you, lover, go be our Commander's hero."

 

[Othermoose]

Austin nodded grabbing the rifle and climbing higher towards Kate. He reached the cliff where Kate was standing and handed her the rifle before giving a piercing whistle to signal Erik.

"Here we go." Erik said, steeling himself after he heard the whistle. He ran forward into the field firing at the dragon. "Hey you overgrown salamander! Come get some!" He shouted still firing. The dragon roared in anger sending a jet of flame at Erik before taking off.

Austin watched from the cliff as Erik charged the dragon. The dragon breathed a huge jet of fire at the man before taking off. Austin looked around the field for a sigh of the large man, but saw nothing but chared grass and smoke.

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia took two shots at the dragon's chest and it lost its balance, as it veered left, arcing towards the hilltop in a fall, April and Kate both took aim from their positions, April got his neck. Kate had aimed for the head and shot it in the left eye.

The mortally wounded beast gave a shrill, piercing scream as it corkscrewed, spiraling down, down, bleeding on those scrambling to get out of the way, below. It landed with a thud that shook the ground and toppled some trees as it landed, dead, at the base of the falls, making the water run red with its blood.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin continued to scan the field, but he saw no sign of the blonde man. "Guess he got fried." Austin thought, shuddering remembering the pain of being burnt, then imagining the sensation over his entire body. He shook his head, and helped Kate climb down to Natalia and April before following. Austin walked to Natalia and awkwardly patted her shoulder and muttering "sorry" before he walked over to April.

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia stood there in disbelief. Her eyes welled up despite herself. "Erik? Erik, where are you?!" She called out, hearing no response.

She couldn't move. Her feet felt like lead weights. "No, he's not gone. He can't be! This is just a test! We're not supposed to really die in here! It's a fucking test! Erik!"

 

[Othermoose]

They all stood on silence as Natalia called to Erik, hoping the man would return, but after a few minutes even the slim hope they had faded. Austin looked at April giving her a look that said: "what do we do here?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate pulled Natalia into a hug and let the tall blond cry on her shoulder. She wished there was something she could say but her orders were clear not to speak to them more than absolutely necessary or they'd all fail the test.

April waited until Natalia seemed cried out. Kate nodded to her and she took over, holding Natalia with an arm around her as they walked on.

It was a quiet trudge to the hilltop where they could survey where they'd been placed for their testing. It looked like an island approximately ten miles long and five or six miles wide, covered in dense foliage. April turned to look at Kate over her shoulder. "I'm glad you're here. Any instructions or tips?"

Kate shook her head, "I've been told to try to stay out of your decision making as much as possible and I can't give hints...they'll fail you if I make it too easy."

"Failing, did Erik "fail"? Is that what they're calling it?" Said Nat bitterly.

 

[Othermoose]

"Found you, now what?" Austin said to Kate before coughing, the strain of talking so much hurting his throat. He continued to cough, doubled over in pain until he threw up a glob of blood. He stood up and leaned heavily on April panting in exhaustion from the stressful day.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate looked around, then flicked her left thumb and the screen appeared on her arm. She looked over the map and said, "You seem to have done what you were supposed to..."

April, distracted with a weepy Natalia on one side and Austin coughing up blood on the other, looked down at the screen on Kate's forearm. "Well, this is new. Perks of command?" She said, taking a ration bar from one of her suit' s many pockets and shoving it into Austin's mouth without brokering any protests, shoving a water bottle into his hands and glaring into his eyes with the silent command, 'Eat and drink now or I'll shove it down your malnutritioned throat.' (She was satisfied to see him gulp both the bar and the water down quickly without a fight while she observed Kate's new fancy tech.)

Kate moved so she was the only one able to see the map and instructions. "Perks, sure. That, and being held responsible every time one of you does something wrong. Fabulous..."

This time, it was a soft, deep growl they heard behind them. Slowly, they all turned, dreading to find out what was coming after them next.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin took a swish of water and spat it out before he began to eat the granola bar April handed him. It tasted like shit, but he hadn't eaten today. He finished it quickly and took a long drink of water before screwing the cap on and handing the bottle back to April. Before she could take the bottle there was a growl behind them. The group turned around and saw the biggest bear any of them had ever seen. The beast was the size of an elephant, covered in thick black fur. Before any of them could react the huge creature charged forward, moving at speeds seeminly impossible for such a massive creature.

Austin closed his eyes, preparing to be torn apart by the giant bear, but instead of feeling claws tearing out his guts, he heard a loud bang and a pained roar. Austin opened his eyes to see the bear slumped dead on the ground, a large hole in its giant head.

The group turned to see a cocky looking Erik shouldering his rifle and swaggering over to them. His shirt was missing, and his pants were blackened and a torn, but most shocking of all were the burns he'd sustained. His left shoulder was bright red, and oozing blood, caused from the dragon fire. The burns also spread over his upper arm and and chest. His left nipple seemed to have been burned off along with a good portion of his chest. The burns ended at the top of his stomach and the bottom of his neck, giving most of his left side an angry red hue.

Erik smiled at the shocked group. "Don't worry, I don't think it's as bad as it looks. Nothing's black, and it barely hurts at all. I took a little swim in the river, and washed off most of the blood and ash. Some painkillers and a shirt would be nice though." Erik said embracing a still shocked Natalia with his right arm.

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia was not hiding her relief to see Erik. No jokes or anything, she just hugged him and held him for a while, assessing his injuries.

Kate frowned, "It's too bad Yuet couldn't be with us."

April came forward, dropping to one knee to rummage through her pack. Finding the first aid kit she said, "Well, I'm no Yuet and not a MeRP, but I've spent a long time in hospitals and around medical professionals and I can figure out how to do some first aid treatment."

Soon, April had salve and bandages covering all of Erik' s more serious burns. "What next?" She asked, feeling like a super hero for a few seconds.

Natalie remembered Kate's audio instructions."We found Kate but haven't collected anything but the rifles. There might be other survival tools we're supposed to gather."

April snapped her fingers, "Right!"

Kate smiled proudly at them.

"So...pick a direction to start, guys." said Natalia, helping Erik a bit.

 

[Othermoose]

"I saw a lake back that way." Erik said pointing the direction he came from. "There was an island in the center of the lake, and there might have been something shiny on the island. It's hard to be sure, I only saw it for a second, but that's better nothing I suppose." Erik said shrugging his left shoulder, testing the bandages. "Thanks April, this feels a lot better." The blonde man said, nodding to her.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate and Austin lagged behind the other three a bit as the group made their way through the forest. She touched his elbow and murmured under her breath, in a voice no others could hear, to Austin, "Show us your strengths, Austin. What can you do to help our crew? If you see a chance to shine, take it. We are still hoping to find your niche and we really want to. I'm rooting for you, Austin."

 

[Othermoose]

Austin shook his head. "I can't do anything. I'm not like you, I just fuck up." He whispered back, his hoarse voice taking on a sad note. "I'm not smart, I'm not strong, I'm not useful. I don't know why they wasted a resurrection on me. I'm worthless." He whispered bitterly.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate put an arm around him supportively as they walked. "Don't say that. You're not worthless. Something will fit right eventually, you'll see."

At the spot Erik indicated they saw what appeared to be a sort of pipe organ connected to a big, octagonal, silver box, sealed shut. There was something inscribed on the box ...

As they approached the area the organ came to life and played loud, screeching notes of discord and wailing. Natalia, Kate, and April all covered their ears, wincing. It was so loud it almost hurt! Erik didn't look pained by it but he was wincing too. Only Austin didn't seem irritated by the noise.

As the other four tried to figure out the puzzle from as far enough as possible, Austin actually approached the area to better examine it, not one bit phased by the screeching noises, to Kate and April's wide-eyed astonishment.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin turned his head, listening carfully to the screeching wails coming from the organ. The sound seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it. He walked forward, studying the markings on the lid of the silver box. Each corner of the octagonal lid had a small red circle on it. Theses circles surrounded a small square screen. On the screen, in crude animation, was the head and shoulders of a man. The man was frantically clawing at his forehead. Austin stared at the screen in confusion until it struck him. "Third eye!" He exclaimed, recognizing the sounds coming from the organ.

Austin rushed over to the keys of the organ, pressing each key and listening to how they affected the sound. After a few minutes of playing with the organ's keys the sound began to change. Soon the sound was transformed into a slightly distorted metal song. Austin pressed a final key and smiled confidently as the sound transformed into a man screaming: "prying open my third eye!" Over an accompanying guitar and drums.

After a moment the song stopped, and a loud click was heard from the box. He returned to see one of the circles was now green and that the screen had changed. It now showed a large machine producing large amounts of green-black goo. Then the organ began to produce a low hum that shook the ground. The hum played at a slow tempo and was acompanied by random loud shrieks.

Austin listened carfully to the noise before grinning and going to the keys. After a few minutes the sounds transformed into the song "sludge factory". Austin repeated the process six more times before the lid of the box flew off. He went over to the open box and pulled out five flashlights and a map. Austin grabbed the items and returned to the group, handing them to Kate before going to April's side, a pleased look on his face.

 

[slippedhalo]

April shook her head, grinning. "Wow!" Was all she managed.

Kate was like a proud mum. She hugged Austin and kissed his cheek, whispering, "Well done! I've been told nobody's solved that in thirty years!"

Feeling slightly possessive (knowing about Austin's former crush on Kate.) April turned him toward her again, hugging him even longer and tighter than Kate had, punctuating her claim on Austin with an impassioned kiss.

Kate rolled her eyes at the overkill while Natalia laughed at the whole scenario. Kate simply murmured, "April, no worries. We're only friends and colleagues."

"She's good with David." Explained Nat, raising an eyebrow toward Kate, "Right?"

Kate nodded. "Right. Now, on to the next..."

April got refocused and pulled open the map for all of them to study. "Where do we have to go next?"

Natalia pointed to two x' s in red ink. One wasn't far from where they were. The other looked to be off the coast on the other side of the island. "In the water?" She asked, hoping it wasn't very deep under water. "I'm a shitty scuba diver. I hope it's floating."

 

[Othermoose]

Erik gave Austin a soft punch on the shoulder after April stopped kissing him. "Good job man." Erik said before turning to look at the map. "I'm half fish, on my father's side, so I'm not too worried about anything in the water." Erik joked before he took on a more serious tone. "Do you think we should split up? Two of us go to the water, the other three go for the other spot?" Erik asked still looking over the map.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate reminded them, "We could stay in communication. We all have the ear implants, remember?"

April nodded, "But, what if what we need for one thing is at the other spot?"

Kate's eyes glittered with pride at April's adept mind, "Good thinking. That's an excellent point."

 

[Othermoose]

"Alright then. We'll stick together." Erik said. "But before we go off and look for whatever it we're looking for, I could go for some lunch. Do these packs have food in them? I haven't had the chance to check." Erik said, pointing to his pack that Natalia was still carrying.