✞ - 𝕴𝖙 𝕯𝖔𝖊𝖘𝖓'𝖙 𝕰𝖓𝖉 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊 O/A

[lynettetan1]

Aisha Innez
Location: Nearing the rooftop oasis
Feeling: Guilty, apprehensive, hopeful
Tagged: Riki, Bug

Aisha couldn't help feeling like she was bullying the other, in a sort of way. When Aisha had greeted the bat, they'd smiled a little, and Aisha couldn't help the her smile widening in return. Partly because it was better to have happier company, but also because their smile seemed to come from them naturally, a definite change from the forced reluctance earlier.

Though they seemed to be about her age, they carried themselves with such seriousness and caution that they seemed many years older, wearied by their burdens, and for just a split second, the heaviness seemed to lift off them. Aisha imagined that might have been what they were like in a simpler time, and she could imagine befriending such a person, if they'd ever crossed paths.

The bat had reacted excitably after all, starting to clamber over, so she'd been right in assuming that the noises before were happy ones. Aisha had smiled at that, keeping up with the other's lead at the distance they'd set-that did seem to be the distance they were comfortable with, after all.

However, Eve changed quite a lot of that. Though they had been walking away, they'd turned around to see, only to jump back with a garbled sound that died in their throat, probably experienced in forcing themselves to stay quiet. The bat disappeared from sight too, which was probably expected. Snakes did eat smaller mammals, after all. Not that Aisha would have let Eve go after the bat, but it wasn't like it knew that.

Though it was her first time seeing the other, Aisha had the distinct sense that this was definitely not their normal self. The guardedness she had faced before had seemed natural, but as they watched Eve disappear with a panicked horror, Aisha was quite sure that if they were out of their comfort zone before, that wouldn't even compare to the amount of alarm they had right now. Words tumbled from them in a ramble-it seemed the bat's name was Bug-, before they turned back, pointedly keeping Aisha in their vision as they walked jerkily away.

With a sigh, Aisha nodded as she kept up, making sure to stay in a good distance for her power, but also where she was visible. Eve was actually remarkably fast and they were in striking range even if she didn't move closer, but Aisha wisely kept that fact to herself. She knew Eve wasn't about to attack them, after all, so she would do what it took to give them the sense of security they needed.

A part of her was kind of disappointed. After all, any good sentiment was probably gone, and as they moved around the zombies, she couldn't help but wonder if she should have just kept her mouth shut. She never really got the other's name after all. It was within reason, and many people were scared of snakes even before the apocalypse, before animals started getting aggressive. But the bat had looked like it was about to leap over, and finding out that way would probably have been much worse. Additionally, no matter how they felt now, they would have been a lot more shocked if they found out by accident when they were physically closer, and Aisha hated keeping secrets from others. Omitting information around people stepping round others... It never ended well in the long run. It was better to put the problematic information on the table first. At least then she knew where she stood.

Eve was quite happy with the situation however, and though it was impossible, Aisha could feel the smugness radiating from her scales. The snake liked her reputation of being unknowable and dangerous and wanted to keep it that way, thank you very much. Aisha couldn't find it in her to get angry either. Though Eve wasn't exactly the friendliest, she had managed to keep Aisha out of trouble countless times, and was another set of senses to remind Aisha to stay on the alert. She had been afraid too, when she first met the other, but after a while, learned to look beyond what she expected. And really, wasn't that all she'd wanted from others? As it was now, Aisha wouldn't trade Eve for the world.

As they travelled, however, Aisha couldn't help noting the way they stepped and moved. She was able to move swiftly and quietly because of her power-assured that she would make no noise, it was easy enough to just get stable footing and avoid zombies, knowing that no sound would come from her even if she stepped on glass (though obviously she wouldn't go out of her way to). However, they were different. They moved sinuously, their feet naturally placed in ways that made less noise, and Aisha could tell that if it were not to mute the sounds coming in, they wouldn't have needed her help at all with keeping quiet. Pursing her lips, Aisha resolved to try and learn the skill... That was, if they let her anywhere near them. Aisha had the sense that they would probably avoid her if they ever saw her again.

Would the other company also be scared of snakes? It was definitely a possibility, and after that she might be alone once more. Still, that was no reason not to try. The worst would just be her ending up where she'd started after the explosion, after all.

A flaming arrow suddenly shot through the sky, painting the darkness with another streak of orange to complement the crackling fire on the ground. Startling, Aisha froze for a second, before she looked at them. "That couldn't have been their version of a greeting, could it?" Her voice was hopeful, but Aisha just really hoped it wasn't a warning for her. If anything, they had no reason to bring her to others- if they'd wanted to kill her, they would have been able to take her alone (especially seeing as they didn't know about Eve then), which was a small comfort.

Either way, they seemed very eager to put some distance between them, but Aisha really didn't want to go where there would be a tense situation. In fact, she'd lived this long expressly because she avoided tense situations. "Do you want to maybe go tell them first? I can hide out somewhere and wait." Aisha offered the following quietly, giving them a small smile. It wouldn't be the best solution, and to be honest she was a little scared to stand where the zombies could find her, but at least with her powers she'd probably be okay. She couldn't say the same if she stumbled upon a group that wasn't prepared for her and in a volatile mood.

[☪ℓυηαя∂яσρ☪]

Tagged: Aisha (Riki) ; Jackson (Bug)

Rikimaru cursed again as a flaming arrow shot past them, and dropped into a low crouch. Well, that was new. And they were, frankly, getting sick of new stuff right now. What, was this the bandits' way of warning Riki to stay back? Or a missed sneak attack that failed to hit its target? Jackson could be being used as bait to draw Riki back, but why? They couldn't hear him, or anyone else for that matter, inside the sound barrier. Looking back to where the arrow came from to find the source, they could vaguely make out a humanoid shape. Their sight took a few moments to adjust to the dark again, and with it they could discern the figure of the bandit leader. He didn't look to be in good shape, but the person next to him was, and was dropping something to the ground.
Rikimaru's icy eyes narrowed, and they glanced over at Aisha. "Stay here. Get down." They spoke concisely and without room for debate. Riki reached into their coat pocket and withdrew their knife, a short, blunt thing made from the bottom of some sort of femur. The knobbed end was the perfect size for their hand, and the bone broke at the other end into a sharp shard of a point. With their other hand they grabbed the brim of their hat and removed it from their head. They swung it in a small circle and bumped Bug with it. The little bat shook his hands free from Riki's hair and dove off of them, flying up and away into the night. Rikimaru tucked their hat back onto their head, still holding it by the brim, and lowered it to keep it secure. With Bug safe and out of the way, Riki began to prowl forward in a wide semicircle, creeping silently up towards the two men.
As Rikimaru crept around, their eyes flitted to the side as they noticed the big cat once more. That did complicate things. But the animal looked well and truly exhausted, and Riki was sure enough that if they led the small group on a chase, they could lose the cougar as well as the humans in the woods. From then they would just have to circle back and pick up Jackson and Aisha. They just had to make sure to stay downwind, now that they knew the group had an animal with them that could bypass Rikimaru's stealth by virtue of scent.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bug had to circle around a little bit before he could gain enough altitude to get up towards the roof. But once he did he saw his friend alongside some dogs and another person. With speed and silence, the big-eared bat made a graceful entrance onto the rock ledge of the roof beside Jackson, and started clicking erratically. Crawling on the concrete, Bug turned himself around in a circle over and over, squeaking and clicking incessantly. As big of a ruckus as he made, he couldn't figure out how else to communicate with the nice man that his favorite person in the world was in a bad way.
Bug didn't really understand what was happening, but the empathetic animal could tell that his person was tired, weary, and fearful. They were on high alert against some sort of threat and Bug wanted to make that go away. After every few odd circles, Bug would stop when facing Rikimaru's direction and hold out one loud, really long screech before continuing to circle in place, like a high-pitched and very persistent alarm clock.

[kalo.]

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𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 ── 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑
[ word count; 923 ] [ mood; oh! flaming arrows! nice! ] [ tags; silver+bug] [ location; rooftop camp]
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yuck
indentAs the female started to dive into the story of how she met Kiba Jackson felt slightly guilty. For making her remember and relive this experience which seemed to be rather traumatic for her. It was displayed in her body language. How she averted her gaze and tried to keep herself calm and collected. But the story did make Jackson feel closer to her. They both seemed to have had bad experiences with groups. Or at least other people. So they could share some feelings over that. But only if she wanted to talk about it. Jackson would never force someone to speak up about their feelings. Unless it was a dire situation. But yet aren't all situations in this world dire now?

indentWhen the story came to a close Jackson shook his head in sorrow. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Sorry for asking as well-didn't mean to make you stir up those memories." He only let out a faint smile to try and calm himself before she asked the same question back to him. Jackson let out a lopsided grin before looking at Dog. The Jackal was at ease-his eyes closed as if he was sleeping. But Jackson knew he was only trying to cancel out his sight and try to enhance his hearing and sense of smell. To stay alert while Jackson let his guard down. Which was more than one would think. Jackson was reckless after all.

indentJackson cleared his throat before motioning towards Dog as he started. "It's nothing major, to be honest. I think it was maybe eight months after everything had happened. I wasn't far from here-a few towns over-" Jackson paused for a minute as a memory flashed before his eyes. One that he didn't want to relieve. "-in the spring. I actually had just gotten trapped in a shop as a herd was passing through. Long story short," Jackson again paused as the reason why the herd came up. Let's just say Jackson wasn't welcomed in that town. Both then and now. "Dog showed up and helped me escape. He was able to distract and round up the walkers far enough where I could phase through and escape. He's been following me since. I never really tell him what to do. We both respect each other enough that if the other wanted to leave we wouldn't stop them." As if on cue the canine opened his eyes and shook his head abruptly. He let out what seemed to be a rough cackle at Jackson before he abruptly stood up.

indentWith a soft 'twing' a flaming arrow soared through the air from a block down, landing on top of another building. The fire quickly was put out from the concrete but the message was clear. "That had to be Gray. Do you think he's in trouble?" Jackson shifted his position so his feet were hanging over the awning below him. His heart starting to race in his chest, beating as if it was trying to break free of its bone prison. Soon after the arrow landed the familiar bat came and landed next to him, chirping and spinning in circles as if he was trying to get a message across. That was enough for Jackson to slide off the ledge and onto the metal awning. He went through the same motions he did not too long ago, slide to the edge, fall off, and roll to break the fall. When Jackson was on the ground he looked back up at Silver. He didn't want to risk shouting out to her. But he did. "I'm going to check it out! I think the stranger has Gray and he might be in trouble!"

indentA few walkers around turned their heads to look at Jackson and started to make their way over. Painfully slow. But with the adrenaline that was in his blood, he could easily doge around them. Now, he didn't quite know where the arrow came from but he knew if he phased through the buildings and hopped through the alleyways he'd find him. Was the scenario worth the risk? No, but at the moment Gray was worth the risk. So he'd take that risk.

indentPhasing through the first building was perfect-he didn't feel too different. So he made his way to the first alley. The phasing this time wasn't terrible-it was barely enough for Jackson to notice. But he did notice. His hand shook slightly afterward but he couldn't afford to stop. A few more buildings. That was all. He could stand fine and that's all that mattered. He leaned against the building before phasing through-simply walking until he reached the end of the shop. One last phase and then he'd walk. But luckily as Jackson phased through the wall-and promptly fell face-first into the alleyway, he saw two, no, four? figures. He pushed himself up to see the person he was looking for. Gray and his cougar. As well as two others he didn't quite know. Jackson did see the horse so that just left the horse's owner. But Jackson wasn't in the mood to stop and chat. He quickly scurried over to Grayson, hands outstretched but stopped himself. He didn't look good. So maybe touching him wasn't smart. "Gray? Are you alright?" He asked as he set his hand down on the ground instead. "You said you wouldn't get hurt, mister." He couldn't help the smile from creeping onto his face-but it was more of a worried sick smile than a happy one.

[☪ℓυηαя∂яσρ☪]

Tagged; Aisha
Rikimaru hadn't got very far- maybe twenty or thirty feet, when they stopped in their tracks as they heard footsteps fast approaching. Ducking down even further, Riki only dared to peek once the steps went past them. Craning their head around to see, Riki blinked wide in surprise to see none other than Jackson running out to what Riki assumed to be the leader of the bandits. He kneeled down and spoke tenderly to the man, which absolutely bewildered Rikimaru. Was Jackson okay with these people now? What kind of turnaround was that? Honestly, Riki was just so tired of human interaction today that their curiosity was near nonexistent. Jackson seemed to be safe, and that was what Rikimaru had been trying to accomplish for the last few hours. Job done, yeah?
Ah, wait, they had the girl now. Aisha. Rikimaru resisted the urge to suck an exasperated breath in between their teeth. They couldn't well just say to Aisha 'yeah, those people are fine. Go up and ask to join them? Me? No, I'm good.' -that would go over like a bag of bricks. They could just bail, sneak off into the woods and circle around to go back "home". But then they'd have to deal with competition as this new group settled into Riki's town. At least if they spoke to the group they could negotiate terms.
(If Rikimaru had been a more optimistic person, they might have shot the idea of leaving down because they didn't want the group to worry about or come look for them. But Riki did not expect that of people, and the idea that these people would even notice if Riki never showed up again didn't cross their mind once.)
If anything, they were just getting annoyed now. Riki was practically always tired but when they got truly exhausted like this they tended to shut down, and that included getting short in their social interactions. They just wanted to be done with it, like a class project that they had been working on for weeks without any help from their classmates because nobody would talk to and work with Riki. Rubbing at their face with the back of their unoccupied hand, the androgyne tried to think of a way to put this whole situation to either party.
They could probably just tell Aisha they weren't good at introductions, and leave the obviously more socially adept girl to bridge the gap. But that still required the effort of explaining the situation to her, and Riki just really wanted a nap. With an internal groan, Rikimaru trudged back to where they had left Aisha, eyes feeling heavier than before. Their headache really wasn't helping either. They couldn't manage more than wiping one hand down their face and gesturing towards Jackson and the other two people with a half-flopping half-pointing motion with their other arm. "Please help me talk to them." Their words slurred a little bit. The burst of adrenaline from nearly being shot with a flaming arrow was rapidly dying, and with how many fight-or-flight situations they had been in today, they were really going to start breaking down soon if this trend of situation after situation continued.

[wildsight]

➸ ━━ ＪＡＳＰＥＲ ＦＩＮＬＥＹ ！！
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21 y/o | male | general member | deflection | tags; survivor crew
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━━Quiet, eerie silence.

━━Well, silent enough except for the quiet footsteps that echoed in an alleyway. Jasper had since moved away from where he was earlier, not wanting to risk running into whatever had made that sudden commotion. No, no one would. Instead, he had quickly ran from it and thus had resumed his search for supplies. He was currently busying himself with a few crates that had been left open, by whoever the previous owner of them had been seemingly. So far he found a bit of food, but still no water. And what about medicine? He'd need to find an old pharmacy or something of the sort. Though that could wait. Scavenging for a bit longer, he discovered there was nothing else there he could use thus began to slowly make his way back the way he came. Might as well search another place, before darkness swallowed up the eerie town as it had done every night.

━━Upon coming out of the abandoned alleyway, he discovered that darkness would be arriving pretty soon. Of course. Letting out a huff, he quickened his pace and began to look for another place to search. He really should be looking for somewhere to stay for the night, that's what he really should be doing. But did he want to? No. A sense of dread began to creep along his spine, similar to the way a cat might when stalking its prey. If dread was such a creature. He hated the idea of sleeping out here of all places, but there was no way he could leave before it got dark. The last thing he wanted to do was trying to run in the dark in such times. Talk about stupidity.

━━Searching the entire town would be impossible to do in a single night, even though he wanted to do it so bad. Still he was somewhat glad he wouldn't be able to, he might run into unhappy visitors. He had managed to scavenge around a bit more and found a small thing of water. That would make his supplies enough for a few days at least. Soon he was beginning to head back the way he had came when something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed what seemed to be a light - almost like a flare of sorts. As quickly as it had come it disappeared, suddenly vanishing from view. Instinct told him to turn away and ignore it. Something else (that he wasn't exactly sure of), said to investigate. Surely, he would ignore it. He should ignore it.

━━He didn't ignore it. As much as he wanted to keep on strolling along as if he'd seen nothing, he didn't. Instead he stalked among the shadows in the direction it had come from, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of danger. Maybe you're looking in the wrong places. You could be running into real trouble, idiot. A small voice said, but he quickly shooed it away. No. That couldn't be. Well maybe it was. But hey, if it was he needed to know about it regardless. He wouldn't dare sleep out here with knowing that something - or someone - had shot some kind of flare into the air. No, he needed to know.

━━As he rounded the corner, Jasper had a horrifying thought. The sudden noise. The mysterious figure. The flare. It could only point to potentially one thing. It hit him like a slap to the face that he didn't have time to reflect the damage of, causing him to inhale sharply. So, it came as no surprise that this could only mean one thing.

━━Survivors. Now, one might have reacted in many ways to this discovery. Joy, excitement and caution were often the most common things. Jasper wanted to turn back the way he came and simply disappear as if he'd never been there in the first place. Surely, he could do that. But there was something different about the situation. He couldn't place the idea, but it was as if these people knew each other. A crazy thought, but he couldn't decipher the thought otherwise. While he was still partially behind the wall of a nearby building, he was sure that if he stood there much longer someone would notice him. What was going on here anyway?

━━Guess there was only one way to find out. He sighed inwardly, his feet practically feeling like stones as he made a step toward the group. What the hell do you think you're doing!? the voice screamed again, once more unhelpful as it had been earlier. He knew he was doing this all wrong. He should be walking toward the group with caution, they could very well be threats to any newcomers after all. Everyone wasn't a friendly bunch. Still, he was sure that wasn't the case with how they were situated and all. He would have been in a place more protected in case of an attack, not out in the open. But oh well.

━━Once he had nearly reached the group, he cast his gaze around taking in each and every person. None of them seemed particularly dangerous, especially the one who many seemed crowded around. Taking in the situation he merely circled the group for a moment, before finally stating, "I never thought this would be how survivors spent their time. Surely, you would have thought to have your little 'yay you're okay' parties elsewhere? Away from potential danger, from which you seem like some of you just escaped from?" It seemed to be one of them had gotten themselves in a bit of trouble and the rest had finally met up with them again. As a matter of fact, quite a few seemed shaken up. Glancing around, he noticed a crossbow nearby. Perhaps, these were the people who shot off that flare. They had to be.

━━Turning his gaze back to the others, he merely stood there watching them all. They certainly didn't seem like much of survivors. If they were (which was obvious), they weren't doing a real good job at surviving it seemed. "Honestly", he muttered to himself, before simply beginning to move away from the group. He was just passing through anyway, now that he knew what the cause of it was. This was another reason one shouldn't count on others - get yourself in trouble and they may or may not help you. And whoever that was seemed to be lucky he got help in time. Any later and it might have been too late. So much for team effort. People were so soft these days. At least, he wouldn't be here for much longer - he didn't like the looks of this group already. While that was to be expected, this was especially so.

[`silver]

Silver | rooftop oasis | mentions: Jackson; Kiba [spotting Jasper]

The apologies that ensued from Silver telling her story were easily waved off as she failed to meet his eyes, knowing that not every detail had been said so clearly in order to protect herself anyway. It wasn’t important anyway. Her story seemed to have roused something in him as he kept offering more smiles in response to dialogue. If she was at least helping to distract from the shadows that kept attempting to whisper doubts into his mind, that was enough for her.

Silver grew silent as Jackson told her of his own tidbit of the past, noting his careful choice of phrases as he seemed to avoid the reasoning as to why exactly a herd had shown up after him nor why he hadn’t remained in the town, but she wasn’t going to pry either. Dog coming to his rescue reminded her of Kiba’s own role in having saved her life as well, a wolf of all the things she could’ve thought of, that would’ve been the last on her list as it would have been too good to be true. She gazed to the cackling jackal with a look of comfort as she couldn’t help but be at ease around animals more than people. The relief was brief though as a fiery signal cut through their conversation.

It had to be Grayson, there was just no doubting it and Jackson was already throwing himself into the unknown at the mere idea. Silver laughed weakly once he was out of earshot. What a foolish human he was. The zombies he’d dodged began to shift and slump through the shadows in his general direction after he’d shouted up to her, their bodies too rotted and disfigured to travel at a faster gait. With a sigh, she wiped her mouth briefly as the iron tang of blood hit her palette again. Should Grayson be injured and assuming Jackson would’ve barreled through the walls like a specter, they would need to get back as quickly as possible to the oasis in order to ensure their safety. Kiba pressed to her side knowing he couldn’t stop her but he could at least support her for as long as she fought her own body.

Power arced up the length of her arm while her head and stomach tried to perturb her intentions with more pain. “The priority is still on them, if they need help, you stay with them,” Silver stroked Kiba’s head in murmuring the words. There was no point in being a lookout when they could be of use in making sure Jackson and Grayson returned safely. Dog was here after all. Silver raced down the steps with full intention on being their final defense while she still had some form of strength in her along with Kiba bounding ahead to secure a perimeter and chase off any nearby ghouls that dragged themselves too close to the edge of the invisible boundary they were creating. The stragglers that were alerted by Jackson were abruptly torn down as smoke burst from them while they began to shake violently, Silver right behind them as she burnt them to crisps from the inside-out. Kiba raced to tackle down ones that were midway down the block, his ears swiveling as he scented several new people along with new animals. His fur bristled adamantly as two humans were slipping through the shadows closer to where Jackson’s scent led. One of them was that human with the tiny animal? No matter about them; there was someone closer and heading in this direction. He growled softly as his eyes were locked on the single shape heading opposite to the cluster that most likely held Grayson and Jackson. The white wolf now stood in the middle of the road at the halfway point back to the rooftop oasis, mapping out the area once more along with the zombies that shifted restlessly through it. He wouldn’t allow danger to come to those that Silver wanted to protect either.

Silver stalked back around to the entrance to the oasis, using the building as support as she felt herself falling ill again like when she had first met Grayson. The open road in front of her continued to blur in and out from exhaustion, but she could still sense movement easily, spreading her stronger senses out in order to keep herself focused on the task at hand. Her entire body ached as she knew she was hitting her limits already but if she hadn’t been suppressing her body’s incessant screaming before, she was now. Upon hearing familiar groans or the heavy dragging of body parts, she’d swiftly incapacitate the walkers that dared to reveal themselves.

[hxenir]

22. 𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 -> 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 . 𝑲𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒏, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓,

The stranger had introduced himself as Kiren. The name had a nice ring to it, even though Grayson couldn't see the male his head imagined different possibilities of what he could look like. As different images wandered through Graysons brain he could hear Kiren frantically searching for something to help Grayson. Just as Grayson was about to say he'd be fine till they got back to camp something was shoved into his hand Kiren immediately specifying it was sugar water and ordered him to drink it. "Yes master Kiren" A laugh left Grayson as he began to drink the liquid. As he finished the substance Grayson felt his body slowly stop shaking, now it mostly felt weak from the lack of food. The slight panic in his new friends voice was somewhat amusing to the male, "I won't die you don't have to panic Kiren."After finishing his sentence Grayson was quickly met with a needle stabbing his thigh, a small hiss left the males mouth. "God be a bit gentle won't you!" When Kiren pulled the needle Grayson rubbed his thigh. Mazu hissed at the newcomer, "Mazu calm down he's helping. Be nice." Grayson reached his hand over to Mazu's head but he missed and instead grabbed her front paw.

The familiar sound of his arrow whirling through the air met Graysons ears. When Grayson was blind his other sense naturally increased not to a point where it would be considered a power but just enough to help Grayson make up for the lack of eyesight. Grayson could feel Kiren's presence behind him, but soon another one appeared next to him. Grayson moved his hand until he was found with another one, the hand felt strong and masculine. Then a voice that filled Grayson's ears like honey made the males face light up with a smile. "Jackson!?" An excited squeak left the males mouth as he reached out his arms and hugged the male. Grayson hugged Jackson for a bit before realizing the gesture could be seen as too much considering he had just met Jackson a few hours prior. Even though Jackson had only been in Grayson's life for a few hours he couldn't help but feel safe around the male. It felt like he was home again, that he could breath and relax without worrying about the terrible world that surrounded them. "I'll be alright I promise. I just over used my power and I'm suffering the repercussions. Don't worry pretty boy." A soft smile covered Graysons face, his hand still over Jacksons. "I can't see right now but the guy behind me is Kiren he's a friend. He helped me, so I invited him to come back with us if that's ok with you." Just as Grayson finished the sentence he began to stand up at first he fell back to his knees his body still weak from the over-usage of power. On the second try Grayson was able to stand up but his legs shook under him. "Is silver with you? Is she ok?" Since Silver hadn't heard or sensed Silver's presence Grayson couldn't help but feel a small wave of worry.

Another voice became apparent between the others. Another male? How many people would Grayson be meeting today. The voice mocked Grayson and his friends. The male couldn't help but feel anger rise in his body, even in his current conditions Grayson's anger issues would manage to get the best of him. "Mazu go." Grayson felt a gust of wind blow past him then the sound of paws landing a few feet away. Mazu landed in front of the stranger and began walking around him to keep him from leaving. "What's your name and what do you want?" Grayson slightly lifted his shirt to pull out his gun. His finger gently taking of the safety but his finger remained of the trigger. "No one will hurt you as long as you don't make a bad move." With his weakned and blind state Grayson knew he was in no condition to fight but he knew Jackson was skilled in fighting. If Grayson and Mazu presented themselves as the biggest threat, Jackson wouldn't seem like an opponent to be fearful of which was a grave mistake. Using his spare hand Grayson grabbed Jackson's hand and used what little energy he had to use a bit of his power. "If he tries anything take my knife out of my back pocket and stop him. Knock him out if you need to, your strong enough to do it. We don't know his situation, he might be part of a group that could be a threat to us. If he doesn't do anything I need you to play good cop, while I play bad cop. I don't want him to see you as the threat." All this thought would be able to reach Jackson's brain without Grayson having to move his lips. Since Grayson was training to be part of the FBI he knew basic interrogation techniques one of them being bad cop and good cop. Jackson was naturally good with people, Grayson wasn't. The male let go of Jacksons wrist then grabbed Kirens. "I'm not sure how good you are at fighting but if need be I need you to help Jackson out I'm in no condition to fight. I hate having to put this on you but it what we need to do. We don't know his intentions." The thoughts in Grayson head flowed over to Kirens head. Shortly after Grayson let go of Kiren's wrist and once again focused his attention at the stranger. Due to Grayson using his powers again the migraine raging in his skull became more prominent.

[lynettetan1]

Aisha Innez
Location: An alleyway?
Feeling: Diplomatic, protective, fearful, just a tad bit annoyed.
Tagged: Riki (Bug), Jackson, Grayson (Mazu), Kiren (Aria), Jasper, Kiba -Actually just everyone at this point LMAO we're having a party

The other's reaction answered her question. This was definitely out of the ordinary. With quick, whispered orders, they moved quickly, Bug flying out their hat, possibly to alert the others without having to move away from her. It was quick thinking, and Aisha couldn't help the moment of silent appreciation for having a companion who could fly. It sure did seem convenient, both as a messenger and a higher vantage point.

Crouching down behind a corner, Aisha watched as they left the confines of her power, unsure if she should tell them that they weren't going to be in her range. But then again, they probably knew that. As such, Aisha opted to just be quiet, slowly tweaking it as they moved so her control lessened before they actually stepped out so the environment's noises would feel like they slowly returned instead of like if someone suddenly whipped out a loudspeaker. Still, she couldn't help the sigh of relief when she finally let her powers dissipate, not needing it for the moment. Usually she was used enough to her power that having it covering her 24/7 was almost muscle memory and didn't consume a lot of her energy, but after all that happened today, her reserves were pretty low, and it would be good to catch a break where she could, especially since it seemed the danger wasn't especially over yet.

They moved in a wide berth that definitely spoke of experience and lethality, and Aisha couldn't help a small smile on her features, even as she kept an eye out for zombies. Even if they were scared of snakes, their movements were quite snake-like in themselves.

As Aisha watched, her hand reflexively went into her bag, clutching a loose sack of rocks. She had a few of them, and they were particularly useful when she had to distract zombies and have them go somewhere else, especially with her power making sure there was no sound from them when she threw them, and only sounded when they hit the ground. It wouldn't be quite as effective with humans, but the other was skilled and sneaky enough that Aisha was quite sure that a momentary distraction would be enough for them to cut their losses and run if things got bad.

If it got really terrible too, perhaps she could aim for their bodies for a stun. Sure, she had a gun (that she'd never used) and venomous darts, but death felt terribly final for a confusing situation. She'd only really used her darts on aggressive animals before, and only then when they were about to maul her, and that wasn't about to change now. One of these days, she really hoped to find a stun gun or a taser. That would solve quite a lot of her problems.

She'd also made a few smoke bombs for more permanent distractions, but smoke bombs were bad when you had allies that didn't know you had it, or multiple parties. Aisha bit her lip as she she watched the situation, her hands stinging as she ran her fingers along the satchel of rocks. There were a few people- Wait.

Was that a cougar?

For a second, Aisha almost dropped the rocks and announced her own position. Swallowing, Aisha pursed her lips as Eve slid out her jacket to peer at the scene before them as well. Being a little further away from the flames, the snake could sense others better. With the ability to sense heat signatures, night had never been a deterrent for the reptile. Staring for a while, Eve locked on to four different positions, staring at each for half a second longer than she would when she was simply scanning the area. Four others, then, counting the cougar.

It didn't look wild, so maybe it was an animal companion the way Eve was hers? Aisha let out a surprised huff at that, shaking her head in slight disbelief. She thought she'd been used to what the apocalypse had thrown at her, but when she was thinking about animal companions, carnivorous predators hadn't exactly been in her assumption of 'animal'. Then again, that was just the pot calling the kettle black. She really had to control her assumptions.

As she was talking, Eve suddenly jerked back, before staring in a slightly different spot. Another person/animal? But how did they appear so suddenly? Eve would have noticed them if they came along the roads, and she wouldn't have been quite so surprised. Perhaps someone with another power, then. Eve also looked into the distance, letting a low hiss of caution. And another coming closer from further away.

But then Eve slid back out of sight, and Aisha looked at where the snake was hiding in surprise. Eve usually preferred to keep a lookout if she sensed things were bad, so this was rare. When the androgyne popped up a second later, however, Aisha realised the snake didn't want to rattle them more. She hid a small smile. Eve could try to be fearsome and unpredictable, but at the end of the day the snake was caring in her own way.

The other looked an absolute wreck, which wasn't a surprise. Looking at how exhausted they were, Aisha felt the urge to help support the other or give them a hug, but she was quite sure that wouldn't go over well with them. Still, as they spoke, gesturing vaguely at the other group, Aisha paused. Was this who they had been speaking of? If so, that would probably be why they felt safe enough to come back, but then why not just go there with her?

Perhaps they were safe, but they weren't especially affiliated to the other group? They had said that they would only take her to them, and Aisha had noticed the distancing tone before. It was very probable that the plan was to bring her to the other person, before moving off. But then, why hadn't they left now that they'd achieved their goal? Also the phrasing, 'help me talk to them'... Did they also want something out of this interaction? But what?

Well if she was a lone wolf, like she seemed to be, then definitely to be unaccosted or occasionally given help and resources without being bothered. But who was friendly? And what had they seen that was so complicated that they had to come back and ask her to navigate a conversation? Aisha turned, about to ask the other, but then paused.

They were slurring and exhausted, and looked about ready to topple on their feet. No matter what the situation was, they had delivered on their promise, and brought her to the others like she'd wanted, even keeping Aisha out of trouble as they went to scope out the scene. If they had determined it was safe, then she would just have to trust that and go with her gut when she got there. It was obvious from before that the other wasn't used to social interaction, and they looked a second away from keeling over.

Aisha would have used her power once more now that she was back in range, but now that she had to leave, it would only have lasted a second. Of course, she'd realised a few months ago that she could transmit her power through Eve, and if Eve stayed with them she would be able to shift the locus of her power, but that would definitely do the opposite of relaxing the other. Looking in the direction of the people-and the huge cougar-, she thought quickly for a moment.

Knowing that the other was touchy about the space, Aisha simply made eye contact to catch her gaze, before nodding. "Of course. Thank you." Knowing the other's attention span was limited but not wanting to touch and startle them, Aisha put things on the ground, trying to keep things short and succinct as she did. "Bag of rocks. Water. Sweets and provisions." For a second, Aisha paused, not knowing if the other would want the other item. Ah, screw it. If they didn't need it, they could just not use it. Gripping a small soft toy that was around the size of their bat, she placed it down as well. It wouldn't be the same as their companion, but holding something soft helped ground her sometimes and maybe it would do the same for them. "Toy bear."

Nodding to herself, Aisha then took a step back, giving the other a small smile but was no longer sure if they were paying attention. "Good luck."

That done, she took a deep breath, before pulling her powers round her once more the way she was used to. As she did, Eve shifted so she was still hidden, but her eyes peeked out through the top of the jacket where she had a good vantage point, as she liked. Not quite sure how to approach but knowing enough to know that she probably wouldn't get killed or punched on sight, Aisha moved closer. The androgyne might not have been the best at social interactions, but they truly had a sense of responsibility that Aisha trusted and admired. Maybe if she'd been that good under pressure she wouldn't have disappointed the others the way she did.

But then again, she wouldn't have the skills she had now.

Drawing closer, it seemed like a tense situation. There were a total of four men, with a group of three men along the back, one of them holding the one closer to her at gun point with the cougar circling and cutting said one off. A fight? Aisha frowned, now uncertain. Not only was this the exact type of tense situation she wanted to avoid, she now had more than a few questions? Did the three together know each other? With the cougar's actions it was obvious that the cougar was an animal companion, probably one belonging to the three that were grouped together, but one of them looked terribly banged up. But he was also the one holding a gun, which was definitely the most dangerous item she could see. There was a crossbow some ways away as well, which was definitely what was used to shoot the flaming arrow. Perhaps a call for help then? With how one was injured. That probably meant the three were a group-at least, they would trust each other over the stranger-, and the last was a hostile party.

But the most important question... Which group was the one that the androgyne had wanted her to meet? She knew at least one of them would be tolerant of her presence if she mentioned them, but if it was the lone one then distracting him could very well mean his death. Then, a slight movement caught her eyes.

The bat was clinging to one of the three men's chest! That had to be him!

Now decided, Aisha stepped forward, keeping herself far enough that she was an equal distance from both the hostile stranger (and the cougar) and the group of three. Dissipating her control and looking around first for walkers, Aisha hesitantly cleared her throat to catch their attention. "I recognise this is a bad time, but uh, the... um... the one with Bug, the bat, sent me." Aisha only realised too late that she hadn't managed to get the other's name after all. Darn, that would definitely have helped with her credibility. But she gestured to Bug as she spoke, hoping that would be enough. After all, if she hadn't met them then she would definitely have assumed Bug belonged to the man he clung to, right?

This seemed like a very complicated situation, there were guns, and they were in an open alleyway. Coming from a position where she knew almost nothing, Aisha racked her brain to find something to say. What exactly was she supposed to talk to them about anyway? They really should have given her a little more to work with.

Eve tightened ever so slightly once more, which probably meant there was yet someone else or another animal in the vicinity, and Aisha mentally groaned at everything getting even more complex. Before anything happened, perhaps it would be best to attempt to defuse the situation. Looking at the lone one, she nodded at him before looking at the others. "This situation looks dicey, and you're alone. On the other hand, you guys look hurt. I don't know what's going on, but a fight isn't going to benefit anyone, and we're all in the open after night has fallen."

Aisha let her words rest in the air for a moment, before she continued. If this didn't work, perhaps it would be time for a smoke bomb after all. "I'm going to take a leap of faith here and assume no one wants to die and that there's a lot that everyone wants to say to everyone else. Shall we at the very least relocate to somewhere a bit more defensible?" And maybe not point guns? Aisha felt that that wasn't too much to ask, but kept herself from vocalising the last part. She would take what she could get.

[FluffyBirdie]

Kiren Stewart | Lead Doctor | Location: Streets | Tags: Greyson, Jackson, Jasper, Aisha, Kiba

Kiren turned his head slightly to get a clearer view as someone approached, seemingly from nowhere. It was barely a minute since he fired the arrow, and the record shop looked to be further away than that. Was there some kind of shortcut through the buildings? It was hard to tell exactly, but the approaching person definitely looked strong, even though his figure was somewhat obscured by clothes and the incoming night. He tensed, unsure if that was one of Greyson's friends, or a stranger hoping to take advantage of them while the man was still on the ground. Greyson couldn't see after all, so there was no telling who this could be. The stranger quickly approached with outstretched arms, before dropping them to the floor as he neared, and that, plus Greyson's cheerful exclamation, confirmed the person was friendly. The legendary Jackson, it seems. Kiren smiled on seeing Greyson hug the other male, happy to be present for such a heartwarming scene. With what was known as society well and truly gone, it was good to know this kind of love and trust still existed. That people had someone else to live for rather than themselves. He briefly wondered how long the two had known each other, and the other person mentioned as well - Silver. It must have been a few weeks at least, from the amount of trust that could be obviously seen between the members.

On Greyson mentioning his name, Kiren nodded, giving Jackson a smile to reaffirm that he really wasn't here to fight, not that he could anyway. He listened to them converse, deciding to let them have their moment especially as he was still an outsider to the group, and looked around them, curious about the other group member. Where they watching the camp? As he looked he spotted something white on the streets, and he blinked, wondering if he was seeing things. It looked like a wolf, but could that really be one? The animal was standing in between them and the record shop, and now knowing that animals like cougars could be 'pets', the wolf might be Jackson's, and was standing guard for him. Regardless, he watched the elegant animal for a while, so curious about it that he almost didn't notice another person approaching them. Perhaps this was Silver? But he was approaching from a different direction, and as he moved to walk past the group, it was clear the person was another stranger, and one very very uninterested in forming bonds with others. Kiren scowled at the stranger, disliking his mocking tone, and debated whether to ignore the man or say something back when Greyson spoke first. He blinked as the cougar moved with an amazing speed, startling Aria who must have been watching the predator throughout their encounter. Kiren took a step back to rest his hand on her side reassuringly, glancing towards the wolf as he did so. She was not going to enjoy being around so many predators, tame or not.

Kiren was surprised again by the amount of authority Greyson had, during both situations of meeting a stranger while blind. He didn't exactly agree with his policy of threatening people first, but since Greyson was unsure of Kiren's intentions at the beginning, and this newcomer was clearly trying to aggravate the group, his reactions made sense. Kiren kept quiet as Greyson began to interrogate the stranger, deciding to let him lead since he was clearly well suited for it. He flinched slightly when his wrist was grabbed, both at the unexpected touch and then at the voice inside his head. What powers did he have exactly? Was it related to the mind? Maybe he controlled Mazu, and that's why he was tired after killing so many walkers, despite the wounds being from the feline. Kiren was about to reply with a verbal 'okay', but refrained, realising Greyson was doing this to prevent the stranger from knowing their plans. Well, it was easier to reply with 'okay' then to actually do anything Greyson instructed. Jackson was clearly the strongest one of the four, and Kiren would dub himself as the weakest. Of his entire lifetime, he hadn't even killed a zombie directly with a weapon. He regretted putting the crossbow down, even though he would have to bend down to pick up more arrows anyway. Well, he had a knife in his pocket. If worst came to worst, he could use that to threaten, as much as he hated doing that, or get Aria to do some dramatic rearing.

Another person emerged to join them on the streets, looking much more timid than the stranger who swaggered past and dropped some choice words. From her statement, she wasn't part of Greyson's party as well, though Kiren could agree wholeheartedly with her argument. If a fight could be avoided, that would be the best outcome. The person with the bat? Kiren looked in the direction of her gesture, only now realising there was a bat clinging to Jackson's shirt. How many people with animals were there? No, scratch that. How many people were there? He had gone from suspecting he might be the last person on earth earlier today, to knowing about the existence of six people, all at once. Seven, if this person with a bat wasn't the stranger he briefly made eye contact with much earlier. Kiren felt somewhat giddy, at least internally. This exact scenario, with one person at gun-point and a few other nebulous unknowns wasn't what he wanted, but the existence of other humans was. Even if he ended up alone again at the end of this situation, it was with much more joy. There was, at the very least, still people around. And that gave him hope.

[kalo.]

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𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 ── 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑
[ word count; 1320 ] [ mood; confused, scared, ah! ] [ tags; the gang] [ location; alleyway ]
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yuck
indentEven with the night being so dark Jackson prayed that the blush that covered his face wasn't visible. Wrapping his arms around Grayson to hug him back was odd to Jackson. Sure he cared a lot about Gray, probably more than he cared about people he met in the past, but his heart hammering in his chest weighed him down. It felt. Odd. Like he didn't have a right to hug Grayson. Sure before everything went to hell he would have easily jumped into everything-but now with the threat of dying every second it made him worry. Worry about growing close to people. To lose them easily. Hell, Jackson almost lost Grayson during the hour he went away. And that was enough to scare Jackson away. But hearing Gray joke with him and call him a 'pretty boy' caused him to flush again. Thankfully Grayson was still blind but it did cause Jackson to worry. "I knew this was a bad idea!" Jackson let out a pout before turning to look back at the male Gray had identified.

indentThe brunette was taller than Jackson himself but was thinner than he was. Jackson didn't see him as a threat in any way and the fact that he saved Grayson from a terrible doom was enough for him to be in his good books. And stay with them. The fighter let out a smile at Kiren. "Thank you Kiren. You're welcome to stay with us-it's not far. Plus it's safe as it's on a rooftop." Maybe Jackson offering a place to stay to anyone was an issue-it was bound to backfire on him. Maybe in more than one way. But Jackson trusted the judgment of Gray and wasn't going to go against it now.

indentThe shift of movement next to him caused Jack to whip his head to watch Grayson rise and fall back down. He let out a gasp before standing up and grabbing onto his elbow to steady him. He didn't want Grayson to fall and get himself even more injured. That would just make everything worse. He kept his grip on his elbow before looking back towards the end of the alleyway. He could barely see the light coloring of Kiba, but he couldn't see Silver as he was too far in the alleyway. "I don't see her. I think she held the camp down." Not being able to see Silver but having eyes on Kiba did create worry for him. Silver was already feeling ill from before-and the thought of her running out alongside Jackson and becoming even more ill made him feel ill himself. He'd have to try and hurry them out of here. He could easily phase them through the wall-it was the easiest way to get everyone inside anyway. So if he had to he would. No question about it.

indentWhile Jackson wasn't comfortable now, the presence of another survivor made him even more uncomfortable. Usually, it didn't-but with Gray being so injured and practically blind caused everything in Jackson to worry. He didn't want to risk him getting hurt even more. Nor did he want the newcomer, Kiren, to get injured. He fixed Gray up and that was a valuable skill to have. So Jack would take it upon himself to sacrifice himself if he had to. To let those two get away and get to safety. Jackson had the advantage, simply phase through the wall and hide. It would take a toll on Jack but if he had to do it he would. And by the way the stranger was talking it did cause alarms to ring in his ears. Also, someone's voice-wait what?

indentGrayson's voice in his head was enough to make him flinch and almost pull away-but Grayson's grip on his hand (which he didn't even know he was holding in the first place) was enough to keep him steady and there. Thoughts raced in his head that weren't his own and it made Jackson feel uncomfortable, but he got the gist of what he was trying to convey. To stay friendly and vibrant while Gray goes in with the fist. Good cop Bad cop. He could do that. And by what the stranger was saying it did cause Jackson to cast his gaze downwards. He was right. They were being reckless, but that was just who Jackson was, to begin with. Reckless, stupid, and just overall an idiot. So that's what he did. He played the lovable and goofy idiot. Wasn't far when his usual self so. "Ding ding! You've guessed it. Hanging out in alleyways at night is just the way we spend our time!" Jackson let out large and lopsided grin at the stranger before he heard footsteps from behind them.

indentHe turned to look over his shoulder to see another person! What was going on today? It was growing to be too much for Jackson. He ran his hand over his face before listening to what the new stranger was saying-wait. A bat? "Bug!" He called out before he felt the little bat crawl his way up to his shoulder. The chirp he let out caused Jackson to smile. "Where's your owner?" He asked before turning to listen to what the female stranger was saying. He really would have to think of nicknames for everyone. One too many strangers would cause confusion between everyone. But Jackson did like calling the stranger with the bat stranger. It grew on him. "Wait stranger sent you? Are they okay? Are they hurt?" Jackson immediately felt stress overcome him. He had three people he was currently worrying about. Silver. Gray. And the stranger. Plus now that Kiren was part of their group (or at least to Jackson he was) it made him feel like a mother caring for her children. He hated it. He couldn't even care for himself.

indentJackson let out a shaky breath before nodding towards the female stranger. "I'm agreeing with you. Can we at least go somewhere safer? Inside a building or something. But I really should go check on Silver, and the stranger." Jackson moved both of his hands to run through his dark hair and he let out a groan. The female stranger definitely wasn't lying as she knew the bat wasn't his and that it was someone else's. But could they have just guessed that? Was he going to be tricked once again? Why was this day getting worse and worse? It made Jackson was to scream. He would have if the threat of zombies wasn't lingering at every corner ready to eat his face off.

indentThe fighter turned back towards the first stranger, god he really had to figure nicknames out. "Alright smart guy you're right. How about we all calm down a notch and get out of his alleyway? Sound good? Good." His voice faltered halfway through him speaking, mostly due to the stress that was starting to build and weigh on him. And it hurt a lot. Jackson wasn't used to this. To care for more than himself and Dog. He got attached to everyone he met today too easily. It was his downfall. To care for people that probably didn't necessarily care for him back. To allow these people to use him again. The thought plagued his mind for the third time today-but he was quick to try and push it down and keep a smile on his face. So that he did. He moved his hand back to Gray's elbow to steady him-scared that he would fall over again-before motioning towards the town. He opened his mouth to say something but simply closed it. For once he stopped himself from offering everyone to go back to the camp. If he did take everyone back to his camp he risked them turning on them and coming back to harm them. And Jackson could not live with himself if that happened.