Globetrotters {Taki/Open}

[Legion]

Bright beams of sun leaked through the cloud cover, making for a spectacular sight. The sun was just rising, so the small patches between the clouds were multi-colored. From the ground it was beautiful. From the sky it was simply amazing. At least, it would be if you could fly. Schaun could though, and he was in the middle of a fairly good flight. It was a habit he had been exercising for years. At least twice a week, more if he could manage it, he would wake up around dawn and fly. The very sense of self-powered flight was nothing short of exhilarating. The air was rather nice for flying too. Cool and lacking severe humidity, with strong updrafts as the sun heated the land. Of course, this wasn't just a way to burn time. He used these morning flights to scout the area, find possible hunting grounds, and see if there were any major human incursions going on. Given his isolated lifestyle it was totally possible for Russia to declare war and start plowing through the west coast. An armor division was definitely something he would want to avoid.

As he circled a few hundred feet above the landscape, he noted the presence of a small town. They had only recently crossed the border into Oregon, and this was the first human settlement bigger than a collection of summer cabins they had come across. Takira would probably want to know about it, assuming she didn't also use this time to do some running. In fact, he had no clue what she did while he was gone, for the simple fact that he wasn't there. Of course, it didn't really matter.

Satisfied with his trip, Schaun angled his wings and tail feathers slightly, resulting in a graceful circle left. It was a large circle, but one that took little effort to maintain. Eventually he made the full one hundred eighty degrees and started back towards the border. The flight back took about ten minutes, but that was okay. He was in no real hurry, and it gave him plenty of time to admire the scenery. After the alloted time had past, he came to rest in the lower branches of a nearby oak. He was about 50 meters from the camp site they had set up. After a few seconds spent shifting, he hopped down from the tree and started towards camp. There was no real reason why he didn't just land inside their site and shift there, he simply found it distasteful. He wasn't even sure why. He just didn't like the idea of it. After the short walk he entered the area they had chosen. After habitually pausing to see if anything had invaded the area since he was gone, Schaun crossed over to his pack and started digging around for something to eat. Eventually he came up with some jerky and an orange, which he promptly started to eat.

Words: 522
Notes: I can feel the muse, but for some reason it won't let me very far in
Time: Early morning, maybe 2 hours after sunrise
Status: Complete

[Takira]

Taki had woken up a few moments after Schaun had left. He was scouting again, like he usually did. She yawned and stretched, letting her body slide into the wolfen form of Paki. She'd let the wolf out more now that they were away from people. Paki finished the stretch and yawned before shaking herself off. Ordinarily they just walked a perimeter and discovered what had happened during the night, but today Paki wanted to hunt. She pushed some sticks and rocks around, making a 'be back by noon' picture on the ground and then set out at a lopping jog.

The purple heart on the wolfs face tilted up as she sniffed the air. Deer, goats, stabled horses, a farm full of easy prey, a dog, and many many other scents filtered into her nares. Finally she turned in the direction of the farm. The wolf ignored Takis yelling and pleading, the girl didn't want to kill livestock. Paki snorted at her that if she just killed a calf she could bring it back with them and they could have food for a week if not longer. Taki gave in, reminding the wolf not to get caught. Paki snorted, as if she were dumb enough to let a gun toting hick farmer.

A thirty mile jog got her warmed up and she slipped under the wooden fence easily. A cow lifted it's head and stared at her dozily, but didn't react. Paki sniffed the air, good the farmer was either in town or out in a different pasture, he hadn't been here since last night. These were beef cows too, so he wouldn't be coming out soon to milk them. She sat in the middle of the pasture, watching all of them. There were a total of five calves, with one cow carrying a sixth. Paki had no sense of ownership, so she wouldn't feel bad taking one of the little brown eyed critters. Finally she selected a very new and very tubby brown and white calf. With speed that was rivaled only by racing dogs she had caught it, broken its neck, and lifted it by it's back to carry it away.

As she left the pen the calf's mother noticed it's baby's absence and started to set up a fuss. The other cows followed suit. Paki flicked one ear and her tail. Luck of the draw. She had food, they lost a calf. That was nature. The calf weighed a good 70 or 80 pounds, a little under half of her weight. Carrying it so that it would still be edible for humans was a challenge for her because of this, but she pretended that she didn't notice. Her light brown paws stirred dust and leaves as she padded the forty miles back to their base.

The sun was very very high in the sky by the time she entered the camp. She dropped the calf in the middle and grabbed Takis bag. She carried it behind a tree and let Taki take over. The girl pulled on a black, white and red button up shirt and a pair of tights under a studded denim skirt. She also pulled on a pair of black hiking boots. She'd bought all this at the last major town, wanting to look more the part of a traveler while retaining SOME fashion. She had also bought a lighter and some better cooking supplies.

"Wasup Schaun? Paki brought us some food for a week or so." She greeted him, explaining her absence as she knelt to start butchering the calf.

Character: Taki (and Paki)
Expecting: Schaun and Open
Word Count: 611
Time of Day: early day - noon
Plot: Paki goes hunting, they smoke some meat, and who know from there.
Notes: Be glad she didn't go after a deer, that always gets graphic.

[Legion]

Upon returning to camp, he was mildly surprised to discover that Taki had left. She did it occasionally, but it wasn't often enough for him to adjust to it. Or maybe he just wasn't very observant.....whatever. Either way, there was nothing he could do about it, and she probably hadn't been gone that long. She would turn up eventually. Satisfied with his logic, Schaun's mind unanimously decided that now was the absolute perfect time for a nap. His stomach however, was much more intent on finishing off the food currently held in his slightly dirty hands. As a compromise, he finished the food before quickly scaling the tree his pack had been against. He had slept up here last night as well, as there was an absolutely delightful nook between two branches that practically screamed perfect. With a sigh of what could easily be described as content, he settled in and drifted off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He awoke a few hours later and immediately hopped down from his makeshift bed. Taki had yet to return, but this still didn't bother him. Wolves have a hell of a range, and it could still be several hours yet. This turned out to be a gross over-estimation. Not even five minutes after that thought had crossed his mind Paki came into camp. She appeared to be carrying a large, dead animal. "Nothing much Taki. We got a small town about ten miles northeast of here. Other than that nothing but forest and farmland. Of course, you probably knew about the farms already." He said it without bite, and the smile he had broke any illusions that he was trying to be rude. In fact, he was rather grateful. Once they had cured the meat and carved it into more manageable pieces, they could quite possibly make it to Washington. That depended on how they moved though. If they just walked, there was no way. Between their two animals though, they could probably cover half the country in about a week......with generous rest breaks.

Words: 345
Notes: N/A
Status: Complete

[Takira]

Taki continued to carve the calf up, listening to her travel companion and thinking. The town would be okay probably, but they'd want to avoid other farms. Much as she liked free food courtesy of Paki she wasn't settled with stealing yet, even if she turned a blind eye when it occured. She had lost her physical self while thinking, and was brought back to it by a sharp pain in her hand.

"Ah! Sonofamonkey!" The closest she ever came to swearing. She yanked her hands back, dropping her knife. It was impossible to tell where her blood was coming from since her hands were covered in cow blood. She craddled the cut hand with the other, growling softly at the stinging pain. Getting to the town now would be nice, especially since she had a feeling her hand would require stitches.

"Son of a pox-rotted, wheat-bliting, oppertunistic, bannana humping monkey!" She cried, finding the cut by bumping it. It felt deep, and it didn't help that she had a good feeling she'd cut a nerve. That feeling was bolstered by the face that her pinky and ring fingers were refusing to cooperate with her as she tried to flex her hand into a fist. She sat down hard, wanting to cry. Why did stuff like this always happen to her.

Her frame of mind wasn't helped by the fact that Paki had been brought forward again by both the pain and the blood. She felt the wolf sigh and roll its eyes. It considered her to be a total idiot, incapable of even dealing with a dead calf. The wolf slid back into the shadows of her mind, if she was stupid enough to hurt herself then she could learn how to fix herself.

Character: Taki (and Paki)
Expecting: Schaun
Word Count: 302
Time of Day: noon
Plot: Paki goes hunting, they smoke some meat, and who know from there.
Notes: Oops... the knife slipped.

[Legion]

After he had finished his report, he did not bother to speak. In fact, he wasn't really thinking either. He just sort of sat there, watching Taki carve up the animal she had caught. The sheer simplicity and repetition of the act was fairly hypnotic. It was just one of those menial things that had to be done if you enjoyed living. He sighed once, leaning back against the tree with a smile that was far more common out in the woods. The peaceful reverie was broken rather suddenly with a slight slip of a knife. Taki immediately started screaming about the offspring of a very unhealthy monkey with strange habits and a tendency to rot crops. Instead of pondering the monkey or what might have brought it up, Schaun stared without seeing for several seconds before hegrabbed his bag and dug around for some of the medical stuff he carried. It didn't take long to find what he needed.

He rushed over to her, carrying several medical cleaning pads and a roll of bandaging. He wasn't used to dealing with another person's injuries, so he tried doing it quickly instead of comfortably. "Hey, think you can focus? I'm probably going to need another hand." He didn't bother explaining what he was doing. After a brief pause to make sure his words had gotten through in some degree, he opened one of the pads, grabbed her injured hand, and started wiping away the mingling cow and human blood. Of course, they would absolutely have to go to town now, she was going to need to see a doctor. Maybe even get some stitches and a couple shots to prevent infections. Things probably couldn't have gone south much quicker. He thought glumly. Despite the negative, thought, he continued cleaning the blood from the wounded area. He kept his free hand locked around her wrist, since she was bound to be fairly tender and may try to pull away.

After the majority of the blood had been cleared (he couldn't clean it all since she was still bleeding herself), he grabbed the roll of bandaging and placed one end of it over the wound. "Hold it here please" He asked in the most pleasant voice he could muster under the circumstances.

Words: 387
Notes: Wow.....
Status: Complete

[Takira]

"Nngh... Remind me to kill that knife when I get a chance. Yeah... uhh... I hope that town you saw has a decent medical facility... I think I cut a nerve." Taki commented. She waited until he finished bandaging her hand and then she pulled it away and got up. She grabbed their bags and looked at him, thinking.

"Hey, you stay here, finish the calf off. I should be back in a few days... depending on how long they keep me, Paki won't take much more than a day to get back here with me so just relax or something. I dunno." She said before jogging off.

OOC: Taki out because my muse is kaput.