(Ha, thanks!)
When he called "Sixty!" Taran froze. But when nothing happened, she relaxed slightly, peering through the branches that she could see through, looking out for Menard. When he didn't come, though, she started to get bored. There was nothing to do, now that there wasn't any excitement.
And then she jumped. The sound of crashing echoed around her, and she glanced around in panic.
Not far away, there was a small, sunny clearing on the side of the hill. Looking closer, it was possible to see the ruins of an old school bus and a few other cars, sticking out from under the ferns and ivy. Silently rusting amongst the trees and wild flowers, it looked as if they hadn't been disturbed in years.
But then, someone sat up with a grunt from the tall grass just below the bus. It was Ango. He rubbed the back of his head, then got up and went back around to the bus's side door, apparently not realizing he was being watched.
"Sorry about that kids," he said cheerily, hopping into the river's seat and taking the wheel. "Looks like we crashed. It's okay, though. I can drive us out of here. And guess what: this bus can also fly!" He proceeded to crank the steering wheel and push random buttons, pretending to drive the bus even though he was the only one there. He seemed relaxed, as if he was used to having this part of the woods to himself.
(I was wondering if you wanted to join a fantasy-slight-horror-apocalyptic roleplay I'm making?)
…What? Taran stared at the familiar figure, her mind somehow not quite understanding what was in front of her. What is he doing? Is he okay?
And then she realized that this was Ango she was thinking about so no, he probably wasn't okay. Then again, no one was, in her world.
She watched him, fist in her mouth to stifle her giggles. She didn't want to intrude on his… playing… but she did enjoy watching it. It was quality entertainment, and much better than waiting in silent apprehension for Menard to find her.
(Do you have a link? I'll check it out ^^ Although fair warning, I'm p busy and only on Notebook about once a day lately)
This went on for several minutes, in which time Ango managed to "fly" the bus to the beach, rescue three drowning swimmers, find a magical talking dog and name him Magic, then head home so that he and the kids could fight "Mr. Bad Dude", his arch-nemesis. He had a blast the entire time, and was just about to crown Magic as the Prince of All Dogs when his game was interrupted by a shout from very close by. Ango jumped a foot in the air, then quickly dove into the bushes to hide.
A moment later, Menard walked past, dragging one of the other bandits by his ear. "I caught you fair and square," he said. "Now go stand in the clearing until I find the others."
"You only saw me 'cuz I sneezed," the bandit complained.
"It still counts, idiot!"
"It was outta my control! Not fair!"
Their bickering faded as they walked out of sight. Once they were gone, Ango sat up, then sighed and seemingly gave up on the game. After kicking around through the ferns for a bit, he wandered over to Taran's tree and sat down right underneath it, lost in thought while unsuccessfully trying to built a tiny house out of twigs.
(It's fine lol, I'm not on a lot. I only have a descripton, so far…)
Watching the show, Taran was shaking so hard it was hard to keep back her laughter. She had to keep reminding herself, again and again, that if she laughed out loud, he would see her, and would probably stop… well, whatever he was doing.
When Menard passed, and didn't find Ango, she was amazed. Had he seriously not seen him?
Ango walked over to her tree, and sat down underneathe it, trying to build… something… out of twigs. It didn't seem to be successful. With barely more than a rustle, she leaned back, curling her knees around the branch, and let herself fall, so that she hung upside down… all the better to see what he was doing, of course. Not because she was feeling sore or anything.
(let me know when you have something up, genre-wise it sounds right up my alley ^^)
Ango remained perfectly oblivious to Taran's presence, humming peacefully to himself as he worked. that is, until he looked up to check the position of the sun and spotted her right above him. Then he gave a strangled yelp and fell back, startled out of his wits.
"K-kali!" he stammered. "Uh, what are you doin' here? H-how long have you been in that tree?"
(Alrighto!)
Taran snorted, grinning down at him, although her face was red, from all the blood rushing to her brain. "Um… since I started hiding. You're quite the hero, you know, saving all those people."
She laughed at his embarrassed face.
"T-thanks," Ango stammered, going as red as Taran. "I know you probably don't mean that, and you actually think I'm pretty lame, but it's cool that you're being nice about it. Just, um….please don't tell the others about this, all right? They laugh at me enough already."
"Tell the others what?" Taran raised an eyebrow. "I've just been sitting in a tree listening to the birds this entire time."
She grinned down at him. Her vision was getting slightly fuzzy from hanging upside down, and so she swung herself up the right way onto the branch. Immediately, she felt dizzy, and braced herself against the trunk until it passed. "I'm impressed that you managed to stay away from Menard."
Ango shrugged, looking relieved that she wasn't going to tease him. "Well, he was distracted, I guess. What about you, why are you hiding from him? Are you part of the hide-and-seek game the Fighters are playing?"
"Yeah. It's kind of boring, though. Nothing is happening." She smiled slightly. "I should have finished my arm, first. Oh well. It's nice to be outside, at least, and not in some smelly tent." She grinned at him.
"Yeah." He grinned back. "If you want, you could let Menard catch you, then say you have to go? I think the chief is calling a meeting soon anyway, and maybe he'll tell us the plan he's been working on all this time."
"I hope so. But then I won't know if he couldreally catch me or not." Taran laughed. "Then again, I'm a fighter, not someone who hides." She shrugged. "I might just do that, unless the meeting happens first."
Ango stood up. "Well, I think I'm gonna go back to camp and see if my friends feel like sorting the scrap heaps with me." He set off through the trees with a wave. "Good luck with the game! Oh, and you'll know the meetings starting if you hear a cowbell ringing. I'll see ya later, Kali!"
"Bye!" Taran watched him and let out a quiet chuckle. He really was a kid at heart. She didn't know anyone else who would play games like that… and he was a bandit! Still, it was entertaining, and she had had fun watching him.
After he left, the forest went quiet again for a while. Eventually, there was a crash and angry voices from nearby, and Menard reappeared, this time with Florida in tow.
"I still think it should be against the rules to shake the bushes like that," Florida was saying. "It makes your job too easy."
Menard scoffed. "You think an enemy bandit's gonna pay attention to a stupid rule like that? The only reason the chief lets us play this game is because he thinks we're training, and it's not training if it's not realistic. You guys are such complainers when you're not the hunter, you know that?"
"Whatever," Florida smirked, punching his shoulder. "At least I'm the last one to get caught, as usual."
"No you're not. I still have to find the new girl."
"What?" Forida stopped, directly under Taran's tree. "Come onnnn. Ugh, if she ran off or somethin', we'll get in huge trouble."
Menard nudged her. "Maybe she's just better at this game than you."
"Hah! No way." They continued to bicker, never once thinking to look up.
Taran held her breathe once they arrived under her tree, but when they never seemed to see her, she let it out. They seemed too much in their own world to think to look up. Then again, no one ever thought to look up to find someone.
Her butt was starting to hurt from sitting in the tree for a while. If she was the last one to be found… she snapped off a dry twin from a nearby branch and started to break it into peices, dropping it onto the heads of the two arguing figures standing just a few feet under her feet.
The two bandits stopped talking in confusion when they felt the shower of twigs. As one, they looked up—then jumped violently when they saw Taran right above them.
"She's right there!" Florida yelped, pointing. "Son of a–! How could you miss her, Menard!? Were you letting her off easy?"
"No!" Menard scratched his head. "You're good," he called to Taran reluctantly. "I guess….you probably know you won the round, then."
"I guess I did. That's a first." Taran snorted and leaned backwards over the branch, lacing her legs around the branch. "I've never won the game before." She reached her hand out, and brushed the top of Menard's head, pulling a peice of twig off.
"I thought you were supposed to be the expert in this game," she said with a grin.
Menard narrowed his eyes. "Never said that," he grumbled. "I'm just one of the only people around here with his head screwed on straight."
"Well I said I was an expert," Florida snapped. "And I still am! You just had beginner's luck, Kali, and don't you forget it!" She turned and stormed off. "C'mon, let's go back to camp. I'm bored of this."
Menard watched her go, then smirked at Taran. "It's fun to see her lose once in a while. You can play with us again any time you want, 'far as I'm concerned."
"Watching anyone lose is fun." Taran grinned. "I'd love to play again and whip all your asses at the game." She let her legs unclasp from the branch and flipped in the air, landing neatly on her feet.
"I'm hungry again." She made a face at the retreating Florida's back and grinned.
Menard started walking them back. "Maybe one of those other villagers we caught last night will turn out to be a good cook. I remember when we had a lady who knew how to make anything taste good, 'long as you could bring her the right ingredients. Too bad she got stabbed in a raid last winter. Anyway, you know if your village buddies can cook?"
The way he said too bad she got stabbed in a raid last winter made Taran blink in surprise for a moment, before she remembered where she was and what kind of person she was talking to.
She shrugged. "I dunno. There probably is, but I haven't met any of them… mostly because no one wants to talk with a cripple. They might die, after all." She wasn't bitter about the fact. Actually, she didn't like people like the villagers, innocent, never having seen bloodshed in their life.
(If you get a ghost ping btw, that was me, I accidentally @'ed you in the wrong rp, sorry TvT)
Menard scoffed. "Villagers. And they call us trash. At least we have the guts to go out and fight for our own survival. Who are they to judge if we lose a few arms doing it?" He pushed through the dense forest and found a path leading back to camp. "Anyway, if the other prisoners are useful, the chief will put them to work soon enough. Has anybody already asked you to sit at their fire over supper? 'Cause if not, you can sure eat with us fighters this time."
(Nope! Nothing happened lol, you're good.)
"I'd kind of assumed that I'd sit with the same dumb guys as last time, but sure, I'll sit with you guys. I don't have anything else to do." Taran smirked.
She shrugged. "Maybe this time, I'll actually be able to talk to people about something that I understand." She grimaced.
(Ok good to know lol)
"Hah. Probably." Menard grinned. "We fighters will understand you way better than the scavengers ever could. All they understand is food and tinkering, and most don't even know that much. Take that dork Ango, for instance. He's always leaving camp to go foraging, but he never even brings anything back. I think he must get out there, forget what he came for, and sit around birdwatching or something until supper. His brain is full of moths." Reaching camp, he waved to the sentry and made for a campfire. "I dunno why the chief even keeps him around, honestly."
Taran remembered Ango's playing earlier, and snorted. "He does have his head in the clouds, that's for sure." She shrugged. "Then again, sometimes those people have the best ideas." She flashed a grin full of teeth. "And you'll notice I said sometimes."
She brushed a stray strand of silver hair from her face and glanced at the sun. "You're probably right about me understanding more. I don't like to think too much if I can really help it."
(Oof, sorry it took me so long to reply)
Menard grunted in agreement and sat down among the other fighters, leaving enough room for Taran. he was about to say something else when there came a sudden loud whistle from the top of the camp. Everyone looked up to see the second-in-command Renzi standing there, waiting until he had everyone's attention. Sitting behind him on a tree stump was Boar-back, quietly watching the clouds.
"Listen up," Renzi called. "You can all stay where you are and eat your supper, but the chief wants to make some announcements, so keep your ears open."
"Toldya Chief was plannin' something," Florida muttered to Menard, passing everyone plastic plates of badly-cooked rabbit. "I hope it's somethin' fun."
(You're fine lol)
Taran flopped onto the ground next to Menard, maybe a bit to hard, jarring her tailbone slightly. She ignored the slight pain and glanced around with a yawn, examining the other Fighters with observant, half-lidded eyes.
She glanced up at the sound of a whistle. What did they need? She was hungry, and needed to finish her arm before it was too late.
She made a face at the food.
Boar-back stood and took Renzi's place. He didn't speak right away, instead taking a minute to sweep the crowd silently with his gaze. This had the effect of making most of the bandits stop whispering and stare back at him uncertainly.
"I'll keep this short," he said finally. "First of all, I'm going north to meet with the chief of the Lakes tribe tomorrow, before dawn. Some of you will be going with me, mostly as an honor guard. Renzi will let you know tonight if you're one of those people. He'll also be in charge while I'm gone." The tall man paused to make sure no one had questions, then continued. "Second of all, I know you're probably all wondering when we're going to start raiding other tribes again. Well, I've decided. When the moon's half-full, we'll launch a major attack on the Oakrot tribe and overthrow them."
There was an exited cheer from the bandits, many of them shaking their weapons fiercely. But Boar-back held up a hand to quiet them.
"Until then, we continue raiding villages for supplies as usual. Don't antagonize other tribes, report anything strange directly to me, and keep the night of our attack a secret. Anyone caught disobeying these orders will be in some very hot water. Is that understood?"
"Yes, chief!" the crowd shouted.
"All right then. Eat your supper and don't stay up too late."
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