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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 7, 2019 0:45:52 GMT
Based on how long Harthe had been out of commission, Rowan was awake far longer than other crew members of the Starsquall. For him, that time had been spent in chains, being tortured day in, day out, by people he couldn't even understand. The boy was beginning to lose hope that he'd ever be free. So, to be sitting alone in an abandoned house with just himself, Harthe, and the three prisoners they'd escaped from the facility with, that almost felt like a dream. It was the most freedom he'd had in what felt like far too long, and despite the awful circumstances, he wore a smile on his face.
"We can hole up here for a bit," Rowan said as he moved a large flat wooden board in front of a window to keep people from looking inside. The place was cold, as cracks lined the walls and allowed the wind to get inside, with the floors being dusty, but it was something. It was a step up. The way he looked at it, they were only here until they could get back to the Starsquall... wherever that might be.
"Whatcha think, Harthe..? Maybe an hour and we'll be able to get out of here, or do you think you'll need more rest?"
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 7, 2019 1:03:51 GMT
Now that she had time for her thoughts to catch up to her, Sylvye began to realize how little she actually remembered of the Initiative's departure, much less her capture. Although, considering Rowan's circumstances, that was probably for the better. Not everyone could just forget their past. All she knew was they were in for a grim time until they made it back to the Starsquall, but for the time being, this small, cold, abandoned house was a perfect safe haven.
In response to Rowan's question, she would simply offer a distant stare and nod, then go back to twiddling her thumbs underneath the cloth she had found to cover her body, which was much more bare than she would have liked it to be. "I'd be more concerned for yourself," She eventually added. Her deep voice was much softer than usual. "Tough or frail, it's never good to strain yourself." Her head fell down to her tangled hands, closing her eyes as she imagined herself once more in her office back on Earth.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 7, 2019 1:13:40 GMT
"I don't need rest," Rowan said with a grin as he went around the house, stuffing small pieces of cloth in all the tiny holes he could find. They'd had enough blankets for everyone, but it was a bit too cold due to the state of the building, so he took it on himself to mend it as best he could. "I need to be moving, to get some energy in my body again. I used too much back there," he sighed, feeling the weakest he had in so long. Though, looking over at the trio they rescued, all huddled and sleeping together in a corner, he smiled and realized that he had no regrets.
"Are you hungry? I can try and go out and find food. If I cover myself I can get around easy, I think - most of these species appear to be humanoid."
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 7, 2019 1:29:25 GMT
"Of course," She smiled lightly to herself. Rowan was young and energetic. Although she was only a few years older, the difference in motivation and energy was blatantly evident. It wasn't that she had given up, it was simply that, for the first time in forever, her only obligation was to rest when she was able, which was very difficult for the workaholic, considering she had always surrounded herself with technology and machines. Now, she had no need to work, and was unable to instruct proteges. What was left for her to do? Socialize? The thought made her uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly a people person.
The sudden reminder of food made her stomach growl, however her needs were insignificant in her mind, at least in the current circumstance. "I'll last until we find the others." Was her response. Of course there was no telling when that would be, but realistically the odds of not finding a familiar face in at least the next couple of days was little to none. If she gave enough thought, she could probably build a tracking device.
"But if you need to move around, I won't keep you holed up."
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 7, 2019 3:26:01 GMT
"Nonsense," he replied, shaking his head as he walked over to the back room. The sound of shifting would could be heard as he moved one large board, revealing a hole in the wall he could move through. "It could be days, weeks, or even months before we found anyone. I'm not letting you wait that long. Keep an eye out, I'll find us some food. We can eat and then we can leave. Sound good?" A smile crossed Rowan's lips, and the boy sat down next to the hole.
He waited a moment for Harthe to say something, anything, if she had any intention to. If there were no objections, though, he'd slink out from the hole and get up to his feet. Stealing a cloth from a nearby line, he'd wrap it around himself to hide his features, and take to the back alleys in search of food.
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 7, 2019 5:08:56 GMT
Unwrapping herself from her bundle of cloth, Sylvye stood up and threw her arms above her head, yawning. Evidently there was no changing Rowan's mind, and it was futile to try. She would simply have to learn to adapt to these new circumstances and listen to the young captain. She would simply remain reclusive.
"Sounds fine to me, just don't be gone too long." She turned her attention to the resting alien family, then to her pair of guns, then back to Rowan. "My gift isn't made for offense nor defense, so I'll simply have to part with the guns if the need arises."
If he had nothing left to say, she would wave him off.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 7, 2019 5:46:57 GMT
"Just keep 'em on you when I'm not around. If you need to use their parts to make something, wait till I get back." Rowan smiled, giving the woman a thumb's up before he left.
Outside, Rowan kept to the walls and had all visible parts of his skin covered. Slowly, he pressed his back to a corner and leaned over to look, and check if any guards were nearby - the last thing he needed was to confront the bastards from the prison in an open area like this. It appeared there were patrols now, possibly as a result of the breakout just moments ago, which caused him to curse under his breath. He slunk down to a crouch and waited, watching the patrols rotate over and over so he could learn exactly how they were operating. When he finally ascertained this, he acted.
Breaking out in a small dash, he went from being alone in an alley to blending in with the crowd, in what looked to him like a market area. They passed by several different stands as the crowd moved in what seemed like circles, and using what poor sleight of hand he did have, he reached out for meats, fruits, or at least things that looked like them. His luck quickly ran out, though, when someone caught him stealing a slab of meat and called out for the guards. His eyes widened, and he booked it back toward the safehouse.
At least an hour would pass before Harthe would be able to hear the wood in the back room shift again. A moment later, Rowan slid in, and quickly replaced the wood. Panting, the boy crawled into the main room, wearing a large grin on his face.
"I did it! I... I dunno what any of it is, but I did it!"
Rowan laughed a bit, before slipping the sack off his shoulder and opening it on the floor to reveal a bundle of meats in a separate cloth, as well as a decent number of fruits. They looked foreign, but clearly they were edible if the people were buying and selling them to one another.
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 7, 2019 6:00:56 GMT
At some point or another, Sylvye had fallen asleep, curled on the floor with nothing more than a shaggy blanket covering her. Although her eyes were closed, her mind was running in overdrive. She was in the process of further developing their escape plan until the sound of creaking wood startled her wide awake.
She would sit up and rub her eyes momentarily before nodding with a light smile, then would examine the foreign foods as they were laid out for her. Some looked appetizing, others were questionable. Regardless, they were in no place to be picky. As long as it gave them energy to push forward.
"Should we wake the aliens?" She tilted her head as she spoke, peering over to their corner.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 8, 2019 7:24:18 GMT
"Of course, yeah," Rowan said, smiling. "Could you do that? I'll do what I can to prep this stuff."
Rowan broke a few pieces of wood on the ground to make a sort of ring where there was nothing but stone, and then piled all the wood in that ring on top of each other. Once he got it into a pile that wasn't going to fall on itself, he took long thin spikes he stole as well to use as skewers, and began to stab them through the meat. Each piece was skewered in what he hoped was the correct way, and then his attention returned to the wood. One small piece at the bottom was taken, and then charged with kinetic energy. It had been so small that a legitimate explosion was impossible, but it did burst into flames. Slowly, a fire began to form.
As the fire started to kick up, Rowan went and removed the bits of cloth he'd put in the holes of the walls, so that there was some circulation of air that kept them from choking on the smoke. Then, once everyone was awake, he'd hand them all a skewer with a piece of meat on it.
"It's not much, but it's all I could do for now," he said, still smiling. Reaching over to the sack again, he took out the fruits ands tarted to distribute those as well, while he held his skewer over the growing flame.
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 8, 2019 7:37:00 GMT
Nodding in acknowledgment, Sylvye groggily made her way across the room to the huddled up aliens, lightly setting her hand on an arm and whispering that they had food. Once she made sure they were awake, she retreated back to her corner as Rowan prepared their meal. The addition of a small flame felt nice. It lit up a nice ambiance and was slowly warming up the desolate cabin. It almost reminded her of a campfire on Earth, and she couldn’t help but feel a sort of emptiness when thinking of home.
She hesitantly plucked a skewer from Rowan’s fingers, staring at it briefly before placing it over the flame. ”Thanks.” She would say, her eyes focusing on the meat as she rotated the spike. She would then take a piece of fruit, but rather than adding it into her skewer she simply set it aside for later.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 9, 2019 0:51:55 GMT
The three looked thankful as they fetched the food handed to them, all wearing warm smiles and spouting thanks after thanks in their own language. The youngest one, the boy, stood up and waved to both Rowan and Harthe, then started slowly spinning his meat over the fire to show them the proper way to cook it. He knew they were foreign, after all, and figured they might not know the best way to handle this particular type of food.
Rowan grinned, mimicking the boy, and looked over to Harthe with a cocked brow.
"Not too bad, I think," he laughed, then bowed his head to the boy. "We, uh... got two more comin' later, by the way. I found two of ours while I was out."
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 9, 2019 1:19:04 GMT
After a few minutes the meat seemed to have browned up enough to her liking. She hesitantly pulled the skewer away from the fire, holding it up in front of her with a blank stare. It was like she was interrogating this alienated steak, almost as if her eyes were the flame that had cooked it. Finally, she took a bite, chewing slowly before setting the rest of the skewer on her lap.
"It's dry. I probably overcooked it, but I'm going to blame you for finding bad meat." She firmly stared at him, making an unapparent joke. "It's good you located others though. When will they arrive?" She tilted her head, pondering the faces that may appear at any given moment.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 9, 2019 2:13:54 GMT
Rowan's stomach grumbled and his mouth watered as he watched the food, the browning of it making him just that much hungrier. He waited, watching the others as they cooked as well, and as soon as it appeared they were all ready to eat, he chowed down. The texture was far chewier than he'd expected, but for all intents and purposes it appeared to be much like beef. Or, at least, that was the comparison he chose to make.
"Blame away," Rowan said with a mouth full of meat, laughing. "They should be here soon-ish! I dunno, I told them where we're hiding, then booked it. I was being chased, didn't want them to get caught up in that too."
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Post by Sylvye Harthe on Feb 9, 2019 2:31:14 GMT
Nodding, Sylvye finished her skewer, tossing the slab of wood aside. "Moving in a large group is risky, but it's our only option at this point." She replied, pulling her hair back. "They can have what's left of the food, I'm going to lay down." Before Rowan could get a word out, she plopped herself back on the hard floor and rolled back into the blanket that covered her before. She had no interest in socializing, especially when she had no valid reason for doing so in the first place. She was simply the brain, nothing more.
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Post by Rowan Altambra on Feb 9, 2019 2:47:24 GMT
Rowan sighed, scooting closer to Harthe while she rolled up in her blanket. Still munching on the beef, he looked down at her, patting her on the shoulder. "You got enough to eat, yeah?" he'd ask, cocking a brow. "Don't give shit away just 'cuz. Keep your strength up. It's important." Regardless of the answer received, he'd smile, leaning back and looking over to the aliens. "Movin' in a group is our only real option... they'll help, too. Good to know others of ours are around. We'll get us all home in no time, and we'll sit a computer in front of your face too. That'll help, yeah?"
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