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[Fury] The Forest Trip (Bon 3.0, Dog 3.0)
Bon,
A week has passed since the Harbor fell and HM moved his flock to Safeco. HM’s workers have set up shop, but those who were dying of the pink are still abandoned, still stuck with you and you’ve had to pay 1-barter out of your own pocket to keep them fed.
Let’s see how your full infirmary has fared. Please roll+Sharp. On a hit, choose options. On a 7-9, choose one. On a 10+, choose two
- you haven’t lost anyone to the red. something you’re doing must be working
- one of the abandoned is well enough to help out (you pick who) and earns one barter towards the other’s care.
- you haven’t had to care for any new long-term patients
On a miss, you’ve lost half of them and the sickness is spreading in Safeco now, quarantine is needed.
Regardless of your patients, you’ve gotten enough research done that you know you need to gather materials from the forest. That’s a dangerous trek, as only fools travel there alone, and they never return the same. What did you offer the Arrows to ride with you?
Dog,
It’s been a week since August went missing, and there’s still no sign of her. She disappeared in the storm, headed your way. You spent a few days looking for her, but Zeus, Rainey and a few others urged you to keep working, keep the Arrows closer to “home”. They told you August is capable, she’s an Arrow and she’ll come back when she comes back. It’s been a week. Will she?
There’s some kind of cold war going on between Pikes and Safeco now that Vignette is “in charge”. Admiral asked what your gang’s loyalty would be worth if there was conflict. What did you tell him?
You’d asked Queen Anne for info on the folks going crazy for the forest. This morning, he sent you a runner with some details on a section of the forest where some loggers found something funky, and the guy who stole Tin-Girl’s bike had been one of them. Bon asked for a ride to the place, and even though you don’t have August to ride with you, it’s better than nothing, right? Plus, you can pick up some clearwater of your own.
I’d like to see how things are going for the Arrows. Please roll+Hot. On a hit, choose options. On a 7-9, choose two to be true. On a 10+, choose three
- Rainey is still riding with you (morning sickness hasn’t messed her up today
- Cujo isn’t beaten and bruised from picking more fights at Swill’s
- You’ve earned three jingle doing side work (guarding caravan, carrying goods back and forth, what have you)
- Belka’s still around, even though she’s been iffy lately, not always there for the pile, her head’s still in the game, though
Bon and Dog,
You’re entering the forest finally, it’s late morning. The people of the city thinned out as you came closer and closer to the place. The vibrant green was hidden behind brambles and thick, dark green bushes. Following Ace’s lead, all the bikes form a single-file line to follow the old highway, reduced over time to little more than a forgotten and vegetation-choked path.
The arrows have to stop a couple times to hack through wrist-thick vines clogging the trail in order to power the bikes through as thorns tear at your clothes and sting exposed skin. A desiccated corpse caught up in the creepers and thorny vines was a startling discovery. One of those deluded fools trying to reach the woods, perhaps.
You immediately feel eyes. There are no people here, no animals that you see, just grass and trees. But the feeling is unmistakable, this intense quiet closeness here in this vibrant green and brown where the red falls far overhead in the canopy and filters down vine and trunk and before it reaches ground… somehow. Is gone.
Bon, from perusing old books and your training, you know that there is a particular plant that grows near running water. You have a page showing the leaves. The stalk will be immensely helpful in curing your patients. You can’t inoculate with it, but you can save people with it.
Dog, there’s a feeling of wonder here. Did that guy who stole Tin-Girl’s bike, did he want to return here maybe? The trees are too thick to ride, you’ll need to park the bikes. Are you leaving a guard or two? If so, who?
People would live here, except for something. What is it?
What do you do?
Comments
I believe August will be coming back. It's not like we've lost track of Joey or Mox or Shy. I don't like how we haven't gotten a sign of her, but it's better than some things, and I know it. I will be happy to see her again, I hope it's soon.
Admiral wants to sniff out my loyalty between him and Vignette? Ugh, I'm not fighting in a war for him at Pikes, what rot that would be. I don't know what he's heard about the night Vignette took over and the day after, but I freeze him out on that either way. Arrows will keep it down just outside of SafeCo, but the rest? Soak it. Not our deal.
'Sides, I wanna see how Vignette takes things, bein' in charge. She's earned that from me.
All of this green is so strange. Even in the city I'm used to having more distance to see with, too. I think people would live here, but where is there even food? Nothing for me, at least. My machete's seeing some heavy work today. Can't imagine having a decisive fight here, either. I guess it's a nice place to die, but not my favorite.
When we park, I leave two Arrows with the bikes, Zeus as usual and Tin-Girl, who heard something she didn't like in Chance's engine. Now's her shot to look at it.
I really like the smell of this place. That feeling of eyes? Not so much. Probl'y just the closeness of the trees and the foreign feel but just the same, I'm a little on edge.
Love letter roll with Hot; (Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 6, 1. Total: 8)
Marking my 5th XP and advancing.
Rainey's doing okay this morning, so she's here. I been keeping an eye on her.
Cujo is here because talking her out of a ride was too damn hard, but she's been finding more fun at Swill's than I like. Something's gotta give there.
We're pretty set for trade right now, it's been a busy week. Comin'. Goin'. Laundry day. Hauls. What a hustle.
Belka, speaking of things that gotta give, is not here today. Gonna have to talk with her. If she's done being an Arrow, there's someones who could use the bike.
Rolling sharp for the infirmary
(Rolled: 2d6+2. Rolls: 6, 3. Total: 11)
+1 xp
It has been a long time since I had been on a bike. I had forgotten the simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating speeds, the feel of rushing air on my face. There is that moment of familiarity, of unity, with us all riding together that fills some part of my soul, loath though I am to admit it, and highlights the subtle sense of loss that I have been doing my best to ignore. Riding with Dog has taught me again just how close to the edge she rides, but now we are here, I'm glad that circumstances put the Arrows with me.
The trade came somewhat naturally. I had to see to Rainey since she is now with child. I gave her some herbs to make tea or even to chew on that will relieve a lot of the sickness she is experiencing. After my exam and much smiling (I have always gotten along well with Rainey) Dog insisted, over my objections, that they pay me for seeing to Rainey's care during the pregnancy. I would have done it for free and told them so, the Arrows being hardly a step from family, but Dog was... quite profanely firm. To mitigate it then, I proposed a trade, that Dog and maybe another Arrow or two accompany me to the forest to find my plant. I did not expect them all to come.
August's absence gnaws at my mind, but it isn't as if it's the first time she's wandered off for a bit. Had she been along I probably would have been expected to ride with her on my old bike. Just the thought sends a frisson through me. Sitting snugged up to Dog's wiry strength during the ride has already highlighted the lack of such touch in my life. Perhaps instead I would have ridden it alone and she would have doubled up with Dog. I would not have enjoyed that either but at least it would not drive me mad. Should something have happened to her I will curse myself in this moment for thinking it something of a blessing that August isn't on this ride.
At the infirmary, Decatur has responded to treatment surprisingly well. Maybe it's just the will of the man, which is considerable, but he has become well enough to help me care for the rest. He impresses me greatly.
As fortune would have it, we have not gained any more long term patients into our rather crowded little facility. It is also less crowded for a more melancholy reason: one of the infected women has perished. Not Lissa, thank providence, or I suspect my helper would not be as well as he is.
Shy did beg me to come on this ride, but I told her I needed her to stay back with our charges as she is the most experienced after me. And there is something to her belief that I did not want her coming anywhere so dangerous. She was sullen and sharp about it, then Dog said something to her and she visibly straightened up, looking more mollified. The memory of the exchange makes me uneasy.
I stand, getting my legs again, and my personal space, after the ride--honestly, I never was very good at riding--and regard the close and intense environment apprehensively for any hints of danger, waiting for the others before moving ahead in search of running water.
"Beautiful." I say quietly, waving unnecessarily at the verdant green before us.
Once we are under way I remain close to Dog.
"What words did you have for Shy that her irritation so abruptly lost its vigor?" I ask.
I nod to Bon as she leads eyes to the forest with a hand. There's a pull to relax here, there really is. I take another deep breath of green-scent.
Glad Bon hasn't kicked up a fuss about the big ride, even if she felt kinda stiff most of the way. We have so few chances to do good by her since she started the infirmary. Can't feed her or do her hair (not that she trucked much with that), keep her things clean, feed Mox or Shy. Best we can do is pay like anyone else when she helps us. She can't hide all them folk she's looking after and it means she needs extra.
"I told her this medicine you're gettin', it would give you both more time where she could practice riding." I look up at all the green overhead. Hard for Chance to get a long view with that up there. I take some old wrecked grease stored up by Tin-Girl for territory marks in old pots of hair-do stuff and smear trail marks on tree bark.
"I coulda had her ride-along with Zeus, I guess, but your patients need her more than she needs a ride."
"Yes." I say with a sigh, a bitter taste on my tongue carries to my voice, though I do my best to suppress it. "You she listens to."
"It ain't fair. I know it." I push a branch up out of our way as we go, letting Bon pass under my arm. "Hearts ain't fair. But she'll be owed some riding lessons when we get back and your people are healthy."
I check behind us again like I've been since we made it this far in, feelin' them eyes. I'm keeping my eyes open for cuts on the wood, like loggers would do, and for dips in the land where water would run.
Dog is wise. I think of August again.
"No. They are not fair at all, are they? Nor often wise for all that." I murmur. My heart, Shy's, makes no difference. I'm quiet for a few moments, assessing the lay of the land, picking out the way water drains. My voice is even again, clinical almost. "'Tis not a mystery, truly. I am limitation itself, and caution and routine. A tool that knows little of the world but its own small purpose. You... You are excitement, danger, passion, romance..."
I glance at her agian. Shrug a shoulder.
"You are fun."
I don't know if I made things better for Bon or not. As she's comparing us I wonder if I've made her mad, or madder, I don't know. Bon can be wrapped up so tight. I let out an embarrassed, lost sort of laugh. Her words, they make sense, but I have no feeling on what to do with them.
My fingers knit together behind my head, shoulders up, elbows in a little, face hot. I look around my own arm at Bon. "You, uh, make yourself sound real small, Bon. What Shy's thinking, it's easy to tell. I'm..I'm not, uh. You know."
Bon, what's the ugliest injury on Cujo right now? She's been in a series of fights, her body marked with wounds. She has stayed away from you this whole trip, but the woods closing in on you, it's hard not to be near her.
Chance has scampered up one of the mossy trees to get a lookout. She ambles like she was born to it, moving with sure hands and feet (she kicked off her riding boots at the bikes and walked barefoot here). She calls out "nobody around", then takes a perch, watching.
Dog, you spot a small open area a hundred feet in, still under the canopy, but wider. Looks like some trees were here. Sounder moves ahead, her shotty out, while Rainey hangs back near you and Bon. You both spot seven trunks, chopped many times in crude ways by hand.
Also, you hear the distant sound of running water. Bon, you know this sound, right? Dog, it's like a faucet, kind of. Or maybe one of the rainwater barrels emptying, but it doesn't stop emptying. Ace and Cujo are wary, not hearing any of it. But Laika and a few others gasp when they hear it, and the crew starts moving quickly towards the sound, pulling canisters and jugs and such.
What do you do?
Hey now, I've heard running water before, swum in a stream with August, even. Seen big lakes and the bloody sea. Seen big floods and little pissant rains. My head clears and it's point-time.
"Don't touch nothin'." I tell anyone moving into the clearing. I already told Bon on the ride in that Tin-Girl's unfortunate guy might have found his madness here. My arms ease down. ::Really, don't touch anything if you don't know what it is. Follow Laika if you want water.::
If that water turns up clear and not pink, that's real good. As much as we can carry, it's ours, the good stuff, and we won't be paying for days. Got my plastic barrel that rolls up small.
I draw my machete and follow Sounder. I'm thirsty, but I'll let the Arrows take first and when the rush is over I'll help Bon look for her plant and bottle my own stuff.
Cujo is rarely without bruises, of course, but she has outdone herself. One only has to look at her tattoos to understand that she believes marks are valuable thing. With my own tattooing, I can hardly disagree. She tends to resist letting me work on her injuries, particularly if they will scar. She is more likely to go to Queen Anne who's technique is no doubt admirable for fabric but for skin is, when kindly put, utilitarian.
Compounded with that Cujo feels strongly about the Arrows and their members. To say we are opposites would probably be understating. I believe she sees my departure as something of a betrayal, though I don't think she would say it with the other Arrows, especially Dog, within earshot.
Aesthetically the ugliest injury is without doubt her black eye, which must have been swollen to truly impressive proportions only a few days ago. As it is, it has added a interesting variety of splotchy color to one of the few areas not thoroughly tattooed. Cujo seems to revel in such obvious and brutal wreckage to her aspect. The paradox is that without such damage or her habitual snarl, Cujo's visage is one seemingly designed by a master sculptor. To truly appreciate it, however, one must look upon her while she sleeps. The contrast is... startling.
However I'm more worried about a series of cuts only barely patched together. She risks infection unnecessarily.
We hear the sound of the rushing water and I'm impressed by Dog's immediate admonition for everyone to be safe. I find myself looking at her a long moment. Is this really the reckless girl I knew from so long ago? The one with the same impulsive, dynamic, frightening... dooming energy as my sister?
Shaking my head slightly in something akin to wonder at my suddenly warm feelings, I follow after her. As they start to move off towards the water, I catch sight of and motion to Cujo.
::Come here, please::
"I should like those to be sealed up better before she gets near water of any sort. She risks too much." I say to Dog.
Cujo signs back to you, Dog, ::I am fine. Anne will stitch me up. I do not need the tratior's hands on me.:: She's not hiding her signs, Bon, but she's not signing back to you.
And my own face seemed so mobile but a moment ago. I almost feel it set into calm impassivity. I shift my kit on my shoulder, just a small one, and begin the walk toward her.
::And I do not wish your name upon me, do not be foolish.::
Bon, Cujo turns to face you, and moves quick to cut the distance. She signs a couple curse words, then shoves you to the ground. You land soft, the grass cushioning your fall.
Standing over you, with her back to you, Dog, like she planned it, Cujo signs at you, Bon, ::Stupid quitter. You do not know what you gave up. Soak you. I should crush your stupid skull. I murder better than you, Bon. You give hope where there is none. You make dead people suffer longer, that is it. There is only Arrows. The rest is bloody mud.::
I sink my machete deep into a tree at my side. I need my hands free, but I don't fill the air with sign-chatter. I see 'stupid' and probably 'murder' and 'bloody'.
I flick a piece of wood at the back of Cujo's head. A light one, goes 'tonk'. Cujo put her back to me and that's my gentlest way of saying 'you stepped in the mud'. I've let Cujo run too mad, thought she'd get it beat out of her faster than this.
I go down with a slight yelp, though I was expecting something of that sort. The grass is not that soft. My wind is shaken hard if not completely fled and I will have at least a couple of bruises due to stone and stick. However it is the words that are most painful, contrary to the old saying. It carves a hollow inside me, which I clamp down on.
I meet her eyes, noting the tics, her expression and posture. Diagnosing.
::Do as you will. I will not stop:: I sign, then sit up and start to regain my feet, not taking my eyes from hers.
reading Cujo
(Rolled: 2d6+2. Rolls: 2, 5. Total: 9)
+1 xp
What does she wish I'd do?
Bon,
Right now, Bon, even though she'd never ever admit it, what she wants you to do is tell her why she wasn't good enough. For you to stay with the Arrows. For Vignette to stay with the Arrows. What did she do wrong to drive you both away?
Dog
The wood chip clunks on the back of Cujo's head and she turns to face you with a snarl. She stares at you for a long moment, fists clenched, growling. You notice she turns her foot and plants it, like she wants to take off at a run for you. At you.
What do you do?
Why not send me a runner about it first, Cujo, 'bout how you like tackles? I move my feet a little further apart.
::This is not pointing forward.:: This isn't how I was taught to be an Arrow.
I regain my feet behind Cujo, body complaining.I watch her turn and see the foot. I reach out and lay a hand on her shoulder, looking across at Dog
Bon and Dog,
Cujo grabs your hand, Bon, throwing it off her shoulder. She glances back at you, then again at you, Dog. Not wanting to fight a battle on two fronts or something, Cujo stomps away, away from both of you, deeper into the forest.
Rainey had come up by you, Dog, she was ready to stop Cujo... or something. Laika and some of the other Arrows are watching now, confused by this altercation, they don't know what started it.
What do you do?
I look after Cujo and sigh. Then around at the others. Then I look at Dog again.
::Her old wounds are aggravated. She lashes out in pain. I will go after her?::
I nod to Bon. ::I let her try and fight it out, didn't work. Yell if you need me.::
"They're working things out." I smile and pat Rainey's shoulder. "Not the first time Cujo and me got tangled up, right? I'm gonna stay here, you guys fill up." I lean on the tree with my blade tucked in it.
I nod, turn, and follow Cujo's unsubtle trail into the forest. Dog is most like Nee, true, but I suddenly think that many of the Arrow Pack share her qualities. She would have been a superb Arrow, unlike myself.
Dog,
From your vantage point, you see Ace, Laika and a few others filling up with clearwater from the little creek. Even with Cujo's anger they're pretty excited about this. Ace drops to the ground and shucks off her boots to go wade in it.
Rainey comes over to stand near you, Dog. "What are we going to do about Belka?" She's talking low, her eyes on the space where Cujo and Bon went.
Bon,
Cujo crashes through some underbrush, picking up into a jog, running wild into the woods without any seeming care of remembering where she came from. The trees seem to go on forever, small animal paths cut through the grass and undergrowth. For a place with such a thick canopy, the amount of green down here doesn't make sense. But it's here, verdant and thick.
After a few minutes of a wild run, she glances back to see you. She blinks a couple times, then turns her head back away from you, reaching up to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand.
I assume you follow her to the big wide tree where she finally stops, then turns around to stand in front of it, facing you.
She squints at you, signing, ::What? I am not apologizing, I do not care what Dog told you. You were wrong to leave, Bon.::
Bon, you were in the gang for a little while before Dog. You knew Cujo when she could still hear. What was she like then?
"I'm not gonna force her to stay, but we do need to talk to her. See where her head is at, why she ain't here." I look the way Cujo and Bon went, too. I sigh. "I don't want to lose her, but telling people they can never leave, that's rotten man-thinking. We'll see."
I get my machete out of the tree and back in its sheath. "Now, if she goes she can't keep the bike. Not for a pile of sparkle." Ace giggles and I'm out of heavy talk.
I peel out of my boots, too, dry socks hung over the top. The plastic barrel gets unrolled and I walk into the stream to fill it, whooping at the feel of such chill on my feet. I cup a hand and splash whoever's closest to me, face full of silly.
Dog,
Rainey stays by the tree, but Laika and Ace are in there with you. You splash Laika and she gasps at the cold splotches on her shirt, says something about dunking you and moves towards you, a big smile on her face. Ace makes a loud yowling noise, throwing an arm around your shoulder, then dumping a huge bucket of freezing cold water down your back. She laughs in your face and grins like some crazed child.
What do you do?
Cujo has always been agressive but it has grown, I think, since the loss of her hearing. There was a time when her aggressiveness did not have the dangerous edge, the ferocity, that it does now, but rather a more jocular tone. She had a celebratory air which turned our little band merry more than once. It was difficult to see her darken. The deepest cut, perhaps, was the loss of the music she loved so much. I remember finding the little music device she had in the beginning, scavenged from a ruin. It was her dearest treasure to that point, then there was the day I found it laying, thoroughly smashed, upon the concrete of our then hideaway.
I continue to approach her, stopping only a few feet away. I pause a moment before signing back.
::Perhaps I was. It was a hard choice and I doubt daily whether I have the right of it. I have no special claim on wisdom. And I ache bitterly for those to whom I have done injury. But we have always spoken truth to each other. Shall we exchange truth for truth?::"
I want her to talk to me. A fair exchange is perhaps the only way.
Bon,
Her mouth is a thin line, jaw set. With quick movements of her hands, she signs back. You notice the split nail on her left pinky. The red knuckles on her right hand. ::I am not lying. What truth are you offering and what do you want for it?:: Her eyes, intense, a bit watery, bore into yours.
What do you do?
I nod. My gaze doesn’t leave hers and I let my own tension, fear and worry… even anger, come to my face. Carefully removing the calm mask of the healer for her to see. I take an ennerved breath steeling myself to take the only path I think might help.
::No, you are not. But you are not telling, either. Your sisters look upon your rage helpless and worried. I offer answers to whatever question you want to ask of me. The truth of my heart as honestly as I know it. And I would likewise know the truth of yours.::
Bon,
Cujo huffs a breath, ::You go away and in one morning you think you know MY sisters? They were yours, but you threw it away. For what?::
I spit out the water that got in my mouth in a stream and laugh with Ace. I wipe my hair out of my face and tip up my bucket onto her.
There's not much in it, so it's empty real quick and instead of more splashes I haul Ace over a soggy shoulder and walk a little with her, laughing. It's the kind of horse-play I'd do with the kids. Declare myself the splash monster and stomp around.
When I put her down there's a little more splashing and silliness, but I'm ready to fill up my barrel for real. Gonna have to wring out all my kit when I'm done, I guess. Worth it.
Dog,
Ace shakes her head back and forth, throwing water droplets in your face, still grinning, laughing that loud way she does. She doesn't laugh often, but when she does, well, she doesn't understand how loud it is, or how odd. The Arrows all find it charming, but you're in some dark wood here. It only lasts a couple moments, she sees alarm in the others.
As you're wringing out your kit, the other Arrows are all sitting in the creek, splashing, getting water, whatever. Chance is down on her haunches staring at a small pool of water watching things move near the bottom. Hachiko is lying on her back in the creek, staring at the branches high overhead. It's probably the most relaxed the gang has been outside of the pile in as long as you can remember.
There's an odd feeling in the pit of your stomach when you hear something in the bushes to your east. Rainey perks her head up from where she was cupping her hand to drink clearwater. The sound is soft, not sudden, but it is unmistakable. Something's out there, watching.
What do you do?
I put my heavy jacket back on, it's cold at first and then a little warm. ::We got a creeper, Arrows.::
I move towards the sound, steadily, trying to bring up in my mind where everybody is. Could just be Tin-Girl or Zeus splashing with us. But my gut isn't telling me that.
Dog,
With a couple glances, you check out the gang, nobody out of place. Cujo, Bon, Zeus and Tin-Girl out of sight, but the rest are around. Sounder scrambles out of the creek, followed by Chance. They follow after you as you walk up the slight grade. The dirt here is soft and your feet slide an inch or two down after each step.
There’s not much of a trail to the spot near a big tree where you saw something moving. Tangled roots and ankle-deep moss make your footing slick.
When you crest the small hill about maybe thirty feet up you can see the Arrows and the creek off to your right. More trees deeper in the forest. A chill tickles your spine and there’s this quiet sound like wind through leaves even though the air is still. The feeling bugging everyone, you can tell. Sounder cuts left, moving loudly to draw attention. Chance climbs up a tree for a better look.
What do you do?
I don't stay where my footing is bad. Not a place to stand or fight.
My eyes follow Sounder while she grabs attention with noise. I hunker down and try to guess where whatever I saw might have hid next. How big they might be. How they hunt.
::Have they changed such in six months that my nine years of knowing and care is so unreliable? I know the Arrows. Even you. More than that, I know pain, for we are old, old friends. But soft that, I will answer your questions, if you vow to answer mine in kind. Are we agreed?::
Bon,
Cujo's ire breaks like a wave against the rocks and she looks away for a moment. Reminding her of those nine years calms her a bit. She signs, ::Nine years. Nine good years, Bon. Why did you go?::
I take the break as a good sign and close the distance to one more intimate. When she looks back I sign,
::Not because of you. All of you are second in my heart only to my own chil… my niece and nephew.::
I pause thinking, searching my own heart as I sign.
::It was several things at once. That fight with the raiders where I had you and Dog and Sounder to patch up, and where for one hour of utter terror I thought I would have to carve Shy’s name on my flesh next to her mother’s. As I fought to keep you all alive all I could see…::
My hands falter for a moment, shaking.
::All I could see was Nee’s blood on my hands. It shook my very heart.::
::There were minor considerations too. The ability to fulfill my purpose well requires a less nomadic existance. And there was the opportunity to create a more permanent place, to heal those who suffer with all my ability. Also, It will not be long before Mox is too old to be with the Arrows, and I can not give him up.::
I look down, knowing the last, but I have not admitted it. I take a breath.
::And, perhaps most foolishly, I have been plagued for more than a year by an attraction that has no hope. It was not the main thing, but…::
I look up at her agian.
::But it was more than I could bear. So I took the opportunity that presented itself. I joined the Arrows for protection. And after a time I grew to love them, even against my will, but I… I needed to see if there was a different way to be.::
I stop, dropping my eyes again, curling my hands into each other against my chin. They still shake with the exposure that feels like an unbandaged wound.
Dog,
Sounder swings her shotty across the tops of a few bushes and hoots a few times. The forest seems to swallow the sound, echoes bouncing off a few trees then falling away. No sign of any critters, nothing scurrying away. The feeling’s still there, in the pit of your stomach. The sense of something watching.
You glance over at Sounder, her voice booming with calls to “big badgers” and “little wolfies”. She walks on the other side of a wide tree, the trunk hiding her for a moment.
Silence.
Sounder doesn’t come around the other side. You don’t hear her either.
Chance calls down from her perch on a wide branch, ”What the flood?” She peers in Sounder’s direction. ”Soundy! That’s not funny!”
Sounder doesn’t reply.
What do you do?
Bon,
When you share that moment where so many of the Arrows were hurt and bleeding and you had to save them, Cujo signs, ::You did not have to patch me up, Bon. Always the others first. Always.::
Her expression turns to confusion when you mention an attraction. She tilts her head to the side, her bloody lip turning into a half smile. She asks, ::Please say it is not Belka. She will scrog anything!:: A light flickers in Cujo's eyes, the question thrills her slightly. You get the feeling she doesn't think it's her, doesn't want it to be her. But this is a much better answer than she'd feared.
I think of the corpse in the vines. "Chance, shush! Get down!"
Aw, flood. Flood, flood and blood. I don't waste time getting to where Sounder was, and I draw my machete.
Probably whatever's got her is above, close on that tree or doing a drag-away opposite of Chance and me. If Sounder can't make a noise it's because her throat is closed off or she is dead. Maybe there's other reasons but I have to be real about this.
"Come get a piece a'me, you grotty mothersoaker!"
Dog,
Chance clambers down and tries to keep up with you, but you're chopping brush and moving hard for that tree. When you come around it, you see Sounder has been pulled up the tree. Her feet are dangling uselessly by your chest, her head is about eight feet up the tree. Some kind of razorvine has her throat and one of her hands, it's constructing like some boa and she's trying to dig the fingers of her left hand under the vines around her throat.
What do you do?
I jump up with a grunt and reach for a branch to brace myself up there with my free hand. With the other and my blade I make a swing for the vines above Sounder.
I'd grab her but that's much more like to hurt her. If I don't have the height to make the cut I'll halt my swing but I don't want to splash around and waste time.
Dog,
Let's see you Act Under Fire to free Sounder. On a 10+, you cut her free and she's hurting, but she'll be alright before too long. On a 7-9, choose if you had to cut her to get her free or if the vines broke a bone or two (she'll take Harm either way).
If you miss... well, don't miss.
Acting Under Fire; (Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 4, 5. Total: 10)
Marking XP, Sitting at 1
Dog,
You make it partway up to a branch, then Chance comes along, grabbing your boot and pushing you up, then standing under Sounder and trying to support her feet. With some well-placed whacks you're able to chop those vines.
Sounder falls awkwardly, Chance trying to break her fall with her own body. When you get down to them, Sounder's coughing and gasping, her hand on her red and bruised throat.
"Oh bloody flood!" Chance says as she checks Sounder's body for cuts or other injuries. You hear a rustling in the underbrush, Dog. Sounds like something's moving again.
What do you do?
I stay close to them and low, eyes open. "Blades out, it's vines in the trees!"
::Away from trees, back.::
I kind of want to chase this trouble, but Chance and Sounder need me here.
Most fun I had in the pit, actually, was rope fights. You and your opponent and two pieces of rope three quarters the length of the space, looped through a bar anchored real firm in the sand. You could get up to a lot of things with that setup.
I cannot help it but that I smile back even as my face grows warm with embarrassment.
I shake my head. ::No…:: I hesitate a moment before sighing and revealing myself to be ridiculous. ::August. ’Tis an utterly foolish infatuation that half the world holds for our little poet. But it has been exceptionally stubborn in refusing to let me alone. But leave me it will. It must.::
No doubt she can calculate the coincidences of just when I chose to pursue my my path away from the arrows.
Dog,
"Right!" Chance says as she crouches over Sounder and draws her little sticker.
You stand over them both, machete out, wary. Sounder's breathing ragged at your feet. The distant sound of the creek and the rest of the Arrows are still clear. They haven't heard your struggles. But the rustling's stopped.
What's weird, Dog. Is that the creek sounds like it's off to your left now. But you came here from the other direction.
What do you do?
Bon,
Cujo makes a face of realization, not shock, more like slight surprise, acknowledgment. ::She's something, for sure. At least you are with a crowd. Shows you have taste. Does she know?::
I snort, curiously easier since my only listener cannot hear.
::Of course not, nor should she. The notion is preposterous. Shall I join the legions languishing in her wake? Or cause strife:: I glance at her :: or rather more strife amongst my dearest friends? No, I think not.::
I motion to her arm.
::Now let me care for that before it drives me mad. Because I do have to patch you up. I would sooner choose what limb to sever from my body than to choose which of my sisters lives or dies when I can act to prevent it. And you are not least in that, however you may think of yourself. Perhaps while I do so, you can tell me why you have been so out of humor?::
"Looks like we got turned around?" I look at the tree I rounded to get to this spot. I chopped up a bunch of green to get here, kicked up a whole fuss. It should be there.
When Sounder's feeling up to it I help her to her feet. We got her whistle. My fight. Chance's sly self.
Dog,
Chance looks around, "Wait, what?" She glances off to the right, "No, they're over there, like we left them." Sounder groans, she's trying to get up. Chance puts a knee on her shoulder to keep her down, saying, "Stay down, Soundy. Hush now."
You see something, a pair of somethings now, come shambling around one of the trees. They're coming from your left, eyes vacant, bodies twisted. They were men, once, you think. Tattered clothing on them, vines wrapped around their bodies.
What do you do?
Bon,
Cujo lets you take her hand, work on her. She doesn't complain, doesn't wince when you have to touch what looks quite painful.
Her hands taken up, she glances around, sees you're alone, and says aloud, quietly, "I don't know. Ever since Vignette left us, everything pisses me off. I just want to hurt people. Like they always hurt me." She doesn't sound defensive. Her voice cracks a bit, as if maybe forming the words is now foreign to her.
What do you do?
I practice my craft upon her wound. It doesn't take much.
::And hurt yourself too, I see. I am not the only one suffering an attraction, it seems, though it is perhaps less ridiculous in your case. Have you told her or did you expect her to pick it from your mind?::
I make a face at the mending under way.
::You will no doubt be pleased to know these will scar a little.::
Bon,
Cujo's eyes are fixed on your lips as you talk. Her nose wrinkles up when she laughs a little about the scar comment. "Vignette was a lost puppy. She should've stuck where we could help her. Now... she's underwater. It's soaked two ways. Even if she survives, she'll never come back to the pile." She looks down at her hands. "Scars are sexy."
"Then you must needs be the sexiest of all Arrows."
I finish what needs doing, but I do not let go of her hand, instead holding it between mine. I look at her.
"If so, it is not your fault. And truly, hope is not yet gone. The Arrow Pack does not range widely. She is still nearby. The pile need not be slept in at every opportunity. Your sisters will not let go of you if you are not among them every moment, of this I can assure you."
I'm not turned around? I dunno, but if I'm confused..I point out the shamblers to Chance. I whisper, "Vine men?" I'm not skittered but maybe noise is bringing them to us. Or I'm seeing things. You know, either way it's good to be sure.
I tighten up to jump into them. Without a 'no, stop, Dog!' I'ma try and break them up a bit before they're in our faces. With a couple feet of angry, heavy metal.
Bon,
Cujo doesn't pull away, not once. The tension in her shoulders, between her eyes, they're gone. She's calm as she reads your lips, open to you.
"I don't..." Cujo says haltingly. "I don't even know what I want from her. From Vignette." She swallows, takes a small breath. "I feel better when she's around. "
Dog,
You charge forward towards those vine men, Chance staying behind as Sounder begs for a weapon. They move awkwardly, Dog, tight like the vines constrict their movement. They don't try to move out of the way or dodge. In fact, it's more like they're thankful, you're what they are after and you made their work so much easier!
The first swing chops through a vine on the first one's shoulder, and his arm opens up. You feel it hit bone and there's a groan of pain, somewhat subdued. With his left arm, the guy reaches for your off-hand, grasping with broken nails and slimy fingers.
What do you do?
"In faith, that is something, is it not? What is best is uncertain." I let go her hand and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Follow then that feeling and discover its root, for as the Arrows will testify, you are worthy, or instead choose to let it go. But above all do not punish yourself over it, for that only accomplishes pain for you and for those who love you. It is clearwater poured in the bloody sea, nourishing no one."
I slide my hands down her arms, squeeze, and step back.
Bon,
The words you say strike home with Cujo, being told she is worthy, that has an impact, it resonates with her. The calm you've given her sinks in, but a flicker of her normal fire dances back as she gets her hands back from your care. ::You tell me to pursue Vignette, to leave the pile for her, if only for a night or so. This means you must do the same for August.:: She gives you a self-satisfied smile, adding, ::You must do this. It is only fair, Bon.::
I try to let bemusement settle upon my face.
::Oh, ho. What then? Shall I ask Dog if she minds my dallying with her lover? My case is very different. There is something between you and Vignette already, some connection to pursue. I have no reason to believe my idle fancy is anything but one sided. And the target of it is well occupied.::
I shake my head.
::I am not less deserving, but neither am I more deserving than Dog. My amour will pass.::
Bon,
Cujo laughs quietly, ::Bon, August would lie with you. She might love you, too. Being August's lover does not mean she only loves you. She loves many people. In her way.::
Echoing somewhere behind you, you hear a couple Arrows calling out for Dog, and for Chance, and for Sounder. Sounds like Rainey and Laika. They sound, well, worried.
What do you do?
Yeah, no, no touching, that seems real moist. I jump back, swinging my arms back and out of the way. Gross. What are these guys?
Wish I could be confident these were the only ones, then I'd just line em up like the dumb muckers they are and shoot them down in a couple sprays. Come down to it, they're real set up for killing in the forest. They look like a pile of green, after all.
I'll play keep away and chop off whatever they point at me. Keep my swings hard and clean and try not to get bonestuck.
::Indeed that is yet another barrier…::
I’m signing it even as I turn to listen. I tense.
::Trouble! Our friends need us.::
I start that direction. Keeping eyes and ears open.
Dog,
Let's see you Act Under Fire to keep these vine men away from you as well as Chance and Sounder. If you roll a 10+, you take them out (you'll still take some Harm, though). On a 7-9, you're either lost or hurt, you choose and I'll describe.
On a miss, you missed a threat and lose something important.
Bon,
Cujo is drawn out of her relaxed state when you alert her to the danger. She's following you as you start running back through the thick green bushes and small prickly briars trying to get back to the Arrows.
Something's different, Bon. It's like the path is winding off to the left instead of the right, and the creek sounds like it's behind you... when it was off to your right? Cujo's noticed it, too, you see it in her eyes when you look back at her.
What do you do?
I watch for danger, my mind trying to correlate what I'm seeing with how I came here. My heart is thumping in my ears as I try to make for the sounds of the Arrows who are calling out.
Bon,
Let's have you Read a Sitch here while you're calling out for the other Arrows and Cujo is following you.
Rolling Act Under Fire; (Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 4, 1. Total: 6)
Marking XP, set at 2
+1 xp
What is my best way through to the arrows?
What should I be on the lookout for?
Which enemy is the biggest threat?
Dog,
You hack at the first vine man a couple more times and a thick red blood spurts from the stump as his arm slices off. He stumbles, vacant eyes finally registering pain as his body fails him. The other closes on you with broken nails and slimy firm grip. It grabs for your throat with scary strength and squeezes, tries to snap your neck. (Take 1-Harm AP, I’ll roll the Harm move next post)
The pain of his nails, the snake-like branch that slithers past his hand onto your left shoulder, it’s horrific. His yellowing teeth inches from your face and his dank breath on your skin. But your pit fighting skills kick in and you smash at his damned head with the heel of your hand a couple times then your machete as soon as you’ve got distance for a swing. These people… no… these things bleed… weird blood thick and clinging like sap and foul-smelling. There’s still hints of light in those eyes, but it’s like they’re constricted by those vines or something and they’re just not all there.
”Soundy!” You hear Chance scream, you lost them for a moment in the fight. "Oh please, Soundy!" You find that tree that pulled Sounder up and choked her and you see Chance, just Chance clawing at something in the dirt with her bloodied hands.
It’s Sounder’s hand. Sounder’s face somehow down there in the rotted earth trying to scream, but her throat’s still messed up she can’t even make words. It’s like quicksand or some soaking thing. The dirt, the earth ate her. Chance is trying desperately to pull Sounder back, but she’s losing.
If you don’t stop her it’s going to take Chance, too. Dog. You’ll lose them both. You just know it.
What do you do?
Bon,
Your best way through to the Arrows is less of a matter of feet and more of a matter of your head. If you head for where you remember them being instead of watching the signs of how you got where you are, you can find them.
You need to be on the lookout for the forest shifting. It’s like the forest is alive, one whole organism. There’s a reason people don’t come here to squat and live. The forest doesn’t want them here. Of course, that’s your biggest threat right now.
What do you do?
I give up examining the forest for direction and rely instead on my sense of where they should be based on my well-trained memory.
::Stay with me, this place is soaked :: I sign to Cujo.
My eyes are now watching the trees and plants for any sort of threatening movement as we rush to the aid of our friends.
Well, I would kill a person coming at me like this, makes no difference if they feel it or think about it. The way the vines are part of their body, that's something to be scared of because I don't know what to expect.
I have a couple thoughts, like 'Aw soak it, where are these guys rooted if they got vines in em?' and 'They bleed, so they can die.' They're cut short by Chance's scream - how did I lose her and Sounder?
I'm not gonna give up on either Chance or Sounder. I run over to them and nudge Chance out of the way with my shoulder, bracing my feet on the roots. Chance gets my blade and I get my hands around Sounders wrist and heave.
Dog,
Sounder's nearly gone when you shove your hands into the mealy earth. You're able to clasp Sounder's hand, her left hand, the one with scars across her knuckles from the time her hand was dragged along the ground once, a long time ago. You feel things moving in the earth, like maggots.
Let's see how Hard you are, Dog. When you try to pull someone from the earth of the forest, roll+Hard. On a hit, you pull it free. On a 10+, they'll make it, you got there in time. On a 7-9, it's touch and go, they need medico ASAP. On a miss, it just isn't enough.
Rolling Hard; (Rolled: 2d6+2. Rolls: 1, 6. Total: 9)
Bon,
You rush through the brush and around thick trees. Somehow the branches seem angled down towards you now, but perhaps it's a trick of your mind. Cujo's right behind you, breathing slow and calm as her arms pump and she keeps up with you.
After cresting a small hill that seems to be something you don't recall, you look down into a dip where you see Chance, then Dog. They're on their knees, looking at something, no someone on the ground. They're covered in dirt and mud, unrecognizable.
What do you do?
Dog,
Pulling Sounder back up out of the earth is like lifting an h-bike, Dog. You feel things moving in the earth, grubs pushing at your hands, at your nails, probing your body. Sounder lets out a silent scream, muffled by the dirt. But you don't give up, don't give in.
As you start to feel things moving your way in this tug of war, something else starts to pull at you, Dog. Roots grasp at your wrist and start to tug down, pulling you in. When your body slips forward, you feel hands, Chance's hands, grasp at the back of your pants. She pulls, probably grunting with the effort, but your head's going under. You don't hear it.
Exhausted by the sudden surge of adrenaline and the herculean effort of pulling Sounder from an early grave, you hit that fight-or-flight point in your head. Up becomes down and it's all about finding a place to pull Sounder towards you, while Chance acts as your anchor.
Finally, you pull Sounder up, your head out of the earth, followed by hers. Her body slips out of the ground, clothes in tatters. The scars of her surgeries are red and worn, her left arm is bent at an odd angle. Dirt is crusted around her mouth. Did she get a mouthful of it while trying to breathe?
Chance is lying on her back, gasping for breath. Your ears free, you finally are able to hear as you look over Sounder's unconscious body. She's not breathing, Dog. You hear something moving in bush. Are they coming again? More vine men?
What do you do?
I run down the hill, my fear lending everything a sharpness. I go down on my knees next to Dog and realize what I’m looking at, or rather who. I glance with terror at the heaved earth Sounder was pulled from even as my many years of practice take over.
“Help me! Pull her up!”
I grab one of her hands and once we have her up a little I grab her under the arms, and drag her to the most open area available, for I no longer trust the trees.
After that it is about breath and heartbeat. I have the jump patches of my kit to start the heart again if it has stopped. I will try to clear her airway and start her breath with my own.
I'm about to haul Sounder and Chance up and run when I see it's Bon and Cujo coming through the woods at me and not more slimy flood-forsaken vine men. Chance gets a quick arm up while I feel my relief.
I help Bon carry Sounder wherever, even if I'm gassed out. "The dirt, it swallowed her. Was full of crawling things, all pushin' in."
When Sounder is laid down, Bon is in charge of that. I take Chance's shoulder, touch my forehead to hers. She did real good. ::Lookout.:: I sign and separate, giving Cujo a quick nod. It's good to see her.
I wipe my face, shake some dirt out of my ears. Ugh! Gotta push that down and keep my eyes out on this flooded woods.
Bon,
You orchestrate the move of Sounder to a dirt path. Cujo caries her legs while you hoist her up from behind her arms. Quickly assessing, she's not breathing and you need to clear her airtube. Her heart has stopped as well. You need to work fast, Bon.
To revive someone whose life has become untenable, spend 2-stock. Choose 1 of the below, and they come back, but you get to choose how they come back.
• They fight you and you have to narcostab them. How long will they be out?
• The pain and drugs make them babble the truth to you. Ask them what secret they spill.
• They respond very well to treatment. Recover 1 of the stock you spent, if you spent any.
• They’re at your complete mercy. What do you do to them?
• Their course of recovery teaches you something about your craft. Mark experience.
• They owe you for your time, attention, and supplies, and you’re going to hold them to it.
Also choose 1:
• They come back in your deep, deep debt.
• They come back with a prosthetic (you detail).
• You and they both come back with +1weird (max weird+3).
Dog,
As Cujo and Bon work on Sounder, you have that brief moment with Chance. She's near tears, not sad, just so overwhelmed with the terror of losing Sounder, the freaky things you've seen here, the worry that nothing is safe here. Even the ground might try to swallow you up.
You hear the Arrows again, Dog. Laika and Hachiko screaming your name, the sound echoing from different spots.
What do you do?
"Over here! I'm okay but Sounder's hurt bad!" I call out to them. "Stick together, and don't put your back to a tree!" Will they even find us? But Bon and Cujo found us. But they haven't found us yet, and we didn't go that far. "Go back to the others!"
I stay close to Chance, reach out again. She's got me. I've got a cool front on but this is really skittering me, I'm sure Bon heard it.
(Rolled: 2d6+2. Rolls: 3, 5. Total: 10)
I pull things from my kit efficiently, opening it flat, even as the back of my mind recalls the fearful memory of keeping Sounder, Dog and Cujo alive that I mentioned not ten minutes ago.
I have only minutes. Airway cleared, stimulant injected, shock patches in place. A prayer on my lips and heart a I trigger the shock.
It is to no avail. No breath or pulse. Second set of patches applied, more stun, my own panic starting to rise.
More Stim. The second trigger, my hand not away when it goes off and for a moment I am… elsewhere. A light flickering trying to pulse but weak. On instinct I reach for it, massage it, teach it to pulse as I know it should. At first it does not respond, then slowly… slowly, then stronger.
Sounder’s gasp wakes me, from where my head lies on her sternum. I must have lost consciousness. But no. I did not lose it, it simply wasn’t here. A chill goes through me, and a tear trickles, as I feel the breathing woman. I am too dizzy for the moment to sit up again.
(We both come back with +1 weird, and I gain an xp.)
Dog,
Yes, Chance has you. She has her little sticker in her left hand, her right hand on your belt-loop. She's breathing heavy, eyes darting every way. Cujo's peering, stalking in a circle around the both of you, like she's not afraid, like she's daring it all to come her way. Sounds like she's growling a challenge, low in her throat.
Bon,
Sounder's gasp is followed by wide open eyes, and she groans in pain, tries to bite it off, but fails. She opens her mouth to speak, but ends up coughing weakly, ends in a bit of a whimper.
Both,
Several gunshots ring out, to the east, where you think the river was.
Silence.
Something comes crashing through the woods, moving hard and fast. You all brace for it, looking out through the trees. That's when you see Laika, Rainey, Hachiko, followed by four others, running as fast as they can to go to you. They look angry, and spooked, knives and guns out.
"Let's get the flood out of here!" Rainey shouts, looking down at you, Dog, eyes wild. She waves Hachiko up to you, scans the forest.
You hear things moving again.
What do you do?
I draw myself up straight, hadn't known I'd slouched till now. "Rainey, don't panic." It's good to see everybody here, I do a quick count - looks like it's everybody, excepting Tin-Girl and Zeus. And August. But I knew that. I don't like seeing everybody spooked like this, though.
"We're all together now, but for Tin-Girl and Zeus. Let's stay that way. What happened at the water?" Bloody forest, putting the fright in me and mine!
I pull out my gun and listen good. ::Let's keep moving. To the water first, then the bikes.::
I squat next to Bon and Sounder. I heard a cough, a whimper. Why's Bon keeled over like that? There's a tug in me like blood's running away from my heart. I prop her up by her shoulder, test how limp she is. "Bon?"
The movement, Dog pulling me up, the forest, the world, moves more than it should. I let out a little grunt, something’s off with my vision, like an afterimage in crimson. I blink and it seems to fade and the world gets steadier.
I look at Dog and nod, a little shaken. I’m okay. I lurch forward and start stuffing what’s left back in my pack. Normally I would splint the arm using sticks, but not here.
“We must get her back.” I say. The tremor is still in my voice.
Bon and Dog,
I'd like to see you Act Under Fire to get out of the woods. One of you can help the other, or roll separately. On a 10+, you get out without further Harm. On a 7-9+, you must leave something important behind, you detail it.
On a miss, you're out. Well, most of you are.
Rolling another AUF; (Rolled: 2d6+1. Rolls: 3, 5. Total: 9)
Marking another XP to make 3.
Helping dog
(Rolled: 2d6-1. Rolls: 1, 5. Total: 5)
I get Arrows on carry duty to help get Sounder out, and let the ones with the best weapons and nerves run interference for us. That doesn't leave a lot of hands empty, really.
Wish we could have gotten the bikes in here. As it is, we have to leave all that clear water behind. What a soaking waste. Might as well have tried to hold it in my hand.
I fire on the things that chase us, angry and needing to be called once or twice.
I do my best to help Dog get everyone coordinated and moving while still looking after Sounder. But there is some kind of lingering effect of what just happened which rather hinders me. The sense of threat, once but a whisper, seems to fill my mind and my grip on what's occurring is tenuous and confused.
Bon and Dog,
You’re forced to leave the clearwater behind and fight your way out of the woods. Machetes and knives, pistols and feet, you hurt, damage or kill anything in your path. Laika and Hachiko carry Sounder after tying a couple shirts into a makeshift stretcher, just enough to help keep her more stable. It isn’t quick, but your progress is as fast as you can manage, and steady.
After what feels like half an hour, you burst through a patch of brambles and reach the edge of the woods. Whatever that was chasing you seems to have given up, or lost interest and the woods again feel still and quiet as you walk along the marshy scrub to make it back to your bikes.
It looks like Zeus and Tin-Girl have pulled away from the woods a bit. And something’s got them feeling on edge as they seem to be standing and waiting for you.
Anything you do or say on your way back? Where are you headed?
If Bon wasn't so shook up I'd have her ride Sounder's bike back, and carry Sounder myself on mine. As it is, I have Laika ride with Sounder once that broken arm gets splinted up and Bon rides back with me - to SafeCo.
Plus this may be the only private time I'll get with Bon to talk to her about HM and how we'd like to ruin his life and take Hope back. Get August a measure of revenge and peace. I'm confident Bon won't hate the idea.
Bon and Dog,
The Arrows mount up, with Laika caring for Sounder, loading her and strapping her in. The ride should be easy, but everyone's on edge, eyes darting over shouldersm back to the woods.
'Tis a good thing I can splint an arm in my sleep, for my mind is not what it usually is. I get it done in perhaps slightly more time than it would ordinarily take me. I say I am willing to take Sounder's bike, terrible as I am, but Dog arranges things and it's just as well.
The ride itself causes no anxiety this time. It could be the more sedate pace, it could be that for the moment I have little attention for anything but the feeling of contact and comfort against Dog's strong back. Even so, in some distant corner, I feel the low sense of anger with myself that the Arrows met with danger at my behest, and came away shaken, bloodied and injured.
I suddenly feel the space between me and the Arrow Pack more keenly. I was never much of a pile sleeper, something which the Arrows accepted more or less without comment and became accustomed to. But now I can imagine nothing so comforting as that press of warm bodies.