MISSION: BAD COMPANY, PART 2

[ximilian]

● ● ● M I S S I O N   4 . 2

INTRO • THE DREAM DEFERRED • YOUR WAKE UP CALL • FYI

// INTRO. WELFORD BRANSON  

It is barely past twilight in Scorpion’s Bend, the twin suns having just set, taking their light with them — but the moons delay, and so darkness lingers over the town as Lan Xichen’s conversation with one Welford Branson comes to an abrupt end. At the same time, all around the town, the team will notice the town natives around them stilling — some freezing in the middle of a sentence, a man with a fork in the air, a woman mid-step on the street, some youngsters with their mouths open in laughter. All of them become statues in less than a heartbeat; still, eyes vacant, like everything that made them seem alive has been taken away.

And then — a reverberating sigh, echoing heavily in the ears of all the Orbers. What follows are words, spoken by a chorusing voice now familiar to most of the team —

“Well now you’ve done it.”

The orb’s echoing sound is filled with disappointment, even annoyance.

Some may see that amidst all the frozen townspeople, an old man runs, clawing at his thinning hair. Some of you may hear his words, muttered, desperate:

“I don't understand, I thought 'twas just a bad dream, everyone was fine, don't understand, what in the name of the Eight could've done somethin' like this —”

The disbelieving mumbles trail at his wake, making it clear he does not know what is going on at all — in fact, you may have a better idea as to what has happened than he does. But as you turn to follow him, open your mouth to yell at him to stop... everything around you shatters.

The lights in the buildings grow dim and break; the smell of food disappears; the horses in the stables simply fade away. You notice that if you were wearing or carrying something you bought while here, it too disappears, your clothes turning to those you had on upon arrival, all equipment shimmering away slowly.

But perhaps most importantly… the frozen statues of people crumble into ash right in front of you. It may fill the floors of the now-silent, dusty and worn-down houses, or it may blow away with the harsh desert wind — whichever it is, sans the team, the town of Scorpion’s Bend is now devoid of people.

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// PART I.THE DREAM DEFERRED  

The town that now surrounds the team is very different from the one it used to be — the houses are quiet, filled with sand and dust; doors broken, tables turned over, drawers open and mostly empty, aside from anything not valuable. The beds in Thornbush Inn are ragged, insects of various sizes skittering along the floors. The Saloon is dusty, furniture broken, and a lone piano stands in the corner, half its keys having crumbled away. The door to the Mayor’s office is ajar, a banging sound repeating as it hits the wall in time with the wind.

1.0   In the corners of the Sheriff’s office, the school and the church, the embera slither along, searching for food; owl-shrews hide from the Orbers on the streets, while feathered coyotes howl at the five moons now lending their light to see the town’s destruction better. The team may be the only living humanoids, but they are not the only living beings in the town anymore; in the absence of people, animals have made the town their home. And coexist they must, now, to survive the rapidly dropping temperature of the night that has fallen upon them.

2.0   The next morning, as the moons disappear underneath the horizon and let the two suns bring out their scorching rays once more, the team wakes up to the reality of having to survive Scorpion’s Bend… with very little supplies. So search the empty houses, for they still stand; the fire that has burned away the people has not touched the buildings… but they have not been immune to the passing of time, or the harsh weather in the desert. You may find clothing, basic equipment, pots and pans left on a now-cold stove; but no valuables, no money, no gems, no jewelry, no weapons.

But amidst your search through the town, remember that what you need, first and foremost, is to find water and something to eat — it will not be long until the suns are high in the sky, and some of you are already in desperate need of proper nourishment, without being left to endure the scorching temperatures the days on the planet of Badrock bring.

3.0   But should you want to brave the heat, you’ll find it is now possible to leave the town and venture out into the desert. Out there, the rock dragons search for prey, while bald vultures circle above your head in groups of three or four, their shrieks growing in volume the farther you walk. If you show weakness, any weakness, they strike — and the dragons, sensing their chance, are not far behind.

And when you least expect it, the ground underneath you trembles, like a small earthquake is approaching you… and then you see it: from the sand, a whale surges up, then another, and another, arcing through the air like suspended there, before the sand swallows them once more. Should you get too close, you too may be swallowed underneath the sand; unless you’re very, very careful, or have in your arsenal something else that may help you to deal with these near-immortal giants that have swam across the deserts for hundreds of thousands of years.

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// PART II.YOUR WAKE UP CALL  

Time passes at a snail’s pace without the comforts of the town you were used to. Scorpion’s Bend is now a wasteland you must survive, and it clearly isn’t easy. Some of you might question whether retrieving the orb is still an endeavour worth pursuing after all of this, but the rest of you know that it is. That you’ve come this far and you’re nearly there; you just need to band together and form a gameplan.

As the suns begin to set over the horizon on yet another grueling day of scorching heat and rough, dry sand in the ghost town of Scorpion’s Bend, you might begin to hear a distant thunder that has nothing to do with an oncoming desert storm or otherwise. It rattles at the already weakened structures of the old Saloon and the General Store, bits of broken glass and debris vibrating with the raucous sound of clattering hooves, feet, and paws. And as the sound of the invasion grows louder – you’ll hear the unmistakable manic howling and bellowing in accompaniment: these are the Bouldersnakes that some of you have already heard much of.

4.0   The Bouldersnakes are not a group to be taken lightly, and have garnered the fearsome reputation that they now hold for a reason. Kicking up dust, they arrive like a cloud of chaos in different sizes, shapes, and forms. Some have the ability to shrink and grow in size to match their opponents in physical size and weight. Other Bouldersnakes are agile and quick; and others yet are superhumanly strong and robust – either way, they make for formidable opponents when you, yourself, have been weakened from weeks of a lack of proper nutrition and sleep. The individual members of the Bouldersnakes are like a band of bloodthirsty brothers: from all walks of life and all colours and creeds, with a severe and mean streak to them, who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

What goals, you ask? Should you listen carefully, their leader, riding a winged lizard-like creature, shouts to their underlings:

“Find it! This is where it told us to come to. We missed it last time, but no more! I don't care what we have to do, we're getting our hands on that thing!”

As it so happens, you are not the only crew in search of that elusive orb; the Bouldersnakes have been tracking down the whereabouts of this mysterious and all-powerful object themselves, burning through towns – quite literally – to get it. News that Scorpion’s Bend has seen a resurgence of life and might still be the resting place of the orb has the bandits seeking out the town again. Their first round through Scorpion's Bend about a year ago had them coming up empty-handed (save for a few bits and baubles), but this time they are determined to find what they've come here to find. Though if there’s anything left here to salvage... they’ll ransack as they please.

Whether you confront them head-on or they catch you in hiding, they won’t easily back down from a fight. It will be best to keep your distance if you can manage it, and hope that they’ll pass you by. But the Bouldersnakes have their weaknesses too: once maimed, they still bleed, and none of them are immortal, though they are notoriously difficult to kill based on their talents alone... and when they carry weapons, too, well — those not accustomed to battles may find it best to hide. And even for those with fighting experience under your belt, teaming up with your fellow Orbers and combining your shared skills will be your best chance at survival.

5.0   By the time the suns have disappeared and the moons have risen, the Bouldersnakes invasion will make the bandit attack from the other night seem like a childish tussle. The Bouldersnakes don’t play nice and have adapted to the harsh lands as ruthless survivors. They arrive like a wave, many equipped with weapons: guns, sabers, pistols and small knives. A few others have engineered their own specially crafted weapons made of metal and magic (in the shape of guns, blow-torches, and blades) that wield a special element harnessed from mined ore called ‘pulsefire’. It is this pulsefire, glowing a deep blue (like the hottest colour of flame), that has the capability to destroy all living beings and allows the bandits to systematically ravage unsuspecting towns down to ash, reap its benefits (either for the town’s riches and wealth, or and especially: for any supply of ore), and then leave without a trace.

The best way to fight against pulsefire is to acquire weapons of pulsefire of your own and best a Bouldersnake before they best you. (Think high stakes, noon-time duels of the pistol.) Of course, this is a very risky and very dangerous affair as one shot by pulsefire could mean your untimely demise and the element itself isn't easy to put out either, so it might be best to work in teams to strategically disarm and swipe a pulsefire weapon to use before they manage to overwhelm you.

NOTE:   If your character is alive, your character will be vulnerable to the effects of pulsefire. Unliving things such as buildings and infrastructure will not be affected. Pulsefire has a slow spread-rate over unliving things, but its effects on the living are instant. Once in contact with the element, pulsefire quickly consumes the living body and spirit until it is turned to ash. Putting pulsefire out over unliving things is relatively easy, but once pulsefire has touched the living, there's little to no chance of making it out in one piece.

All through this, you must still remember your goal — it is not to stay in Scorpion's Bend, or even fight the Bouldersnakes, but to find the orb... and that means finding Welford Branson. How will you convince him to give you the orb, when all signs point to him not even knowing what it is, or what it has done? That is what you must decide... if you survive the Bouldersnakes in one piece, of course.

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F Y I

• The events in this log take place ICly right after the end of the NPC thread.

• The voting for how to get the orb is now open! Please head HERE to submit your idea for how the team should proceed to get the orb, or +1 others’ ideas.

• The conclusion of the mission and the return to the station will be posted on February 13.

• If you have questions about anything in this log, please direct them HERE.

• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪

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Comments

gwen stacy.

[construing]

( Closed starters below! ALSO late in the bandit attack, Gwen will have access to one of Newt's devices that render the pulsefire not immediately fatal. She'll be available to put out fires whether threaded or handwaved. For all other thread ideas, feel free to PM me or hit me up at the plotting post! )

PETER.

[construing]

[ no one’s having a good day.

the bodies, the ash. (so much ash.) gwen had her suspicions, but seeing the devastation… it doesn’t matter how long she’s at this or what planet they’re on or what universe. it does not get easier. the day it does is the day she knows something is truly wrong with her.

then more bad news. gwen touches the fluid cartridge loaded into her left web shooter. of all the people here, she didn’t expect tony stark to be not-a-massive-dick. and now he’s gone, like peter before him. she didn’t get to know tony all that well either (unbelievably, she would have liked to), but peter número dos did.

she wasn’t surprised to see the black cloud thundering around peter quill. if she has learned anything about the man it is how huge a heart he has. and this is a lot. it’s a heck of a lot in a very short amount of time.

typically, she would not bother him so early, nor would she expect him to be awake. times, they are a-changin’ because early morning finds gwen tugging him away from the ruins of the town. she changed her mask for pink oval lenses to protect her eyes, her usual costume design for one mimicking the new design doodled into one of the margins on the notes he gave her.

spider-woman and star-lord. just a pair of bleeding hearts making the trek out into the desert.

she stops abruptly, head cocked as if listening to something only she can hear. she holds a finger to her lips in signal to be quiet. ]

Over there.

[ taking peter by the arm, gwen points—needlessly, as a faint tremble radiates through the earth, growing stronger. she watches with growing excitement as first pebbles, then rocks start shaking, and then the sand explodes upward. when the first whale breaches, gwen’s face splits into a grin. sand whales. actual sand whales. who would have thought? ]

[spacedisaster]

[ Peter has been having not only a shitshow of a month but, rather, a shit year in general. There are times when he wonders if he's still dead, if he is in some sort of limbo - hell after his screw up during the fight with Thanos. As far as punishments go, it would be appropriate. To have Gamora back, only to lose her again. To befriend new people and have them disappear on him without a goodbye. It had been happening almost all his life, so it would make sense that death is no different.

But feeling sorry for himself had never got him anywhere, and as much as Peter would like to find a nice rock to hide under, there are people here who need help. Good people. Not like him. Actual good people. Gwen is one of those, but she is also the devil for dragging him out in the sun at the ass crack of dawn. And okay, sure, he was already awake and dressed. But It was not because he liked the fresh air of the morning, it was because he hadn't really gotten more than a few hours of sleep last night.

He had only given Gwen a double take for her fashion choices but said nothing, only followed her and trusted her judgment without any complaining. In fact, the fact that he had nothing about the lenses or even asked where is Gwen taking him to probably speaks volumes about his depressed mood. ]

Say...you're not going to murder me and leave me here for the animals to eat my corpse, right? Because that seems like a waste, everyone's back in town is starving and... [ Okay, he is rambling, even he can tell. When Gwen hushes him, Peter raises an eyebrow at her in confusion, but shuts his mouth and lets her drag him around. She's always been surprisingly strong, and it actually amuses peter. Reminds him a bit of Gamora too. The ground starts shaking under them and that is never a good sign, so Peter start frowning right until the first giant beast appears. ]

Gwen, what's happ---OH! Holy Shit. Oh, wow. Look at them![ He pats at Gwen's arm excitedly, as if she weren't the person who took him here in the first place. Peter is suddenly very awake, his eyes wide, and a boyish smile. ] The sand whales! I heard the townsfolk talking about them.

[construing]

Now you're seeing them.

[ smiling, gwen lets him jostle her a little in his excitement. this was the exact reaction she wanted. dark clouds don't just disappear overnight; she knows this better than most. but even the blackest cloud feels lighter in the face of something awe-inspiring.

and in terms of awe-inspiring, nothing matches whales.

the pod slips through the sand like water. gwen had her phone in hand and she raises it to record the whales. betty will lose her shit when gwen shows this to her. ending her recording, gwen tips her head toward peter. ]

Want to get closer?

[spacedisaster]

How did you know they were going to be here?

[ He's curious about Gwen seemingly having whale six senses, but his eyes never leave the giant creatures jumping in the air and floating there for a few before diving. Peter looks awestruck. Gwen really managed to cheer him up with this unexpected present, she should be proud of herself. He finally turns to her after the question, hope shining in his face ]

Can we!? I've got my jetpack, I just need to put it on. I can carry you in the air. We should be careful with the tails, though.

YELENA.

[construing]

Eight o’clock. [ crouching on the brown dirt and sand, gwen speaks quietly.

she traded her “once upon a time in the west” look for spider-woman’s costume, though traded may be a strong word when venom is the source of both. for their desert setting, gwen instituted a couple of alterations. rather than a mask, she donned pink oval lenses: not much of an identity to protect these days, but there is a bright glare out here that can leave someone half-blind. on top of her web shooters sit the new web fluid cartridges tony made for her, which restored them to functionality.

no amount of webs was going to kill an animal out here in any other way than “slowly”, though, so she’s grateful for the assist even if every shot makes her think of how horrified spider-ham would be.

or maybe he’d be first one out to go hunting and she would be the one having a crisis. this one tracks closer to every single one of her experiences with him.

tilting her face up, gwen frowns. ]

Another one.

[ every mile they venture out they seem to pick up another vulture. spider-sense is quiet for the moment, but she doubts it will stay like that forever. ]

[laviny]

[Yelena might have some regrets about what she thought to pack and what she didn’t for this mission, but she’s certainly glad she thought to bring a rifle. When Gwen points out the first vulture Yelena shifts the gun smoothly and takes the shot.]

Got it.

[In spite of being in the Ximilia for a few months now, Yelena still isn’t entirely used to working with superhero types. And Gwen seems very superhero-y to her. So she is, perhaps, a little surprised how efficient their current team up is going. She appreciates it, though. Having someone with super senses work with someone with sniper training is an ideal way to get some hunting done.

She takes out the next target Gwen points out and watches the bird fall.]

I don’t know how good the meat will be, but it is better than nothing.

[construing]

[ gwen makes a little face when the bird hits ground. of all the horror film looking things they could come across, it had to be the distant descendant of dinosaurs. ]

Definitely not in a position to be choosy.

[ she hops out of her spot to gather the animal before something else attempts to make off with it. snagging it on a web-line, she ties it to the others they've, well, the others yelena has bagged. gwen's job is purely spot and collect. probably "carry everything back when they're done" too.

back in her spot, gwen frowns at the desert. ]

What I wouldn't give for a pizza. Coke. Might get wild with a tub of ice cream. [ "wild" here meaning eating a half-gallon of ice cream while listening to taylor swift and mourning the end of imagined relationships. ]

[laviny]

Oh, pizza would be very good. Maybe some spicy buffalo wings.

[Hell she’d go for spicy vulture wings, but she doesn’t have any hot sauce.]

Some borscht might be nice, too, at this point.

[Anything warm and comforting for the evenings when it gets cold.]

BLUE.

[construing]

Does he not get tired?!

[ getting chased around the ruins of town by a freakish gazelle of an alien is not how gwen expected to spend the day. any other time of day, she would have turned around and thrown him down by his pencil ass neck. instead, she ducks under a searing blue line of fire, rounds an orber and bandit grappling, and climbs onto a low roof—and the fucker is still following.

anger flashes through her bright as a flame. venom feeds on gwen's anger, amplifies it. it is a familiar sensation by now, one she knows to be careful with. she allows herself to fall in and it will be all she feels. and she cannot afford to lose control, especially when carrying the body of a fellow orber across her back.

venom wrapped black tendrils around blue's chest and thighs, anchoring him safely to gwen. it also draped over his head like a hood to prevent it flopping over her shoulder and injuring his neck—spectacular teamwork to leave her arms free to fire off more web bullets, which gazelle man dodges. gwen growls in frustration. ]

[firstroar]

[life has gotten even stranger since becoming a member of the Ximilian crew - something he ought to expect, but really has no way of imagining. in all his long, long years, something like this was far beyond his scope of consideration.

things are happening very quickly right now: the hostile alien force, the...less-hostile(?) alien force gluing him to a young woman's back, the solo commentary from said young woman... Blue's rather overwhelmed and unable to provide any good dialogue at the moment.

that itchy, unpleasant feeling of barriers being pressed at in Gwen's psyche makes Blue's skin crawl (appropriate, considering...), and the completely foreign sensation of their pursuer...it's very disorienting. Blue's scared, confused, and just barely able to keep up with the moment.

that said, bigger pulses of murderous intent do yield impulses to defend himself: a pale blue, honeycombed barrier glows to life when the bandit has a go at returning fire with a volley of bullets, each crumpling against the barrier and dropping uselessly to the ground. each one degrades that barrier bit by bit, however, so Gwen's gotta take that gift of time to move.]

[construing]

[ well, that's definitely not her. she can feel venom's confusion alongside hers so not it, either. which leaves— ]

Uh, thanks? [ "local unconscious person more conscious than you think." cool. awesome. ] Good looking out.

[ even through her distraction, gwen does not waste opportunity. she drops down into what must have been once a small, tidy garden, now barren from the previous burn of pulsefire. a decorative stone wheel sat in the middle. "sat" because she has already wrenched it up like it weighs about the same as a throw pillow, and sent it sailing toward the roof just as the bandit steps upon it. the old, decaying wood fractures as the wheel impales it, and the whole roof collapses. gazelle man manages to not get swallowed by the wood, but gwen is waiting for him.

the web blast hits the gun dead center, encasing it in a sticky white web, which quickly hardens. props to tony; he knows his chemistry. ]

Team Backpack with the upset! [ she starts to crow—

—as spider-sense blares the alarm, a split second of awareness, that affords her just enough time to duck. something flies through the space where her head had been. looking behind her, gwen spots the knife quivering in the wall of the other house, its blade alarmingly, frighteningly blue. ]

Well, shit.

[ spider-sense again screams the warning, and gwen throws herself out of the way of a much longer blade, instinctively keeping herself between the bandit and blue.

she doesn't even know if he's actually awake or earlier was some sort of automatic defense mechanism, but regardless— ] If you've got any other tricks, now would be an excellent time!

[firstroar]

Trying...

[it's a faint, strained thought, because Blue's focus is trying to track the source of the threat, trying to discern intention behind the white-hot hostility and hunger for combat. it's hard; Gwen's danger sense is scrambling his own means to perceive anything on his own, and the alien being...alien...means they don't think the way he's used to.

it means there's a closer call as the blade catches, Blue reaching out to telekinetically catch it in place and try to wrest it free from the attacker's grip. it's not meant to be, but it is another window for Gwen.]

HERMANN.

[construing]

[ newly equipped with a newtrilizer (why is it called that? why? why?) gwen dives back into the fray. it feels like the intensity has not let up at all; if anything, the bandits seem to have turned more savage than ever. so, here she is, putting her trust in newt and the bad steampunk cosplay looking device at her side.

it's almost like being back with the web warriors.

shrapnel and fire fill the air. gwen kicks up a fallen door and pitches it straight across to intercept the bullet's path of a particularly trigger-happy bandit. a web wrenches the gun from his hand, and a punch to the head drops him like a sack of rocks. ]

Get moving! [ she yells behind her to the guy the bandit had been aiming at. ] It's too hot here!

[bijective]

[Just his luck to be caught in the crossfires of a bandit scuffle. How prepared was Hermann to take on a pack of scoundrels with only his sword? Not very.

Being aimed in all different directions, Hermann keeps his head low under an array of different furnishings. The side of his eye catches one bandit aiming their pistol right between his eyes. That is until said pistol was promptly confiscated and they’re knocked completely cold.

His head pokes out from the side.]

No! Leave me here. The orb is our top priority.

[construing]

Man, I swear—

[ a thrum at her awareness has her whipping around. one web-bullet glues a bandit's hand and gun to a wall, and the other hits him in the balls. in that order.

which leaves her to spare a second for her new problem. ugh. ugh. why are there so many self-sacrificing types here. ]

Either you start moving or I haul you over my shoulder and carry you out! Your choice!

[bijective]

[There was no moment to take a breath. Even when Hermann goes to turn his head, he is met with one bandit trying to put him in a chokehold. He ducks down fast enough to lunge into the bandit with his sword’s electroshock function (courtesy of Sam Wilson), bringing them to the ground.

This is not about self-sacrifice. This is about the odds. How well will this group retrieves the orb without succumbing to a mass of near-fatal injuries?]

Don’t treat me like I am some hapless civilian to be coddled!

[He runs towards Gwen’s direction, feeling the sharp, twinge of pain from his left leg.]

MEGATRON.

[construing]

Hey! Yo, big guy!

[ see spider-woman. see spider-woman on a roof flagging down megatron.

soon as she has his attention, gwen fires a web-line and swings herself neatly up to his shoulder. her mask opens up, leaving only the pink lenses covering her eyes. black threads lie across her cheeks.

whatever she had meant to ask is promptly driven from her head as she feels the heat being reflected off him. ]

Wow. [ she winces a little. ] This is very hot. Uh, is this…? Normal? For you?

Re: MEGATRON.

[flickerandfade]

[ Megatron is just minding his own business, tromping through the middle of town, when one of the small organics speaks to him from a rooftop. He squints (he's old okay) and bends slightly to get a better look only for her to simply fire some sort of organic excretion at him and clamber up onto his shoulder. There's a faint noise of surprise (or maybe disgust) and he turns his head to get a better look. ]

Is it not customary to ask permission before climbing onto others?

[ Gripe. Grumble. ]

And yes. Higher ambient temperatures mean that Cybertronians retain and radiate more heat. It's normal. This is merely uncomfortable, though. Not hot enough to be potentially dangerous.

[construing]

My bad. Between making you bend down, and me getting a crick in the neck, I thought this'd be better.

[ she points to the building. ]

Want me to hop back down and ask?

[flickerandfade]

[ Megatron's expression grows a little more pinched. ]

No. That isn't necessary. You've already clambered all over me, so there's not much use in changing directions now.

[ Hmph. ]

Is there something you need... hm. I don't believe I know your name.

PERCY.

[construing]

[ what gwen has learned from her time in the desert: nature sucks.

yes, it is important. yes, it needs to be protected. no, she does not need to be caught outside in it longer than it takes to swing her way over from queens to the city. but of course it's in the desert she finds herself playing spotter yet again.

she wears her suit without a mask. pink oval lenses do the job of keeping the suns' glare out of her eyes. she sits in the little shade of a rock outcropping, alert to her surroundings. this time, though, she's not picking up much. ]

If this keeps up, we're gonna have to start a fire. [ snake for dinner (again) doesn't sound very appetizing, but beggars cannot be choosers, and they are certainly beggars at this point. ]

[whitestonelives]

[Percy has a beaked mask, reminiscent of a plague doctor's, currently sitting atop his head, and is looking through the scope of Bad News for—something, anything, that they could maybe hunt down and eat. If he has to eat snake for dinner again he's going to do something very drastic.

Nothing. Nada. Zero.]

Vex would've done so much better than both of us together by now. [She's actually a hunter, for one thing. Percy has some rudimentary knowledge so he's not completely useless, but the thought still stands: his wife would've brought something down by now. Instead, here they are, an engineer and a superhero, hoping to god for a vulture to pass by so they can finally eat something that isn't snake.] Nothing yet?

[construing]

[ no happier, gwen shakes her head. sure, she isn’t thrilled about having to kill animals out here to stay alive. but she also hates having to spend any more time out here than she must.

venom hates it most of all, considering it is the one roasting directly in the sunlight. as soon as they get back, she is turning on the christmas simulation again and letting venom chill. ]

We’re going have to head further into the desert. [ where the burningness burns faster.

uuuuuuugh.

she climbs to her feet and dusts herself off. ]

Come on. Before the second sun rises any higher.

[whitestonelives]

[Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.

Percy lets out a sigh. He can't think of anything he wants to do less than head further into the desert, in this heat, but there's nothing else for it—they need to eat, and if there's nothing to hunt here, they'll have to move somewhere else. So he gets up as well, dusting off his clothes and pulling his mask back down, stowing Bad News away once again.]

Here. You'll want this more than me, I think. [And he hands her Cabal's Ruin. The cloak shimmers magically as he puts it over her shoulders, but other than that it doesn't really seem very special.] It'll keep some of the heat off your head, hopefully.