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TEST DRIVE MEME
TEST DRIVE MEME
Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The grand feast is held in the Eaglais clearing. The food is good, the music is sweet, and the evening is lit by gentle fairy lights. All Shardbearers of all courts are summoned here under a universal truce for the evening. Nature itself has shaped itself into tables, chairs, and long couches so that the new guests can rest. When they’re ready to call it a night, Shardbearers are brought to their court strongholds in a one-way trip by fairies and imps. 02. NETWORK Take advantage of your Locket! The network can be accessed by any Shardbearer with a locket or shardless characters with enchanted devices, and is a quick way to meet new people and discuss the state of the world. 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld! There are lots of places to go, and plenty of trouble to get into in them! |
I'm so stoked lemme tell you
Her voice knifes into him -- and he feels his stomach pitch as he whirls around and sees her looking just as stunned and out of place as he feels. There's no time to notice the blood. Her body slams into his - not enough to unbalance him on his bum leg, but close - her arms around him, and it's the realest thing he's experienced since waking in a grassy field, since the first breath of air he choked into his lungs.
"Oh thank God..." Anger drains away and he's dizzy with relief when he pulls her close, her head to his chest, Finally, a sliver of good news. Something going their way. "Jesus, Clem... for a second back there I thought--" He lets out an unsteady breath, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. I'm jus'... I'm jus' glad you're safe."
idek that I could handle three characters here but.
Doesn't stop the threat of tears all the same, a rare thing for Clementine when she still strives to be strong. Show how much she has grown up since the walkers initially showed up. How much she has been forced to in order to survive. Her own breath is hitched, voice breaking a little.
"You thought what? I'm....not sure what's going on."
That's not what scares her. Wherever this is. It's not home. The fact that he is here and alive sort of doesn't help either. But if so, why isn't he turned? One of them? As the seconds, minutes pass, her thoughts turn more confused and suspicious in spite of herself as she pulls back a little more.
:]
It's easy to forget, sometimes, that she's as young as she is after what she's been forced to do. From the moment he had thrown open the shed door and saw she had crudely stitched up her own arm he knew she had a fierce resilience and courage in her that not every person could claim to have. But she's only human -- and to hear pain and grief leaking into her voice makes his chest knot up and makes him wish he could promise her that they'll be okay, that everything'll be okay. But he doesn't have the heart to lie to her.
"Look..." He says, his voice low and as reassuring as he can make it as she begins to pull away. "I don' know where the others are yet, but-- shit!"
That's when he sees it -- a spatter of blood on her jacket, fresh-looking and red -- and suddenly the jarring strangeness of this place is pushed into the furthest corner of his mind and nothing matters but this and her and keeping her alive. He drops into a crouch with a groan, needing to steady himself with a hand, and soon he's looking her over, eyes wide and more than a little scared. It's looking like a bullet wound and there's no telling what it might've been torn up on the inside.
"Oh fuck-- " Pulse racing in his throat, he touches her jacket carefully, the blood sticky but mostly dry. At least on the surface. He presses a hand stiffly against the wound, looking left and right for something. For help. "We gotta get you someplace safe... keep pressure on that wound!"
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"Luke, that's--it was a bit ago now. It probably looks worse than it is? I don't think I'm about to bleed out from it."
Because they had made it to Wellington. Only to find that not all three of them could be accepted. Clem and AJ, at the most. But not Kenny. Still, Luke's obvious fretting and the fact that it hasn't really been attended to beyond managing to stop the bleeding and getting her back on her feet, conscious, she can't deny it might still be an issue. So she does as he instructs, holding a hand to the area. Wondering how much to explain. Obviously Luke wouldn't recall it.
"Some of the group tried to take off with the supplies. I went out to stop them, but....they didn't appreciate that. I passed out for a while afterwards, but I've managed okay since then, with Kenny and the baby."
Clementine isn't sure how or when to bring up what happened with Jane either. Not yet. Or Luke's own situation, for that matter. He seems way more preoccupied with her to take in much if anything else, so she focuses on trying to explain and reassure him.
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"What the fuck? When?! You're tellin' me Mike, Bonnie, an' Jane... they jus' shot you, an' --" He rakes his hands though his hair and they're shaking, his chest heaving. Maybe they were scared and just couldn't reconcile their differences with Kenny. But being so desperate as to shoot a kid and rob her and a baby and Kenny of a fighting chance? He scrabbles for sense and knows there's something he's missing -- but even if he is, the end result is the same. She could've died - and she's not out of the woods yet.
"Fuck --" It's spat out like a piece of hot food but there's sadness in his eyes. Such wrenching disappointment. He feels sick, his throat hurting. "...Fuck!"
He can't do this. Can't focus on this now and he looks at Clem through a fog hurt and confusion, fumbling a moment on what to do next before shaking his head clear and pushing forward. When he speaks again his voice is low, barely controlled. "...We can talk about it later. Right now I need you to help me out, okay? How's your shoulder? S'it hurt to breathe at all?"
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"Not Jane. But...they left, yeah." She couldn't stop them. Was too hesitant. Wasn't quick enough. Wasn't expecting them to outright shoot her like that. By now, she's not glaring at him for the language. A year or two ago, she probably would have. But not anymore. She's used to it with Kenny and their situation in general at this point. Might occasionally slip herself in cursing. It's just one of many signs of her innocence and childhood being long gone.
But Luke does get a nod. Later. When they're alone somewhere more private. There are things she's sure he's going to want answers on that he won't like hearing, after all. So that's probably better, to wait. To try enjoy this while they can.
"I'll manage for now. But I am pretty hungry."
Because, hey, after how long of starving and living off of canned food? This spread looks pretty amazing. They could probably both polish off a decent amount on that alone just the two of them.
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"Nngh - well, you're gettin' rest soon's we're out of the open. You start feelin' off, you lemme know."
The first order of business seems to be getting some food in them, though, before either of them pass out. They'd need to keep their strength up. "I can't believe it. All that food jus'... lyin' there. S'like some kind a' mirage." His stomach burning dully as he eyes the feast like a small animal trying to decide whether it can snatch a bite of food out of the jaws of a trap before they snap around its neck. It should be fit to eat, he'd think, seeing as others have been sampling the fare without a second thought.
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That's what she's more worried about. But they'll probably both feel better after having their share (and likely then some), if even a normal portion wouldn't make them feel ill after so long without and on canned food in comparison to this fresh variety. Clementine can't help but laugh as he straightens more and comments that it's like a mirage.
"Well. If everyone else is able to touch and eat it, I think it's real. And safe."
She says, giving a wry smile as she reaches for some herself and takes a bite. It's fresh. Not cold, not from a can. It's almost enough to have her in tears it's so good. Almost. Bringing back memories of actual home cooked meals with family in days long since passed.
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There are crispy-brown, glistening roasts and salads and platters and platters of hors d'oeuvres he's never seen in his life, and the hardest part isn't restraining himself so much as it is trying to figure out which foods won't turn his unaccustomed stomach inside out after getting by, more often than not, on whatever food could be scraped out of a can. He goes for a palm-sized bread roll after a moment, tearing off a small piece.
Holy shit.
It's warm and soft and chewy, everything fresh bread should be, and the pit of his stomach gapes open at the first crumb of food in days, body begging for more. He devours a second roll and then snatches a large orange off a plate, taking a moment just to press it to his nose and breathe in the sharp, clean scent of it before he digs his thumbnail in, pulling it open. Hands trembling, eager. Finally - some fruit that isn't rotten or shriveled or drenched in syrup. He pops a few wedges into his mouth and it's good, so mindlessly good, bursting with a sharp, tangy sweetness that takes him back to the farm, to a lifetime ago. In a matter of seconds he's eaten the rest and is wiping a bit of juice dribbling down his chin, looking to Clem. Just chewing and swallowing alone has left him a little breathless in the shape he's in, but hell -- he's already feeling a little better, a little more human. All that keeps him going for more fruit is the pain cutting into his appetite.
"Jesus... I ain't had nothin' that good in a long time. How's that treatin' you?" The ghost of a smile hovers at the edges of his mouth but his eyes are tired, so tired.
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Of course, once she starts, choosing a hunk of the bread as well, it's hard to remember that as the taste of it fills her mouth. It's so warm. So fresh. The way the butter and yeast of it all but melt in her mouth. She can't help but practically inhale it before reaching for more, another. Some fruit. Those sorts of things shouldn't be too difficult on the stomach in comparison. Or so she hopes, anyway.
"Mm....'s good. Really good." She replies between mouthfuls, giving an amazed and grateful smile right back at him. Regardless of the circumstances, things could never seem nearly as dire with food like this around, surely. In time, that tension and exhaustion they both feel might ease, as they recover and get more treatment like this. Even if the back of her mind has her wondering what the catch is, recalling the farm back home.
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"You'd best fill up while you can an' take some food with you 'fore we go around tryin' to figure out who runs this place." His eyes narrow thoughtfully. He regrets having to hurry her along when she seems to be enjoying herself for the first time in a long time but he can't shake the feeling of being a sitting duck. "Might be a while 'til we see somethin' like this again."
He pockets a bread roll for the road, so to speak.
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Pocketing some of the food in her hoodie, she agrees. There's probably more than this, but she can't help the habit of trying to save some for later. Not after so long starving back home and trying to make whatever they did find count. Taking one last apple, she bites into it and chews, swallowing and wiping some of the juice on her sleeve as she gestures for him to lead the way.
"We may as well try asking around a bit. Can't hurt. Worst we get is nobody else knowing much more than we do?"
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"S'a whole lot smarter than wanderin' aimlessly to me." Then, more softly as he limps forward, looking to her at his side: "C'mon."
With a kid beside him, he's inclined to think it'll soften any pricklier reactions they might otherwise have earned working separately. It's a big crowd and splitting up might help them make headway faster with info-gathering -- but after what happened, he has every reason to keep her that much closer.
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"Right!"
She's quick to follow and fall in alongside him as they mingle through the crowds, keeping an eye out for any other familiar faces, overhearing any more information. Let alone where they are supposed to be staying.
"Someone around here has to know more." she mumbles, probably more to herself but also loud enough for Luke at least to catch.