exsiliumlogs | Well this road I'm on's gonna turn to sand

Entry tags:

Well this road I'm on's gonna turn to sand

Date & Time: September 3rd
Location: City outskirts
Characters: Ellie, Connor
Summary: Independent young people on rooftops.
Warnings: tba, probably nothing major

[He's on his way to the Outlands to check on the property he's claimed when he spots the deer, a flash of green in the perpetual grey that is Exsilium. It takes Connor all of a handful of seconds to decide to pursue it: deer are difficult enough to track down in the few wooded areas left in the Outlands. For one to wander in this close to the city is almost unheard of. It's an opportunity he can't pass up.

Quickly and quietly, he ducks into the shadowed doorway of an abandoned building and there stashes the supplies he brought for his trip. Slipping his bow off as he steps back into the street, he sets off after the green-pelted deer.

Another sighting of the animal between buildings has him drawing an arrow from his quiver and fitting it to the bowstring. Crouching low, he starts down the alley after the deer. He reaches the other end just in time to watch it scramble back across the broken pavement and disappear behind another building.

A friend of his had once described the game here as "wrong".

He's inclined to agree with that assessment. The coloring of their hides, the sheer number of antlers on these deer. Even their behavior seems changed, too nervous and too aggressive all at once.

Connor takes a moment to rethink his hunting strategy as he listens to the deer's hoofbeats clattering away from him. Perhaps he'll get the clean shot he's looking for from a higher vantage point. Back into the quiver the arrow goes, freeing up one of his hands, and then he's scaling a half-crumbled wall and hurrying along the top edge of it to reach the rooftops.

He spots his prey off in the distance, still on the move, and has no choice but to run flat-out in hopes of catching up enough to fire off an arrow or two.

Between short glances up to keep track of the deer and judge the occasional jump from one rooftop to the next, he keeps his eyes down. His hood limits his vision to the spaces that pass in front of his feet. He's not particularly worried about paying attention to his surroundings otherwise.

After all, finding someone else on the rooftops out here is about as rare as finding a green deer anywhere near the city.]

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[When training gets boring, Ellie takes her bow and goes exploring. Today, she's edged out near the city outskirts. Without infected, she's not worried. Sure, Tess and Joel would probably flip, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them... or land Ellie in deep shit.

She hasn't seen much from street level, so after some searching, she finds a way onto a rooftop. She did it in Boston all the time. No such thing as a fear of heights for Ellie. While she sincerely doubts it, maybe there will be something cool on the rooftops. Scraps, supplies. Whatever.

Movement out of the corner of her eye grants her a strange sight: a green deer. She hesitates, wondering if she should draw her bow, but someone else makes the decision for her.

And that would be a no. Because someone is charging her way. On the rooftop.

It's always one thing after another.]

Whoa, watch it!

[Connor snaps his head up at the sound of a shout. A little girl? Out here? ... Standing right in his path. Reflexes cut through his surprise and he veers to the side to avoid her. He turns his head to stare as he passes by without breaking stride. Strange, he thinks, right before he looks ahead again and feels his feet meet air instead of roof.

It's a long fall back to the ground. Luckily for him, he's had a lot of long falls in his life to prepare him for this less-than-dignified moment. Rolling on impact, he wastes no time grabbing his dropped bow, pulling it over his head, and pushing himself up onto his feet. He returns to the building he tumbled off of mere seconds ago and, wordlessly, starts to climb back up.

The man is on a mission here.]

Oh, fuck!

[She's not sure if this guy is a threat or not, but Ellie doesn't really want to see a splat that was once a human when she looks over the edge of the roof. And... she doesn't. She sees him climbing like he didn't just plummet to the ground in a fall that would probably break ankles.]

Holy shit, are you okay?! How the hell did you do that?

[Forget the green deer. This guy was either lucky or crazy skilled.]

[He's not ready to forget the green deer.]

Yes.

[A distracted answer to the first question. The second receives no answer at all as he hefts himself up and goes straight to the nearest corner. He leans over there, trying to catch a glimpse of the fleeing beast. To his disappointment, it's nowhere to be found.]

Damn.

[That sure wasn't English. Sighing, he props his hands up on his hips, giving himself a minute to catch his breath and debate the merits of following the deer's trail, perhaps walking it down. That could take hours, hours he does not necessarily have to...

... Oh, the girl.

Connor glances back at her, his expression curious - and mostly hidden under the hood.]

[She stays where she is, tense. The hood isn't very comforting.]

You after the green deer?

[He turns some in place to face her, his hands dropping from his sides.]

I was. It is gone now.

[He tips his head in the direction it went and takes a shuffling step away from the edge of the roof.]

Sorry. [A pause.] For nearly running into you.

Yeah. [An acknowledgement of the apology, but Ellie's more interested in something else.]

How the hell did you not break anything from that fall?

[His lips twitch into a small smile at her question. He spreads his hands and shrugs slightly.]

I know how to fall.

[Simple as that.]

Are you... [He stops abruptly, his attention catching on her bow. Wait, had she been...? He would have thought he'd have seen someone else giving chase to that deer, but with all the buildings and debris, he realizes he could have missed her.]

Were you hunting the deer, as well? [He again indicates the deer's escape route, this time with a wave of his hand, and then he's folding both hands in front of him. He might have been interfering with her hunt. If so, he at least owes her another apology. Possibly a deer, too.]

[This guy is big. Bigger than Joel, maybe, and he towers over Ellie. It's makes her uneasy, but curiosity has her sticking around.]

Sorta. I mean, I saw it, but I don't know what the point of shooting it would be if it's not edible.

[She shrugs, to explain.]

They're not green where I come from.

[He relaxes somewhat hearing she wasn't actively trying to kill the deer. One less thing to add to his lengthy to-do list.]

They are not green in the forests of my home, either, but I have eaten the meat of those deer to no ill effect.

[He takes some precautions with the meat he brings in, discarding the organs and cooking the flesh thoroughly as if the animals have all been poisoned (as some insist they have been), but it may just be his unusual genes keeping him from keeling over.

Or some relative of his far in the future could be born with an couple extra fingers.]

For how long?

[She's probably eaten worse than green deer. Canned goods do spoil, and god only knows how old some of the things she's eaten are.

Anyway, she doubts Joel and Tess would trust green deer meat. Is the meat green, too? Ugh.]

Eight or nine months.

[He can't remember exactly when he first had green deer for dinner.]

Holy shit. You've been here forever.

[She's not sure how she feels about that right now beyond surprised. Does she want to be here that long, running around after green deer and getting drenched in a rain that never seems to end?]

Guess if there was anything wrong with it, you'd know by now.

Ah--sorry if I got in your way. I didn't think anyone else would be up here.

[That answers one question he meant to ask. She's not a local exile, but another Initiative prisoner. It's usually not hard to tell, but with her...

Well, she looks like she belongs here. More than most, anyway.]

Some Transports have been here even longer than I. And it is fine. I did not need the deer.

[He takes a look around, effectively scanning the area, then reaches up to pull his hood down. His braid's gotten caught behind his ear at some point; he tilts his head to free it.]

You are new.

[Less a guess, more a statement.]

[He's a little less intimidating with that hood down. Ellie shifts her weight from one foot to the other, letting her right leg do most of the work. Still, she watches him carefully.]

Yeah. Not this batch, but last month's. If that still counts as new.

[She hasn't been sent on any missions or really seen the UE or whatever do anything. Yet.]

[Connor recognizes the wariness in her eyes and posture. He's not especially comfortable being watched like he might attack at any given moment, but he knows there isn't much he can do about it... save show kindness and hope his actions impart the message that he means no harm.

(It would probably be easier to get that message across if he didn't insist on wearing half an armory's worth of weapons.)

He nods only to keep his head bowed.]

This your first time around the Outlands?

First time out this far. [She's been slowly edging her way out, testing the waters. Figures that this would be the day she'd see a weird creature and run into some huge guy.]

Guessing it's not yours.

No. I spend much of my time out here.

[He takes to fiddling with his hands, rubbing his knuckles and picking at his gloves. He has other questions, but he supposes it would be best if he introduced himself first.]

My name is Connor.

Ellie. [Withholding her name has never saved her any trouble before, so she might as well.]

There a reason you're out here so much, or do you just enjoy the view?

It is a pleasure to meet you, Ellie. There are many reasons for my being out here so often. There is a lot to see, a lot to do... [That's sounding a little too vague even to him. Maybe an example then.] The hunting is a good challenge. More engaging than the training the Initiative offers.

[Much better question dodging. And to follow it up-]

Are you alone here?

[She'll wait to say if it's a pleasure or not to meet this guy. Connor.]

Not much better than moving, living targets.

[Green deer, hopefully not people.]

I've got a few people. Are you alone here?

[Another nod.]

I... have a few people, as well. [An interesting way to put it, he thinks.]

The people you know chose not to accompany you out this far?

[Tentatively asked. On one hand, she looks young. On the other hand, that doesn't mean she can't take care of herself - especially if she's skilled in the use of that bow she has with her.

Also, for all he knows, she could have powers.]

[It's more like they don't know she's out here, but details. Ellie lifts an eyebrow.]

I could ask you the same question.

[He tries very hard not to smirk, but one corner of his mouth ends up betraying him. He manages not to blurt out "Well, I am a grown man", though.]

You could.

[Connor shifts in place, turning slowly to the side. His smirk disappears when he notices a fleck of green at the edge of his vision. The deer has doubled back at some point.]

You any good with your bow?

[And she's a grown girl. Sorta. She has quite a lot of growing to do, actually, but she's a smartass so she thinks her question is valid.]

I'm a pro. Why?

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