exsiliumlogs | rawr rawr ima bear

Entry tags:

rawr rawr ima bear

Date & Time: 9/8, late afternoon
Location: Out in the woods
Characters: Belle and yoooouuuuuu!
Summary: Just a girl rolling around in grass. Totes normal.
Warnings: Bad attitudes, probably.

[Belle has found herself out beyond the borders of the city more often than not lately. It's simply habit at this point, first when living with the prince and then taking over the ruined castle once he had departed. Even travel with her sisters had kept them out of sight of most villages in Camwood.

She lounges in the grass, a small fire built close to her while a rabbit roasts over it. Part of her wishes that she could have caught the thing the other way, with the help of the beast. It's been awhile since she's run free, but not now. Not yet.

Hunting as a human is still strange for her. Picking up her bow, she strings an arrow and points it towards the sky, humming softly under breath.]

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[ Marco wasn't really doing much out in the woods. Typically he was more of a lazy-boy and Mountain Dew kind of guy. But here, otherwise known as the torturous dimensions of hell, there were neither. So out to the woods to whittle he did go.

Marco is holding what looks like about half a finished recorder (yeah, the annoying flute kind) when he A. smells food and B. sees the back of a pretty girl.

Perhaps it's a sign that he should stop. ]

Smells good.

[She knows he's there before he even speaks up, so there's nothing in her body language that says anything other than relaxed at him suddenly appearing. That's one of the wonders of having a great sense of smell.

That, however, doesn't stop the irritation in her voice or the way she rolls to point the arrow directly at the boy's heart.] Catch your own.

[ he raises an eyebrow ]

You always so defensive of your cooking?

[She huffs, eyes sliding off to her catch before going back to the boy.] I caught it. [... so yes.]

Good for you?

[ he cracks his neck and sits down near the fire without an invite. ]

I'm more of a call and order pizza guy, myself.

[Belle considers shooting an arrow at him. It'd be easy. Real easy. Maybe.]

What is pizza?

[ Collette tends to take to viewing the area on foot -- or better put, on paw. Flying is dangerous out where she's seen people using bow and arrow, just enough cover in the woods to highlight the fact she's one of the few things flying up above it.

Which meant when she wasn't working with Barnaby, checking up on her new friends, or properly bouncing around in her chair, she was exploring on four feet.

One lone coyote out around Exsilium was worth noticing for the sheer lack of non-human life in general. Collette had been taking care to keep herself out of the way, treading extra careful once she was out in what passed for nature in this weird, singular future. Peeta had been enough warning for that, listening to what he said when he'd been out here.

She keeps her stopwatch with her, getting more and more used to figuring out the knobs with paws and talons and claws. Two hours as a limit she could keep track of on her own now, and did all the time. Her watch only worked in hours, and each time she started it there was a weird gap she almost thought was like freezing everything, but she wasn't sure.

What she was sure of was her own nose. Someone was cooking something on a fire.

Huh. Not just something. Collette slowed down, moving quietly along through the forest. Cooking rabbit, if she trusted the coyote's nose. When she caught sight of what's out in one of these small meadows, she stops, keeping back in the trees and bushes. That bow makes her doubly glad she's on foot today.

Would it be better or worse to call out in a mental hello? She's still not sure, particularly with her time winding down. What, she had around half an hour left right now, didn't she?

Keeping herself hidden, she let out a low whine. There! That was -- an idea, at least. ]

[The smell of animal in her territory alerts Belle first, and the human half of her has to push those animal instincts aside for the moment. She has to remind herself that this isn't her territory at all. It's borrowed land. Gross and sparse borrowed land, at that, but better than being trapped in the city all the time.

Licking her lips, she jumps to her feet. Although she keeps the bow held up for protection, the arrow is loose. For the moment.

It's a predator, at the very least. And obviously intelligent, she tells herself. These are her human instincts, not the beast's.] Caught the scent of a feast, have you?

< It'd be hard not to in these woods. Though if this is you being subtle about hosting a one girl barbeque, it's pretty decent. >

[ The fire was small, and most the locals seemed to swear off anything slightly less paved than their own streets. Okay, it probably wasn't that bad. The natives were just less adventurous than the people they pulled in. Though she guessed the Initiative itself wasn't all the natives in Exsilium, so she couldn't even claim -- ugh, those were complicated thoughts, and Collette didn't have the patience for them.

She poked her nose out from behind the tree, slowly looking around toward the woman in the meadow. ]

< But still pretty obvious to anyone with a half-way decent nose. What'd you catch? Was it mutated? Oh! Oh! I bet it was! >

[Belle's reaction is immediate, the bow dropping from her hands and a look of shock crosses her face as she attempts to understand that the animal just talked to her.

Without thinking about it, she takes a step closer.] Are you a witch? [Her voice is smaller than she intends it to be, fearful and awed all at once. She's only met one witch before, okay. This is new to her.]

It... It was rabbit. [Now she's less in awe and more bemused.] Now that you mention it, I think there was an extra limb or two...

[ Her ears flick forward, head tilting to the side as she takes her own step forward. What she hears, what she smells, it all tells her something, and it's an interesting reaction.

Collette prefers the bemusement when it comes. It's almost to that line of amusement that she prefers to find people in, when they can be nudged there. ]

< Once for Halloween! But not professionally. Ha! I'm guessing you aren't either, but witches, they're really there where you're from? That's amazing! Are they all wicked, or are there some kind ones too? >

[ Collette wags her tail, aping dog antics in the hope of projecting that kind of easy-going happiness people associate with a happy dog. She knows she looks wild -- the coyote is -- but with her mind riding in firm control over the instincts, she's as tame as she wants to be.

She does want to make friends. And she wasn't lying about smelling that rabbit from far off. Things shouldn't smell that good! ]

< Oooh, just two, sounds like we're in luck today! When there's three or four, that's when you really need to get worrying. That's way past extreme cuisine! >

[She nods slowly, head tilting to the side as she watches the animal creep forward.] Yes, there are. [A small smile twitches to life on her lips as she thinks over that question. Belle's sure that plenty of people back home would say that yes, all witches are wicked. Magic is wicked. And part of her wants to agree, but she knows that's wrong.] Witches are the same as people; some are good, some are evil. They just happen to have magic.

[she decides then that, regardless of what this beast is, a talking animal is a talking animal, and that's something pretty special. She places the bow down, securing the arrow in her quiver.] Are there really animals out there with so many limbs? [Sounds unhealthy.]

[ Having a coyote nod like a person was generally strange to see, even as it's Collette's natural inclination when hearing Belle's statement on the nature of witches being like other people. All of that made enough sense to her. Black and white really weren't part of her picture. She's glad to see inklings of the same in others.

Besides, she'd liked talking to Belle when she'd first arrived. Having more things to like about a person was never bad in her books.

Walking forward, Collette takes a careful seat as Belle places her bow down, wagging her tail once in quieter amusement and appreciation. ]

< I think so. Then there are some way weird smelling deer. I haven't seen much of those, but I think they looked off! None of what's survived out here has survived unchanged from what I've seen. >

[ Change could be for the better or the worse. Here, it seemed -- different. ]

< I bet if we can find a frog, it'll be eight legged. I half remember something about frogs being some of the first to mutate if their water gets contaminated. >

[ There's been a few stories on the news in her lifetime. ]

[It's definitely strange to see, but no stranger than the fact that Belle is pretty sure that she's having a conversation with a coyote. And a perfectly normal one at that. Besides, she's seen stranger. She is stranger, or at least part of it.

Belle runs her fingers through her messy hair, shaking out a few leaves.] Weird smelling? Maybe that's what I've been noticing... What could have happened to do such things to the environment? A curse? [Lol. What are bombs?]

Mutations... [She's going to have to go to the library, she decides then. And start reading up on things from this new world.]

[ Collette ends up letting her stopwatch rest on the ground by her paws, at enough of an angle that she can read the face by tilting her head to the side. She wants to be sure she's keeping time firmly on her side. ]

< My guess, with how the rest of everything is and from what I've heard and been told? Bombs. Lots and lots of bombs. >

[Belle's gaze moves towards the stopwatch, which seems like such an odd thing for a coyote to carry. And then it clicks that, of course, Isabelle, this is not just some animal. She feels a little stupid for having not thought of that before, beyond asking if she was a witch.]

What, exactly, are bombs? I've gathered that they're fearsome weapons, but I'm afraid we don't exactly have them in stock where I'm from.

[ Her head tilts to the side as she thinks about describing a bomb to someone who's never seen one, or heard of one, or seen one in a movie. ]

< Bombs come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but they do the same basic thing no matter what kind they are. They make big explosions, sometimes really really big, and do a lot of damage. Have you ever seen something explode before? >

[She has to think about that for a second before shaking her head slowly. Before her father's promise to the prince, she led a generally sheltered life. And even though there's a war brewing in Camwood, she's not had the chance to actually see any fighting, though she knows the kind of damages an explosion can do.] There was a building in a small village that had collapsed in on itself, that had been caused by a witch's magic. But I've never really seen anything explode.

[ Collette considers if she knows any way to explain what an explosion is to someone who hasn't seen one. Hmm. She glances at the small fire, still thinking. A house collapsing in on itself... not quite the same.

Ah! But there was something! ]

< How about a bottle placed in fire? A glass bottle that gets left there. When you leave it long enough, it bursts into pieces, breaking apart and flying all over the place! That's a kind of explosion on a small scale. >

[Just as she points her bow upwards, something big soars right over at treetop height. Belle catches wings, scales, claws, and a brief moment of a reptillian, yellow eye staring at her.]

[Belle has never seen a dragon in person before, but she's heard and read enough stories, seen enough pictures, to know what one looks like. So when she sees one flying overhead, her heart immediately picks up speed from fear as she scrambles to her feet and drops her weapon.]

[ With things like toasters and sorceress out to get him back in town, Arthur makes a habit of making his way out into the forest fairly often. It reminds him of Camelot, of home, and even with all the luxuries Exsilium provides, like toilets, he still prefers a night or two out in the wood on occasion.

On one such venture is when he finds Belle, pauses for a moment as he collects firewood to give a soft snort at her pointing the bow and arrow up at the sky. ]

You should be careful with that. What comes up must come down.

I know how it works. I've been working with the bow for over a year now. [This spot is not as isolated as she would have wanted it to be, but she supposes with such little area and such close proximity to the city, there's just no way around it.

Belle sits up, glancing over her shoulder at the man who's come upon her territory.] I wasn't about to release it. That'd be a waste of an arrow.

A year, that's very impressive. Did your father teach you? [ As that's usually how these things go. Because she couldn't possibly be any kind of warrior or anything, no, that's just silly.

He glances upwards to where she was pointing it, squinting ] Well it'd likely be shortly returned back to you if fired off in that direction.

[There's a brief look of sadness that crosses her face at the mention of her father. She hasn't seen him in nearly a year, and she still isn't sure if she should hate him or not.] No. A prince did. [The word 'prince' is said with absolute disgust.]

I suppose I would need to change direction, then. [Rolling onto her knees, she points the arrow at him instead.] How's this?

[ He quirks his eyebrows at 'prince' and that tone of disgust is most definitely not missed. ] Then you've been fortunate. Not many are allotted royal training.

[ He straightens a little as the arrow swings to him, but gives a slight chuckle, hangs up at his sides in good nature ] You would fire on a man without his weapon drawn?

I would have been more fortunate to not have met such an arrogant and selfish person, really. [There's a casual shrug of her shoulders, as if she's trying to brush it off, but she's too bitter.

A grin flickers across her lips.] I would, if I had cause to.

You're starting to sound like someone I know. [ Gwen. Merlin. Those are really the only two brave enough to say something like that to his face. ]

And I've given you no such cause, have I?

Oh really? [She means to make it sound surly and like she's not interested in anything he has to say, but that... Doesn't work out as well as she would hope. There's a total hint of curiosity in her voice.]

I'm waiting to see if you will.

Yes, really. [ He's not about to admit his closest ~~only~~ friends regularly insult him, so he just leaves it at that ]

I'm not here to cause trouble, if that's what you're expecting.

They must be quite clever, then, if you're comparing us. [Ayup, this is a totally bold and cocky statement. Because let's face it, she totally thinks she is.]

It's really reassuring to be told you won't cause trouble, as though I have any reason to believe you. [She snaps, even as she brings the bow down.]

Mmm, not really. [ He pulls a 'welp' face and a shrug ]

[ He lets out a sigh, hands going to his hips for a moment ] I give you my word on it. I doubt you'll trust that either, but it is the best I can offer.

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