[font=times new roman]Elspeth paused, considering it. Her eyes perked up and she smiled at him; a genuine one. "How about tomorrow, you meet me here, and we'll find some food together?" Elspeth was about to wait for an answer when it hit her; he probably needed water just as much as she did. How stupid of her not to mention it!
"Also I found a small spring nearby if you need fresh water."
Mik's eyes seem to light up at the idea. A little normality in his life right now was just what he needed. Granted, going out to scavenge for food with a foreign girl that he hardly knew wasn't what he would exactly consider normal, but it did divert his thoughts away from the disaster at hand.
"I guess it's a date then," he agreed, giving her a wide grin. "Er--I-I mean--I'll meet you then," he stammered, quickly rephrasing his earlier statement. At the mention of fresh water, his embarrassment flooded away. The thought of not having to make the effort to purify the lake water here at the docks was refreshing in itself.
"Really? Could you take me to it?" He asked, holding up the bucket. He felt somewhat thankful that she had mentioned the water; otherwise, he probably would have forgotten why he had originally come out here and headed back empty handed. He could only imagine how that would go.
[font=times new roman]Elspeth tipped her head to the side, laughing at his words.
"Of course it's a date," She said cluelessly, "Every day is a date. Isn't that how months go?" In the tribe where Elspeth was from, dates didn't exist. Your parents chose your partner, and if you refused you would be cast out. Since Elspeth's parents died before making any decisions about her future, she was cast out anyhow.
She nodded at his words, gesturing for him to follow. The little elephant also trotted not to far behind, seeming happy where ever he went. Elspeth lead him through a small hole, which led to a grassy place beside the sea. It was like a small secluded swamp, but the water was clean, no algae to be found. Only the moss fuzz clung to the tree roots surrounding it. "I advise you still to boil it," She cautioned her new friend, "It may look clean enough but you never know."
Mik let out a little nervous laugh as they walked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Er... yeah, I guess...I guess that is how that works," he agreed. She didn't really sound like she was teasing him, so he assumed that she hadn't understood the saying, which led him to wonder how much English terminology she wouldn't get.
He followed her into the little clearing that held the small pond. He looked around, eyes wide with wonder.
"I didn't even know this place was tucked away out here," he murmured, kneeling down and cupping his hand, scooping up a bit of water and raising it to his lips. It tasted great. He made as if to get some more, when he heard Elspeth's warning. He immediately spat out what was in his mouth, scrambling away from the pond as if it were toxic.
[font=times new roman]Elspeth burst out laughing, covering her mouth and her eyes and looking away. She didn't know why she found it so funny, she just did, and the ache in her ribs felt good. She forced herself to stop, shaking her head and letting out little rasps as if she were to start laughing like a maniac again. She sucked in a large breath and finally stopped herself, putting her hands on her hips.
"Even if it had poison in it, I'm sure that little but wouldn't have hurt you," Elspeth said gently, loosening up and allowing herself to be more of a 'person' rather than a warrior for a while. "Take as much as you need, I have enough for now."
Mik felt his face flush as she began to laugh. He could only imagine how stupid he must have looked. He slowly stood to his feet, dusting himself off and shooting her a mock hurt expression.
"It's not funny. I could have died," he murmured, smiling slightly. He raked a hand through his disheveled hair, glancing back down at the water.
"Thanks," he said, looking back up at Elspeth. He thought back to the bucket he had abandoned on the ground and opted for filling it with lake water. He was sure that the spring water tasted ten times better, but the miners didn't know any better. He would feel guilty taking water from Elspeth's private supply just to keep their thirst quenched. "But I think I'm good." A mischievous gleam suddenly lit his eyes as he looked at Elspeth. He took a few steps towards her, smiling innocently.
"You know, it was really nice meeting you," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should probably get back home before it gets dark. But ah..." He flashed her a devilish grin. "You might wanna dry off a little first." With that, he gave her a light shove in the direction of the pond.
[font=times new roman]"Mhm I bet-" She mocked him, and just as she was about to tell him that he was welcome to the water whenever, she felt herself fly in the direction of the water and hit the icy liquid. When she came up for air, the only thing she could say was "You little!" before standing and grabbing his wrist, violently pulling him into the water with her. She turned slightly, grabbing a piece of seaweed that washed up from the bay and tangling it in his hair, laughing loudly.
Suddenly, something quieted her. She put her hand to her mouth, listening to the open air and hearing the growl of a motorcycle. She quickly slapped her hand over his mouth as well, lowering him into the water, and watching for any signs of the marauders through the hole that led there. Elspeth leaned forward, grabbing Jasiri quickly and with all the strength in her body held the elephant in the water like a baby. She was making a strained noise under her breath, trying to keep quiet all the while holding a 300 pound elephant in her straggly, muscle-starved arms.
OOC: Would ya like to be one of the bikers and I'll be the other? x3
ooc;; sure thing :3
ic;; Mik let out a startled sound as she pulled him into the water, having not expected such a display of strength from her. He hit the water laughing, struggling to push himself away from her for fear of being attacked again. When her laughing abruptly stopped, however, he went still, blinking in surprise. He opened his mouth to question her silence, only to be cut off when her hand came down on top of his mouth. His eyes widened slightly, and he shot her a bewildered glance. That was when he heard the sound of the bikes.
--
"I told you man, there's no one here," the man grunted, placing a foot on the ground to steady his bike as he slowed it to a stop. "You dragged me all the way out here, and for what? A bunch of sand and dirt?" He climbed off of his bike, giving the tire a frustrated kick. He then directed his gaze to his companion, an angry glare in his eyes.
"Well, wise-guy, what do you suppose we do now, eh? We're out in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilization, and we have enough food to last us another night." He took a few steps forward, glowering. "You'd better come up with something, and quick, before I trade your ass for a can of peaches."
[font=times new roman]The large man came to a halt on his motorcycle, perching it and stopping. "Man, I'm telling you, that girl's gotta be taught a lesson. She can't just go around taking out our men and expect us not to do anything about it!" He paused, looking around for Elspeth, but to no avail. "What do you want from me, man? I'm not a detective! I just know that Jim brought us here to find her, so that's what we'll do."
---
Elspeth made a small strained squeak, unsure of how long she'd be able to hold onto Jasiri for. If she knew her elephant was safe, she would leap from the water and fight off those guys herself, even if it got her killed in the end. But she knew she couldn't let Jasiri get in the wrong hands, and she knew that it was her job to protect him set by her father. She gave Mik a stressed glance and nodded at him, as if a farewell. She slowly lowered the elephant into the water, being as silent as humanly possible, and she allowed her arms to rest a moment before looking over at her new friend. "I have to lead them away," she whispered, her eyes glassy and filled with pain since she knew they would probably torture her worse than the apocalypse ever would.
---
"We've got to find her, man," He said, starting to pace. "You heard Jim. He's mad, real mad, and he hasn't seen a pretty face in a while. He could easily force her to cook for us and work for us. If we find her, we'll get rewarded! Don't you want a reward, man? Especially with the sickness sweeping over the country?"
"Yeah? Well if she keeps on pickin' off all of our other men, what makes you think we can teach her a lesson, huh?" The man raked both hands through his hair, looking distressed. He stood near the bikes, watching as his counterpart paced around.
"I don't give two sh*ts what she could do. If it means risking our asses to get her, forget it." Despite his protests, he made no attempts to leave. He simply watched as his companion searched for Elspeth, and uneasy expression on his face.
--
Mik remained as still and as silent as possible as the men argued, straining to see what was going on. He glanced at Elspeth as a small noise came out of her mouth, alarm flashing in his eyes. What's going on? He wanted to ask. Why are these thugs looking for you? Even if he could have asked those question, he was stopped short by her words. His eyes widened, and before she could do anything he reached out beneath the water, wrapping his hand around her wrist.
"You're insane if you think I'm letting you go out there," he said in a hushed voice. Even if he had so much as considered letting her go, the look in her eyes would have made him stop her dead in her tracks. "That's suicide!" He continued to hold onto her wrist, his mind racing for a solution.
"Listen," he said quietly. "Let me go distract them. I'm not the one they're looking for. If I can at least take their mind off of you for just a second, maybe then you could do something about them." He gave her a stern look. "But there's no way I'm letting you blindly run out there."
[font=times new roman]"She'll turn up," He said, "Always does somehow. Maybe we should go and find her shelter and take all the food. That'll make her come to us."
---
Elspeth sighed. She couldn't let him risk his life for her. Giving it a moment of thought, she pickpocketed the knife from his pocket and silently strapped it back onto her thigh. "Okay," She whispered, pretending to have given up. She had a plan, and if she could make it work, she would need a diversion. She wanted to keep herself and Mik safe, so she was forced to make him an experiment. "You go first."
Mik nodded, taking a breath before pulling himself out of the water and trudging out into the open.
--
"Look, all I'm saying is--" the man's words were cut off short as he noticed a young boy walking directly towards them. He scrambled towards his buddy, throwing an arm around him and hitting him multiple times in the chest before pointing at Mik.
"Look! Look, there's a kid over there," he cried, as if his friend couldn't see him. He detached himself from his companion, taking a few threatening steps towards Mik.
"Now you listen here, kid. Not another step, you hear me?" He narrowed his eyes at Mik, slipping his hand into his pocket in what was supposed to be a threatening gesture.
--
Mik slowed down as he neared the men, slowly raising his hands above his head.
"Um...I don't want any trouble," he said. "I'm just passing through here."
[font=times new roman]Elspeth watched them carefully, leading Jasiri back to her shelter by inching slowly and quietly behind the bikers. She plugged her elephant's trunk with her hand to make sure he didn't make any noises at the newcomers. After securing her elephant in a safe hiding spot and also grabbing her dart shooter, she made a full sprint towards the biker in front of Mik and quickly grabbed up the blade she had on her thigh with her free hand, jamming her knife into the man's leg that he used for directing the motorcycle.
Ignoring the blood, she tore the knife from his leg, stepped back, and slid the base end of the knife in her teeth, however making room so that she could blow a dart at the second man's body. She wasn't sure where it landed, but he made a noise that indicated that it hit him, and with her heart pumping as fast as it had ever, she grabbed Mik's hand and started running in the opposite direction.
"Run!" She yelled through clenched teeth.
Mik inched slowly towards the man, trying as hard as possible not to shoot a backwards glance at Elspeth. He opened his mouth to say something further; however, before he got the chance, a blurry shape came hurtling past him, followed by the sound of a pained yell. Mik stumbled backwards, away from the injured biker, eyes wide as he stared at the man writhe around on the ground, gripping his wounded leg. His head snapped towards the second guy as he also let out a yell. He only had time to watch as the large man went collapsing to the ground before he felt himself being nearly pulled off of his feet. He quickly gathered his bearings, running alongside Elspeth as she bolted.
"Where--where do we go," he gasped as they ran, having hardly had time to register the situation.
[font=times new roman]Elspeth thought for a second. "Take me back to your shelter, with the miners! They'll keep us safe, won't they?" She said hurriedly, her voice cracking because she couldn't believe what she'd just done. She hardly knew his boy a day and she was already risking her life for him. Oh, the things she would do for friendship.
Mik hesitated at her request, nearly stumbling over his own feet. He quickly regained his composure and pulled up alongside her once more, shooting her a sidelong glance. He thought about it for a few moments, feeling a bit unsure of himself. He didn't really want to take her back to camp; but then again, did he have a choice? I mean, it was a safe place to stay. For him, at least.
"I guess we have no other option," he said under his breath. "Sure, we can head that way," he said, this time aloud. "Except...." he began to slow down some, until he had come to a complete stop. "It's in the other direction."
[font=times new roman]OOC: I love your new avatar! AH and RT are my favorite <3
IC: Elspeth stopped alongside him, staring in disbelief. "Damn it," She whispered to herself, her eyes flitting back and forth as she pondered a new idea. "What do we do?"
ooc;; Ahhh thanks! I can't claim to have been a fan since the beginning like most people D: but I've loved RT for a good 4 years now and I never get tired of seeing their stuff! It's good to find someone else here who loves them as well :3 Who's your favorite of the AH crew?
ic;; "You're asking me? I'm not the one being hunted by crazy bandits," Mik said, his tone somewhat accusatory. He let out a breath, glancing back in the direction they'd just come from.
"I'm sorry. We just need to skirt around them, that's all. I mean, we got a good head-start. All we have to do is...." he trailed off as the growl of an engine sounded from not far off. Alarm flashed in his gaze, and he turned to Elspeth.
"Better plan. Run and hide."
[font=times new roman]OOC: It's a close tie between Geoff, Michael, and Jack. How about you? x3
IC: Elspeth's head swung around to where the motor sounded. She squinted in the darkness, but it was no use. "No need to run," She said, listening once more. "Once the other marauders have found their injured men, they won't care about us. After they've gone, we can go our separate ways." She said this matter-of-factly, as if the plan had already worked, because even though she had no faith in the world, she had faith in herself. She figured Mik trusted her by then, she saved his ass and gave him a weapon. That reminds me.. Elspeth pulled the knife out of the latch on her thigh, handing it to him once more. "I apologize for taking it from you. But I needed it to stab the man, you see."
ooc;; I think that it's definitely between Michael, Ray and Geoff. Gavin always seems to make me laugh the most, though. And Ryan has really grown on me, with all of his creepiness and whatnot xD I would love to see Lindsey in more videos
ic;; Mik looked as if her as if he didn't quite believe her words. After a moment, though, he gave a shrug and nodded in agreement. She had proven to be plenty trustworthy by now. Besides--he liked having her around. He didn't want to jeopardize that.
"You--how?" Mik stared at the knife in semi-amazement, having never even noticed that she'd somehow pick pocketed it off of him. After a few moments, he simply shook his head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Thanks." He knew that he would probably have to get used to her surprises, since she seemed to come packed full of them. Speaking of Elspeth's little surprises....
"What about Ja--Jasar--sir....Your elephant?"