RPG Scrapworld: The Skycleaner (Mature)

[ExcelExcel]

Rose Now stared down the srap with the broken eye. It roared, and through the hazy static Rose could hear only two words.

"NO HIDE."

Rose's eye opened wide. She understood now. The scrap couldn't see her, it couldn't see anything. It was only focused on her because of her data stream.

This could prove useful. Rose moved away from Archemedes and Maya, the scrap following her every movement. It lowered its head, like some kind of animal on the hunt. Rose turned on her heels, and ran torwards the building. It came barreling after her, and she ran with all her might, her inner gears spinning like mad.

The scrap on her heels, she ran at the now open bay doors, hoping to slam the heavy metal doors on it to give her enough time to at least assess the situation inside. To her dainty ears came the sounds of things crashing down and breaking. The distraction caused her to fall, slipping on the snow just as the war scrap behind her leaped at her. It sailed over her, narrowly midssing her by mere inches. It slid across the ground, now blocking her from the building.

"Drat!" Rose muttered. Rose got up again, leveling her pipe at the machine. To her dismay, she noticed it was bent and knicked, and probably would bend in half if she whacked the scrap in front of her.

Rose and the scrap again circled, but this time, it didn't give her the chance to move all the way into the position she wanted. It came for her, and leaped to demolish her into a pile of scrap parts. Rose flung herself forward, ducking under the claws as they reached for her. She bent herself into an angle impossible for humans to EVER get into,using it to catapult herself back onto her feet and head back into the building. The scrap was just behind her, barreling at full force to get her.

She entered the building, jumping to the left, knowing it couldn't see the building. There was a horrendous SCCCCRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEK as the scrap barreled into the side of the sheetmetal siding. The building shook with the force, shards of metal flying in every direction. The scrap tumbled in, now it looked in about as bad shape aas Rose's poor little pipe. Taking aim, before it could separate itself from the metal, rose took aim, and bashed the pip on it, just enough to straighten it out some. Then, she turned and ran into the heat of battle. The scraps had all paused with the noise reverberating through the building, but then continued their fights. Julian was running away from a damaged scrap, severely hobbles and not bending as flexibly aas it should have been. Rose saw her chance. She raced over, the scrap right behind her oblivious aas to what was going on. Rose calculated in seconds the trajectory she needed to take.

5....4.....3....2.....1. The scrap behind Rose leaped, slashing it's claws through the air. Rose Launched her pipe into the air, hitting the Scrap chasing Julian causing it to stop. Rose ducked and rolled under it, it being all the while clueless as to the occurence about to happen. IT had but a moment to register Rose, Before....

There was a horrible crash and a ripping noise as the two scraps tore each other apart from the impact. Rose searched for her pipe, and saw it bent all to nothing worth using. Julian lept running, apparently he'd had his own plan. Looking acrosss the room, Rose could see Duo running and dodging another war scrap. It hit Rose like a ton of bricks.

"Julian! Wait for me!" Rose seized what was left of her pip and ran along after him.

[Kre]

[color=darkblue]Lucy groaned after being thrown to the ground by Heat. The way Heat had picked up the two hadn't of been the gentlest either, but it was now time to focus on the situation at hand, rather the possible injuries. The two others who had been carried by Heat for the short amount of time were already off doing their own things to outsmart these creatures, and before Lucy knew it, she was standing in the room gazing between which group to help. When the others started faring well against the wolves, Lucy's eyes wandered to Ishild and Zlota, who had two slowly pacing around them in a circle.

Lucy took one step closer, watching as the two wolves circled Zlota and Ishild, who up til now hadn't moved, which kept the wolves currently circling them. Lucy had pulled the Scavenger's knife from her back pack, not sure exactly what it would do, but it was the only 'weaponry' the girl had on her. Her dark eyes constantly watched the two metallic creatures, adrenaline rushed through her veins and for the first time in awhile, Lucy was nervous and afraid. But, fear could not be shown...These 'things' would feed off your fear, and then kill you. Lucy could feel that, which only made her afraid of being afraid. Finally, she spoke up, calling out to the two of them.

"Do you two have a plan of some kind?!"[/color]

[Xemos]

[SIZE="1"]Grettel flew through the air, banging hard into the wall before hitting the floor. She stood up quickly, gears whirring and clothes disheveled as the beast snarled and leaped at her. The repair scrap rolled out of the way as the beast slammed into the wall, immediately backing out and letting out an ear splitting roar as it revved it's horrifying bladed teeth. Grettel looked around quickly, her mind racing.[I] Gears gears....Archimedes was right. Stop the gears, stop the monster, as with any scrap. [/I]She dodged the scrap again, just barely getting out of the way in time as it sliced past her.

Grettel's long fingers wrapped around a thick piece of pipe as she quickly got to her feet, facing the monstrosity as it lunged once more, looming over her. She quickly held up the pipe, thrusting it into the maw of the beast where it quickly became a shredded mess, spurting sparks as the Scrap was momentarily distracted. Grettel acted fast, moving to it's side and clambering up as it thrashed and snarled at her. She immediately started pulling and tearing out gears and important parts, her arms stretching to grab the joints in it's shoulders and disabling them before the larger scrap flung her off with a violent jerk. She crashed to the ground with a muffled noise, her rags and clothing offering slight protection to her joints as she skidded to a halt. The large wolfish scrap teetered as it attempted to move towards her, it's shoulders screeching in protest as pieces of it's body crunched together, unable to work properly in their damaged state. Grettel circled it warily, picking up a large broken piece of it's shoulder and holding it tightly as she moved in closer. The large scrap turned to her, attempting another lunge before toppling over and thrashing violently.
She sprang, jumping onto the things back again and bashing it's exposed clockwork with all of her strength, bits of metal flying everywhere. The murderous scrap snarled again, louder and more horridly than ever as it attempted to roll and crush the repair scrap underneath it. Grettel hung on grimly, giving a mighty heave before hitting it hard, right in one of it's more complex clockwork mechanisms. It shuddered, gears grinding and crunching together like a death rattle before finally going limp, the camera eye that had been swiveling madly now rolling upwards sightlessly. Grettel paused, looking at the scrap for a moment before hitting it again, just to make sure the clever thing wasn't playing dead before sliding off of it's back and quickly looking around to see how the others were faring. [/SIZE]

[chibi-master]

Maya was standing on the sidelines, watching the wolves attack everyone. She knew the wolves would ignore her until everyone else was dead, but would end her in an instant if she brought attention to herself. She turned and saw Ishild and Zlota being circled by two wolves. Lucy seemed to be talking to them about a plan, but Maya couldn't hear very well over the growling wolves. The wolves' circle seemed to be getting smaller each time they went around. Maya gasped. She scurried away from Archimedes and toward Ishild and Zlota. She snatched up one of the pipes everyone seemed to be using. When she got close enough, she yelled, "Get away from Ishi and Zlota!!!" She jabbed the pipe into the gears of one wolf, making it spark and writhe. But then the other one lept for her. Maya squeezed her eyes shut and flinched, but nothing hit her. She opened one of her eyes and saw Zlota holding the wolf above her head. She slammed it on to the ground, took the pipe out of the other wolf, and thrust it into the other's gears. Maya looked up at the protective scrap. "Yay! Zlota did it!" she squealed, hugging her leg.

[Lilt]

[FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=darkred]"How's that for a plan?" Ishild asked jokingly, looking at Lucy.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=darkred]However, suddenly the wolf that Zlota had knocked down started to get up. Apparently Zlota hadn't stuck the pipe in deep enough. Zlota's back was to the wolf as it got ready to pounce.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=darkred]"Zlota, no!" Ishild yelled.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=darkred]Zlota tried to turn around but it was too late. The wolf pounced and tackled Zlota to the ground. With tears in her eyes, Ishild turned away. Feeling helpless as to what to do. Suddenly, she noticed the clawed toe of the wolf that Maya had killed. Ishild frantically ran for it and pulled at the claw. It finally came off with great difficulty and Ishild ran at the wolf screaming. First she slashed the claw at the wolf which did nothing but distract it. That is what she was hoping would happen though. She had to get it off of Zlota.[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=darkred]As Ishild readied herself for the final blow to the wolf's gears, her enemy proved to be too fast for her. It turned around quickly and attacked. Ishild was knocked to the ground and in shock. She had no idea how badly her injuries were or if the wolf had just bumped her with its metal body.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[B][COLOR=#8b0000]OOC: Okay guys, sorry I've been so busy. I'll leave it up to Chibi, ScreamSin, or Oro how badly Ishild has been injured. Also, someone save Zlota please![/COLOR][/B]

[ScreamSin]

A tangled mess of gears and metal slammed into the wolf on Zlota, rocketing both the attacking wolf and the ruined one against the other wall. Heat shouldered his way through the wall, lumbering over the girls.
"Don't touch them!"
With a static roar, Heat charged into the struggling wolf, smashing it heavily with his massive fist. He pivoted, quickly shifting himself to stand over the girls, offering some protection as they moved to Ishild. She was bleeding from the chest, where the claws had gashed her. It was a big cut, but not deep. She grunted in pain as Heat's camera eye circled back outside, focusing on the Alpha wolf as it slowly stalked into the building, it's jaws whirring madly as it's cyclopean eye swiveled from target to target. Heat moved in between it and the girls, bracing himself. The massive murder Scrap paused, twisting it's head in a predatory curiousity. The blades on it's back whirred violently as it gave a piercing scream to the group, then it suddenly whipped it's body around and bounded off into the snowstorm. Heat watched it leave, unmoving for a moment before snapping back into reality. The huge Scrap quickly moved to Ishild, his broken arm dragging along the ground as he scooped her up in his good arm.
"Maya, Get on!"
Maya scrambled onto his good arm, gripping the pipes in his biceps as the large Scrap turned to Lucy and Zlota.
"Alright? Heat was slow..."
"...you did fine Heat."
The large scrap nodded, and quickly headed over to Archimedes.
--------
The old man examined Ishild's cut, his hands gently pushing and testing.
"Does this hurt?"
"No..."
"And this?"
"OW! YES!"
"Ok good. None of your nerves were cut, looks like the wound's superficial. It's shallow, you'll be fine, but it's gonna hurt for awhile."
Heat sat down heavily, his broken arm hanging limply as he gently let Maya down.
"I am sorry Maya. Heat did not protect you..."
---------
((If you're still fighting a wolf, finish it off, regroup.))

[chibi-master]

Maya looked up at Heat. "B-but you did! Just now! You saved me, and Zlota, and Ishi, and Lucy! You protected me, Heat, you did!" Maya protested, hugging the scrap's good arm. "I-! I was really scared for Ishi and Zlota, but you helped them! Thank you!" she sniffled. Zlota was looking down at Maya, then looked up to Heat.

"True. Thank you." she managed to say.

"Yeah, you did just fine, Heat! If not for you, Zlota would be shredded and Maya and I would be, too! Thanks!" Ishild added. Heat made a few odd sounds, but Maya was sure that if he could smile, he would be doing so right then.

"Okay, let's get this injury of yours taken care of!" Archie interrupted. "We'll have plenty of time for tis later, but we'll need to get out of here, soon!"

[Esbell]

((Been a busy bee folks, so my efforts here have suffered as consequence. Only expect to hear from me once every couple days. If it looks like I‘ll be nailed down a bit I‘ll let out a warning))

In a ravenous flurry of strikes, the wolf-like scraps attempted to tear past Vangelios’ metal overcoat. To his fortune, however, the barrier of snow that nearly encapsulated him when the scraps first ambushed him had made the terrain around him difficult to maneuver past, so often their claws would simply slip past any vulnerabilities while they worked through the snow. With the weight of the scraps on top of him, Vangelios couldn’t exert enough force to right himself up.

All Vangelios could do was watch the scene unfold, and he was filled with a great distain for what he saw. The entire group was scattered to individuals confronting the wolves that prevented them from reforming. It was nigh impossible to conceive these humans possibly dispatching a scrap of this sort without the aid of each other. Yet then he began to see everyone pull out miraculous feats of strength and cunning. Scraps fell before their might as if displaying a glimmering hope that this encounter would be in their favor.

Vangelios would tempt his fate as his partners had, and he simply waited for the opportunity to achieve his glory.

With much dedication the scraps and unearthed Vangelios from his tomb of snow and immediately their assault had become life threatening. One of the scraps bent and clawed at a fold of the metal cloak to pry it open, yet in a moments notice it’s partner plunged it’s whirling blades into Vangelios’ body, and sight of sparks and sheet metal erupting from his body filled his gaze. The amount of force that was exerted in this process actually caused Vangelios to unbind from the snow. Using the powerful motion of the scraps he was able to get enough force to roll himself over and catch the scraps unbalanced while he began to right himself.

As he placed himself back up on his feet, Vangelios continuously swept the ground with his rod to keep the scraps off their feet. Unfortunately they quickly anticipated this motion after some careful movements, and poised for another attack.

One of them charged directly to Vangelios, so in response he quickly made a parrying motion with his rod to topple the wolf. This caused him to lose sight of the second one, and Vangelios quickly felt an intense impact from his rear causing him to stumble into waiting jaws. As Vangelios skidded toward the scrap he quickly shoveled his rod underneath it, concealed in the snow, and with all the strength in his arm used the rod as a lever to force the scrap on it’s back. Projecting his foot outwards, Vangelios stomped on the scrap using it as a break to prevent his toppling over, and trampling the scrap under his weight in the process. The damaged scrap flailed horrifically afterwards, but the damage to it’s body began to make it’s gears collapse and it’s movements caused it to sink into the snow, burying itself into a frozen grave.

Vangelios shambled back into a defensive position and gazed at the remaining scrap. As the horrid automaton moved to circle Vangleios, he could notice it was tracing a line of debris that they had torn off of his body, so it seemed as if the scrap was demonstrating the damage it was capable of. The metal coat of Vangelios’ was rather bent from being bludgeoned, and a great many mysterious parts continued to rain from his body.

With a screech the scrap leapt high into the air, beyond what Vangelios could see, and far beyond his reach. Great precision during it’s decent allowed it to grab onto Vangelios’ coat, and it ground it’s saws against it, causing the faded yellow glimmer of it to deteriorate to a silver sheen.

Vangelios couldn’t break his arms past his cloak with the scraps embrace pinning them together, so he simply fell face first into the ground with the scrap still on him. The wolf struggled under his body pressed against the ground. It was forced to let go and attempt to crawl out from under him, which it what Vangelios was waiting for. He used his arms to unfold his cloak and shroud it over the scraps body, and trapping it’s head against the two ridged edges of the fold so that he could operate his hands and still keep it pinned. Using his rod, he pierced through the neck of the scrap and began to grind it against his coat until the friction caused the gears to break.

[Xemos]

[SIZE="1"]Grettel adjusted her greatly rumpled clothing, giving her head a shake as the odd static seemed to disappear along with the Alpha wolf. She spotted Heat as he lumbered over to Archie and Zlota, Maya clinging to him. If she could, she would have grimaced at the terrible state he was in as she moved toward him, already flexing her fingers. She skirted around the humans and pulled on his good arm to get his attention, the swiveling camera eye turning to look at her.

"Grettel okay?" He asked, turning slightly to face her, his damaged arm dragging on the floor. She held up a hand, nodding. "Yes, i'm perfectly fine. But you need repairs." She stated, craning her neck to look him over ruefully.

"Heat protect Maya!"

She sighed. "Yes, you did. But you got damaged in the process. So hold still please while I fix you, alright?"

"Okay!" Heat held still, occasionally fidgeting as Grettel hopped up on him and got to work, quickly putting his gears and cogs back into order and secure once more.

As the repair scrap worked, she could almost feel a chill go through her clockwork. They would have been in trouble if they hadn't had Heat with them to fend off the bulk of the wolf scraps pack. She didn't even want to think about what could have happened if he hadn't been with them, or if they had managed to immobilize him....

Grettel pushed those thoughts away. No need to get anxious over what could have been. It hadn't happened, so they were fine.....for now.
She patted the larger scraps arm as she pulled her hands out of the joints. "How is it feeling now, Heat? Can you move your arm?" She asked, looking up at him questioningly.[/SIZE]

[Akieen Cloud]

[COLOR="Navy"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Duo ran around the building and skidded to a halt in the snow as the biggest of the wolves left, she watched it go and than ran around. It seemed as if things were starting to die down some and grabbed Julian's arm looking him over for any injuries. Seeing nothing to serious other than some bumps and bruises she walked around and saw Archie looking over Ishild.
"She alright?"
"She's got a good cut, no nerve damage."
Duo leaned in to look and nodded as she prodded Ishild as well, only not to see where it hurt.
"He's right, it's not to deep, but I have some salve and bandages in my pack to keep it covered and from getting infected."
She walked to her pack and than back to the others where and began to look over everyone, when she was done she sat at the base of an old dead tree and heaved a deep sigh, she raised an eye brow as Archi looked down at her.
"What about you Duo, you have injuries as well."
"I'll live, what about your arm? Is it alright?"
She leaned forward and took his arm having him rotate it this way and that, when she elicited a small hiss from him, she nodded knowingly and looked at him with a grave face.
"What?"
"Muscle damage."
He blinked several times and frowned as she smiled.
"I'm kidding, it seems like a pulled muscle is all, keep it in the sling I made for you earlier and it should be fine in a day or two."
He sighed and then knocked her on the top of her head.
"OW! What the hell was that for?!"
"You should never play tricks on an old man."
Duo snorted with laughter and looked up at the older man.
"Arch, your about as old as I am at heart and you know it."
That made the man smile and nodd, folding her hands behind her head she looked around.
"So...now what?"
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[ScreamSin]

Archimedes looked up at Heat, then his eyes roved over his group. Everyone was breathing heavily, several were bleeding. As Vangelios slowly rose to his feet and the others gathered, Archimedes took his pipe back from Rose. He stared at the mangled tip, but it would still work well as a walking stick. The old man looked at everyone's faces, slowly rolling his injured shoulder.
"We have a problem...we got lucky this time, nothing else."
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"They caught us off guard Archie..."
"I'm not talking about that! We did exactly what they wanted! We separated, we broke apart, and we almost died because of it. We are nothing without each other!"
Archimedes moved to Rose and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry I didn't take your worries seriously earlier. But you have to see. Those are not the Scraps from the war. Those things...they were smarter, better built...they are new. This shouldn't be possible, the factories are all shut down. Someone is building Scraps."
"A human?"
"More then likely..."
He turned and waved his pipe at everyone.
"Listen to me. If you see anything out of the ordinary, alert the rest of us. But be careful that your fears don't turn into paranoia. Be aware of everything, but be reasonable with your judgments. We have to stick together! All of us! If we're attacked again, work together, it's the only way we will survive. They know us now, and we know nothing of them. All of you, be careful...let's go, we have to keep moving...this place is no longer safe."
Heat rotated his wrist as Grettel finished up, sliding his arm up and over his head. He looked down at her and nodded, making a strange crackling noise that sounded like laughter.
"Heat works! Heat's arm is fine! Thank you Grettel! Now Heat can help others!"
The massive Scrap lumbered to his feet, his arm making a strange grinding noise before finally settling into it's smooth movement. He walked up behind Maya, and scooped her into his arm.
"Maya will stay with Heat! Heat not let anyone hurt Maya!"
Ishild turned and glanced at Heat. The Scrap pointed a claw at her.
"Heat will protect Isshhhhild too!"
"Thanks Heat. I'll walk though."
The Scrap nodded and placed Maya onto one of his broad shoulder plates. The dent in the center gave her a fairly comfortable seat as Heat began to move towards Archie. Duo walked next to the old man.
"Where are we heading now?"
"...there's another ruin several miles up...but we're going to avoid it."
"Why?"
"It has a dormant Factory in it...if those Scraps are being built, their probably getting parts from a Factory. We'll circle it, and find another shelter, hopefully before night falls. We have to get moving..."
Archimedes fell silent after this, staring straight ahead. Something in his voice told Duo that he was lost in his own thoughts, thinking intently, probably about the ambush. Possibly whether or not he could have done more.
------
Heat walked up to Vangelios, helping the Scrap to his feet. His camera eye swiveled as he reached down, pulling bits of Wolf out of the metal cloak.
"Vangelios is ok?"
"I am fine, wh-"
"Heat wants Vangelios to help! Heat cannot watch everyone! Vangelios will help!"
Before he could respond, the massive Scrap turned and reached over to Grettel, pulling her close, careful to not let Maya slip off his shoulder.
"Grettel will help too!"
"What?"
"We - "
"Listen to Heat! Heat cannot watch over all humans at all times. Vangelios and Grettel will help me, so that humans not get hurt."
"Bu-"
"Promise Heat! You will help?"
The massive Scrap stared at them quietly, obviously unwilling to accept any answer against his request. Archimedes turned and waved at them.
"Heat, Van, Grettel! Let's go! Keep up!"
Heat's eye swiveled to the old man, then back to the other Scraps.
"Heat knows you will help."
The massive Scrap lumbered off towards the others.

[Esbell]

Vangelios erected himself in shame with the help of Heat, and shook his right leg to untangle it from the fallen scrap. He proclaimed he was fine as his movements were not terribly hindered, however, unable to recognize the abundance of parts that were torn from his body this only speculation. Heat's words turned as he remarked on Vangelios? failure to uphold his word to protect Maya. This further complicated his sub conscious with feelings of doubt.

After Heat?s persistent barking he wandered over the group, and Vangelios followed him like a dog on a leash, until he inexplicably fell to his knees, and heard an unsettling disturbance under his coat. He erected himself as swiftly as he could, and turned his gaze over the struggling wolf scrap that continued to bury itself.

Turning swiftly to Grettle, Vangelios pondered aloud to her, ?Is Heat starting to sound human?? Grettle seemed perplexed by this line, but replied ?I haven?t spoken to them much.? Vangelios immediately directed his rod to the struggling wolf scrap ?It may be savage, but we now know scraps can be in a family.?
He displayed an open hand to Grettle, ?Become my sister, and with the three of us helping each other we will aid the humans, but as their friends instead bound in obligation.?

While he waited for Grettle, he uttered over to Heat and Maya, ?By my side Maya, I said you will not need to use your hands, and on Heat?s back you don?t need your legs.? He attempting to replicate laughter once again, but it once again distorted into an alien noise. ?Heat, would you like to be friends with Maya, and Maya would you like the same of Heat??

[chibi-master]

Maya blinked, confused. "Heat [I]is[/I] my friend! Just like we're friends, right!" Maya said with a smile. "I'd like to think that everyone here, scrap and or human is my friend! Are you getting all of this?"

"You still want to be friends, though I did not follow through on my promise?!" Vangelios asked.

"But you did, kinda! You held off those scary wolves! If they weren't occupied with you, who knows what would have happened! I still want to be you friend, Van!" Maya replied, nodding her head eagerly. "You still want to be mine, right?"

[Deadpool]

[color=darkred][size=1]Graham stumbled through the snow pulling the makshift sled behind him with several packs and one of the killer scraps. He could feel his open wounds slowly letting blood out causing him to get more and more tired. He stopped for a second and started to sink to his knees. [i]I can't they need me, Duo needs me[/i] He forced himself back up and kept trudging on blindly through the blizzard. He knew he was going somewhat in the right direction but without really being able to see any of the landmarkers he could only hope.

It seemed like hours he walked which was probably true using only his will to keep him going. The deaths of the men haunted the back of his mind as he remembered taking their gear of their dead bodies and all the tents for future use. Suddenly he felt himself falling. He had walked right off a cliff while he was blind in hsi thoughts.

Graham grunted as he hit the ground the snow drifts taking most of the blow and thankfully the sled and all its components landed next to him instead of on top of him. He reached over and grabbed onto the back of the dead scrap and used it to pull himself up. HE tried to move but he had nothing left. The world around him alowly started to spin. He blinked his eyes a few times and saw several blurry outlines moving throught he blizzard. He only had enough energy for one yell.

Graham took a deep breath before screaming at the top of his lungs. "DUO!" He fell to his knees and slowly began sinking farther to the the ground as the world spun and hsi vision started to fade. He knew he couldnt yell. "Duo his voice barely a whisper but saying her name one more time seemed to help. He collapsed as he passed out of exhaustion.[/size][/color]

[Akieen Cloud]

[COLOR="Navy"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Duo froze as the sound of her name drifted through the wind, her pack falling off her shoulder she spun around scanning for the means of the sound. Archie looked back.
"Duo, keep moving."
She shook her head violently and grabbed her pack heading back the way they came.
"Duo! What do you think your doing?! We're supposed to stay together!"
"I heard something..."
Her voice was low but not unheard, Archie frowned and let out a growl of frustration.
"Than we should be moving away from the sound, not towards it."
She didn't bother giving him an answer but continued to move back towards the snow drifts, something in the back of her mind was telling her she had to.
"Duo! Argh, stop!"
Duo thrashed out wildly against the raging blizzard that pelted them with snow, covering her face with her arms she trudged through the snow. Getting closer she felt her blood run cold as she spotted the bright red cross on the man's back and threw her weight forward doubling her efforts when she felt Julian grab her arm tightly.
"Kilo! Juls let me go it's Kilo! Kilo say something!"
She wiggled free and plowed through the snow, the rest hot on her heels. She ducked as the wind blew a light weighted piece of scrap metal towards her and did a baseball slid to Graham's body where she covered it with her own, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face into his back. She felt her heart falter she smelt the copper scent coming off the man and flipped him over covering her mouth to keep from screaming. Her medical senses kicked in in an instant.
"Van! Shield us with your cloak, Maya, Heat go and see if you can find ANY wood to make a fire with or something, Archie, Juls, Ishild, look through that sled and see if there are any tents. Grettel, help me move him, be gentle. I don't know how badly he's injured."
Within ten minutes there was a tent set up and Duo had Graham in it and was slowly cutting the sticky, blood soaked clothes from his body, she felt her cheeks flame as she peeled his shirt away from his body. Shaking her head to clear it she retreated into doctor mode once again and began to gently prod his ribs with her fingers, she slowly moved her fingers across the tight muscles of his torso and sighed when she felt no broken bones. He had cuts everywhere and a few bruised ribs but nothing major. She wrapped her hands around the sides of his stomach and put gentle pressure there watching his face and was pleased when no sign of strain or pain crossed his features. No eternal bleeding. She cut the band of his pants and peeled them off much like she had done with his shirt and worked her fingers and hands along his legs satisfied when she found no other injury than a bruise or two, and a few scrapes. Taking a deep breath she fumbled through her pack and pulled out a disinfectant, a mild pain killer, salve, and some bandages and began to dress his wounds, once done she wrapped them with the bandages and bit back a curse realizing they were her last from the skycleaner, she stuck her head out of the tent and looked at Maya, Ishild and Heat.
"Hey guys, can you scavenge around and see if you can find anything that would work for bandages? Just ragged shirts, pants, anything."
They nodded and got up, Julian looked at her confused.
"Why send Heat?"
"Protection, dumbass."
He frowned but was unable to say anything as she ducked back into the tent and went back to work on Graham. Injecting him with the mild pan killer she grabbed a blanket that had come from the sled he had been dragging with him and covered him, tucking it around him to hold in his body heat and than lay down next to him to lend her own in the process of accelerating his blood flow. She sighed and relaxed after a few minutes she saw color reaching his cheeks. Sitting up she slid her hands under the blanket, trying to keep her mind off of how intimate the action could seem and began to run her hands over his body, keeping them in a few places longer than other to make sure his entire body was reaching the temperature it should be at. Heaving a sigh of relief she sat down next to him and put a hand to his cheek where a small scratch was and ran her thumb over it.
"Kilo, what were you thinking...I thought you were gonna stay there and take care of things..."
She put her face in her hands and groaned, only when she felt the body next to her move did it register that she had not made the noise alone. Her hand snapped in the direction of the groan and her eyes brimmed with tears as Graham's eyes slowly slanted open.
"Kilo! Thank gods your alright! What were you thinking?! Never mind I'm just glad your okay, I was so worried! I thought I lost you-"
Her cheeks flushed as she realized what she had said and she clamped her mouth shut. She looked down at him to see his eyes were focused on her. Clearing her throat she put her hand to his forehead and nodded happily as no fever was detected, taking her water skin she put her hand behind his head and lifted it slightly to allow him a drink.
"How are you feeling?"
He shook his head and closed his eyes.
"Heavy."
"Yeah, you have frost bite on your face and fingers, your body was pushed to its limits, yet again since your good for that, and you lost a good amount of blood. But...I'm just glad your okay."
"I'm glad it was you guys that I saw and not a bunch of raiders."
She let the tears well up again and blinked as his hand weakly wiped them away.
"What's wrong Duo? I'm fine."
She leaned into his touch with out realizing it, not seeing his cheeks flush.
"I thought I'd never see you again."
"Seriously? With the confession you left with me, you really thought I'd not let you make it back in one piece?"
She froze as the memory flooded her mind again and her cheeks flamed red.
"Oh that...I-uh, well you see I-..."
She looked at her lap and waited for him to break the unease around them, her mind blank for anything to say for the first time in years, ever since she had first met him.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[ScreamSin]

Archimedes gave a cough.
"Not to ruin the mood here...Kilo, can you speak?"
"Archie, he can't -"
"Duo, be quiet. Now."
The old man's tone suggested that he was not in the mood for arguing. He walked over to Kilo.
"Kilo, don't strain yourself, but I need to know what happened. Was it raiders or scraps?"
"Scraps...they-"
"I know, we got hit by them too. Rest now, we'll move out when you're better."
Archimedes turned and grabbed Duo's shoulder.
"Do whatever it takes to keep him alive, but next time you hear an unknown voice, you tell me more then 'I heard something' and you had better let the rest of us fucking know, I will not have your feelings getting us into another ambush or killed."
"I-"
"Duo, if you had told me that you heard your name being called, that you had a feeling, ANYTHING like that, I would have gladly investigated with you, but I have seen men go insane out here, I have seen them lure innocent people into their deaths to get a piece of cloth."
"Archi-"
"If you need help, let me know. I was a field doctor after all. I'll be outside."
With that, the old man walked out of the tent.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Julian watched what was going now, he felt useless. He didn't know anything about injuries, and no one was telling what to do.

He walked back outside, into the biting cold. He felt more alive now, and was saddened more than anything.

Rose came up to him, her dress fluttering around her in the wind. "Julian?"

"So many people... and so many deaths. Kilo's fighting for his life now, and.... I can't do anything to help him."

Rose looked down. "I do not feel adequate either. I.... I beleive our time will come."

"Really? I'm not so sure. I just... I don't know."

Rose sighed. "Please, put your mind at ease. We can't afford to have your mind wandering...."

"Yeah. Sorry. Let's go see if we can cook something for everyone..."

[ScreamSin]

"Julian, Rose."
Archimedes waved the pair over to him.
"What are you doing right now?"
"We were going to try and cook some food for everyone."
"Don't, we need to eat sparingly. I need your help with something, come with me."
The trio walked over to the sled.
"Kilo had a lot of supplies with him, but a lot of it was damaged, I'm assuming from the fall. See what you can scrounge out of it, if you wouldn't mind."
The old man turned before they could answer, and headed over to Lucy, Grettel, and Van.
"You guys keep an eye on things here for me, I have to get my bearings. Zlota, can you come with me please? We're going to the edge of the city, I want to find a landmark and figure out where we are exactly."
The old man began to head off to the city without waiting for an answer, his old map tucked under his arms as he adjusted the hood surrounding his wrinkled face.
-----------------
Heat walked back into the campsite, Ishild and Maya riding on his shoulders. They had only managed to find a piece of cloth that one of the wolves had been wrapped in.
"I told you we wouldn't find anything, this place is cleaned out! We scavenged too much of it when we were with the Skycleaner, are you getting all this?"
"Look, Duo is a little uptight right now. Kilo was hurt pretty badly, and you know how those two are."
"But Mr. Archimedes can help her! He was a doctor too, before her, right?"
Heat's camera eye swiveled to Maya before turning to Ishild. She sighed.
"Archie's angry with her right now, I think he needs a little time to cool off. He didn't like her running off without a word to the rest of us."
"Dangerous, Heat worried!"
------
((Let's keep this interlude brief, as no one really has anything to do.))

[chibi-master]

Maya looked down at her feet. "Yeah... I guess it's just weird, y'know? I just never imagined Mr. Archimedes could get so angry over anything!"

"People are people, Maya. There's not one of us that doesn't experience emotions like anger. Especially anger, actually," Ishild replied. "Besides, what Duo did was very dangerous...to ALL of us!"

"I will agree that what she did was not strategically safe... But still...seeing Mr. Archimedes blow up like that was scary. I felt really uncomfortable...," Maya mumbled.

"Maya sad?" Heat asked.

"Not really, heat. Mostly worried."

"Maya regret coming?"

"No! I knew it was going to be dangerous. I came out of my own free will. I'm more worried about what's going to happen to everyone emotionally. But, I suppose that's what comes with the journey."

[Lilt]

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Book Antiqua]Ishild watched as Zlota stood up and silently followed Archimedes. Then Ishild turned back to Maya.

"Hey Maya, to tell the truth, I'm a little worried too. But like you said it is all a part of the journey. I know though that with you out here with us, everyone will make it okay." Ishild smiled.
Maya smiled back and gave Ishild a hug. It was a bit too tight of a hug though, and Ishild winced thanks to her injury.
"[/FONT][/COLOR][FONT=Book Antiqua][COLOR=DarkRed]Isshhhhild[/COLOR][/FONT][COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Book Antiqua] feel pain?" Heat asked, his camera eye peering at her.
"Don't worry Heat, I'll be okay ."
"Oh Ishy, I'm sorry!" Maya apologized.
Ishild just smiled and ruffled Maya's hair.
"So, Maya. While we wait on Archimedes to get back, why don't you and I talk?" Ishild asked, patting a spot next to herself.
"Sure Ishy, but what about? And why?"
Ishild stared off into the distance and gave her answer after Maya sat down next to her.
"Well, I guess because I'm just glad you and I are still here. Something bad could have happened, Maya. I could have gone away."
"Ishy, you know me well enough. I know you're talking about death and.."
Ishild interrupted Maya with a giggle.
"Okay, you're right. Anyways, like I was saying I could have died out there. We both could have. So I just want to make these times we have together last while they can. Who knows what might happen out there. Because you're family to me. So let's stick together. With your brains and my good looks we can get anything done." Ishild said, sticking out her tongue and hugging Maya, who remembered to hug back a bit more gently this time.

[B]OOC: I hope I portrayed Maya okay, Chibi.[/B]
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Kre]

[color=darkblue]Lucy had found herself somewhat distanced from the group again. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Kilo, it was more of the fact that she was comfortable with this. Escpecially after what had just happened, Lucy needed sometime alone to cool down, a lot of things were racing through her mind.

Despite the heavy coat on her back, Lucy could feel the unsatisfiable cold from the wall as she leaned back against it. She could feel it press through each layer of fabric and reach her skin, sending a slight shiver down the girl's body. Readjusting the scarf over her mouth to hopefully help her keep warm, her mind started to slip deep into thought.

The whole situation replayed in Lucy's mind as her amber eyes seemed to start spacing out, just looking forward at the chilling shelter and the snow outside. During her replays she asked herself throughout the whole thing 'What if this happened instead...' and searched her mind for answers, but the clueless girl had none to offer for herself.

Lucy sighed, a frown of disappointment on her face. She had done nothing during the whole conflict. How useless. Especially since Ishild was injured, Lucy's mind was focused on that. The one person she had grown close to had sacrificed herself, and what did Lucy do? She stood there, too dazed in fear. The insecure girl now only wished that Ishild didn't hate her or anything. That would be the last thing she wanted. With one final long exhale, Lucy curled her knees to her chest, trying to think of something else to get these disappointing thoughts from her mind.[/color]

[Akieen Cloud]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="Navy"]Duo sat in the tent with Kilo making sure to keep him comfortable as he rested, her cheeks still burned from the tongue lashing that she had received from Archie. She mentally slapped her self, what she had done was really stupid but she didn't regret it...okay maybe she did alittle bit. She heaved a sigh and leaned back on her hands and looked up at the top of the tent and bit her lip.
It was a stupid thing to do...it really was. I'm surprised he hasn't sent me back to the cleaner for it...although they do need me pretty bad.
She ran a hand through her bangs and let it linger as it came over her face. She looked over at Kilo and felt a small smile tug at her lips seeing her necklace resting on his chest, reaching over she ran her hand across his cheek and felt her cheek heat up when he leaned into the touch. Her smile fell as her thoughts ran through the possibility of him leaving as soon as he got better. She felt tears prick at her eyes at the thought of him leaving her. She tucked her knees to her chest and buried her face inbetween them hiding her face as silent tears trailed down her face, her head shot up as Julian looked in.
"Hey how's he-Duo what's wrong with you?"
She shook her head and tried to wipe the tears from her face before Julian could prod any further. She rolled her eyes as he sat down behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close in a friendly embrace. She sighed and leaned back resting her head on his shoulder, Julian and her had done this to many time to recount, they were best friends.
"So, what's bothering you sister?"
She smiled at the nickname and relaxed completely.
"I was just thinking Juls, what if when he wakes up...he leaves and goes back..."
"Your afraid your never gonna see him again there for you'll never be able to tell him how you feel or know if he feels the same way, am I right?"
She cuffed him on the thigh gently with a scowl.
"Your to insightful for your own good some times you know that?"
"Yeah, you've told me a few times. Just tell him D. I promise you won't be disappointed with his answer."
"And how the hell would you know?"
"I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking. It's all goo goo eyed and mushy gushy."
Duo let out a peal of laughter and shook her head threading her fingers into Julian's effectively holding his hand and him in place.
"And what about you Juls, you think you'll ever find love?"
He lifted their joined hands to see what she did and gave a shrug.
"Eh, you never know in this world do ya? We'll have to wait and see won't we?"
"I wish there was something I could do to help."
"Are you offering sis?"
She scoffed and smiled shaking her head.
"Not on your life, and even if I was you'd never take it. I'm not your type."
"No kidding, to girly."
She choked on her laughter at their antics and sat forward twisting to look him in the eye, he smiled back at her happy to see the dead look gone in her eyes to be replaced by the bright and joyful eyes she always seemed to have.
"Juls, thanks."
He let his smile grow and shrugged.
"No big, holler if you need me alright?"
She nodded and leaned forward giving him a chaste kiss before he stood and left the tent. She looked down at Kilo and took a deep breath before she lay down and curled to his side and kissed his cheek.
"I love you Kilo..."
She lay on her back looking up towards the sky, a small smile set on her features.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[ExcelExcel]

Rose overlooked the various peices of equipment, and most of indeed proved useless. She and Julian were however able to salvage about aa week's worth of rations.

Rose sighed, placing them with the rest of the gear. She didn't know what else to expect, and she was worried too. She could do alot more than most humans, but she was still fragile.

Looking around her, she smiled. These humans weren't like the ones of the past. Mankind of the past made machine is his image, as a part of it's vanity. As such, mankind was also the archetect of it's own demise. Most humans have seen the errors of the past, and wish to make amends and to see the light of the sun once more. But... others.....

Rose shook her head. there was no use in thinking about those kind of things. For now, she would at least be content in knowing that most of the humans no longer wanted to fight...

[ScreamSin]

As Archimedes tied his backpack shut, he wiped a hand across his eyes, shaking snow from his brow as he watched everyone get ready to leave. Kilo was limping, but was otherwise alright. The old man's thoughts went back to a few hours before.
----------
"There's no arguing here, you're coming with us."
"But Archie-"
"Kilo, you're around two days away from the Skycleaner, you're still recovering from your injury, we don't have any supplies to spare, and oh yeah, those Murder Scraps are probably still out there waiting."
Archimedes picked up his staff as he stepped out of the tent.
"Face it Kilo. You're coming with us, end of story. Besides...you owe her THAT much after all the worry you put her through."
With those words, the old man walked out of the tent.
-----------------
He shouldered the pack as Heat walked over, heavy steps crunching into the snow. He bent down to the old man.
?Archie is alright??
?Hm? Yeah Heat, I?m fine?just...I?m fine. Is everyone ready??
The group gave some half hazard replies. The old man stared at them. Not even two days in, and they had already lost their will to continue. He knew bringing everyone along was a mistake. If he had been alone, he could ha-
?HEAT IS READY! WE FIND KEY!?
Everyone blanched as Heat screamed at the top of his speakers, stretching his arms wide. The camera eye circled around to focus on the group, who stared in shock. The Scrap tilted his cylindrical head to the side, and then pointed a sickle claw at Maya.
?Is Maya ready??
She stared at him in surprise, then nodded, still stunned by his outburst. Heat shook his head.
?Yell.?
?What??
?Heat remember that when humans happy, they ?cheer?. Yell!?
Archimedes blinked in surprise as the Scrap pointed his claw again at the young child.
?Is Maya ready??
?Ready!?
?Loud!?
?READY HEAT!?
As she broke out laughing, Heat pivoted to the old man.
?We are ready! We go??
Archie stared in amazement at the massive Scrap before his eyes met Duo?s. He stared for a moment, and then smiled widely.
?Yeah. Let?s go.?
Heat gave a strange jump as the group began to head north. Archimedes pulled his hood tight and smiled to himself. Heat maybe wasn?t the brightest Scrap, but he definitely had a way of making the old man forget his problems.
-----------
Archie stared at the silhouette of the huge building in the distance. Two days of hiking through the snow and frigid weather had finally brought them to the one place he didn?t want to be anywhere near. The Factory. Dormant and frozen, this huge dome building once mass produced Scraps of all sorts, releasing them to murder humanity in the War. The old man felt the memories tug at him; Dashing across a battlefield, dodging the red hot metal of a construction Scrap?s rivet gun as he ran towards the wounded soldier, the screams of other men being torn apart by transportation Scraps, watching scattered gears slowly reform into the deadly shape as repair Scraps remade their fallen comrades. The old man shook his head rapidly, snapping back to reality as the others stared into the distance at the foreboding shape.
?We?we aren?t going there, are we??
Archie unfolded his map.
?No, we?re going around it?to here.?
He pointed to a marker.
?There was a worker?s town here, should offer us shelter and maybe even some supplies. We want to avoid the Factories, especially if those Wolves are still around??
Rolling up the map, he began to walk off, heading towards the town. Heat stared at the large dome Factory, not moving as his eye rotated and pivoted.
?Heat! Come on, let?s go!?
The huge Scrap swiveled his eye to the group, back to the Factory, then quickly followed after the others.

[Lilt]

[COLOR=DarkRed][FONT=Book Antiqua]Ishild followed after Archie and the others and looked over at Lucy. She had noticed that Lucy had looked a bit down earlier, and now seemed just a good a time as any to go talk to her. Ishild walked a little faster, and was soon walking side by side to Lucy. Moving a little closer, so everyone overheard them, Ishild made her move.
"Hi Lucy." Ishild whispered.
There was no response however.
"How are you feeling?" Ishild asked.
This time, Lucy faced away from Ishild.
Ishild thought of just calling the whole thing off and ignoring Lucy, but she wouldn't let her frustration get the better of her.
"Look, Lucy. I know you must be worried. I am too. Also, if you're feeling bad because of what might have happened earlier. Don't be please. I don't blame you or anything. And most of all, I don't hate you. In fact I l-" Ishild stopped herself just in time. Lucy turned to look at Ishild curiously.
"Nevermind, just be more careful okay? Maya and I would both hate to lose you."
Ishild walked away from Lucy, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. Why didn't she just say something? Why did she stop herself? Who knows when the next time would come for her to say it. Or even if there would be a next time...
Ishild shook her head, trying to get rid of those dark thoughts. She just had to build up her courage and hope for the best...
[/FONT][/COLOR]