drunkdialing | 2 >> TEST DRIVE MEME!

Entry tags:

playmeme: tdm

2 >> TEST DRIVE MEME!

TEST DRIVE MEME

Setting and FAQ | Rules | Network FAQ | Game FAQ

NETWORK

So you've just found your CALL device and you're not quite ready to see what hitting the [TRANSPORT] button does. Instead, you start looking around on the messaging apps to see who you can talk to: the HERO Network for heroes, the CAD network for villains, and the CALL network if curious to see who might answer. Need advice? Want to see what other people feel about an issue? Go for it...

CITY OF NIGHTMARE

So you actually hit that [TRANSPORT] button and while you can't say that the City of Tomorrow where you started at isn't neat and all but there's just so much to explore. But as you make your way across the bridge, a sudden rainstorm begins. Through the gloom and the lightning, you can make out a single building in the distance. It's not particularly welcoming, of course, but it does at least look dry and reasonably sturdy. What could go wrong here? Hopefully, someone in there has an idea of when the rain might stop. Or... someone will come soon?

CITY OF ROMANCE

It is a singularly beautiful night out in the City of Romance, even more singularly beautiful than most of the nights there, which are usually pretty nice. The sky is clear and dark, and it's just the right temperature out for a late picnic or a night of stargazing. It appears that some enterprising soul has put out a number of blankets in the park, though there are a limited number of them so you may have to share...

CITY OF ADVENTURE

You've been in the wilds of the City here for the last few hours. Hot, sweaty, and more than a little uncomfortable given the number of mosquito, you would almost think that someone heard your silent prayers as you come through the trees and spy the most amazing looking waterfall. Obviously, you've learned that many things are not as they seem in this City and that the beautiful can hide all manner of mysteries... but damn if that pool doesn't look like it'd feel amazing to dive into.

WILDCARD!

Go wherever your heart leads you!

[questions, comments, etc. can go to

the_calling_rp or the appropriate FAQs!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I was... I got lost. The trail disappeared, a few days ago. I was trying to pick it up again, so I wasn't. I didn't..."

She doesn't remember now. Had it been following her? Was she that far removed from the hunting trail that she forgot how not to be prey?

Her hand grips his wrist where he's pressing down, and her mouth twists in pain. "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough that we're going to have to head for civilization." He looks up and around at the clearing, as if he could see or sense any further threats. He can't and that actually worries him most of all.

That was when he turned and took her hand in his.

"Steve. My name is Steve. Steve Rogers. And I'm going to do my best to get you out of here, okay?"

She grips his hand fiercely. "Steve Rogers." She knows that name. Where does she know that name from?

"I am. Dejah Thoris." It's getting hard to breathe, but she ignores the pain and tries to find a smile. "The carcass. Get us away. From the carcass."

She fumbles at a fold in her skirts, her hand closing around a leather-wrapped notebook tied shut with a length of cord. "I saw a tree house. Not far. From here."

His eyes flicker over to the corpse of the creature before carefully pulling away. He does a quick test with his foot (which he realizes a moment later, being bare, is not his finest thought) before picking the thing up and tossing it as far into the jungle as he can. He takes a half a second to use the water from the waterfall to splash off the ichor before he makes his way over to her again.

"Got rid of it," he reports before holding up a finger and starting to scramble into his clothes again. He's still stuffing his foot into his boot as he walks over to her, his pack over his shoulder.

"We've got to get going. Before any friends show up. So I'm going to carry you and you're going to tell me where that tree house is, okay? You've got to stay awake to tell me where to go."

She watches him move, watches the ease with which he disposes of the massive serpent. He flings it with such strength, she can hear the trees breaking with the force of its landing. Her eyes go wide as he casually walks back and rinses his hands. How hard did she hit her head?

He dresses and even through the pain, she subconsciously wipes at the mud on her face.

"Yes. Yes. I can do that." She shifts and grunts as she tries to sit up. The book. The pages. She drew a map. She fumbles it open to the page she was looking for. "Up the slope. There's a thicket of trees. Tall. Looks artificial."

He nods to her, but he won't take the book. No, he wants her to keep her focus on it and talk to him, tell him where to go. He knows better than most that the second they go unconscious, it gets much much worse.

"All right, Miss Thoris, I'm gonna lift you up now. Careful, and you tell me if something hurts, all right?"

Which is when he reaches over and slowly lifts her into his arms.

She laughs, wrapping her arms around his neck. This close, he can hear her biting back any expression of pain. She's all lean muscle, built like a dancer, but she's fighting to hold onto her strength.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch. Just need some rest."

She's just going to rest her head on his shoulder for a little while. He's so warm. Her eyes drift closed and then open again, wide.

"Dejah. Call me Dejah."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," he says, though it's almost to himself, really. 'Just a scratch', 'just a bruise', 'it's nothing, Ma', then 'it's nothing, Buck'. So this is what it feels like hearing it from this side.

No wonder they always gave him a grumpy look.

"All right, Dejah. This is definitely a little more than a scratch, but you keep positive like that, all right? We're heading out now. Heading for the tree house..."

She nods, clings a little tighter around his neck. At this angle, she can see his profile, almost count his eyelashes. She turns her head to determine where she emerged from the forest. Finding it, she tries to point.

"To the south. Not far." She looks back to him and glances up, her voice tinged with an urgency that wasn't there a moment ago.

"You're going to have to run."

There's a distant crashing in the underbrush, coming from the other side of the river. A moment later, a pack of wolves lets out a bone-chilling howl.

The words that stream out of him at this point aren't just pointless to transcribe, they're also a string of frustrated filth that could set at drill sergeant's ears aflame. The only truly important thing to note is that he apologizes every few words, because there is in fact a lady present and he tries, really he does.

But mostly, he's running.

Later, she'd laugh about it. Later, she'd tease him about it. Later, she'd reminisce about the other man she'd known both rough and well-mannered, and the strange similarities between the two of them.

Right now, she shares the sentiment wholeheartedly. Each step he takes, each foot fall is far gentler than she could possibly imagine and it still jars her wound. She tries to focus against the waves of agony twisting through her, knowing that fresh blood is flowing, leading those predators right to them.

"Up the slope. There! See the tall trees! It's there. It looked intact."

"Got it," and then he's saving his breath for running, pouring on the speed as best he can given that he has a destination in mind now. More importantly, his mind is going through vectors, force and speed and possibilities and how to get her up into the tree house and out of danger quickly.

He's almost there when he looks down at her.

"Don't panic. I'll be up soon."

Which is when he pushes down, springing his momentum into his arms to toss her up and over the edge to land at the front of the tree house. Then he's running again, one arm reaching back to pull his shield out. Because if he isn't going to put her right back into danger, he was going to have to take this thing out and quick. They'd already called enough attention to themselves.

She's been a warrior long enough to roll with the punches, but being thrown is an entirely different proposition. Still, she conserves her momentum, keeps her chin tucked and rolls as best she can. It still hurts, but she refuses to lose consciousness. She grabs for her sword.

And slaps the empty sheathe on her thigh. "Mother of us all," she curses.

Below, Steve finds himself surrounded in the half gloom. Under the canopy, sunlight struggles to reach the forest floor and the predators that hunt here use that to their advantage. Seven, no eight pairs of gold eyes stare back at him from the underbrush, their near silent pacing accompanied by quiet growls. They're still sizing him up.

Steve isn't sure how well this is going to go but when it comes right down to it, he knows it's not going to be fun. Mostly, he's waiting for the first movement, the first strike. He knows that as soon as one jumps, they're all going to go at it and he knows he's going to have to be fast.

That's why he decides to go on the offensive. The shield goes flying out and the fight begins with a yowl and a bounce and Steve leaping up above half a dozen pouncing wolves to grab his returning shield and go barreling down metal first into the fray.

They're fast as lightning, but he teaches them to respect that shield very quickly. Or at least one of them. The alpha falls back to watch, letting the lesser pack wear him down.

Sharp canines leave their mark on him through his tshirt, and thank heavens he's wearing combat boots or they would have sliced him down at the ankles. There's a blur of mud and fur and blood, flashes of red and silver, howls and snarls and the sound of teeth clanging against metal.

Dejah listens, trying to track his location by the sound of the fight, but it's impossible. She drags herself to the edge of the platform and looks down.

"Behind you!"

He hears her just in time to spin around and--

Well, it's not elegant, not even remotely elegant, but he did in fact punch the alpha wolf in the face with one hand. A hand with a significant amount of force, given how fast he'd spun around to respond, but a fist all the same. The wolf goes flying with a yeowl and Steve tries not to think of the gash along his arm that he has in payment for that little victory. It'll close up soon enough. He'd just need to make sure that he cleaned it out before it healed.

The alpha goes flying and with it, the pack around him disintegrates back into the forest. In short order, the only thing louder than the rainwater falling off the leaves is the sound of his ragged breath.

She watches as they go, as best she can in the dying light. Once she sees that he's still standing, she collapses again, head on her forearms, her body half-twisted at the waist, breathing as hard as if she'd just fought that fight herself.

"Thank you," she exhales, so quietly, she's not sure he could even hear her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

2 >> TEST DRIVE MEME!

TEST DRIVE MEME

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject