Quasi-Dimensional Shinanigans In The Backseat Of A Cart [NO]

[Fallout]

Fallout returned to the camp with a large barrel of water to find Shuwen preparing a meal, approaching the monk he signaled Fall to pour some water into the pot. Which he did, submerging the content in water. The assassin set the barrel beside Shuwen before proceeded to gather the second empty, walking down the hill the smell of cooking stew slowly left the air.

‘God im hungry, I hope its ready soon.’ Filling up another barrel of water he looked around to ensure he wasnt being watched. Once filled he returned to camp, guaranteeing nothing followed him back. He made it back up the hill he placed the barrel inside the cart, making a total of three water barrels available on the trip. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Jacoben retiring to his tent, thinking he was tired after the battle Fallout left be.

Fall looked up at the sky, dark was approaching. The sun would set and stars would soon become visible, night was always Fallouts favorite time. It made his job as an assassin a lot easier and was far more peaceful, always finding Elder Tale to be far more grand than his long lost home.

He turned to face Shuwen “We now have three full water barrels, plus the ones on Alasdairs cart.Which should be more than enough. Do you think a night watch will be needed? If so I will take first shift, I had some rest on the cart earlier so I will be okay.”

He sat beside Shuwen and pulled out a drink “Another question, you have more experience with Jacoben than me. Was he this quiet when you went adventuring with him? Just wondering if he is a naturally distant person.” He asked the monk.

---

Words- 386 (297 + 89 [x1.3 Bonus])
Tags- Shuwen @eleri

[Shuwen]

Words: 392

@eleri didn't seem to be interested in talking any more.Sounds more like he just doesn't want to deal with people. It was an autism thing, though other antisocial people did it as well. Sometimes, if someone had exceeded how much social interaction they were willing to handle, they promptly shut themselves away until they could recover.

After returning with water, Fallout made a quick report of how much they had, and suggested they set up watches. To be honest, the need for watches had completely slipped Shuwen's mind, as he had been focused on cooking. "Uhhh talk to Kelsoy or Alasdair about it, they know the area better." Shuwen suspected they wouldn't. The two of them seemed confident that they would be safe at this spot, though Jacoben might think differently. Speaking of Jacoben "Umm, we didn't adventure together per say, we just did some monster grinding. He was a bit more talkative at the time, but we weren't together for such a long period of time, different environment and all that. My impression of him is that he's usually antisocial though."

Throwing an assortment of rice and veggies into the pot, he began to let his mind wander. It wouldn't be done for another forty minutes after all. It was just a matter of time before the smell of curry began to fill the camp. "Thirty minutes until dinner." He announced at the appropriate time. That time would pass fairly quickly for Shuwen, who was a bit more focused then the others were. It would probably feel a bit longer for everyone else though, especially since they had to endure the smell of the curry powder. When it was almost ready, Shuwen removed the rice and veggies, then added some seasonings and a minuscule amount of pepper sauce to the chicken. the recipe called for more, but he remembered that Jacoben had requested nothing very spicy, so he held off. Aw well, I can add more when I make it just for myself.

"Okay, dinner's up!" Shuwen announced when it was ready. The dinner turned out to be curried chicken on rice, with mixed veggies on the side. It wasn't perfectly made; the veggies had been cooked unevenly, resulting in both cold and hot spots, depending on where they had been in the mixing bowl, but it couldn't be helped.

[Deleted]

Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% Fire 0% | Ice 0% | Light. 0%

"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."

As the smells of cooking food began filling their little campground Jacoben felt his nose twitch slightly. He could spell spices.... and curry, his more sensitive nose picking it up amongst the various other scents of the cooking food. Curled up beneath his blanket he was warm, and tired, and really all he wanted to do was go back to sleep.. or maybe be back at home where he didn't have to worry about all the things he did while he was here.

The small Sorcerer spent the next little while in a state of half-sleep where he berated himself for being so impulsive as to just run off on an adventure north without really thinking it through. Sure, the guildmaster approved of him going out as one of the first members of Vylbrand into the north, but Tadashi and Zyrune on the other hand... well, those conversations were not pleasant and he knew he had more than a little bit of a lecture waiting for him when he got back.

And so he sulked beneath his blanket for a while longer, not really wanting to acknowledge reality but knowing that he would have to soon. Really, he should be looking on the bright side of things, he had finally managed to convince himself to be a bit more outgoing and willing to take risks, something he had had difficulty with for a long time. Maybe when this was all over he would be able to confidently state he had been able to come out of his shell and overcome his social anxieties, if only he could somehow express the thoughts in a way the other two would understand, he might not feel so miserable.

Eventually Shuwen called out for dinner time, and Jacoben decided that he really should go and eat, even if it was just a little. Who knows, maybe it might make him feel a bit better.

Climbing out from under his blanket Jacoben left the tent in his under-robe (it was a bit silly to nap in full combat attire after all) and joined the group at the fire for their meal. He accepted his share from Shuwen with a quiet thank you and proceeded to eat. The curry was a little too strong for his tastebuds, but there wasn't much to be done for it, it was still better than anything that he could have cooked in this world. Still, it did make him miss the food he got at home even more. Of course, that thought led him to become angry at himself, he needed to stop sulking and moping around! He was never going to change anything if he let himself get caught up in the cycle of avoiding taking risks because he was worried.

"So when will we reach the next settlement?" the Foxtail asked of Alasdair as he stirred the food around in his bowl to even the heat within it so it was more uniform and less a surprise of hot and cold with every bite, "I can't imagine there wouldn't be one somewhere nearby." That's it, just gotta push through the voice telling him to sit quietly and go back to bed once he had eaten, he could do this, he had to do this, or he'd never be able to try again.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 724 (554+166 [1.3 NO Bonus])
Tags: Shuwen Fallout

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fallout listened to Shuwen’s story of past adventures with the fox tail, it was roughly what he expected. The monk continued to prepare the meal, adding various ingredients to the pot before stating the meal would be ready in thirty minutes.

”Im sure he has a good reason to be quite” He replied to to Shuwen’s story. “Whilst that cooks i'm going to go and discus night shifts with the Kelsoy and Alaisdair, considering Alaisdair has done nothing this journey i'm hoping he will take at least one shift”

‘I understand he is important to the journey but to he should be able to do something other than sit about in his carriage, at least be a watch out in case of danger’

Fallout sat up and left the monk to his work, walking over to the carriage he found himself outside, he could hear a conversation between the two coming from the inside. Being the nosy character Fallout put his ear to the door, but could barely make out any of the words. But it was clear that Alaisdair was leading the conversation, taking his ear off he knocked. The light sound of chatter stopped, it fell silent for a while. Footsteps could be heard across a wooden, creaking under the walkers weight. The sound of the door unlocking was followed by the sight of Kelsoy in the doorway.

“What is it assassin?” She asked, straight to the point.

“I was curious to see if you think night shifts would be needed?” Fall asked, not trying not to waste her time.

“I highly doubt another attack will occur, but I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry. Did you have a suggestion?” She asked with her usual monotone voice.

“I will take the first half of the shift, I was thinking that one of you two could take second shift” Fallout stated.

There was a look of slight aggravationon her facee, it was clear she was going to object before Alaisdair piped up from inside the cart. “I will take the second shift” He offered, slowly making his way to the carriage door. Kelsoy made way for him. “I tend to wake up extra early for a little stroll, I don't mind waking up an hour or two earlier. After all I owe you adventures for protecting us from the gnolls, by ourselves we could not have won that fight.” He said, gratitude in his voice.

The aggravation appearance of Kelsoy only grew more, Fallout brushed it off and continued his conversation. “Thank you, I will come get you when it is time to switch shifts” As he finished the Shuwen called out, the food was ready. Kelsoy shut and locked the door, the three made the way to the pot of food and took their servings.

‘Thank god, im starving’

Fallout sat on the ground and turned to face Shuwen “Just to let you know I will be taking first shift, Alaisdair will be taking second” Fall took a spoonful of the meal “Nice meal by the way”

Jacoben began to question Alaisdair as to when our next location will be reached, the assassin was also curious as to how long it will take.

“Our first stop off is Oasis in Sheffield Gorge, located at Three Nation Pass. If we can manage to go tomorrow without getting attacked we should reach it by the end of day, the chances of another attack are rather low but anything thing could happen” He said calmly, taking a small bite from his meal.

---

Words-770 (593 + 177 [x 1.3])
Tags- Shuwen @eleri

[Shuwen]

Words: 478

Shuwen kept silent as everyone began to eat. However, he couldn't avoid sneaking glances at everyone's expressions as they ate. For the most part, their reactions seemed to be... mixed. Kelsoy was impassive as ever, quite a feat considering the dish in question. Alasdair was digging in with gusto, but the monk couldn't tell if it was because he liked the food, or if he just had a tendency to shovel in whatever you put in front of him. @eleri not only ate little, but wrinkled his nose at the food he did eat. Definitely not a curry fan. Shuwen thought with a sigh. And I restrained myself too. Blah Fallout complimented the food, at least. To be fair, it's not exactly super-fancy cuisine or anything. He admitted silently, wincing a tiny bit as he felt his teeth hit a cold spot in the dish.

As they ate, Fallout brought up shifts, indicating that he and Alasdair would be taking turns keeping watch that night. Shuwen was a little surprised that the storyteller had volunteered for a job like that. Had someone persuaded him to? However, as he had know way of knowing and wasn't curious enough to ask, he didn't dwell on the matter. He gave the dishes and cooking equipment a quick scrub before putting it away, and quickly turned in for the night. He was loathe to admitting it, but he wasn't yet used to enduring the kind of sustained effort needed for long travel, and he felt the result in his musles. Sure, he'd spent most of his time since the apocalypse as a vagabond of sorts, but he rarely needed to travel very far, or sleep outdoors thanks to the abundance of inns and such. As such, his body didn't protest in the least when he promptly collapsed into bed, pausing only to pull out his blanket and wrap himself with it. We really arn't in Kansas anymore, eh Toto?

Shuwen hadn't brought any camping gear other then his blanket, but it seemed Jacoben had the foresight to buy a small tent for each of them, giving them all some measure of privacy. Personally, Shuwen suspected he did it so he could do so himself without seeming as odd. Well, whaaaatever

In the morning, he was shaken awake by Alasdair, who quickly indicated he should make breakfast as the rest of them began to pack up. It seemed nothing major had happened last night, because he and Fallout seemed fine, if a bit short on sleep. As the others worked on putting things away, shuwen quickly heated up some sausage links and pre-cooked pancakes, and passed them around. The sausages were fine, but the pancakes were, like the dinner the night before, less then evenly cooked. He also didn't have syrup or any other toppings for them, leading to a somewhat sub-par taste.

[Deleted]

Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% Fire 0% | Ice 0% | Light. 0%

"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."

Jacoben finished eating and helped Shuwen clean up as it seemed that Fallout and Alasdair decided to take the watches for the night. Even if it wasn't necessary, he supposed he was a little satisfied that the traveller would be doing some work for a change, after all the man had simply stood there while they were fighting and then taken the easiest job while they were setting up camp. Still, the lure of his bedding soon overcame any hidden resentment that the Sorcerer held for their guide to the North.

With that in mind, Jacoben made his way back to his tent and settled beneath the various blankets, the physical, mental, and emotional drain of the day making sure he drifted off to sleep quickly.

Jacoben wasn't woken by anyone, rather the smell of cooking food roused him from his slumber. Emerging from his tent he noticed Shuwen cooking while the others were breaking the camp down in preparation for the day's travels. Quickly getting himself fully dressed, Jacoben did the same, taking apart his tent first, followed by Shuwen's and Fallout's. Once that was done he'd begin loading all their equipment into the cart, directing anyone who had started carrying the stuff over to the cart to leave it on the ground nearby.

Considering the size of the vehicle and the need to ensure that Hugin would be able to pull it properly, the Foxtail needed to be the one to carefully pack everything away so that it wouldn't cause any troubles. While not very talkative still it seemed like the night of sleep had done away with his sour mood, and he was a bit more approachable at this point.

It wasn't too long before breakfast was ready, and Jacoben accepted his plate gratefully as he plopped down on the ground to eat. Sniffing the plate carefully, he ignored the pancakes for the time being in favour of the sausages, which he began to eat with gusto. They were rather plain as far as sausages go, nothing particularly exotic within the ground meat, and Shuwen had simply fried them rather than get creative. This might have seemed a bit bland and boring to the others of the group, but to Jac's foxtail senses the meaty flavour burst over his tongue without being masked or overwhelmed by spices or herbs. He barely noticed it now, but in the early days after the apocalypse (after everyone learned how to cook with actual flavour) he had been concerned with the way his tastes had changed.

His preferences leaned far more towards meat than it used to, and his tastebuds required far less additives to have a similar effect to what humans had. He wasn't sure if all of the Foxtails found themselves in the same situation, but for him becoming one of the beast races had resulted in more than just a set of ears and some fox tails.

After finishing off the sausages he had been given and trying not to scout out if there was any more, Jacoben tried one of the pancakes. This was plain in a less pleasant way, but he supposed it was good that they weren't overly sweet. After a few nibbles he opted to wrap them up to eat as they travelled rather than try and finish them up now. With breakfast done he would help Shuwen clean the dishes before resummoning Hugin and strapping the axebeak into the cart, making sure they were all ready to depart and nothing was left behind.

Clambering up into the driver's seat, Jacoben waited for the rest of his party to join them, and Alasdair to start leading the way to their next destination.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 803 (618+185 [1.3 NO Bonus])
Tags: Shuwen Fallout

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

Fallout finished his meal and thanked Shuwen, he then left to prepare for the night shift. Taking a bucket of cold water he jumped upon Alasdair cart, which was currently the highest place in the camp. He looked around the camp, everyone was retreating to their beds. Things had already been quite, now it was silent. The only sounds were the footsteps of Kelsoy and Alasdair approaching their vehicle, looking over Kelsoy didn't look amused.

She walked up to the cart and looked up “Please remove yourself from the top of our cart, assassin”.

“Sorry but this gives me the best view of the camp, i'm not gonna make any noise.” Fall replied.

“I will not ask you again assassin, i'm warni.” Kelsoy was cut off by the medicine man.

“Do not interrupt him while he is working, do you like it when you are bothered whilst trying to keep watch?” Alasdair questioned Kelsoy.

“I wasnt sat upon someone else's cart without permission.” Kelsoy replied with a little anger in her voice.

“Its my cart remember and I say its fine, in a few hours I will take his place so I need my rest. No more complaining, understood?” Alasdair entered the cart, Kelsoy gave the assassin a displeased look before following.

‘Finally, peace and quiet. Hmmm, we should be at our next in a day or two.’ Fallout checked his stats. ‘My level has raised a bit from that fight, it must have been from assisted kills. I did strike most enemies on the field at least once, giving me some experience. Im still not a high enough level to be of any real assistance, but atleast I can do a little bit more than I originally did.’

Fallout dwelled on the events that had occurred and about possible future events, looking around the camp it was quite. Both his fellow team members were asleep and the two landers had made no noise in a while. Reaching down to the bucket he splashed his face with the cold water, trying to keep himself awake. He continued to dwell and look around, focusing mainly on the tree line.

Sitting down he realized his shift was coming to the end of his shift, his eyes were getting heavy. He could feel his eyes getting them starting to lower, as if sleep was taking over. ‘It was morning, and the camp was packed up. Everyone was gone, apart from Shuwen and Hugin's. For some reason Shuwen was just screaming at him, rambles that made no sense. Fallout walked other to talk to the monk, but he didn't stop his screaming at the poor bird.’  Standing up, Fall jumped into a stance.

“It was just a dream” A sigh of relief as he figured out what had actually happened, looking at the moons position he decided his shift was over. He slowly lowered himself down from the cart rooftop, brushing the dirt of himself. He turned to face the door and gave it a gentle knock.

The door creaked open to reveal Alasdair’s face “I was just about to come and see if it's time for my shift, I will assume you knocking is to inform of the shift switch.”

A tired female voice emerged from inside, “I shall assist you Alas” Kelsoy was cut off by the Medicine Man “No, get your rest. That's not an option.” Alasdair’s shut the door behind himself before the Samurai could object “Now go get your rest eerrr...sorry I forgot your name, we have a long journey tomorrow”

“Its Fallout, and thank you. I will go get my rest” With that he left for his tent, laying across the blanket sleep took over almost instantly.

The next morning he was awoken by the smell of breakfast, forcing himself out of bed Fallout made his way to where breakfast was being served.Taking a plate he thanked Shuwen and ate it without making a sound. “I had the weirdest dream last night” He stated to the group.

After he packed his tent and entered the cart, whilst he was slightly tired it was nothing to bad.

“I'm ready when you guys are, the sooner we leave the sooner we get there.” Fallout said, he sat on the seat next to Jacoben “Lets hope for a quiet trip, I might not survive the next attack”.

---

Words- 943 (726 + 217 [x1.3])
Tags- Shuwen  @eleri
Notes- Sorry for the late post. 

[Shuwen]

Words: 476

The sausages were, predictably, significantly more popular then the pancakes. Even @eleri looked eager to have more after he finished his share. Unfortunately, Shu didn't make that many, so there weren't any left over for seconds. At least Shuwen had the grace to look sheepish about it.

Meanwhile, Fallout mentioned having a strange dream the night before. He didn't go into any detail, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling about it. Shuddering a bit, he decided to keep his mouth shut and not ask the assassin to elaborate. Though when the assassin commented on the odds of his survivability, he felt obligated to speak up. "We have two tanks here to manage agro. Well, tanks hybrids anyways. As long as we don't screw up, you should be fine." Kelsoy simply nodded in agreement, which made somehow made Shuwen feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside. It's a shame we don't have a healer too, but those are in short supply. Sadly, not a lot of people liked to play as support units. Not that he could really blame them, considering he went with a monk-class character

When they were finished with breakfast, they broke camp, packing away everything as neatly and quickly as they efficiently could. Shuwen focused on cleaning up the plates and cutlery, of which there was plenty. He'd never been a fan of cleaning up, especially not of plates, but he'd gotten plenty of practice since the apocalypse, cleaning up after his own cooking. He had mixed feelings about that. When he finished with that, he tried to help pack up the tents and other supplies, but didn't seem to be of much help. If anything, he seemed to get in the way more then actually managing to be productive. After a minute or two of this, Kelsoy directed him to an unoccupied corner of the camp and requested he stay there until further notice. The monk did his best not to break down in tears. Fortunately, it didn't take much longer before they were on their way.

Unfortunately, Shuwen was beginning to feel the strain of being together with a group of people for a relatively extended period of time. It was more-or-less the same issue that Jacoben had been dealing with the evening before, it had simply taken him a little longer to progress that far. At any rate, he kept to himself, not in the mood to talk to people, and wouldn't speak unless prompted. They briefly stopped for lunch, at which time Shuwen quickly reheadted the leftover curried chicken from the night before and passed them out. Since nobody else needed to set up anything, and he wasn't making the mean from scratch, it was a much swifter affair then it had during he previous meals. Within twenty minutes they were once again on their way.

[Deleted]

Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% Fire 0% | Ice 0% | Light. 0%

"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."

Their trip this time seemed to be rather uneventful, with little in the way of conversation and not much to distract them from the tedium of the trip. Jacoben wasn't quite sure how he felt anymore about the trip, and so took the chance to sort himself out mentally as it seemed that neither Shuwen nor Fallout intended to interact with him, and Kelsoy and Alasdair were on the other carriage which made conversation a little more difficult, not that he minded. It made it easier for him to come to terms with his own thoughts, something that he had been struggling with since this whole journey had begun.

Eventually the road brought them to the point where they could see Sheffield Gorge, the land sinking away from the road while sharp walled cliffs rose on either side of their route. It seemed that their trip would take them into the gorge, a prospect that concerned the Foxtail quite a bit. Such a location could easily lead them to an ambush, something that he didn't want to have to deal with so soon as of yet. Despite this, there wasn't really much that he could do about it, the road would lead them this way and that was that.

He could see the build up of desert stretching away in the distance, and somewhere through that there was the place that they were heading to, the place Alasdair had called the Oasis.

Reigning in Hugin, much to the Axebeak's disgust, Jacoben allowed Alasdair and Kelsoy to go first, knowing that they would need to lead the way not wanting to take any chances at them missing this camping spot that Alasdair had talked about previously. Waving the two landers forward, the Sorcerer turned to the back of the cart to look at his party members.

"We'll need to keep an eye out while we're down there, this is a really good place for something to attack us and it's best if we we're not caught unaware" he stated seriously, his usual skittishness and uncertainty starting to fade away in the face of potential danger. With that said he would urge Hugin forward, a slight grin spreading across his features at the large avian's indignant squark as the cart continued forward.

While they weren't yet in the gorge proper, Jacoben had to keep his foot on the break as they went further down the road, the angle of descent being enough that it could cause some serious problems to Hugin if he had allowed it free run. Slowly but surely they got closer and closer to Sheffield Gorge, the hope being that they would be able to get out of it without any fuss, though Jacoben wasn't quite sure how likely that was going to be. And yet... part of him wouldn't mind another chance to stretch his magical muscles. He wasn't sure why, but he had forgotten the feeling of actual combat considering how long it had been, and the somewhat intoxicating confidence he felt when he had to fight.

Shaking his head at his own silliness, the Foxtail continued to guide their cart towards the gorge as his dual coloured eyes continued to scan their surroundings in search of potential danger. He was a little perplexed over the fact that they were approaching a desert region, here in the middle of the British Isles. A desert? In England and Scotland? What a bizarre thought, nad yet here they were. Hopefully they would find their camp site for the night, as the sun was beginning its lonely descent towards the horizon, and if the Sorcerer remembered his geography correctly deserts got very cold at night.

Stretching his neck from side to side, Jacoben couldn't help but wonder what would happen next, and even what they would find on their trip into Scotland. If this place was so different from their old world, then what was the chance of his home being close to what he remembered? It was a slightly sobering thought, but the potential danger of what could be around them didn't allow him to sink into further introspection.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 898 (691+207 [1.3 NO Bonus])
Tags: Shuwen Fallout

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Fallout]

It was relatively quiet journey to the gorge, the sound of wheels turning was the main source of noise. Fallout laid in the back with eyes closed, daydreaming. Whilst he may have been day dreaming, it was not to far into his daydream to the point of being unaware of his surroundings.

“Next stop is Sheffield Gorge, Oasis. An Oasis is good because that means water will be there, but it can also be bad. A desert means little water, so everything will stay around this water source. Good or bad.That could mean bandits and other nasty creatures.” Fallout said to his fellow adventurers on the cart.

‘It would be nice to avoid a battle, however I need the experience. The best I can do for know is just scout ahead, hopefully Eleri can build me that bow soon so I can be of more use’

Eleri mentioned that the team need to be on guard, the current area was a prime place for a sneak attack. Fallout took note.

“Would you like me to scout ahead of the carts?” Fallout offered the team, but as normal his mind drifted. “Its weird, there is only one desert in the UK. Even then it's located on Kent’s coast, not the British Isles. Dungeness is located on the opposite side of the country. Even then, Dungeness is barely even a desert.” Fallout realized his mind had drifted “Sorry, a little off topic.” He apologized.

Fallout stood up and stretched his legs, preparing for the possible scout ahead. He never enjoyed sitting still for long periods of time, which is one of the main reasons why he enjoyed walking everywhere.

---

Words-361 (278 + 83 [x1.3])
Tags- @eleri Shuwen
Notes-