mbw2, Various Locations, New Friends?
Optimus: *epic facepalming as he looks at the gaping crater in the ground* Baboom, did you think this through before you did it?
Baboom: *slightly sullen* What? You said we needed a water reservoir.
maxiProwl: *exchanges a glance with his 'Bot counterpart and then sighs*
Mirage: *standing to one side and grinning down into the hole* What do you think, Tracks? Is it big enough for your beauty routine?
Tracks: I'd be more concerned about whether Sunstreaker thinks it's big enough for his beauty routine, Mirage....
Bumblebee: *soberly* I kinda think he 'n Streaker are too busy thinking about how they're going to dig a big enough cave for our new base. *goes o.0 as Snarl falls in the hole, swims around, and then vanishes again*
Tracks: ... *face.palm*
Mirage: *laughing*
Optimus: *sigh* Yes. Thank you, Baboom. Try to talk to Jazz or me about it next time first, alright? Everyone go back to what you were doing. *turns and heads back to the temporary base, both Prowls flanking him*
Jazz: *grins from where she's standing a little behind Tracks, then lets her music blast out into the cool morning air*
Tracks: *Startles and turns to give Jazz a Look* Must you do that?
Jazz: *cheeky grin* Live a little, Tracks man! Get some good vibes!
Bumblebee: 0.o They don't feel that good, Jazz. My armor's rattling.
Tracks: I do plenty of living, Jazz.
Jazz: There's more ta life than polishing rags 'n wax.... *suddenly distracted by passing Trailbreaker and moves to accost him*
Mirage: *watches* ...I never realized 'Breaker was that dense.
Grimlock: *lifts his head from burbling in the new water hole* You talking about me Grimlock?
Mirage: Not this time.
Grimlock: Oh. *burble*
Tracks: *Shakes his head and moves to go back to working on what he was working on*
Ratchet: *calls over from his hut* Tracks, do you think you could grab me some willow branches from that place where they've got the trailing ones?
Tracks: How many do you need, Ratchet?
Ratchet: Hmmm. Enough to make a basket about six foot long and four foot wide? And if you see any ore, grab that too. I still don't have enough metal for Bluestreak's newspark's shell.
Tracks: Of course. *transforms to alt-mode and heads out*
Ramulus: *looks up as he goes by the edge of the base encampment, but then puts his head back down and resumes nibbling weeds*
day: *bright, sunny. Clear sky with a few wispy clouds and a promise of heat*
Tracks: *Once he's far enough away, he's unfolding his wings and taking to the skies. Since it's such a nice day, he figures he might as well enjoy some time away from the ground*
Some ways away, near a small ragged tent set away from other human encampments
Raoul: *busy finishing off a rope as he sits in the shade of the tent and listens to his fellow outcast curse softly at the state of her worn leather shirt* Don't worry, Denver. After I get that horse we can be part of my old tribe. They don't care if women do stuff other than cook and make kids.
Denver: *Soft snort, works on patching a hole in a pair of trousers* 'F aneh 'f 'em trah 'n pull th' slag th't y'u-know-who trahed, Ah'mma defend mahself.
Raoul: Seriously. If you gotta horse, you're somebody. With a say in the council 'n everything. Even if you weren't born into the tribe. They steal babies all the time.
Denver: *Another soft snort, but makes no further comment for a little while, till she finishes patching the trousers* 'Ere... *offers the patched trousers to Raoul* Won' do y'u a lick'a good 'f y'ur legs git all torn up.
Raoul: Guys don't wear pants when they're horse hunting! *currently clad in loincloth and battered moccasins*
Denver: *gives Raoul a Look* Ah guess Ah'll start makin' a poultice th'n.
Raoul: *cheeky grin and tugs her long black hair, then puts the finishing touches on his gut rope* Okay, there. Now all I need is a little lunch. ...Did we eat all that stuff I found yesterday?
Denver: *baps at his hand, before getting up to check* Ah dunno...
Raoul: *on his feet too, and bouncing cheerfully as he hums and thinks of the pinenuts he harvested and wondering if he or Denver can find another porcupine today. But then he's glancing up quickly as a faint roar reaches his ears, and gaping as he catches a faint glimpse of what looks like a blue horse with white wings. It's only there for a moment, and he could see through it, but the sight leaves him standing with his mouth hanging open*
Denver: *bustling about the camp to try and find the pine nuts she stashed so Raoul would have something to eat*
Raoul: *is gone! Racing across the prairie grass in the direction he saw that ghostly horse go!*
Denver: *cuss! Sighs and makes sure the fire won't burn out or burn the camp down, then she's heading off to check her snares*
By the stream, a few miles away
Tracks: *inspecting willow branches by gently bending them. The ones that bend easily get carefully trimmed and stowed to be taken back to Ratchet, and the ones that put up a fight get passed over. He's turned off his phase shifter, so he's in sync with the local wildlife*
Raoul: *can hear that jay bird yelling as he nears the stream, and unconsciously goes into sneak mode. Since he's not trying to be sneaky, he succeeds as he crawls through the streamside willows and brush*
Tracks: *Glances in the direction of the jay bird, small frown as he looks around. He's not as nature savvy as Hound is, so he's not sure what sounds mean 'Danger!' and what sounds are just territorial sounds. Thus, he simply dismisses the sound and continues to bend willow branches and harvest them if they meet his standards*
Raoul: *heart in his throat as a rabbit scoots away from him with a flash of white tail*
rabbit: *unexpectedly tears past Tracks*
Tracks: *Startles and transforms back to alt-mode*
Raoul: *deep breath. Another deep breath. Then crawls forward a little more and goes rigid with shock as he catches sight of that beautiful, massive horse standing by the stream with uplifted head*
Tracks: *Ears flick as he looks around, trying to see what spooked the rabbit that startled him*
Raoul: *springs! Rope out and settling around the horse's neck even as the boy hits its back*
Tracks: *Startles badly, rearing up and trying to shake the human from his back*
Raoul: *loses the rope and throws his arms around the horse's neck even as his legs clamp around its barrel* Wow!
Tracks: *Bucks, trying to get the human OFF*
Raoul: *clinging like a burr to the horse's strange smooth skin* I ain't gonna... oof! hurt you. Calm down.
Tracks: *Going to put up a heck of a fight till he's too tired to continue fighting* Get off!
Raoul: *yelp and lets go with surprise. Hits the ground several feet away with a thud that shakes his brains, cracks a few bones, and knocks the wind out of him. Lays very still and silent*
Tracks: *transforms and moves to check on the human, since it wasn't his intention to injure them...*
Raoul: *isn't breathing. His eyes are closed, and a thin trickle of blood is coming from his mouth*
Denver:*comes tearing through the brush. She heard all the commotion and fears the worst* Raoul!!! *It's a few well-aimed rock that gets Tracks to back up a few steps before she's moving to gently shake Raoul by his shoulders*
Tracks: *wincing and rubbing the spot that the rock hit. He's not sure what tribe the male and female are from, but he's (wrongly) assuming they're from the same one* *hesitantly, in the language he's had to learn since his awakening* Is he alright?
Raoul: *gapes and struggles for air as he's shaken, but then fades back toward unconsciousness as his lungs fail to inflate*
Denver: *Glares at Tracks for a brief moment before she's trying to get Raoul to breathe again*
Tracks: *Is going to brave the female's ire and offer a suggestion* Try putting air into his bellows....
Denver: *Looking at Tracks like he's nuts... Until she remembers something one of the grandmothers in her tribe mentioned... a person's soul resides in the chest... and it can be pushed back into place with air if it tries to escape... Then she's moving to try and put Raoul's soul back by first pinching his nose closed, taking a deep breath, covering his mouth with her own, and pushing the air from within her body into the teen's*
Raoul: *unresponsive for several puffs, but then he's gasping and groaning before he tries to turn so he can be sick*
Denver: *Reassurances as she helps him turn onto his side*
Raoul: *not a lot to sick up, thankfully. But his head is spinning so badly that he actually whimpers for the first time since he was six years old and got in an altercation with a rattlesnake*
Denver: *Has forgotten Tracks is present for the moment, is more concerned with taking care of Raoul*
Tracks: *Feeling quite guilty and unsure about what to do, until he remembers the willow branches. Then he's carefully making something like a stretcher out of them, intending to carry the injured human to the nearest settlement*
Denver: *Murmuring reassurances to Raoul in her tribe's language*
Raoul: *in his own language* My horse.... Where.... *squeezes his eyes shut and spits out blood, then shivers as the warm day suddenly feels like winter to him*
Denver: *Panicking but trying not to show it as she tries to find where Raoul's hurt the worst*
Tracks: Here.... *moving to reach for Raoul*
Denver: *eyes wide, lashes out with her skinning knife*
Raoul: *soft groan* Denver... it's... got me. C... cold.
Denver: *drops her knife and moves to try and hold Raoul close* Ah've gotcha, Raoul... Y'u'll be okay...
Tracks: *as gently as he can* Let me help you... I can take you to the settlement....
Denver: *Bites her lower lip, before she's nodding. With Tracks' help she gets Raoul onto the stretcher, and then she's taking the thin cloak she wears when she goes hunting off to drape over Raoul*
Raoul: *teeth chattering softly, but too badly for him to speak anymore. He winds up biting himself again as he's moved*
Denver: *Smoothing Raoul's hair even as Tracks moves to lift both of them* Ah'm rahght 'ere, Raoul... Y'u'll be 'kay....
Raoul: C... c... cold.
Denver: *Biting her lip*
Tracks: You'll have to tell me which way to go....
Denver: *absent nod even as she moves to hold Raoul close, hoping that her warmth will counteract how cold and clammy he's gotten* *Tells Tracks which way to go to get back to their camp*
Tracks: *Small nod, heads that way*
Raoul: *faint whimper as Denver's moving him makes everything lurch and jostles his ribs and arm*
Denver: *Quiet reassurances and apologies* *doesn't look up as Tracks pauses upon sighting the camp*
Tracks: *feeling a bit horrified at the pitiful excuse for a camp that these two humans have been living in*
Raoul: *murmurs and then falls silent but for his breathing, which is rapid and shallow. The shivering too has stopped*
Tracks: *Moves to gently set Raoul on what he's guessing is the equivalent of a berth. That done, he moves to go grab the rest of the willows, picking up more wood as he goes so that he can make a big fire*
Denver: *moving to do what she can to help Raoul*
Raoul: *quiet squeak as he's set down, but then gasps and cries out weakly as Denver moves his left leg*
Denver: *soothing sounds*
Tracks: *heard that cry, grabs a few sturdy pieces of wood and brings those with him. A few minutes later, he's walking Denver through setting the broken bone, carefully recalling the steps that Hound taught him while they doctored one of the green mech's organic pets*
Denver: *Apologizing to Raoul as she sets his leg*
Raoul: *passes out during the setting, but obstinately fights to wake despite the growing confusion in his mind*
Denver: *Checking Raoul's arm, will set that as well. She's doing her best to keep her hands steady as she works*
Tracks: *Silent as he watches through the opening in the tent. It's upsetting that these two humans are living in such a horrid place, without the help of any other people around*
Raoul: *breathing stops as the shock gets to him*
Denver: *gently shakes Raoul*
Raoul: *unresponsive*
Denver: *Will try what worked the last time he stopped breathing*
Tracks: *considering the dressing down he's sure to get from Optimus, versus the fact that Ratchet would more than likely know how best to help the male human... If he'd even help at all, given Optimus' strict orders not to have contact with the humans*
Raoul: *breathing starts again, but his eyes don't open. He's still very cold and clammy to the touch*
Denver: *moving to get as many of the few large skins that they've got as she can, intends to cover Raoul with them so he has the blankets to keep warm with*
Raoul: *chokes a bit on blood from where he bit the inside of his cheek, but then swallows before gagging in his sleep*
Denver: *moves to turn him on his side, concern and fear making furrows on her brow*
Raoul: *gags a bit more, but then drools red and settles down*
Denver: *moves to sit beside him, hands shaking now that she's not trying to hide it*
Tracks: *more frown as he looks around the camp, making note of the fact that it just seems to be these two here... and that they only seem to get enough food gathered to keep themselves fed.... He can see a few stashed food pouches that don't contain very much.... Hesitates, and then he makes a resolve, mentally says good bye to his friends as he goes to see if he can find that rabbit*
((Co-written with random_xtras))