(Untitled)

[hightail]

As far back as her memory extends, Kate has always accepted unfairness as a fact of life. Some people are born lucky, others come into it gradually, and then there are those who never get their shot, regardless of things such as merit or effort. That's just the way it is, and it's never been a problem. At least, not one she couldn't deal with, one

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[wishesandsmoke]

If the sound of the rock hitting solid wood startles Eden, she does her best not to let it show, only coming to a halt not far from the brunette. "Nice shot," she says, brow arching, glancing from the tree to the woman to her weapon. "Is that a slingshot?" They seem like the kind of thing people only use in kids' cartoons, not the weapon of choice for an actual grown woman, but to each their own, she supposes.

[hightail]

On first encounter with Alex, Kate recalls having thought something along those same lines, surprised not only at the choice of weapon but at the skill with which it was handled. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she'd be hard-pressed to believe that one girl, a slingshot, and a few rocks were enough to take out half of the Others standing guard before they could react. Mixed in with all the shock and surprise and fear building since having been captured, Kate had felt grateful to the strange girl, the first among just two of the Others who showed her, Sawyer, and Jack some sympathy. Now, it only makes her feel that much guiltier; she still owes her life to Alex, and now Alex is dead, truly dead, and it's doubtful she'll come back. Not at all what one considers a fair trade

[wishesandsmoke]

It's not long now since Eden suffered a loss of her own. No matter how many weeks go by and the speed with which they turn into months, it's difficult to reconcile herself to Gideon's absence. He was, after all, the last she had of a makeshift family she'd constructed for herself - not one Bennet had folded her into, but one where they'd all just clicked. Losing Penny was bad enough, but to have Gideon gone, too, and not at all long on the heels of Grigg's vanishing act, it's difficult not to feel she's losing everyone who matters. It's all the more reason to keep a close eye on Claire now, and it gives her something to identify with in this stranger. Sooner or later, it happens to everyone, but the inevitability of getting hurt doesn't make it hurt any less.

"I'm sorry," she says. "It's never easy. Helps when there's something to remember them by, though."

[hightail]

To some extent, Kate won't divulge much because Kate never divulges much, because at a certain point, keeping secrets goes from being a mere necessity to a bona fide way of life. For the most part, however, it's because Alex never shared much herself, taught by Ben to keep everything close to the chest. She was still pretending to be a normal girl from Portland, after all. Kate's revealed enough by using the slingshot already.

"She was better with it than me," admits Kate with a heavy shrug, fidgeting with the band now that she won't be using it to shoot at innocent trees. Her own aim isn't terrible, but she's better with a gun, and even then, that skill was one learned out of necessity. Alex was just a kid looking for ways to fill her day, until she was just a kid caught in the crossfires of her father's war.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Well, that's usually the case when you've got someone else's weapon," Eden says. A slingshot looks pretty rudimentary, more child's toy than actual offensive tool, but it can take someone down, wielded right, she supposes. It's the question of how to wield anything people stick on, taking up something they aren't used to. That her words speak to some measure of experience doesn't bother her now. She's given away a hell of a lot more over the last several years and she'll give away more still before her time is done, but there's almost never been anyone who had the whole truth from her - Bennet knew her number, easy, but he was always an anomaly. Brodie had the facts, even if she could never make him understand the feeling, but even he's gone now. Even Grigg and Gideon and Penny, the people she loved best, never really knew the whole story, never even knew her name. (It's harder these days to forget that. No one on this god forsaken island knows her name.) "You'll get the hang of it."

[hightail]

"Maybe," answers Kate, head dipped in a slow nod. It's the mention of the slingshot as a weapon where most would consider it a toy that grasps her attention most, wondering whether it's the other woman's slip or one of her own. The last she needs is to draw suspicion, even if she was exonerated, even if it was her choice to come out here in the first place. So much about this island has brought back the fugitive in her, sometimes it's as if she never left the first time around.

"Sorry," she clears her throat, focusing her attention back on the woman. "I'm not the best with conversation right now."

[wishesandsmoke]

"No," Eden says, shaking her head, waving a hand quickly, "no, believe me, I understand. I didn't mean to intrude." She's lost far too many people of late to fault anyone else for being a bit taciturn in the face of a disappearance. Personally, she prefers company, or she does so in theory; the trouble is, when she has people around, it doesn't seem to make her feel much less alone for it, trapped in her head rather than simply isolated. "I'm sorry about your friend. I'll just leave you to it."

[hightail]

A part of Kate is inclined to leg her leave, whoever she is, and retur her thoughts to Alex and the slingshot. She's not sure why she doesn't, why she calls out instead, except that she has so few people here and has just lost one of the most important. She can't go to Sawyer, that's not how they work, it's nor what they do. "You don't have to leave," she says instead, nowhere near as nonplussed as she would like. "I just meant, I'm not much fun to be around right now."

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden's been there. On several occasions - most days, in fact, she often feels. She tries hard for certain people, but at the end of the day, fact is, she's tired. She's worn down and usually unhappy and pretending to be the opposite isn't really doing anyone any favors; sometimes it's just what a person needs to be to work through things. "Oh, who is?" she asks lightly. To be in that frame and mind still say that, she figures, is either just politeness, which she'll figure out fast enough, or means someone doesn't want to be alone, even if the only available company is that of a stranger. She's been there, too. "Personally I'm of the opinion fun's overrated anyway." She offers a hand and a smile. "Eden."

[hightail]

There us, Kate is quick to realize, something intensely guarded about the other woman -- Eden, she now knows. Kindness has always unsettled her, always worried that it won't take long to fade once someone has learned the truth about her past. It's difficult to take Eden's sweetness at face value, then, her voice almost too soft, too sincere to be genuine. It's more likely than not that she is only projecting, expecting in others what she's come to expect of her own self.

At last, she extends a hand to shake. "I'm Kate."

[wishesandsmoke]

Eden gives her hand a good, solid shake, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Kate," she says. "Even under the present circumstances." She glances up, rolling her eyes a little, mostly to indicate the island itself, although she supposes Kate's loss can be lumped in with it. Her own troubles started long before this place; if anything, the island's alleviated most of them, in exchange for causing others. She doubts she's unusual in that regard. "Been around here for a while?"

[hightail]

"You too," returns Kate with as kind a smile as she can conjure. "Since last October," she continues, mimicking the same frustrated roll of her eyes, because barring the pain of losing Alex, that sense of frustration is what has most marked her stay on this island. Still, it is better than the previous island's constant state of fear. (Mostly. A part of her has to admit that was never bored and rarely lonely.) Echoing the question, Kate asks, "What about you?"