Treasure Hunt - Scooter's Group

[sonofaparrotman]

Once he's concluded his conversation with Krycek, Scooter figures they can head out. He checks his pack one final time, then, pitching his voice to carry over the many conversations going on around him, asks, "D'anna? Duce? Jessica? Red? You guys ready to go?"

[Jessica] Sure. *checks pack*

Anything you suggest bringing that I might have forgotten?

Duce adjusts her pack. "Ready as we'll ever be."

Krycek nods, shifting his own slightly. "Agreed."

Trotting up in a jingle of jewelry, Red skirts the edges of the group. "I'm here, Scooter."

[Scooter] "Glad you could make it, Red. Have you met the rest of the group?"

[Red] "Duce is my henna artist at the shop and you and I have bonded over zombie soup but I don't believe I know the others," he said with a grin.

Scooter grinned back. "Oh, yeah - I think I saw a poster advertising that! Anyway, the others are Krycek and Jessica and D'anna, but they can introduce themselves to you better than I can at this point."

"So," Scooter asks, "does everyone have everything they'll need?"

Duce suggests, "We think it'd be a good idea to compare pack items and make sure we have all bases covered, and if anyone's missing anything.. have them go pick it up before we leave. Here's a list of what's in our pack. We're also an experienced rock climber, and can rappel and belay."

She hesitates a moment, "Some of you already know, or have guessed, that our gaze turns people to stone. That's true. Please, if we tell you to close your eyes, do so immediately. Or just be sure to always stay behind us. We're also venemous, and can turn into a really big snake if the situation calls for it. That's why we didn't bring any weapons - we pretty much don't need them." She looks to Scooter, "Although, if you think it necessary, we're proficient with the bow and could go get ours?"

Krycek's dressed in faded jeans, hiking boots, and a light sweater with a t-shirt under it, as well as his leather jacket. He has a shoulder holster under his jacket for a Sig Sauer P220 semi-automatic and an SOB holster with a Sig Sauer P239 because it might be necessary, you never know.

In his pack, he has a couple days worth of MREs, water bottles, a flask of whiskey, instant coffee and a mug with which to have it, a small medical kit with bandages and some very basic medical supplies. He also has a leatherman, his lighter, waterproof matches, cigarettes, extra ammo and a change of clothes.

"Not been actually camping in a while, but looks like Medusa has us mostly covered." Krycek seems impressed, though glad he's not the one who has to carry it all.

Scooter reads over the [Duce's] list. "That's quite impressive - and it all fits in there?" He gestures to her pack. "Guess you've done this sort of thing before." He smiles "And I'll be sure to stay out of your line of sight if you tell me to, even though I'm not sure muppets can be turned to stone."

Duce mutters, "We go camping a lot..That's good. We hate it when people accidentally get.. ah.. stoned."

[Scooter] "Wow." He looks at the orange rucksack dangling off his right shoulder. "Wonder if the props department has any of those?" Then his expression shifts and it looks as though he can't decide whether to giggle or look serious. "Yeah, I bet that does suck," he manages with an effort.

Scooter gestures to Mitsumushi. "Whenever you're ready, we're ready, ma'am," he says as he slings the other strap of his backpack over its corresponding shoulder.

She smiled at Scooter. "Follow me, please," and headed into the library. Moving gracefully inside, she chose a set of shelves seemingly at random and headed into the stacks.

Duce follows.

Scooter followed Mitsumushi and Duce into the stacks, glad to finally be underway.

Krycek looks up at the stacks suspiciously, but follows as well.

Bringing up the rear, Red trots along behind everyone.

Mitsumushi moved deceptively slowly, smiling brightly and occasionally sniffing at her flowers as she walked. After a few minutes it was obvious that they should have reached the end of the row of shelves, but somehow they just kept going. Ten minutes later, she made another turn, leading them down a row of much taller, older books.

Duce's fingers twitch, but she does not reach up to take any books down for a closer look.

Scooter found himself actually having to concentrate on his speed in order to not get ahead of their guide and he wished that he could take some time to really pay attention to the books they were passing, but since he suspected that following Mitsumushi was the most important thing for him to do at the moment he forced himself to moderate his pace and not get distracted.

Jessica notices his distraction and, unable to resist, pokes him.

"Hey!" He stage-whispers. "What was that for?"

"I wanted to see if you were paying attention."

"Well, I was. And don't hang back so much, ok? We really need to stick close to Mitsumushi, I think."

Chuffling softly, Red shook his head and kept going. The books, rows upon rows, were interesting, but he wasn't there to read, as tempting as it was.

Jessica follows, ranging slightly outside the others.

Slowly, the contents of the shelves began to change, books giving way to other things, some of them possibly having more dimensions than the normal number. Leather bindings gave way to papyrus suddenly and then large slabs of painted stone.

Mitsumushi took it all in stride, eventually coming to the end of a set of large paintings and peering around them. "We are here," she announced softly.

Scooter comes to a stop a careful distance away and waits to find out what she can tell them about 'here'.

Krycek stops behind Scooter and makes sure everyone else is gathered before he turns his attention to their guide as well.

Duce watches from near Kry.

[Jessica]*listens patiently*

Red managed to pull up short before running into Jessica.

"The writings here are used only during ceremonial occasions," Mitsumushi told them, moving forward to push open the door of the hut. "It should be perfectly safe for you to return to this place or one of the other two when you are finished with your hunt."

She stepped outside and looked up at the fading stars. "You are not in any danger of crossing paths with the pirates, but please be wary of the natives. The makers of your map have not yet been here, so there is treasure aplenty to be found."

Folding her hands into her sleeves, she took a slow breath of the pre-dawn air, listening to the chirping birds. "Please enjoy your adventure, and I will meet you again when it is over."

"One question, first: on our map, what does the word that begins with an "A" say?" Jessica asks.

"Amazons." Duce answers shortly. "Big women, good with bows, missing a tit."

"Ah," Jessica says.

Duce looks around to get her bearings, and scents the air. She looks for any sort of tracks or path that might indicate people came to this area frequently. She also keeps an eye out for identifiable and perhaps edible plants.

Red trots up to Jessica and peers over her shoulder to get a look at the map.

Looking around for a moment, he rechecks the set of his holster, wondering how far the island is across. "The map doesn't have any measurements on it, does it?"

Duce shakes her head. "Doesn't look to have any, no."

"Makes things more interesting, I guess," he remarks as he joins them. He's looked at the map, but hasn't memorized it quite. "Amazons and monsters are closest." Krycek glances at Scooter. "Any preferences?"

"Monsters to start, maybe? They might be less hostile than the amazons." Scooter frowns a bit at the idea of hostile monsters. He's never met one that didn't know how to have a good time even if their idea of a good time didn't quite match up with his.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose thoughtfully, trying to parse that logic and failing. "Monsters, huh? We can deal with that. Frankly, we suggest grabbing a compass and finding the straightest path to Point B. We don't have to explore the entire island, right? Just get to X-Marks-The-Spot? We suggest the most direct route." Her voice quiets slightly, muttering, "And if it comes to a confrontation, we'd rather it were monsters than.. people."

She looks around, up at the stars that are just as strange to her as the those back at the school, and takes a moment before speaking. She loops her thumbs into the straps of her backpack, "Yeah, a straight path sounds like a good plan. Only problem is the terrain and 'natives' might have other ideas." D'anna looks back down from the stars to those around her, "In the dark the map is going to be useless. Let's have a look at that compass."

Krycek nods and takes the compass that Duce offers up. "Alright... It seems to work here, at least." He looks up, then at the map, holding the compass over it. "North appears to be that way, if that's the ocean's in that direction... and if the sun's in the same as Earth's."

It takes Scooter a moment to make sense of that statement, but once he figures out what Krycek means, he quickly draws the same conclusion Krycek must have. "So we want to go north-west, then? Or at least as close to that as we can manage?" He illustrates this point by drawing a path in the swathe of clear space on the map, meanwhile wondering whether it's actually possible to take that route.

D'anna watches as Scooter draws on the map, "Well, we'll never know if we don't have a go at it. I guess we can just, head out in that direction and see what we find?" She looks out into what she believes is the general direction they would be heading, It doesn't look too mountainous or anything... yet."

"Sounds good." He takes stock of the group once more, thoughtful. "Sir," he addresses Scooter deferentially. "Are you armed in any way? If we have to move in a line, we might want to make sure we have someone at the front, in the middle and at the end."

Scooter holds up his trusty poker, then rummages in his pockets and pulls out a large packet of chocolate chip cookies. "Yup - never know when you'll need one of these."

D'anna puts a hand over her mouth to suppress a grin and pulls herself together. "Sir, I believe he was asking if you're carrying a weapon."

"This poker has done in many a foe." Scooter assures her, hefting the item in question with assurance.

Red, hearing the conversation going on, takes a moment to go to a tree near their location and marks it with his scent. If they should lose the compass, he would still have a way to retrace their steps.

...he hoped, unless the terrain markers had a habit of getting up and wandering off.

"I'll bring up the rear for the moment," Red said quietly as he sat down to scratch an ear.

"I volunteer to be in back," says Jessica. "If Red doesn't mind, of course."

Red bowed. "If you would feel better, I don't mind," he said.

Duce speaks up, "Actually, we should be rearguard. Due to our.. many sets of eyes, we can see behind us just as easily as before. This way, there's less chance of any of you catching a stray.. glance. Just don't turn around if we call out, ok?"

"Ok. Duce will be rearguard. Red can take point. And the rest of us . . . will keep our eyes and ears open and stick together. Any suggestios?" Scooter obviously wants to get moving; standing around in the chill of a pre-dawn jungle isn't his idea of a great time.

"Just one, sir," D'anna grins, "that we get moving."

Scooter nods to Red, who rises and pads off into the jungle. Scooter follows a ways behind - close enough to keep him in signt, but not so close that he'd run into should Red stop suddenly.

D'anna takes a drink of her cooling coffee and tries not to run into Krycek as they set off a yard or two behind Scooter. "At least there's a little more light now," she thinks to herself.

Duce follows behind Jessica, keeping an eye on the surroundings. The smells are all unfamiliar, but at least they're natural smells. Small things rustling in the undergrowth occasionally capture her attention, but the cause is usually small mammals.

There doesn't seem to be any sort of real path for them to follow, but Red seems confident of the direction he's leading them in, so Scooter continues to follow, picking his way through robust undergrowth and occasionally clambering over a fallen tree of truly amazing size.

D'anna steps over most of the fallen trees with ease, and is assisted by Kyrcek over those she can't.

Jessica and Duce follow. Duce pauses long enough to look at the fallen tree's bark, but shakes her head after finding nothing she recognises.

The undergrowth continues to become ever more dense and Scooter wonders whether the island has ever had any inhabitants - there certainly doesn't seem to have been anybody around recently to keep back the growth. He also envies Red, who, being lower to the ground is finding a way through with much greater ease.

D'anna is glad for her long sleeves and hat - she's sure there's all kinds of bugs here that she doesn't want to meet. She makes a mental note to add bug spray to her pack before the next outing. Krycek, beside her, doesn't seem to be bothered by anything.

Jessica walks before Duce with an odd sort of grace. Duce spends a few moments admiring how Jessica can flow through the underbrush unimpeded.

Glancing around, Duce mutters, "Where's the Agent Orange when we need it?" Considering the question for a moment, she snorts softly to herself, "Oh, right. Wednesday made cookies last week."

The party reaches a small clearing. Red can see another log lying across the path in front of them. Unlike some of the other fallen trees they've seen, this one appears to have only recently fallen. As Red nears it, an arrow streaks out of the shadows and strikes the log. The noise it makes is loud enough to attract the attention of the entire party. Before the arrow even stops vibrating, four more arrows strike the log in a line that would bisect the path beneath it.

Scooter tries to meld with the undergrowth, watching from a distance as Red investigates the row of arrows.

"Oh shit," D'anna is rooted to the spot.

Duce watches the arrows fly and hit, and stops. She waits a moment, watching the trees to see if she can get a scent lock on anything. Deciding to clue the rest of the party, she calls out, "That was a warning. Anyone who could hit the tree with that kind of preci

sion could've taken all of us out just as easily."

Calling up past Red, she says, "We're travellers - may we pass?"

When the party's attention is focused forward, several javelins strike the ground behind Duce.

Blanching D'anna looks back at Duce, "I think that's a 'no'."

"And a pretty firm one, too." Scooter does not look happy at this thought. He's never liked being shot at. Or even near.

Duce snorts softly to herself. "Great, penning tactics. Strongly suggest we don't do anything stupid like fan out."

Several of her snakes were watching behind, as noted in an earlier thread - Duce can see all around her. She again tries for a scent lock and waits for anyone to come in sight.

"Arrows... and javelins? Where in the name of the gods are we?" D'anna steps a little closer to Krycek and Jessica, going with that whole "safety in numbers" thing.

The more time passes without anybody actually doing anything to hurt them, the more of Scooter's usual good humor returns. "Not in Kansas - that's for sure. Or Oz."

Duce mutters something about nobody being inOz... and gets distracted by the voice that calls out to them. Frowning slightly, she tries to translate it in her head.

D'anna's brow wrinkles in confusion, "Kansas? Is that near the cafeteria?" As the last word leaves her mouth, she hears something.

"It's a state. Part of the US - same country as the school's located in, technically," Scooter whispers. "It's a reference to a movie - we can watch it when we get back."

D'anna raises an eyebrow, "if we get back to school."

"No ifs. We're going to get back to school." Scooter tries to sound certain, tries to believe that Professor Jerusalem wouldn't send them out to do something that would end with them never coming home. But there were zombies last weekend and now people who refuse to show themselves are shooting at them and . . . he's not going to think about what might still lie ahead.

"Though if we don't, he's not liable," Krycek mutters, scanning the surrounding flora warily.

D'anna half smiles and nods at Krycek's words, "You didn't see our permission slips, Mr. Scooter."

Once it becomes apparent that the party isn't going to be taking any rash action, a voice calls out from the shadows. The language is foreign to the majority of the party, but it does sound familiar to Duce.

"Who are you to be trespassing on our lands?"

Frowning, Duce tries to translate it and winces. Good galloping gods, what had they done to a civilized tongue? Trying to recreate the dialect, she says in a variation of ancient Greek, "We're travellers. We came through the holy place, and did not know this was your land. We saw no land-markers familiar to us. Would you speak with us to grant treaty passage through your lands?"

She doesn't know if the speaker will understand.

Scooter would very much like to ask Duce what the hidden speaker said and what Duce said in response and whether things are looking like they might improve, but he judges it better to just keep silent and wait for a sign from Duce. He hopes Red will have the sense to stay crouched where he is as well, silent and alert.

A woman steps out of the shadows on the other side of the fallen tree. If anybody disbelieved the map when it said Amazons, they can believe it now. She is tall, athletically built, dressed in light leather armour and carrying javelins in her right hand and has a bow on her back.

"We do not need to mark our territory." She glances at Red with a grimace of mild repugnance. "Everybody knows the lands between the east and the deep forest belong to the Amazons." Even though she is responding to Duce's words, and except for the small glance at Red, she splits her attention only between D'anna and Jessica. "You come uninvited into our lands not only with a free man, but in the company of a gorgon. What is your business here?"

Duce directs at the Amazon, "Everyone from your world, perhaps, but as you can plainly see, we aren't from this world. The others do not speak your language. We will translate for them."

Translating the woman's words for the group, Duce cautions, "Wouldn't argue the 'free man' bit, by the way. 'Not free' either means gelded or breeding stock, and believe us, Krycek, you don't want to be either."

Very aware of the eyes that flicker between her and Jessica. "That doesn't look like her 'yeah sure go ahead, we love company' face." D'anna whispers as she steps a little closer to Krycek.

Speaking to Duce but her eyes never leave the Amazon before them, D'anna pitches her voice up a notch so all can hear. "Tell her that he is a warrior among our people. That you, Scooter, and Red are... something good whatever you say and that if any harm comes to the lot of you, she will have to answer to Jessica an I," D'anna swallows hard and there are fine beads of sweat across her forehead.

Duce's face is blatantly amused by that, but she dutifully translates D'anna's words. "The free man is a warrior among their people. The canine, the halfling, and ourself are totems of their gods. If any harm befalls us, the women will claim vengence."

"Tell her... tell her we're on a... pilgrimage. That we have been sent to this island by an oracle and cannot leave until we have completed our task." D'anna isn't sure what her professor would make of being called an orcale, but since wasn't here to argue she was going with it.

After hearing the first part of Duce's translation and before she can translate D'anna's second statement, the woman shifts her gaze to Krycek. She gives him a long appraising look from head to toe and back again and then smiles. "Excellent."

She makes a few hand gestures to the woods around them and twenty more women step forward out of the shadows. Most are armed with bows ready to fire arrows which are pointed directly at the party. The rest are armed with either javelins or swords. They move up to the party and those without bows begin removing all of the party's packs and any obvious weapons. They also direct them into separate groups. About half of the guards surround Duce, Scooter and Red. The others are spilt between guarding D'anna, Jessica and Krycek. The ones surrounding Krycek are studying him intently and making quiet comments to each other.

Duce translates again, "They are on a pilgramage. An oracle sent them to this land via the place of sacred writings. They cannot leave until they have completed their task. They know not what the task is that lies before them, only that it is at a place on the far side of this island. They wish to travel through your lands to that place."

Duce extemporates a bit, trying to head off the questions she can sense will come.

Krycek watches them intently, not terribly happy about how this seems to be turning out. He clears his throat a little self-consciously, raising his voice a little to be heard over the speculative commenting. "Medusa? I'm not sure being a free man's going to make much of a difference here." Who knows how far from any other land this place is and, if any neighboring communities are at all smart, they probably know to stay well away.

Duce comments calmly, "Since they didn't kick you in the crotch and hog tie you immediately, we'd say it's made a difference. They're treating you with respect. So far, anyway. If they wanted to treat you as meat, believe us, the comments wouldn't be quiet." Without looking at D'anna, and apparently still talking to Krycek, she adds, "D, it'd be good if you said anything right now, especially if you asked what the hell is going on."

"What the hell should I say, Duce? 'Hi!', 'How are you?', and 'Would you like a cup of coffee' aren't likely to help here." D'anna speaks flatly and stands stock still, she vaguely remembers her myths. If she'd realized she actually need it some day, she might have paid more attention. Speaking again to Duce and looking around at the group surrounding them, "You can understand stand them. What are they're intentions?"

Duce translates, "The Wise wishes to know what your intentions are."

Directing her voice to D'anna, she offers, "We can't translate for you if you say nothing. Whenever she speaks, you speak - let us worry about what to say for now. We'll let you know what's going on when we translate her words for you. Right now, their intentions don't seem hostile. They're making sure we aren't hostile. Go with it for now."

Ignoring Duce's 'translation' for now the woman speaks quietly to one of the guards around Krycek and then turns to D'anna. "To whom does this man belong?"

Behind her the guard steps up to Krycek and removes his jacket and both holsters. She doesn't recognize the guns as weapons, but they are handed off and placed with the packs and other gear quite separate from anyone in the party. She then starts removing his sweater and t- shirt.

Duce wrinkles her nose, which oh so incidentally adjusts her glasses just slightly. She translates the question.

"Krycek, still want take your changes as a free man?"

"If it gets them to stop stripping me, I'm up for just about anything," Krycek says, managing to stand being forcibly undressed for as long as it takes them to pull off his sweater. He glares at the closest Amazon, but given the number of them, he's minus his t-shirt in the next couple moments, swearing out loud in mixed English and Russian. "Anytime, guys! I'm going to hit one of them if they start unzipping me--" He sounds slightly panicked, understandably.

D'anna pulls herself up to her full height and narrows her eyes at the Amazon to whom she is directing her response, "He is mine."

Scooter listens to Duce as she translates D'anna's assertion. He can't help but think that whatever is going to happen will happen soon. Really, he's almost glad of it.

Not really needing a translation for D'anna's attitude change, the woman gestures the guards to move Jessica over with Scooter, Red and Duce. Having stopped at just removing Krycek's upper garments, his guard now direct him to move to one side of the clearing. The guards around D'anna direct her to the center of the clearing.

"Our stock is getting weak. We need new blood for breeding. You will fight one of us for him. If you win, you will all be escorted to the edge of the deep forest, since that is the way you were headed, and all of your possessions will be returned to you. If you lose, the outcome will be the same except that he will stay here to father the next generation of warriors."

What little color was left in D'anna's face drained completely away as she listened to Duce's translation. "I have to fight? For Krycek? You're crazy! Krycek, I'll try but... well, if this goes as I think it will, I hope you're happy with your new harem." D'anna listens as Duce tells the Amazon that she accepts.

Krycek scowls, trying to look as calm as possible, though the idea that the least capable person is the one standing up for him makes his stomach flip-flop uncomfortably. "I sure as hell hope you know your way around a weapon, D'anna," he says, crossing his arms as an Amazon gives him another speculative look.

Glad that the Amazons don't speak her language, D'anna looks around as she answers him. "Now really isn't a good time to tell you've I've never been in a fight then huh?"

Surprisingly, it isn't the leader who steps forward to face D'anna, but the guard who removed Krycek's clothing. She hand off her weapons, and strips to the waist. She waits as her leader explains the specifics of the fight.

"Since I don't want to lose a good warrior or anger the gods by interfering in your pilgrimage, this will be unarmed combat to submission only. Otherwise there are no rules. The first one unable to rise unaided loses."

D'anna listens to Duce's translation and gives a small sigh of relief. "At least we're not using weapons," she thinks.

D'anna steps to near where the barely dressed woman stands and, as per Krycek's instructions, puts her fist up in from of her face. "If you break my nails, I'll kill you." D'anna takes a few blows, lets out a yelp or two of surprise and finally lands something to her opponents midsection. Listening to Krycek, she lands a second blow with her elbow to the woman's back, knocking her to the ground. When the woman doesn't stir, D'anna asks Duce to see if they are free to go.

Upon receiving an answer in the affirmative, D'anna trudges back to her group, "Bloody hell, that frakking hurt!"

Before sending the party off with their escort, the leader speaks to D'anna one final time. "I'm unsure why you want to go into the deep forest and I don't really care, but I feel I should warn you that it is a dangerous place. We never go in there. Also, if you survive your pilgrimage and need to return from the place you came, might we suggest that you travel along the coast and stay out of our territory. We might not be as hospitable next time."

The escort is silent as the head through the woods. They won't respond to any questions or comments from the party except when D'anna or Red indicate a slight direction change as long as they stay headed toward the deep forest. A couple of the women give Krycek, who has not been given his shirt back, longing glances but they do not interfere with the party in any way. They even let Red take over the lead.

There is a noticeable difference in the type and quantity of trees when the escort stops the party and return their gear. As soon as the equipment is handed over, the Amazons melt into the woods and the party is once again left alone.

Krycek asks about his clothes, but when no answer comes, he manfully proceeds with the party, annoyed and slightly chilled under the shadow of the trees. He's glad he brought an extra change of clothes, at least.

As soon as they get their things back, he pulls out his extra shirt, his less than pleased manner giving the impression that he'd rather not talk about what happened. Ever, if possible.