(Untitled)

[bulletrained]

After two weeks on the Island, the information Riza had managed to gather was distressingly paltry. She had learned a good amount about the Island's geography and had a fair idea how the government and infrastructure worked. The people seemed to be kind and friendly and more or less content with their lives. But the answers she really needed --

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[beentodamascus]

He finds himself in the caves from time to time. Sarah avoids them if she can and Adam feels like he ought to, to, but sometimes, he finds himself there anywhere, remembering what happened on Halloween a little while ago. He feels like he understands her better on the back of it.

He comes face to face wtih the girl and reads the anxiety in her. In response, he makes himself as loose and non-threatening as possible. It's part of the training. It's as much a part of him as breathing.

"Hey."

[bulletrained]

"Hello." Riza's voice is neutral, and she studies Adam carefully. His air is relaxed, almost harmless, but she still detects an aura of menace. Then again, almost everyone around her seems like a threat. Is this man like Pride, hiding his bloodlust behind a facade of innocence, or is he as harmless as he seems?

She focuses on the opportunity -- this man may have the information she needs. The cold mask she wore to hide her anxiety and confusion softens, and she smiles just enough to seem friendly.

"I'm sorry -- I hope I'm not in your way."

[beentodamascus]

Adam's done that look too, and he's not relaxing into it, not just yet. He shifts his weight and then he smiles too. He's suddenly obscurely glad that Harry is with her mother.

"I was in a world of my own. Sorry," he says, letting a little bit more 'London' leak into his voice than usual, letting it warm his accent. "I'm Adam. Adam Carter.". Friendly as that is, he doesn't offer her his hand, not until he's worked out why she makes him so uneasy.

[bulletrained]

"Riza Hawkeye." She doesn't offer her hand either -- it would reveal the stone she's still hiding. "Thinking about home?" Her voice is sympathetic.

She tries to place his accent, though she knows there's no point. It sounds almost like the Central accent, but not quite.

[realnicetrip]

Harry had been on the island long enough to know all its little nooks and passageways, and he found it quite convenient that if you swam through the waterfall you could get into the cave system and take a shortcut to the Compound. After a good hour or so spent diving off the cliffs and splashing around in the pool below, it was handy to know how to quickly get to the kitchen for a much-needed snack.

He was strolling through, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the stone, and hadn't expected to encounter anybody else on the way. Still, he wasn't particularly surprised when he saw someone in his path; he was hardly the only person who used this route.

"Afternoon," he said, briefly raising his hand in greeting.

[bulletrained]

Riza's first thought, strangely enough, was of Edward Elric. The man dripping water in front of her looked nothing like the Full Metal Alchemist, except he was short. Edward would be furious if he knew that, she thought, and it almost made her smile.

She inclined her head slightly. "Good afternoon." She made sure to keep the stone in her hand hidden as she sized him up. Small but fit -- possibly a soldier. Or simply a man who enjoyed exercise; she could not say for certain.

She kept up a friendly appearance, though, to be safe. It wouldn't do to needlessly antagonize anyone.

"Is there a place to swim nearby?"

[realnicetrip]

If it'd been anyone else, Harry would have probably have made a sarcastic remark about cave monsters having stolen his clothes, but he was getting the strangest feeling from this woman that she was looking at him and wondering if she'd be able to beat him in a fight.

"Yeah, the caves have another opening that comes out under the waterfall," he said, jerking his thumb back over his shoulder to indicate the direction in which he'd come. "It's a great little place to go swimming if you don't care for the sea, and if you take the path up to the ledge, it makes a good diving pool as well."

He took his own turn to size her up. She didn't look familiar, and she seemed uncertain about the geography of this place, which suggested she couldn't have been here for very long.

"You're new here, right?"

[bulletrained]

Riza grins wryly. "It's that obvious, is it?" she asked. It was like in war -- everyone could tell at a glance who was new and who was not, who had killed before and who was praying to get shot in the shoulder quickly and sent home. The natural result of sticking a large group of strangers in a high-pressure area.

"You seem pretty familiar with the area," she continued conversationally. "Have you been here long?"

[theonionknight]

Davos had been busy since the hurricane. The 'Jenny One' had been cut loose from its mooring and driven down the coast line, which meant it had to be recovered and repaired 'ere it was seaworthy again. But, it was work he was long used to, so he couldn't say it troubled him over much.

Still, he wasn't ready to trust his best boat in the water just yet, which meant he had more time to walk the island and keep an eye on its people's mood. He passed the cavern entrance, in a slow even gait and nodded to the back of the women already there.

"Good day to you, m'lady," he greeted her politely, as was his wont. He did not carry both a sword and a knife on him because he was reckless and he had no desire to make enemies needlessly by rude words.

[bulletrained]

Riza blinked, taken aback by the greeting. She had never been addressed as "my lady" before. Since joining the military, she had hardly ever been addressed as anything other than her rank. It still unsettled her a bit, being called anything but "Lieutenant."

"Good afternoon," she says, her tone equally polite. He was an older man, his skin obviously weathered from the elements. A merchant, perhaps? And quite likely some sort of fighter, judging by the way he carried himself and the single leather glove he wore. She had known many soldiers who did that to hide some kind of injury. "Are you coming from the caves?" She hadn't yet dared to pass through the cavern yet -- there was a fine line between the comfort of her morbid memories and full-out panic -- but she had heard that they connected to a cave system.

[theonionknight]

"Not today," Davos replied, easily.

He had always found comfort in darkness and the security it brought and so he'd entered the caves oft enough to know them quite well but, in truth, there seemed little need to go there too often. He had nothing to smuggle and no reason to hide. And he'd long since decided that stealing the barrels stored there would be foolish indeed on such a small isle.

"I was heading to the compound," he added as explanation. "Looking for tar."

[bulletrained]

"Looking for tar?" Riza asked, puzzled. "What do you need tar for?"

[get_over_here]

[bulletrained]

It was Scorpion -- Hanzo -- the man who died and then came back as something else. Riza relaxed just slightly. He had saved her life, after all, by escorting her to the clinic. But he reminded her far too much of King Bradley for it to be easy to trust him.

But she smiled just enough to be friendly, because she owed him a debt and it would not be wise to alienate anyone just yet.

"Fine, I think," she said. "To the clinic, at least. I haven't had much chance to explore yet." She gestured to her neck wound, still covered in bandages.

[get_over_here]

[bulletrained]

Riza shrugged. "How else will I learn how to get around?" she said practically. "How much have you explored?"

[scotsfriction]

Amy froze mid-step. Not actually mid-step because she put her foot down, lifting a hand to wave at the blonde girl in front of her. People around here could be oddly tetchy at times. It was better to not risk it.

"Hello there!" A smile on her face, she gestured towards the caves. "Going to have a look? I find them to be fascinating myself."

It was a bit like the sort of place one would hunt for pirates or something completely mad. That didn't mean she wanted to spend a lot of time there. She knew all about the angels and where they stayed.

[bulletrained]

Little and friendly. Fit, but not trained to fight. That was Riza's initial assessment of the young woman before her. She relaxed her guard just a bit (though only a trained soldier would have been able to tell it was up) and smiled slightly.

"I was just wandering a bit," she said easily. "What about you? Going exploring?" She projects a low-key friendliness; it is not her nature to be effusive, nor is she an accomplished enough liar to fake it, but she can be quietly charming when the occasion called for it.

[scotsfriction]

"Sort of. Mostly wandering about a bit before heading to that party."

Her curiosity about the caves was enough to get her close to them, but not enough to get her into the darkness. That was a boundary that she wasn't yet willing to cross. It wasn't nearly as scary as that crack had been, but a little caution was nice.

Shrugging easily, she nudged the dirt with the toe of her sneaker. "Wanderings always good. I love it myself."

[bulletrained]

"Party?" Riza asked, then remembered vaguely that there had been a mention somewhere about a party. She hadn't paid attention; she had never cared for parties.

"So you're a wanderer? I don't get the chance to wander often, but it's a good way to get to know a new area."

[ooc: I saw that edit. Amy and her self-loving ways.]