(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.

[dreambigger]

"Hey, hey, easy," Eames blurts out quickly, eyes widening as a rock goes whizzing by and into a tree. It didn't actually come anywhere close to him, but he still counts himself glad that he had the sense to stop before crossing the clearing, lest he have wound up injured for his trouble instead. Turning his attention to the source of the flying rock instead, he arches an eyebrow, more curious than put off. "That tree do something to you, or is this just target practice?"

[hightail]

He looks familiar, but it's a minute or so before Kate finally places the face, recalling having met the man in the snow a few months back. He looked just as flustered then as she does now (which is to say, not very, barely noticeable), but she didn't stick around long enough to find out why. It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that their places are switched now, given what she knows of the island. But that makes none of this easier to swallow.

"Just letting off some steam," she does her best to brush it off, shrug and all. "Sorry if I scared you."

[dreambigger]

"No, it's quite alright," Eames is quick to assure her, hands held up in front of him, palms out, in the universal gesture of surrender, though it's mostly just to tell her that it's okay. There's no harm actually done, and he can't blame her for wanting to do so, anyway. Around here, people have to resort to whatever methods they can; a slingshot probably works just as well as any other, though it isn't one he'd use himself. (He remembers her, of course. Off his game though he'd been that day, he would never have gotten anywhere without a memory for faces, for names, for details of meetings. She'd found him that day in the snow, and now he can be a bit more put together.) "Could've been worse, at any rate, couldn't it?"

[hightail]

"Depends on how well you take a rock to the head," quips Kate, relieved to have managed the joke even if her tone is off, far less lighthearted than it should be. Nothing about loss is light, least of all here, where the bending of fate only seems to bring more suffering in the end. (That's not fair, she scolds herself at once, because it's true that Alex got more time than she ever would have otherwise. It just wasn't enough.) "I never got your name," she adds, this time with a bit more gusto. (It doesn't make the greatest difference.)

[missingthekeep]

"Nae too shabby," Sean says once he catches sight of the woman and pegs her as the source of the noise, rock striking wood. Both the sound and the sight of a woman wielding a slingshot for no apparent reason aren't all that strange, especially here, but it's enough to catch his attention nevertheless. "I mean, I'm nae 'xactly sure what it was ye were aimin' for, but I'm assumin' ye hit it."

[hightail]

"Just practicing," comes Kate's response, both too quick and too uncertain to sound at all truthful, and for a moment, she can't be bothered to care. That moment, however, is short and fleeting; she's hardwired to either mask her emotions or run from them altogether. Since the latter's out of the question, she'll settle for the former. "Taking it upon myself to make sure no one thinks the jungle's safe," she adds jokingly.

[missingthekeep]

"Ye're a real humanitarian," Sean deadpans. As far as he's concerned, anyone daft enough to think that deserves whatever's coming to them, but that's hardly the point here. There's also obviously more to this than she's willing to say, but he's not about to pry without a good reason. "Interestin' weapon ta be doin' it with, though."

[hightail]

The irony isn't lost on her, Kate being the very last thing from humanitarian, but she isn't about to argue when the man can't possibly know better. That's for the best, after all, that's the whole point of keeping to herself and being so damn secretive all the time. "It belonged to a friend," she explains, adding, "She's gone now."

[plntfood]

The sound startles Mathias and he freezes, then turns on the spot, searching the jungle for the source of the noise. Even now, he's too jumpy, despite making the best effort he can to get used to this place. He's out here two or three times a week now, pushing through the jungle, forcing himself not to cringe when the vines slap at his legs and now he's standing, terrified, because of a noise.

Taking a few breaths, he forces himself to move toward it, then laughs at himself when he sees Kate through the trees. It looks as though she has a slingshot, which explains the sound he heard, and with his heart still beating far too quickly, he steps into the clearing. "Hello," he says, hoping he doesn't look as startled as he still feels.

[hightail]

Having heard the sound of rushed, startled footsteps, Kate is on her guard against whatever animal may be roaming nearby. It comes as a surprise when it's not only a man but one she knows, her social circle around here necessarily limited. Even so, she can't hold it against Mathias that he's happened upon her today; when they first met, he wasn't in the greatest place himself. The island's tendency towards balance, however, is not so appreciated now that Alex is gone.

"Hi," she breathes, lowering the slingshot. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare anyone."

[plntfood]

Shaking his head, he waves off the apology. It isn't her fault that he's so jumpy, figures that, on a good day, the sound might not have even registered. Anywhere but the jungle it would have only been a sound, but he doesn't know how to say that to anyone, let alone someone he's only just met.

"It's fine," he answers, then smiles slightly, gesturing at the slingshot. "Is it yours?"

[hightail]

No, she almost says, moving to shake her head, but Kate stops herself at the last second. "Yeah," she admits, nodding slowly. "I guess it is." Doubtlessly, he'll find that odd, that she isn't sure when she's the one carrying the slingshot around. She's always been careful to remain detached, not to care of how she's perceived by others, but the other island ruined that. Crashing brought them all closer together, and even three years as an acquitted murderer hasn't lessened the blow of leaving so many friends behind.

"It was a friend's," she explains at last, the least she can do given how forthcoming he was with her before. "But she's gone now."

[crossyourpath]

In Felicia's experience, people don't usually go around making noise unless they want to be noticed. If you want to slip in unannounced, then you don't stop around slamming things. Hitting targets is much the same and when she hears the sound of a rock hitting a tree, she immediately turns her head in the direction. A shot fired is still a shot fired no matter what the weapon. Given that she's somehow found herself in law enforcement, she's certain that checking it out is the thing to do.

Stepping around through the trees, she notices the brunette with the slingshot in hand. Her mind quickly supplies a name (Kate) but it takes a moment before she remembers which name she gave in return. The smirk is there already, like a defensive shield as she laughs lightly. "Always aiming at something, it would seem. Or am I just lucky enough to always run into you during target practice?"

[hightail]

Hers isn't so much a desire to be noticed as it is one to be heard, not by anyone around but by the island at large, the forces which rule it and deemed Alex's life not worth extending any longer. Were it anyone else, things would be different, but Alex was the rare exception to the belief that no one deserves to be trapped on the island. For her, it was the best she could hope for anymore. Directing all her anger at the bark of a tree, however, doesn't get her very far. In fact, she doesn't even hear the person approaching until she's spoken, eliciting Kate's knee-jerk reaction of whipping around and aiming ahead.

She lowers the slingshot, exhaling, then shaking her head as if to apologize. "Sorry, you startled me," she offers as an excuse, unable to blame it on the boar this time.

[crossyourpath]

The Fates or the Island as it were, are not worth trying to reason with. She's not about to get into religious semantics. Those sorts of things have a way of freaking her out more than a little bit. No, she just knows that life isn't fair and that if there is something out there deciding all of this, then it certainly isn't going to listen to her.

The smirk stays, followed by an easy shrug of the shoulders. Being aimed at isn't something that she is unused to anyways. "Not a problem. I have a habit of doing that, whether I want to or not."

[hightail]

Kate has never been especially grateful, certainly not owing it to stealth that she managed to survive on the run so long. She made it by on pure luck, most of the time, fortunate (if it can be called fortune) not to have had many connections to others growing up. No reason to stay behind, no reason to stop running. But even then, she didn't manage not to get attached here and there, leaving a trail of broken loved ones in her wake. None of this applies to the blonde before her save the parts on grace and stealth, because Felicity certainly does seem to have control over her body. Maybe a dancer; it doesn't really matter.

"How's it going?" She promptly asks. Gaining the upper hand here isn't so important, but it's nice to know she's in control for the time being, asking the first question.