Day 004: Down to the River to Prey
Summary: The Delinquents finally find a source of water large enough for the whole camp. And it's inhabited.
Date: 3 May 2016
Related: None directly.
Cassandra Ruth Fiona Silas Martin Asher 


The Northern River, Wilderness
Described below.
4 Days After Landing

<FS3> Cassandra rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Fiona rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Ruth rolls Alertness: Success.
<FS3> Silas rolls ALertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Martin rolls Alertness: Failure.
<FS3> Asher rolls Alertness: Good Success.

Since landing, there have been rumors of water to the north, and the map certainly shows a rather large river just north of the estimated landing point. However, all of the relatively short trips in that direction have come up dry, so to speak, although several mentioned hearing distant water, none of them got close enough. This trip is going to be different. They're going to track down the water. And so the little group walks through the forest for a good hour, going as straight north as they can manage without a compass. Fiona, Silas, Cassandra, and Asher hear it first, the soft susurration of water. And then, ten or fifteen minutes later, Ruth picks it up, but the sound still evades Martin's ears.

Cassandra hitches her makeshift pack over one shoulder. They may be going to find water, but since this is Earth, and who knows what could happen, the wary and wariness-inspiring brunette has brought some with her — along with some nuts, and other odds and ends. She perks up at the trickle of a distant stream, stopping in her tracks and waiting for the group to follow suit. "Hey, you hear that?" she asks.

Bucket in hand and face mired in relative exhaustion, Ruth works to evade underbrush and thus remain on her own two feet. Tree roots have a thing for tripping her up, apparently; after almost falling at least three times on this water expedition alone, her grim frown has turned to a determined pinch. "Find any more of those onions?" she calls to Martin, her fingers tightening their now-sweaty hold on the bucket's handle. Cassandra earns a sharp glance, her head cocking to the side as she too pauses her heavy tread. "Water? You hear water?"

Fiona made sure that anyone willing to carry a container has one to fill up, and she herself has a pair. "I hear water." she affirms to both Cassandra and Ruth, her mouth curving in a smile that carries with a freedom and relief she hasn't felt in nearly a year. "That way!" She points in the direction the sound is coming from.

Quietly having moved along- Silas stands along with the others with a fire hardened spear in his hands and with a somewhat grumpy look of fatigue. Though he was among one of the first to hear it- he was by no means the one to point it out as he simply quietly glanced around to the others to check to see if they too heard the sound of water. When Cassandra points it out, he offers a nod. "Yea, I hear it…" he says with his brows rising as he quietly looks over to Ruth as she speaks, before letting out a breath as his eyes trail to where Fiona points. "Fuck. Yeah." he says, a wide smile coming along his feature

Martin has the long stick he had last time, now turned into a pointy spear, across his shoulders with a bucket dangling from each end. It's tricky to keep it balanced so the buckets don't fall off, but he is managing so far. At Ruth's question, he shakes his head. "I think I pulled the few along this route. Also, I have been keeping an eye out for some maples, hopefully a sugar maple or two, for some sap. Frankie wants some to make alcohol from and the medtechs want it to sweeten that willow tea." He's too busy chatting to note any sounds. "Huh? Water?" He pauses to listen before shaking his blonde head. "I don't hear anything. Are you guys sure?"

Asher isn't much of a survivalist or an Earth Studies afficianado, but he appears to be a weapons nut. He's got his poleaxe looking spear in one hand, his club with metal spikes all over it handling from his belt and a couple of makeshift knives and shivs about his person. He also is carrying a few containers, which he only agreed to do because he plans on keeping whatever water he carries for himself. The sound of water seems to be noticed by him as well, but he doesn't point it out to the others, instead just continuing to walk in the diretion of the sound. "Took long enough…" he mutters.

The actual water to go with that sound is elusive. Another fifteen minutes pass, with the sound getting louder, but no break in the canopy visible. By then, even Martin can hear the sound as it grows louder, from a whisper to a spoken word, and then something closing in on a shout. Nearly two hours out of camp, and there is a lighter patch up ahead, and then finally, oh god finally, a break in the trees.

Ruth doesn't linger after seeing that patch of light, hopping and racing with the best of Earth's mutated squirrels. She only trips once, but it only makes her run heavier for that moment. She's breathing heavily by the time the break in the trees can be spotted, but every exhale is a laugh.

Cassandra turns to give Martin a look. You know, that look. The kind that says, 'you're an idiot', from the perspective of someone who probably thinks that of everyone. "Sounds like you've already sussed out booze, Marty," she suggests. "Ease off." While Fiona points out the right direction, the surly delinquent doesn't appear to be in any rush to find it. She lugs behind, with her slightly heavier, water-filled pack — she doesn't look like she's used to toting things around, nor does she have the musculature for it — letting the clumsy, oversized squirrel lead the charge. Her dark eyes stare straight on ahead, however, fixated on the upcoming break in the trees and trying her best not to show the strain of the minor weight that has her huffing and puffing.

"Not much further…not much further…" Fiona is chanting under her breath as they approach closer and closer to the sound. "Oh, god - is that it?" she says when they finally espy the break in the treeline. "Please, please don't let it be some kind of group aural hallucination."

Martin watches Ruth bolt away down the path and decides to pick up the pace since everyone else is likely to be running in…whatever direction they think the water is. Maybe he should take up the rear, so he isn't going the wrong way. He ignores Cassandra and simply asks the group, "Is it close?" After trudging along, eventually he finally does manage to hear. Once they are practically on top of it that is. "Oh."

With the sound getting louder and louder, Silas breaks into a power walk- he'd go faster but the threat of falling on his spear is a pretty real one. He grunts as he continues through, eyeing and chuckling Ruth as she ends up racing by him and forward. He continues to march through and towards the sound, and when he spots the break in the trees he inhales sharply, "Oh fuck yeah, please just give this to me." he begs to no one in particular as he heads towards it, biting his lower lip somewhat anxiously.

"You're all slow!" Ruth taunts back at the group, shoulders heaving as she soon slows herself to catch a breath that isn't shallow in the heat of a run. She's probably thirsty right about now. Water would probably help. She presses the side of her hand against her brow to keep the sun from marring sight. "Is it farther than it looks or something? I still can't measure distance properly here."

Asher, of the mind that he'll get there when he gets there, does not speed up. Yes, he just as thirsty as everyone else is. Dehydrated and tired. Maybe that's why he isn't rushing? He'll just look like he's brooding and too cool for school instead of looking like he wants to pass out though. He approaches the break in the trees at the back of the pack.

After hearing the water for an hour, growing ever-louder, that strip of light in the canopy must be tantalizing indeed. Even more, tantalizing, however, is the view that awaits Ruth when she charges up a rocky, overgrown bank, and finally bursts out into the sunlight. Before her is a rocky tumble of perhaps six feet down into a small river, the first water larger than a rivulet the Delinquents have ever seen. It is about forty feet across to the other rocky bank. Above and below the point where the Delinquents are approaching, the water boils to whiteness over rocks and snags, but before Ruth is a lightly-rippled expanse of relatively calm water, deep enough that it is difficult to see the bottom.

Behind her, the rest of the group can only see the young woman at the top of a hill, silhouetted against the noontime sunlight beyond her.

Cassandra doesn't often smile, but this, finally, is enough to make even her break into sunshine. When she finally mounts that hill, she turns and even gives Martin another look — this one to share in joy rather than disdain. It's short-lived, though. As she steps on up to the rocky surface, she breaks eye-contact and heaves a much-deserved sigh of exhaustion, then swings her pack down to the ground. "Fuck going back to camp," she suggests mid-exhale. "I say we stay here." Forever, her appeased tone implies.

Martin slowly makes it up the last incline, making sure to balance those empty buckets. "I wonder how much water I'm going to splash and lose on the way back." Lids. Lids would be nice. At Cassandra's suggestion, he thinks, "We might be able to. Depends on how easy it will be to move all the stuff from the drop ship, and if we need the hull itself for anything. It's an alright shelter for the moment." He crests the incline and sees the water, causing a grin to spread across his face. "Now that is a thing of beauty."

Silas brings his right hand over to scratch his cheek, squinting as he makes out Ruths silhouette against the bright light of the sun. He grunts somewhat, glancing to the others before he looks back, his left hand holding his spear as it hangs down and at his side. However, he doesn't say anything- he just silently stares and waits. When Cassandra suggests staying here, Silas shrugs. "It's a good idea…" he offers, his right brow rising as he gauges the others reactions with a quiet chuckle. "As it stands, we're better off near the water." he adds, before stepping up to look down along with the others, smiling wide. "It's pretty." he says, blinking quietly as he observes the flow of the river.

"Yes!" One of Fiona's hands goes up in the air with a triumphant fist punch. It's all she can do not to just jump in, or go stick her head in the water and start gulping it down.

Ruth stands in silent awe atop that hill, offering no words of exultation to the rest despite them not seeing it when she does. No longer keen on running, she steps down the embankment with care, sturdy boots aiding her now instead of simply adding unnecessary weight to her tread.

Asher, still towards the back, is one of the last to see Ruth silhoutted and moves up to the ridge so he too can look out and see the glorous…tiny…not nearly as it should have been, river. "Huh…" he mutters quietly. Then he looks to Cassandra and shakes his head, "I'd wager big dangerous animals like water too. And meat to go with it." Just a side thought really, he doesn't continue with it, instead looking around the rocks and such for an easy way down to the water.

Here inside the rocky walls of the riverbanks, the sound of the river echoes oddly, perhaps explaining why it could be heard so far away in the first place. Despite the drizzle earlier in the day, the sun beats down hard and hot on the rocks, sending heat and moisture radiating upwards. It might even be uncomfortably muggy if it weren't for the cooling effect of the river itself, lending a freshness to the air and a crisp scent that not even rain can match for otherworldly… difference… from anything on the Ark. Soft ripples mar the surface of the pool, the only indication of the current that foams the water above and blow into white.

Martin comments to Asher, "So we would have a water source and a way to draw food to ourselves too. They may be big, but 94 of us stabbing them should be enough." He pauses for a moment then adds a bit dryly, "I hope." He then follows Ruth down the side of the bank towards the river. "Any good shallow spots to start pulling water from?"

"Big dangerous animals?" the arrogant Cassandra scoffs. Free of her burden, she steps on up the hill with a little sashay, then leans on in and gives Asher a big grin. "Most dangerous animal here is you." It almost sounds like she's impressed by the armed-to-the-nines killer. Almost. It's then Ruth who gets her attention, as the lanky teenager crouches down to nearly equal height, stopping just short enough to be deliberately taller. "What do you say, Mercer? Might be dangerous animals in there. Maybe a shark. Maybe a dolphin. Maybe a crocodile. Join me for a swim?" The freshness of the air tickles her nostrils, so unused to not being cooped up, and has her beaming, dark eyes gleaming.

His eyes drifting back and forth, he opens his mouth to reply to Asher- but Martin says what he would have. He quietly blinks, looking around for a moment before he quietly moves down with the others to bring himself down and towards the river. He also looks around quietly, as he seems to be keeping an eye out for rocks- taking in their shapes. "This place… Is really good for stone tools." he adds, "This really does seem like the best spot to move the camp to. And for animals.." he begins, quietly glancing back to Asher, "I think around ninety teenagers fighting and fucking can scare off a few animals." he adds with a snicker. "Besides, don't you wanna hunt down something big?" he adds, before looking back to where he's moving as he heads down.

<FS3> Asher rolls Athletics: Success.
<FS3> Silas rolls Athletics: Failure.
<FS3> Martin rolls Athletics: Good Success.
<FS3> <FS3> Martin rolls Athletics: Good Success.
<FS3> Ruth rolls Athletics: Good Success.
<FS3> Cassandra rolls Athletics: Failure.
<FS3> Fiona rolls Athletics: Good Success.

"Sure thing, Boner," Ruth quips aside to Cassandra as they near the bank, her stride quickening in the process of clamoring down. Her crouch is a tired thing once she's finally reached the water, legs shaky with both the run and her dehydration. "You first." She dunks her filthy hands into the water and drinks greedily from them, sitting back onto her haunches with a gargled sound that only somewhat resembles the laugh it's undoubtedly meant to be.

"Yeah, I wanna in the middle of ninety morons trying to stab a rabid bear or four. You're gonna get stabbed by some idiot who doesn't know how to use their pointy stick very well." Asher replies with a smirk. He eyes Cassandra for a moment and nods, "That's me, big dangerous animal." He then shrugs once and starts down the robs to the riverside. He takes it nice and easy, using his poleaxe to give him extra support. "And no, I don't want to hunt anything big until I've gotten good at killing things that won't kill me back." Pragmatic. He gets to the water and sets down his containers. He'll fill them up later. He dunks his hands in, cups them and splashes water on his face, then through his hair.

On his way to begin heading down, Silas grunts as he glances to his spear. He doesn't exactly have any way to sling the weapon- but his enthusiasm to get down overtakes any chance of him even beginning to work that out. He moves to begin down- but almost immediately finds how bad of an idea it was as he begins down with some improper footing, and a full left hand and a slipping right hand sends him tumbling down and along onto the river bank with a alarmed shout, "FUCKING SHIT!" before he comes to a tumbling stop on his back. Silas' spear falling out of his hands and luckily not in his belly as he lies there on the riverbank, grunting as he clenches his teeth and furrows his brows, eyes clamped shut. "Ow.." wheezes Silas, but he doesn't look too injured. A fairly shallow cut on his chin, but for the most part bruises.

No rabid bears appear to be in the vicinity, at least not at the moment. Then again, one could assume that any bear, rabid or not, might have problems getting down the rocky embankment to the water on either side. Once down on the rocks right by the water, however, it's easy enough to dip one's hands, head, feet, or other body part in, or even one of the (still stinky) animal stomachs or large plastic bins that used to hold meager survival gear that were available to bring along to the river. Silas' tumble and shout reverberate in the little rock canyon, and a couple of birds burst from the foliage downstream on the other side of the river, taking off into the sky.

Martin manages to descend the incline without any difficulty at all, even with two buckets hanging off of his spear across his shoulders. As he reaches the bottom, he joins Ruth next to the river and dunks his hands in for a drink as well. Then it's wiping the dried sweat off on his face and arms. "Then maybe we should start training with weapons more, so people aren't idiots who don't know how to use their pointy sticks." He takes another long drink and sighs contentedly. It's really the simple things in life. Then there is Cassandra and Silas flailing about as they fall over the embankment. He rises from his crouch and asks, "Are you guys alright," while making his way in their direction to help them up.

Though Ms. Bonheur — Boner indeed — had intended to play a height game with Ruth Mercer, the deft squirrel ends up bounding on down the riverbank, and Cass is forced to keep up if she wants to keep up her mad banter. So she looms above to deliver her lines, watching her target escape, and eventually scarpers for her pack before she can join the group. Being the last one down, she's in a bit of a rush to catch up, and so she skippity-skips her way on down, takes a tumble and slams right into poor Silas, who really didn't deserve this kind of double cosmic injustice. Did Cassandra? Debatable, but now she's banged her forehead into his back and rolls on down to the side. "Fuck," she says, reaching up a hand to rub at her injury and wince, humanly self-absorbed in her own pain rather than anyone else's. She doesn't explicitly answer Martin, except to groan.

Fiona starts to pick her way across the stones carefully, pausing only briefly to look over her shoulder at those discussing moving the camp. "It might be fine for now, but what about when the weather changes? The dropship is a strong shelter against the cold. Unless you think we can build structures that can handle it." She's distracted by the those tripping until she too crouches, sipping water and splashing it onto her face.

And now Silas has Cassandra sprawled on him- letting out a grunt and a slow wheeze of pain, "Fuuuck-" he begins, bringing his hands over to shift himself up- looking to Martin as he accepts his assistance. "I was alright for a bit there." he says, glancing to Cass, "For a bit." he says as he more or less reaches over with an open hand to pull her up- and off of him. "At least she isn't /that/ heavy." he manages to joke, chuckling quietly. "How's the water?"

Martin helps Silas as the other man takes his offered hand, then he holds out his hand for Cassandra, helping her as well, if she accepts it. "Have a medtech look you over when we get back to make sure you didn't injure yourself worse than you think." He gives Silas a slap to the back and moves towards his spear and buckets to begin filling them. "Tastes a lot better than those trickle we have been drinking from." Now to hope that Montezuama's ghost didn't make his way up the Eastern seaboard.

Bucket left on land, Ruth wastes absolutely zero minutes shedding her boots and waist-tied jacket from her person so she can wade into the water, hands bunched up about the sides of her cargo pants so she can keep some semblance of decorum and not get them too wet… who is she kidding, though? Her gleeful laughter reverberates in queer fashion due to the cove's acoustics, though hopefully no one an hour away would hear that particular sound. "It feels like a dream!" Her smug smile widens further when she catches sight of Cass and Silas' mishap. "Come feel for yourself! I'm standing legs-deep in water." This fact is of some fascination to the Ark-raised teenager, her fingers working her hair behind her ear then. "Isn't that amazing?"

The two teens falling doesn't really seem to register with Asher at first. He was enjoying the feeling of water in his hair and on his face. Oh, and drinking it to. That is the best part. He pulls off his jacket, setting it down beside him and looks over to Silas and Cassandra, "Coulda been worse. There's that fat, dude back at camp. He could have fallen on you." His containers, which amount to two animal stomachs and one made of hide as well as some parachute that's been tied off to hold water, are left on the shore. He pulls off his own boots and his socks as well. He wades into the water as well.

Renowned for her habits of shifting the blame, Cassandra doesn't fail to deliver. "I only tripped because you were in the way," she claims, giving Silas a sulky look. She nonetheless accepts both his and Martin's help in pulling her up, gripping their hands firmly before releasing to dust off her knees. The joke about her weight only earns Silas another of her looks, as she's apparently lost her sense of humour for the moment. She turns to glance aside at Ruth when she makes her joyous exclamation, just in time to catch sight of her Schadenfreude, before she turns aside again to retrieve her pack. "I'm fine," she eventually decides, rolling her shoulders, and less pridefully, belatedly adds: "Thanks."

A small rabbit-y creature pokes its nose up on the top of the far back, sniffing for a moment as it studies the strange creatures cavorting in the shallows. There's a little squeak, and then it turns about… rat-like tail whipping in the air behind it, and scurries off.

Martin watches Ruth and Asher wade into the water and decides that might be the best method for filling his buckets. However, the rocks on the bank might be a bit uncomfortable. Decisions, decisions. He pulls the footwear off, leaving them on the rocks furthest from the water and pads his way to his buckets and spear to carry them into the water. "How cold is the water?"

Regaining his footing, Silas simply looks over to Cassandra and offers her a shit-eating grin, "Fuck that, you were probably too busy with your eyes glued to Ruth." he says, snickering to himself as he looks around- his eyes falling onto the not-a-rabbit, staring at it for a moment before watching it turn and walk off, chuckling lightly as he brings his feet over to kick his shoes off. He looks to Martin, offering a nod. "I'll have them take a look at the cuts, but I should be fine." he says, his left hand coming over to pat his wounds with a quiet wince. "Ow~." he says, as he begins to step over to wade into the water somewhat. He quietly looks around and to Asher, chuckling, "Fuck- I'm still surprised they could strap him in." he says, leaning down to cup his hands together and splash his face with the water, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling.

Parting her lips in protest, Cassie looks about to say something to Silas before she's distracted by the sight of the of the fluffy rodent, tracking his gaze towards it. By that point, she's lost her witty comeback (a convenient excuse, likely as not), and falls silent to observe the creature, curiosity mingling with discomfort in her eyes.

"Extra rope to connect his belts…" Asher states flatly and points to his poleaxe on the shore, "I used it to secure that blade." That's probably made up. He rubs at his arms and keeps moving, "It's cold, but worth it. Totally worth it." Unless you are a wuss. "Unless you're a fuckin' wuss." He takes another cuped handful of water and slurps it down. They are going to be really cold when they get out. "We're gonna need to dry out our clothes for the walk back though. Once you get into the forest and out of the sun, that's gonna be a long, cold fuckin walk back."

A shiver runs through Ruth, expression torn between delight and deliberation. The cause of the latter comes when she finally makes a choice, suddenly crouching down in the cold to dunk her hair in. A girlish scream is the result of her efforts, and she bobs and hops in the water but keeps under. "So cold!" she spurts in agreement with Asher, face flushed with the exertion of maintaining her mostly-submerged position. She doesn't flip her hair back, instead keeping it mostly in so she can start to grind at it against her hand with a rock she finds on the riverbed. It's certainly one way to clean hair absent shampoo or real sanitary products.

Fiona for her part spends her time alternating between gulping down water and using it to clean herself. She even takes off her shirt, tucking it into her waistband so she can clean herself up . She shivers, but doesn't complain otherwise. "We can't stay too long." she says, looking over at the others. "It's a long walk back, and we're going to be lugging water."

<FS3> Ruth rolls Alertness: Great Success.
<FS3> Martin rolls Alertness: Good Success.
<FS3> Fiona rolls Alertness: Success.

<FS3> Silas rolls Resolve: Good Success.
<FS3> Silas rolls Alertness: Good Success.

<FS3> Asher rolls Resolve: Success.
<FS3> Asher rolls Alertness -1: Success.

<FS3> Cassandra rolls Resolve: Success.
<FS3> Cassandra rolls Alertness: Good Success.

Ruth is given pause for a moment in her ministrations, her wet curtain of hair parted to the side by the back of her hand. She only has eyes for the water in this moment, her head cocking in a bird-like manner to the side. A furrowed brow and a bemused frown precede a shuddering inhale with which she calls, "Guys? I, uhh…" She starts to back away from the current, her bare feet seeming in that moment as if to not even feel the sharp rocks she's stepping on. Perhaps they're numb from the cold. "Get out of the water!"

Silas quietly looks up from a mixture of drinking and washing his face- for a moment ogling Fiona before his attention is caught by Ruth as she calls out, blink as his eyes trail around before he spots what she's worried out. A particular set of ripples moving across and towards them, prompting Silas to turn and breach out from the water, jogging over and grabbing his spear from the ground, turning, "Get out! Holy fuck get out!"

Martin turns to Ruth's statement and looks at her to see what she is looking at. Focusing then on the river, he notes some disturbance in the water, a ripple that is moving across the current and not with it. "Uhhhh, what is that?" He looks then to is fellow Tesla Three member to see if she hs noticed it yet or not. "Fi? You see that?" When Silas reacts, Martin drops his buckets and reaches for his spear.

That everything happens for a reason becomes momentarily clear to Cassandra from her spot above the bank. Having been too busy bumping into Silas, injuring herself and picking up pieces of her broken pride, she had no time to join Ruth for a 'swim', and does not have her feet wet. She stands frozen, staring as the current shifts unnaturally, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. It's time for this delinquent to prove her worth, and that's just what she does: nothing. Likely not out of malice, but people are shouting, and she seems shocked.

"Huh?" Fiona, bent over and scrubbing up and down her arms, turns to look toward Martin, and then toward the spot he's pointing out. Her eyes go big as saucers. "Oh my god! What is that?!" She's backpedaling as fast as she can, half turning mid-step so she can try and get out of the water as quickly as possible.

Asher in general plays things pretty cool…He doesn't get worked up over dead bodies or danger, or finding water…but boobs. Well, he's a teenager, he's been locked up since he was a younger teenager, and while they may be concealed behind a sports bra, they are still boobs. So instead of seeing the thing veering towards them, he was caught staring. It's not until everyone else makes a big deal about it that Asher, fairly far out in the water as he is, calls out, "Holy fuck!" and starts to move towards the shore as fast as he can given he's in waist deep water. "Get back up those rocks! Move it!" Because this thing might be able to get OUT of the water.

<FS3> Ruth rolls Finesse: Failure.
<FS3> Silas rolls Finesse: Failure.
<FS3> Asher rolls Finesse: Failure.
<FS3> Orion rolls 6: Success.

The ripple in the water resolves itself to a long, sleek form as it nears, something eel-like, but… longer than a person. As the Delinquents splash in the shallows trying to get out of the water, it launches itself upward and forward. A heavy head rises from the water and slams straight into Asher's calf. Teeth sink into the flesh… only to be flailed off, bloodying the young man's leg but not holding. Almost immediately, the creature flashes away and starts swimming off again.

"MOVE!" Good job, Cassandra. She manages to yell this just in time, like, after everyone has seen the actual eel-thing rear its ugly head out of the water. She starts to race back down the bank and rather than leaving the water like everyone else has been advised to, now enters it, getting her leaky, ratty Farm Station boots wet, and wading in to try and help draw Asher out. She isn't very strong, but if she can, she tries to grab his arms and pull them back.

Ruth stumbles into the water rather than away from it in her ungainly haste, filling her nose to the point where she's attempting to hack it out of her sinuses. It's a far cry now from her earlier excitement in merely seeing the water not too long ago. "Get out!" she says in a panicked inhale, the sound nearing a airless gasp. Chill has seeped far beyond what water can reach.

Martin has a spear, but, instead of trying to stab something, he turns the point end toward him and hold out the safe end towards the closest person in the water to help pull them out to the shore. He's not getting into that water. Don't you guys remember form Earth Studies that trying to help a drowning swimmer can reuslt in both of you going under? "Where did it go?!"

<FS3> Fiona rolls Athletics: Failure.

Silas clashes wildly against the water as he moves to desperately try and get out of the water. "Fuck that fucking shit!" he yells out loud, baring his teeth as his eyes shoot wide open as he lets out heavy distressed breaths as he moves to hit up and onto the shore, reaching around to grab onto Martins spear and let himself be pulled back and onto land- having not been too far away from the young man.

<FS3> Martin rolls Brawn+brawn: Good Success.

Attempting to scramble back up the rocks with shoes in hand, they're too slippery for her to try to do so while half turned back toward the river and not paying attention to her footing. "Oof!" she goes down flailing, scraping her hands on the rocks. Making a distressed sound in the back of her throat, she does her best to pick herself back up again, cursing silently that she left her shovel on the shore.

Once he has Silas ashore, Martin moves across the rocks as best as he can towards Ruth since Asher is getting some assistance. Sill he points to Asher and Cassandra, telling Silas, "Can you help them with your spear?" As he approaches Ruth, he once again presents the safe end of the spear to her. "Grab hold!" He then looks around for Fiona in a bit of a panic, wondering where his teammate went. Seeing she isn't in the water, he focuses back on Ruth.

Asher was too far out to get cose enough to shore and then comes the bite. Asher stumbles and falls under the water from the initial bite, and when his head comes up above the water the cold has taken his breath away. He fights for air, mouth open wide as he sucks in whatever air and water he can. It's followed by a series of coughs as he stumbles forward through the water towards Cassandra. He nearly collapses into her. The wound, while not all that bad, is on his calf, which makes walking harder, and walking in water very hard. Red starts to seep out into the water, likely to drawn more water borne predators. He'll manage to get out with help from Cassandra this time. If anyone is paying attention, they'll see he's got a crude shaped metal blade with a rope covered handle in his right hand.

The splashing teens do not immediately draw another strike from the river snake, the long body twisting around and rippling back into the depths at the center of the eddy. Thin streamers of blood are slowly drawn from the shallows, disappearing with the current. For a long moment, there is no motion beyond the ripple of the current. And then a long, heavy body bursts out of the water in the midst of the eddy, the river snake pushing the first three or four feet of its body… and that's barely half… out of the water and letting out a… frustrated… scream from a maw that is circular and filled with inward-facing teeth. The creature is only out of the water for a moment before it splashes back it, and is apparently gone into the depths of the pool.

Grunting as he comes onto shore, Silas leans forward and grabs a hold of his spear- as Martin calls out to him, he gives a nod and breaks out into a heavy jog. He grunts and winces at the stabbing of rocks into his bare feet as he runs out, turning around his spear and moving to bring the blunt end of the spear over to assist Asher and Cassandra with getting out of the water, "Fuck- Ash is bleeding!" he calls out, as obvious as the situation is. "We'll either need dirt or a belt to try and stop the bleeding!"

Ruth certainly isn't crying. There is water on her face, and her eyes are bloodshot, but those things are because of the river, not because of the engorged lamprey. A clammy hand reaches out to grab Martin's spear with a sharp tug, her desperation causing her to seize it with what is perhaps excessive force. With its aid, she's able to clamor out of the water, soaked to the bone and not much better for it. She cannot find words, wide eyes panning back to the water as the creature looses its scream.

Fiona having gotten herself back up again, catches Silas' yell. "Get him to shore!" she calls out, plucking her shirt out of her belt and stepping down on a section of fabric, pulls until she can free up a strip of it, or one of the sleeves, if she has to.

<FS3> Martin rolls Brawn+brawn: Failure.

Martin does his best to pull Ruth out of the water, and ends up putting too much of his weight behind the pull, causing him to fall backwards into the rock. "Fuck!" As he shakes the stars out of his eyes, he looks up at the screaming snake. "FUUUCK!" Then it's gone. "What the hell was what?" For someone who prides himself on his knwoledge of earth's flora and fauna, he is a little disturbed to find something…new.

Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, as if this might save her from the giant river-monster, Cassandra ducks her head and sucks in a high-pitched breath of fright as the creature emerges from the water. If she's going to die, apparently she'd rather die not looking into the jaws of her killer. But fortunately she lives, blindly dragging Asher back to the shoreline and being rewarded with the brutal splash of water in her face, which she has relocated rather unwisely. She doesn't therefore see the spear, but the bleeding killer might. She is, fortunately, mindful of the blade in his hand. When they finally reach dry land again, with or without Silas' help (by proxy of Asher's initiative), she collapses backwards to catch her breath, but doesn't stop there. She scrambles as far away from the water's edge as she can, inch by inch until danger sounds to have passed.

Using his free left hand, Asher grabs the spear and with Cassandra and Silas he manages to hobble to shore. He collapses a few inches from Cassandra, but then she scrambles away. He doesn't, instead moving to his clothes and snatching up his spiked club. He mostly missed the beasty springing from the water. And frankly it already bit him when he couldn't see it. Seeing it just made him want to kill it. His gaze is cold and filled with rage as he eyes the water. "Come on you fuck…" he tightens his grip on the club, "Bring it in and I'll return the favor…" Brilliant plan.

<FS3> Silas rolls Brawn+brawn: Success.

With the tasties all the way out of the water now, there is no sign of the river snake, just the ripples of the current downstream and the burble and splash of the water through the rocks above and below the pond. A bird lands on a tree branch at the top of the bank across the river, singing briefly, and then flutters off again.

"Before you go slaying the dragon," Fiona skids to halt next to Asher, holding out the length of torn cloth. "That needs a bandage. Here. Take it." Her gaze slides to the others. They still need to bring water back, but now they know they need to be cautious.

Martin gets from being sprawled on the ground after pulling Ruth out of the water. He looks over at Asher, as the man starts brandishing his club. He is about to say something when Fiona basically sums it all up succintly. Instead, he looks to the person next to him, Ruth, to see how she is holding up, "Are you alright?" A glance is given to the scattering of containers they have for water, and he begins to considr how to go about this. "Maybe have three or four of us keep a look out while the others get the water?"

Silas brings his weight down and back as he pushes himself back and along to help pull Cassandra and Asher back and onto the shore of the riverbank, letting out grunts as he bares his teeth as he puts in the effort of dragging two people out from the water. He grunts as he moves to bring it around, his hands coming over to swing the spear around- glaring out towards the water of the river, baring his teeth as he seems to wait for a bit to see if the river snake comes back around, but seeing as it doesn't, he tosses his spear aside and moves to run over to head over to Asher, "How do you feel, Ash? Do you feel funny?" he asks, furrowing his brows as he gauges the mans appearance.

Ruth stares at the water with blank shock, her breath held for all of three moments. "We still have to fill the containers," she reminds the party, her scraped palms braced still against the rocks as though to remind herself that she's no longer in the churning water with the lamprey. After a significant pause where she's simply eyeing her companions, she calls, "Not it."

Ruth glances then aside at Martin with a relatively mild-mannered shrug. "I'm fine. I saw the thing near, uh…" She squints at Asher, at a loss. "Kholmin?" She dips her chin in a single nod. "Near him. He might need help."

Cassandra remains lying on her back when the bleeding Asher rises up to seek his vengeance against one of Earth's Big Dangerous Animals, apparently done with being heroic. That was nice, maybe for five minutes, and now she's done. It is from this inert vantage point that she gets to view the small flying creature alight upon an overhead branch to sing its oblivious cheer (or was that mockery?) before it flies off. "That was not a shark, a dolphin or a crocodile," she complains. Her hands rise to cover her face before she eventually sits up, frowning up at the two spearmen as she draws her palms back to support her on the bank. At Martin's suggestion, she scrunches up her eyes. "We need to grab our water and get out of here."

Seeing as how the lamprey has decided to not get clobbered…or more likely kill them all, Asher sets his club down and takes the cloth from Fiona. He nods to her once, "Thanks…" he sighs and looks to Silas as he runs over, shaking his head, "I feel like I got bit by some sort of snake." He pauses and then pulls his pant leg up, wincing. It's soaked so it sticks to his leg. The blood doesn't help. "I don't feel weird or anything." But poison in the leg could take a while. He looks over his shoulder at Cassandra, eyes narrowed just a bit. That was…uncharacteristic. "Thank you." he states in a serious tone. Which isn't saying a lot, since most of his tones are serious. "You need something from me, you let me know." And now to tieing the cloth around that bite…

<FS3> Asher rolls First Aid: Failure.

Martin moves to grab one of the containers and slowly makes his way to the edge of the water to begin filling it with water. "So, the idea about moving the camp. Maybe we should hold off on that for now." His eyes are constantly on the water, trying to spot any movement in the deeper sections.

Silas quietly looks over towards Asher and nods, staring at him for a moment before he looks back to Cassandra and Martin, grunting for a moment as he looks to the water. "Someone grab a bucket." he says before he begins to trudge forward, grabbing his spear firmly as he moves to trudge into the water a bit to make sure anyone who aims to get some water won't immediately get eaten up- though he clearly looks pretty anxious to even have his feet in the water. He holds his spear up and at the ready, making sure to not move around too much in the water while staying near to the shore. "Still… A lot of useful materials are here.." he adds in reply to Martin, his eyes scanning the water.

Despite her claim of not wanting to fill any buckets, Ruth takes her turn doing so once Silas has stepped up to guard. She's quite careful. She's very protective of her bucket, too, and there's very little doubt that she won't be sharing too much of it come their arrival back at camp.

Fiona looks around. "We could do this in turns. One person fills at a time while two watch for that thing to come back?" She suggests. However they decide to do it, they need to go back with full containers.

The tension is palpable. That was uncharacteristic. Even Cassandra seems to know this, and she narrows her eyes back at Asher, as though just as suspicious of herself as one ought to be of her. "Don't mention it," she exhales, soon glancing away. That isn't courtesy. It's almost a threat. The woman is downright embarrassed of being helpful for a change, let alone enough to be thanked for it. Recovering physically as well as mentally, she visibly files this event away in her mind, pushes back up to her feet and steps away. Martin and Silas' wisdoms are acknowledged with silence as she rummages in her pack, retrieving a few crumpled hydration packs and then a bucket to fill.

With two spear-people at the ready, and several others watching, the group is able to fill most of their containers most of the way. At one point when someone slips forward and plants a foot and a hand in the shallows, the water humps and ripples toward the center of the pool, but the river snake does not make an actual appearance, apparently not willing to come that far into the shallows. Due to the watchfulness and wariness necessary, none of the containers is full, but at least no one else got bit. With heavy, awkward containers, a leg wound, and five or six kilometers of forest between the river and the camp, it takes most of the day to return, but eventually they make it back to tell tall tales and share (some of) their water.

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