forum Battledrum Hills (Closed, Stalkers More Than Welcome)

Started October 20, 2019 by @Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

tune

Boss checked the soup and pulled it off the fire. "As they guy here, I guess it's my gentlemanly duty t be the bachelor. You ladies enjoy your dented bowls."

"Pfff." Indy waved him off, accepting a portion of food and downing half of it in one gulp. The soup certainly wasn't the greatest she'd ever had, and there really wasn't enough to go around, but she also knew there wasn't any point in complaining. After a while of sipping the rest of her soup more slowly, she glanced over at Bee and broke the silence.
"Hey, so…I guess I never asked. Why exactly do you have an army chasing you?"

Bee took her time replying, eyes cast down and a frown plastered on her face. She knew this question would come up, but she hadn't decided exactly how to answer it. She didn't want to lose her only potential allies by telling the truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth, but there was only so much she could reasonably bluff in her her current pain-befuddled state.
"It's a grudge," she finally said. "Or some perverted sense of duty, I'm not sure. They've chased us from the West Coast to Vermont, and managed to force me back this way."
She hoped that answer would suffice, but she was smart enough to doubt that would be the case.

Indy sat forward, proving Bee right with her continued curiosity. "That's some pretty impressive diligence. Why are they chasing you so far? And did you just say "us"? Were you part of a group before this?"

"It's personal for they're leader," admitted Bee. "But yeah, I was with a group. My group actually. What was left of us anyway."
She stared tiredly at Indy and Boss. "Do you want the full story?" she asked flatly.

Indy glanced at Boss, then shrugged. "I mean, do you wanna tell it? We're not here to interrogate you or anything….although it does sounds like a good story already."

"I'll negotiate around any details I don't want you to know," Bee said with a shrug. "It's up to you."

"Well….in that case, I guess I'd like to know what we're getting into by helping you," Indy decided. She smiled crookedly. "Not that I trust you to tell us anything we wouldn't like to hear. Give us your story, Bee."

"Fine," she said, casting one final anxious look back the way they'd come. "I'm the leader of a group who used to live on the West Coast. Perhaps you've heard of Bankport City? We're from there. Unfortunately, the locals began to take issue with out presence, and a military group called the Angels began to attack us. At first, we were able to fight back, but they had many more people than I did, and they…" She paused for a second, face twisting.
"They drove us out. Or, those of us who lived. Only five of us escaped. The rest had all been killed. So we fled across the country, gathering members and trying to find anew place to live. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, we were followed. The Angels were still after us. So I took a group to try and divert them, and, long story short, we got separated. They've been chasing me back west ever since. It's been months, and I haven't been able to get around them. They've been steadily catching up, and then I stepped in that stupid bear trap, and now I'm here. That's it."

Indy silently listened to Bee talk, polishing off the last of her soup. When Bee was done explaining everything, Indy glanced at Boss, then back at their new travel companion. "Well…that's pretty messed up. And your group–what exactly was your group about? What did you do that made you so…..unpopular?"

Boss had been wondering the same. There had been some pretty obvious holes in her story, but she seemed unwilling to address them now.
"The people there aren't terribly tolerating," she said vaguely. "We lived different lifestyles. They couldn't deal with that."

Indy eyed her for a moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough. I guess we Wanderers can't really judge, can we? Our old homes couldn't handle us either, so it was the road for us. If you don't want to talk about it anymore, we get it. Right, Boss?"

"Sure thing!" Boss said hastily. "So how far away are we exactly? From your home, I mean."
Bee relaxed slightly, looking off to the east ruefully.
"A long way. All the way to the coast, basically. And we have to get there before they catch up to us."

Indy levered herself upright and dusted off her clothes. "All the more reason to find ourselves a group with decent wheels to tag along with. You guys ready to keep moving? I'm thinking we shouldn't flop around too much right now."

Bee grimaced at the thought of walking but used the fence to climb to her feet regardless. Boss stamped out the fire and finished packing up the cooking supplies. He hiked his backpack onto his shoulders and glanced at Bee, then to Indy.
"How long until we get there again?" he asked.

Indy took a look at the sun's position, then back at her map. "I think we can make it there before dark," she guessed. "Long as we keep a steady pace. Go easy on your leg, though, Bee. We've got plenty of time to make it there without rushing."

Bee grunted in reply, setting off without waiting. She quickly settled into a rhythm that had minimal pain for her injured leg. Boss lingered back to scan the hills behind them for signs of stalkers, then trekked after his group.
"You still got that shield up?" he asked Nick.
Sure, thing, boyo, Nick snickered. You can trust me, you know that.
"Right," Boss said, but let the conversation drop, refusing to answer any of Nick's following jibes.

Indy glanced over her shoulder at Boss as he caught up to them. "What's ol' Demon Boi got to say for himself today?"

"Ah, the regulal," Boss said as nonchalantly as he could manage, which was pretty darn nonchalant. "Death becomes us all, they sky will fall, the stars will go dark, you know, the works."

"Gotta love that guy's attitude. Doesn't he ever have anything nice to say?" Indy tossed her hair. "Maybe he likes to mention my devilish good looks once in a while, or my unparalleled survival skills?"

(Sorry so short, just to get back into it xD)
Boss hesitated, smirking slightly. "Nah sis, you don't wanna know what he says about friends of mine. He's pretty dang rude."

(Np ^^ _{Also the cat wants in )}

Indy pretended to look offended. "Well I never. His loss, I guess. Tell him from me that I think his nose is freakish and that he reminds me of roadkill. At least, that's how I imagine him."

(say WHAT. It's been 3 dAyS _{who was it?)}

"Sure thing," Boss said cheerfully. "Thanks for ticking him off, I'm going to be hearing about that for days now."

(So where do we wanna go from here? Stick w/ them? Time skip? Back to Gabe the Babe? I sorta got out of the flow and have no idea where we were xDD)