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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 20, 2015 20:01:11 GMT -5
The bug dashed across the desert. It was a mad scramble. After all, this was dangerous territory. Not only were the conditions harsh and unforgiving, but there were predators of all shapes and sizes. Some, more deadly than others. But, the bug was a quick little thing. And maneuverable. So far, it had managed to make quite a long journey look easy. Up, past Reno and through Black Rock. Through Oregon and finally reaching the Scorch. Of course, it was mostly deserts, but the roads did skirt around some mountains. And every now and again, there would be a few bodies of water to break up the monotony. Not to mention a refreshing drink and the chance to cool down. The bug continued to perform admirably.
And the young woman behind the steering wheel appreciated it's efforts. Dusty had been on the road for quite some time. Just on her own, she knew it was smarter to avoid conflict, rather than engage in any. Wild beasts, Echoes, Raiders...there was never any shortage of trouble. Just like back home. There was a part of Dusty that missed the Dome. It wasn't the people she disliked. Most of them were her friends. Some of them, she even fought alongside. But, the leadership was collapsing. The General was increasingly erratic. The higher ranking officers were going through a revolving door. The lucky ones were fired. Others were executed. Some just disappeared.
Dusty was fairly certain she would face execution. Leniency was not to be expected. Neither for herself, or the Drifters who had taken her in. For their benefit, she climbed into the loyal dune-buggy and trekked up north. She had heard rumors about a Dome in San Fransisco and one up in Seattle. Going north, seemed to be the best bet. More distance and a fresh new start. Of course, she needed to get through all this sand. But, the skeletal remains of Seattle were coming up in the distance. She was certain that she could find other pockets of survivors up around there. The Dome was a place she would steer clear from. She didn't know a thing about the infrastructure inside there, but if it was anything like Nevada, Dusty wanted no part of it.
Her radio crackled. She hadn't found a signal since a weak broadcast from somewhere in Black Rock. Dusty scanned the band, but hadn't found anything, yet. Perhaps she would need to get closer. She pulled off to a stop. There was a section of ruined road to her left and nothing ahead of her, but a skyline. The redhead climbed out of the bug and stretched. Her fuel was still good. She had salvaged enough to make sure she would be able to make out of this desert. And if she never had taste gasoline again, that would be a moment that couldn't come soon enough. She could swear she still tasted it from the broken down bus she had passed by, back in Oregon.
The sun glared off the red surface of the bug. She leaned back against the hood and looked around, her surroundings. Things were calm. A situation that could change at any moment, she was sure. Dusty pulled a cap off her canteen and took a swig. Someday, she wouldn't taste gasoline.
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 21, 2015 22:13:21 GMT -5
Not too far from the buggy was a dry tree. It's twisted branches reached up against an empty sky in the scorching heat, near that tree were several large sandstone boulders, they were red and orange and blended rather convincingly into the rock was a very large snake. Or at least it looked like a snake from this side. Changing the angle would mean gazing upon a very bizarre sight.
The snake tail was attached to a mockery of what would be a pretty young woman, her chin rested on the back of a hand, palm down on the rock, the other was stretched out clutching a small white book. She was, or at least she looked like she was, asleep. As if he had simply drifted off while reading, like any "normal" person might.
Truthfully she'd slithered her way out of her cave for the sake of feeling the hot sun on her skin, taking her newest possession with her, a small field survival guide, a gift from a friend. She heard the engine miles ago, and then heard it rumble to a stop, heard the parched human get out and take a drink, and listened to hear the foot steps disappear from the sand and turn back into a rumbling engine. The human would move on, never knowing that the beautiful death was merely a few yards away.
Unlike her friend the Capricorn, she'd not toy with the human. The bloodlust was not rising in this moment, she was still digesting a horde from the other day after all. One yellow eye cracked open to spot the red bug, her tail tip curled curiously. She could no longer recall riding in such contraptions, and why? Her tail was stronger, less clumsy with speed and far more versatile.
She could see the human's throat move with each swallow from the canteen, the stray drop of water sliding off her chin. She could hear her breathing, her heartbeat. If she weren't so full...well...maybe a taste wouldn't hurt. But she waited a moment longer, watching the human with her wheeled machine. What would she do?
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 21, 2015 23:04:00 GMT -5
A satisfied sigh escaped from Dusty, as she wiped away the water that had missed it's target. She screwed the cap back on and lingered outside of her vehicle. Her hat provided a good deal of shade, but the heat wasn't going to be foiled that easily. Lingering was probably ill advised. And Dusty could list the reasons in either alphabetical order, or in how horrific the death could be. But, before she climbed back into the bug and continued on, she took one last survey of the area.
Not that there was much for her to look at. Except for an old tree and some rocks. Hardly an exciting scene. If you were only paying half-attention. Dusty lifted an eyebrow, when a bit of movement caught her attention. Dusty blinked and opened the passenger door to her buggy. The canteen was tucked back away and the Drifter fetched out her binoculars. Turning back around, she brought the lenses to her eyes and allowed for a closer look at the rocks. If her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, Dusty was pretty sure that was a snake. And a big one, at that.
'Well....shit.' she thought to herself. The options were limited and either one wasn't good. It could just be a REALLY big snake. Or, it could be an Echo. That was the tricky thing about Echoes. You never knew what they looked like, until you met them. Which made fighting them very difficult. Especially when you were on your own. Dusty lowered the binoculars and stared at the rocks. She should probably high tail it. Jump back in the bug and floor it.
But, that might only make things worse. At least when she didn't know what she was dealing with.
'Juuuust great...' she thought, again. Dusty's revolver had made it's way back into it's holster when she first left the dune buggy. Always be prepared. Those were words to live by. Dusty remained still as she locked on to the rocks. She was looking for signs of movement and any indication that a threat was coming her way. It was a tense moment and it felt like it was dragging on for quite a bit longer than she would have liked.
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 21, 2015 23:15:04 GMT -5
It was frozen, like a deer with a car careening toward it. She wondered what it must feel like, death hurtling at you and all the muscles in your body frozen by nothing more than the mental cage that was fear. Such a powerful thing fear, it mad men go crazy and so such silly reckless things. what would this one do?
She was staring at her, or her tail anyway. Was there a scorpion on it? From the human's perspective it would seem the snake was leaving, the tail pulling up over the rocks and disappearing over the side. Really, she was turning around. At ground level she peeked around the rocks, showing her human portion, glad to have both eyes back and fully functional. She locked eyes with the humans, what was she going to do, run away? It might be fun to see if she could keep with the motorized thing. She slithered into view, book in hand and lifted it, she turned it outward, flipping the pages at the human. She tossed it into the air and if one followed the book up into the air, it would fall back on the ground...and there would be no Bellamortix to catch it.
A moment would pass where it looked like the creature vanished. But then she popped up through the sand, behind the human, the tiny sand crystals ran off her skin and hair and she looked down at her (she pushed herself up on her tail to look taller). She tilted her head, smiling, eyes wide. Maybe just a taste....
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 21, 2015 23:54:42 GMT -5
There was more movement. The tail slipped back behind the rocks and then the figure of a woman appeared up, behind it. So, it was an Echo. The skin was discolored, as if the large snake-like body that comprised her lower half wasn't already an indication. Her breath was calm and measured. The situation was not ideal, but she wasn't Echo-chow just yet. The snake woman showed her a book and flipped through it's pages.
That was a little unexpected. Had she interrupted her reading? It was a detail she couldn't afford to dwell on for too long. She had to focus on the important details. This Echo seemed like it wanted to toy with her would-be meal, from the way she was acting. Definitely no time to run, now. The book went up into the air. A careless toss, that was an obvious grab for attention. The snake woman still escaped her field of view. She was a fast one.
Dusty dove for the ground and rolled along until she was facing the opposite direction, in time to see the snake woman rise from the sand extend to a rather imposing height. Wide-eyed and smiling. It was hardly a friendly look. Dusty had her revolver drawn and should have just blasted away. But, she knew better than to act that recklessly. Stray shots could only agitate the Echo. Even worse, it could wind up damaging her good friend, the dune buggy. She still kept her gun drawn, though. Up close, she had a better view of those yellow eyes and that pale blue skin. There was something oddly beautiful about her appearance. If you could look past the whole "I might just feast on your insides" bit.
"Ma'am." she greeted, politely, "I do believe you dropped your book. It'd be a right shame if some critter went and scuttled off with it, now wouldn't it?"
There was something of a playful smirk that stretched across her face. She would have tipped her hat, too, but was a little more concerned about keeping her eyes on the potential threat and thought, 'Dusty, ol' girl, if you talk your way outta this one, you are buyin' yourself a drink at the first waterin' hole you come across.'
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 22, 2015 12:18:44 GMT -5
Her crazed expression turned entirely rational in the blink of an eye, she put her hands on her hips and frowned, "Of course I did," she said in her strange accent, "What? You think I go around tossing books frivoulously? You think I would not imagine it could get sand in the pages or some other consequence? I did it on purpose you stupid human."
She crossed her arms and leaned forward, "Why do you care what happens to my books? To this book? Why? You want it? You want my book? Pah! You don't know books," she ranted, leading forward in a challenge "Name one, do it, I know them all, name one, what book you like? And lower that gun while you speak to me, it's rude." She lifted one hand, waving it in a circle and rolling her eyes impatiently, "You may keep it in your hand and raise it again if you feel you are in danger."
The snake barely gave the human time to respond, "Well? You haven't got all day, the sun will bake you to a corpse before you answer me." She shrank down a little,tail twitching with impatience, as if she were expecting the human to say something else that would waste her time.
(I still hear apple jacks voice in my head when this character talks lol)
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 22, 2015 23:21:25 GMT -5
"Real good? Mmm," she wondered about the story, like a mystery with a wild goose chase and a few twists. It was more of a classic, "I suppose that passes for an intruigue. Maybe you do know books, at least the one. Pahhh you bore me, you should go or I will eat you." She said this as she moved back toward her discarded book and picked it up. She was close enough upon recovering it that one could see it was a survival guide with a blood stained spine.
She dusted it off carefully, examining it for tears or other damage. It was fine, just a little gritty she looked back up, "What are you doing looking like that? Your face hangs like a crooked painting. Ne'er seen an echo that cares for anything? Bella cares. You are meat and bone and arrogance, and I am a monster that picks those meat and bones, i crush your arrogance, but i can care for books. As you could care for a machine, though we are different." She opened the book again, back to a random page, no need to pick up where she'd left off, it didn't matter. In reality her sudden disinterest was a ruse, curiously she wanted to chase the machine, perhaps a challenge. The human could leave if she could win her life through a game.
"I'll show you, you get in your rolling machine and go. If you can get away, you keep your life today, if you do not, well, then you lose...and Bella wins." She grinned terribly, implying what that would mean. "Ready? " She said sinking into the sand, "set...go..." and with that she was gone disappeared into the very earth lurking somewhere, ready to spring.
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 23, 2015 11:04:54 GMT -5
Relatively speaking, it was probably better to be boring than it was to appear tasty. Not that there wasn't a chance she could still wind up as lunch. She watched the snake woman go back and fetch her book. The white haired woman flipped through the pages and resumed reading. Whether she was actually picking up from where she left off, was pure speculation on her part. A survival guide...that didn't appear to do it's previous owner any good.
Dusty shrugged, "Can't say there're many folks out there like you, Echo or otherwise." she said. There was still a threat, but this woman was still talking to her. Something else was going on. And she didn't have to wait long to figure it out. Turning with a wicked grin, Dusty was faced with a challenge. A race, as a matter of fact. Naturally, the unspoken implication of her victory was a Dusty snack.
At least she knew how to motivate somebody. Dusty turned and vaulted across the hood of the buggy and got back into the driver's seat. The engine fired up and Dusty was off, like a shot. "The situations I get myself into..." she muttered to herself as she checked for the Echo. Who was, apparently, named Bella. She was back underground and back on the hunt. And Dusty and her loyal bug were the prey.
"Alright, girl...let's get outta this hot box and show our new pal just what we can do!"
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 23, 2015 15:11:46 GMT -5
She could feel the engine start and the wheels move. Though she was blind beneath the sand, she could still accurately follow the trail. The human said she was unlike echos or humans alike, unusual, well of course, she was the Bellamortix, Beauty and death in one marvelous package. Because of the compliment, even if she hadn't meant it that way, she gave the human a head start, following a little behind so the human might think she had lost interest.
However a shining deep mauve tail would rise under a wheel and cause the buggy to jump, but keep moving forward. She let her tail be seen behind the buggy, then beside it, making it tough to judge her exact position. She moved and let her tail show on the opposite side. She did dare raise in front of the buggy, it would surely maim her even if she stopped it. She had to find another way, perhaps if she could cause it to lose traction in the sand with another bump. With a mid length of her tail she attempted to make it skid. She hoped the human heart was racing, that adrenaline was fueling her system, it would make her taste even sweeter.
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 23, 2015 16:57:09 GMT -5
While her opponent was blind, underground, she did have the advantage remaining out of Dusty's sight. But, the former soldier was not naive enough to believe that she had lost interest in the chase. She'd had far too many encounters with Echoes to believe even a unique one like Bella would do that. This was no more evident than when she felt a bump. Something had raised one of her wheels up, off the sand.
The tail popped up, into view. First, it was behind the red bug and then it came up on the side. Blue eyes darted around and tracked it's movements as best as she could. It was a clever tactic. She couldn't pinpoint Bella's exact position, but it was reasonable to assume that she was still somewhere underneath the buggy. And that was a dangerous position for Dusty. This was going to require some different strategy. She looked around, but didn't see many things that would be all that helpful.
Dusty took the bug up on to a stretch of pavement. What was once a part of the interstate highway system should make things just a hair more difficult for the snake woman to slip her tail under the wheels. She was confident of the vehicle's stability, but there were still a few unknowns, regarding the capabilities of Bella. So, she could at least change the environment to see how her opponent would deal with it.
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 25, 2015 16:59:37 GMT -5
Pavement? That certainly made nearing the vehicle difficult from beneath, it would take just seconds to break through, but in those seconds the buggy would be far away from the the breakthrough point. She had to increase her speed, which meant leaping rather impressively from the sand and diving back in. Those few seconds sailing though the air allowed a rare sight of seeing the entire extended length of the creature; eighteen feet from tail tip to the top of her head, and nearly three feet around at the thickest part of her tail.
Once she was just a few seconds ahead of the buggy, she disappeared again. Suddenly one of the many dried trees would come flying toward the buggy, aimed at the road just ahead of it. If the human wasn't fast enough, the buggy would crash.
(derp short)
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 25, 2015 21:45:07 GMT -5
For a time, the strategy worked. The Echo was finding it much more difficult to to interfere with her driving. Which gave Dusty one last thing to worry about. The road stretched on ahead and gave a clear path towards her goal. Get out of the desert and she was home free. At least that's what the Echo had said. One thing was for sure, at least, the terrain would prove to be far more challenging for her to move around underground.
Still, the ride would be a lot easier if she could shake Bella and put some distance between herself and that woman's appetite. As she tried to form a plan, her racing opponent took to the air. The length was impressive. Her earlier remark couldn't have been more true...Dusty had not seen anything quite like Bella. She would find some time to respect the Echo, after she was out of arms reach. Preferably with a beer in front of her.
The old tree crashed into the road, forcing Dusty to return to the sand. She jerked the wheel and avoided the calamity of the old hunk of wood. "Clever girl." she said, muttering the words beneath her breath. Dusty sought out the pavement and turned the wheel back in the direction of the road. There were rocks and other trees on either side of her, although they were whipping past as she kept her foot on the gas pedal.
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 25, 2015 22:49:51 GMT -5
There was a delighted laughter to be heard over the sound of the engine that bordered on maniacal when her plan worked. She hurried along around rocks and cacti as the girl steered her way back to the pavement. The snake knew very well the human was going to get away, she was unmotivated, but she wasn't going to just let her go. Oh no, the human wasn't nearly frightened enough.
She coiled herself and struck with quite a good amount of force that the vehicle lurched forward from her impact, even as it was still speeding along. With the weight of her tail behind her, she'd likely either fall off or earn herself some nasty road rash, and she really didn't need to be nursing a giant hole in her lower stomachs. So she crawled along the driver's side, tail wrapping longways around the car, though she couldn't hold on long to smoother body. Her claws left nasty pits however as she pulled along with a terrible grin. A pothole in the road sent her back, leaving claw marks in the door that (well looked way cooler than the puncture marks) would certainly be an interesting conversation piece if the human lived, and she probably would.
It she couldn't hold on much longer, not for lack of strength, but the fact that her tail had nothing to hold to and the momentum was pushing her backward. The pavement suddenly broke off into a damaged segment that meant the naga was back in her element. She dropped her tail back into the golden sands like an anchor and she fell in such a way that she pulled the back bumper down the front tires screaming up in the air for just a moment before all four tires were on the ground. She held on for just a moment longer as a eight foot wave of sand rose in front of it. She let it go, knowing that by change, for only a moment, the sand impact might make the thing stop for just a moment.
She dove back below the sand, moving around and around, the sand began to sink, like a whirlpool, pulling the buggy down. There was a dark giggling coming from the mix of gold and mauve that was the earth and scales. With just a little traction, there was still a chance the buggy might lurch from this certain death escape to the last stretch of road just a few meters ahead. But for a moment, just one tiny moment, perhaps the human would know what it felt like to believe one is about to die.
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Post by Dusty Dawson on Jan 25, 2015 23:50:16 GMT -5
Above the pitch of the dune buggy's engine, a very loud laugh pierced through the air. Someone, it seemed, was quite pleased with themselves. Dusty furrowed her brow in concentration. She was getting closer to the goal, but that was no reason to get complacent. As if to punctuate that thought, her new "friend" struck from behind. The bug lurched forward and a few of the loose items in her vehicle jostled about, some landing on the floor beneath the seats they were perched on. Dusty was just barely able to keep herself from smacking face first into the steering column.
The sound of clawed fingers digging into side of her vehicle caught her attention. Right at the driver's side, too. A quick glance in the mirror gave her a nice view of Bella as she tried to claw forward, with the helpful information that "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" written at the bottom. Her hand sought out her revolver, but the gun landed too far out of reach. She did find the handle of her blade. A bit unwieldy when you were driving, it was better than nothing. Besides, she wasn't about to try and start a boxing match with an Echo.
She locked eyes with Bella, through the mirror. In a brief glimpse, she saw the grin on her face and the intention in her eyes. The blue eyes that stared back looked determined. Then the bug hit the pothole. She was jostled in her seat, again, but the snake woman lost her grip. The claw on metal made a terrible noise, but it did not signal any victory. The red bug shifted, again, as the front end shot up. Uselessly, the tires spin and found no traction in the hot air.
The pavement came to an end and the dune buggy smacked into the earth, once more, loose items bounced around. As it settled from the rough treatment, Dusty heard the giggles. She gritted her teeth and jerked the wheel around. Dusty knew what it felt like to see what might possibly be your own death looming above you. Or below, as the case may be. Even just recently. And in a desert not unlike this one.
There was smirk on her face as she glanced up in the rear view mirror. Behind her the mauve tail was spinning and mixing in with the sand. Then, the tires found their grip and bug launched forward. The red bug found the pavement, once more and got back on the trail to
the Seattle ruins. Her new home...and what a welcoming she had received.
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44 posts
PLAYED BY Bellarix
Echoes
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Post by Bellamortix Vipera on Jan 26, 2015 0:13:41 GMT -5
She felt the vehicle lurch from her trap, and away it sped. Bella emerged from the sand looking satisfied, that was fun. She lifted a hand and licked the fractured stub of a broken finger, she'd lost the upper part from the middle knuckle up at some point during the race. It wouldn't be gone forever, she'd have a new one by the end of the next rot.
For now, she silently promised that human that she'd have a similar endeavor any time she wished to cross these sandy dunes, given the Bellamortix was not in the middle of her rancid season. She grew bored as the buggy sped out of sight, the human, having earned her life for another day. She turned and sank herself back into the sand, after all, she'd left a book behind a few miles away and had to make sure no critter had indeed scuttled off with it.
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