Scavengers

[Troy Osia]

It was a nice day to steal, Troy thought to himself. The island was his new home, but he had nothing to his name here. He spent every last dollar he had getting there. The ship he sailed in on was patched with holes; the captain drunk and unreliable. It was an easy decision to leave, but he had no idea where to start once he got here.

"I should have just weaseled my way on board of one of those luxury steam-liners" he muttered. "At least then I wouldn't be forced to do this".

What few possessions he had were lumped in a patchwork sack, slung over his left shoulder. It wasn't heavy, but he was growing intolerant of the nagging weight. Stopping to rest on against a shady elm tree, he let his belongings fall to the ground. Wiping the sweat off of his brow.

Troy spent the first two days sleeping in back alleys in the island's biggest town. The alleyways were crowded with other unfortunate souls, but it made his hunt for information easier. It was mind blowing how many people took the invitation to sail here, without a single bit reluctance. I guess that's what tragedy will do to you.

Hunting for information was what led him here. Many of the citywellers talked of the dense forest that hid rustic cabins behind their leaves. Troy wasn't able to find out if anyone lived in these houses, only that some were quite reclusive. Tucked away amongst steep cliff faces and thick brush. It was the perfect opportunity. One empty house could hold everything he owned, and a roof over the head was better than enduring the hustle and bustle of the streets. Money would come easy enough, it was the start-up that he needed.

He slung his satchel over his shoulder again, and begun his hike again.

It took only another few minutes of hiking and Troy found the perfect opportunity.

A modest, one story cabin with a broken gate. The latch of the door was rusted firmly shut, and the windows were dark. Troy gave the window a few light taps, and listened intently. Nothing. He gave a quick look over his shoulder to make sure he was really alone.

"Of course I am."

He tucked his good elbow close to him, before snapping it forward. Shattering the glass inwards. One pane, and then another, until the entire window sat in a million pieces, shattered across the rotting floorboards. He threw his belongings in, and quickly vaulted inside.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie had spotted the lad a day or so ago. His lack of an arm was intriguing to her. Why? Because she was nosey like that. Today he was particularly curious, he was out in the woods, shame on him... nevermind the fact that he wasn't even here legally. She followed a fair distance behind him. It wasn't hard to do, not many went into the woods so every step he took was easy to find. He could have been miles ahead but the path he left would not lie. She almost blew it when she rounded a corner and he was leaning against a tree. She was quick to duck into a bush. She silent cursed herself but when he kept walking she smiled and waited a few moments then followed.

When she finally caught up again he was at an old cabin. She watched him quietly as he studied it, then he broke the window and climbed in.. She blinked. That was a tad uncalled for...and now she couldn't see him. She pouted faintly then stood up and walked to the front door. She let out a soft sigh and turned the knob the door didn't budge "ugh." was all she managed before she stepped back, keeping the knob turned, she thrusted her shoulder into the door and it gave way, far easier then she had anticipated. The entire debacle had thrown her to the floor. "ow..." was all she managed as she pulled herself to sit on her butt. Her left had moved to rub her right shoulder. "owowow.." she said faintly.

She sat in black skinny jeans and a dark green tank top, her red hair was like fire against the rest of her attire.

[Troy Osia]

Troy heard the crash and his heart jumped up his throat. He had just begun to search through the kitchen cabinets before the door gave way. He immediately reached for his flip knife, though it was dull and rusted from lack of care. He swung his body around and his eyes met the girl.

She sure didn't seem like an angry homeowner. The dust coated her dark jeans immediately as her hair blowed gently against her face. A light breeze coasted into the room, kicking up the ends of some window curtains. Troy pocketed his knife, but continued to keep his distance.

"You...uh...aren't the one who lives here, are you?" He asked, tucking his one hand into his pocket, trying to hide his intention to scavenge.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie let out another soft groan then slowly stood up. "No." she said a hint of pain still in her voice. She slowly dusted herself off "And neither are you. I doubt you'll find anything." she added before she sighed. "No one's supposed to be anywhere in the woods." she added then chuckled "So, you broke the window for nothing. I don't think anyone has been here in decades. Most the doors give way with a little encouragement."


She fell silent her gaze studying him closely for the first time. He was handsome and cautious...not that she blamed him. She studied him a moment longer then turned her gaze to look around the house. "You know...You could probably talk to Tara, and get an actual place to live." She said, though she highly doubted it. Tara was...scared of something. Kagallie just hadn't figured it out yet. "It'd be a bit...more stable then this" she said lightly tapping against a wall only to cringe when it let out a soft groan. She shivered. She fell quite again her gaze shifting to the ground. WHy was she so awkward around people?

She'd never figure it out.

[Troy Osia]

Troy took a step forward, looking her over once. "The woods have been deserted like this? Shame, some of these are actually kinda nice". His eyes traced over each corner of the cabin, realizing that there really wasn't anything here.  Nothing useful, no loot at all.

"How long had she been following me?" Troy thought to himself. "And what does she mean that nobody is supposed to be here?" That detail was oddly left out from most of the folks he talked to. The island was probably new to a lot of them, gave them no real incentive to even poke out here.

"You know somebody who could get me a place? I took one lap around the town and couldn't find anything even close to what I've got." It would sure beat living tucked away out here. Probably got cold quick.

Troy picked up his belongings and approached her closer. Letting his eyes settle into hers. "Didn't expect a girl like you to be following me, why did you, hm?"

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie didn't move when he took the one step, it didn't close off much distance, but she did make note of it. She turned from the wall to face him. "I know someone you could try to get a house from.. She's the person who would have greeted you and given you a house had you come here legally.." She trailed off and gave a soft smirk. "I don't know that she'd give you a house, but it'd be worth a try. They aren't sending you off to swim back to Mainland so...I don't know." She shurged it off.

When he advanced she took several steps backwards, only to bet with a wall, which groaned under the pressure. She shifted her grey eyes up to him studying him carefully, she wasn't afraid-per say, but his question was a tad intimidating. "Honestly" She said leaning against the wall slowly careful to be sure it would hold under the pressure. Once she was sure it would she continued. "It's because of your injury, I know the Matons had hurt people, but I also know not many got away. It's intriguing. " she was silent only a brief moment before continuing. "That, and you're as nosey as I am." She chuckled.

[Troy Osia]

Troy heard her answer and nodded, letting his eyes trail off. He could see that she was feeling uneasy. It didn't hurt to be safe, but she didn't look like she was here to hurt anybody.

"Well, I guess a chance of something is better than nothing. I might be illegal but I think I can blend in with the paint sometimes."

When the girl asked about his arm, Troy couldn't help but wince, remembering the night it was taken from him. Everything would feel whole again soon, he told himself.

"Oh yeah..." he raised his left hand upwards, wishing he could remember the feeling of his fingers. "I try to forget about it. I got lucky, first aid came immediately otherwise I probably would have bled out. Thank goodness".

"..and I guess you're right on the whole nosey thing" he said, giving her a soft smile.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie made note of the wince. And gave a soft nod. It was a touchy subject, so she didn't push it. She licked her lips and held the silence for a moment her gaze shifting to the window.

"Honestly, the whole island thing is a bit odd to me." She started carefully. "Why would someone just...spontaneously have an entire island to sell out?" Her voice trailed off and she shivered. It was a weird feeling she got whenever she started asking questions, like she was being watched. She bit her lip and pushed off the wall carefully. She changed the subject pretty quickly to avoid the topic.

"You know what's really spooky though? A few clicks west of here there is this weird shrine like thing... and if you stay out really late at night you can hear voices" She held up both her hands and made wiggly fingers and smiled softly at him then glanced around. "You don't seem to busy, why not tuck your stuff away here and we'll go check it out. Maybe we'll spot some ghosties." She chuckled. She wasn't about to admit she was to afraid to go by herself after the first night.

She glanced out the window, it was still fairly early in the day, they'd have to find a lot more to do then just walk over there. "You know.. if you're not to chicken that is" she smirked at him her entire face giving off an ornery look before she turned on her heals and started for the door. "Oh, if you do come, be ready to get dirty~" she said, though there was a hint of an innuendo in her tone. She smiled and stepped out onto the patio and waited curious to see if he'd follow.

[Troy Osia]

She brought a point, Troy never really considered the details of this whole island. He always assumed it was some rich benefactor providing the opportunity to those who could afford it. He always thought about what he needed to do, and where the best place to do it was. Anything was better than back home.

"A shrine, someplace? What could be there?" He wasn't quite sure if it was her intention all along to take him somewhere. But then he noticed the way she was smiling...He wasn't used to this, most girls turned the other way the second they saw what he was missing... It was different, it was kinda nice.

"I'm not really sure if ghosts and such interest me, but if it's not too far... Not like I need to prove to you that I'm not a chicken or anything, heh." Her parting question made his heart's pace quicken. Her red hair flared outwards as she left to the patio, and a warm wave took a hold of his body for a full second.

"You'll have to show me exactly what you mean by that..." He tucked his stuff a few steps from the door, and joined her on the patio, closing the door tight behind him.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie chuckled. "Mmhm.. I'm sure you don't need to prove anything." she shook her head and stepped off the patio. She let the innuendo hang in the air. He'd find out soon enough exactly what she meant. She pulled a hairtie from her wrist and used it to quickly pull her hair up and away from her face. She smiled over her shoulder at him "It really isn't far." She said then gave a nod and started off.

"So, tell me what happened, with your arm... arms?" She canted her head slightly to the side curiously, though her gaze remained on the path ahead. She stopped a brief moment and looked around. She was a little off course from how she usually went, so it'd provide a tad tricky to figure out which way she was going. She gave a nod and turned slightly and started to talk. Worse came to worse they'd get utterly lost and die in the forest. She wasn't about to bring that up though. She remained quite as he told his story but kept leading them through the forest.

It'd randomly get extremely dense where they had to wiggle their way through the trees, sometimes it'd open up into small rivers they'd have to truck across and other times it'd be so overgrown they were practically fighting off the overgrowth. She didn't say much after his story, the walk was a bit more intense from this side then she had imagined it to be "It's just over that hill" she said finally with a nod. She was panting faintly and her cheeks were flushed as she glanced up at Troy. She gave a soft smile and put her hands on her hips to breath a bit better "Think you can make it?" She teased.

[Troy Osia]

Troy could feel the warm electric hang in the air, he followed her back out onto the main path, trying to prevent his smile from showing too much. She was fun, the walk would be a nice distraction. Troy put his hand into his pocket, looking over at her as she asked about his arm. He looked out into the woods, scanning the farthest reaches, looking for anything to focus on.

"Well...I was on the job when the matons began to rise up. It was early on, before the panic really set in. I was in my family's largest factory. Working one of the busiest shifts I could remember. Welding, hauling shipments, everything. I was an overseer on the floor, helping to keep everythin' moving..."

Their path took them up a steep hill, tangled underbrush clinging to their ankles. The brush would sometime creep further and further on the path, sometimes making Troy stop to catch his breath.

"My head was so absorbed into checking logistic sheets I couldn't hear the sounds of the screams over all of the machinery. Our maton workforce flipped like a switch, suddenly destruction was everywhere. Only 5 of us made it out, and for me it just wasn't as clean. "

His jaw tensed, and he began to question how thorough he really wanted to be recalling the story to her. For now, he decided to keep it brief.

"I was in our shipping dock when it happened. A maton got the jump on me and pulled my arm off. I managed to crawl my way out and was lucky enough to get first aid on site. After that, I packed up shop and got myself out here"

They passed along a calm river, bubbling with life along it's surface. Troy followed the girl to the river's thinnest point, where they crossed, balancing on the largest rocks underneath their feet.

"And well, I've spent my whole life working with steam machinery and I've got this crazy idea to bring my arm back. Haven't really figured out the hows of it, but I haven't given up on that thought. It's hard to stop a man from dreamin', though."

The two of them reached the apex of their climb, climbing the largest hill they've past yet. The girl continued to tease, and it helped bring Troy's energy up again. "Definitely can make it, now let's see what all this hiking and fuss is all about", he said, following a deep breath with a smile towards her.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie listened intensely to his story. She was glad she was leading, because despite the details lacking. It made her sad. She couldn't imagine how hard that must have been on him. And despite wanting to know the story she couldn't help but find herself at a loss for words when he finished. So she said nothing.

As they started climbing the hill she had to really focus on breathing. She was exhausted and wasn't honestly sure herself that she'd make it to the top. He spoke with such certainty about making it to the top that her cheeks flushed a crimson colour. She wasn't willing to be outdone not so easily at least. When they made it to the top she slowed as the rounded it..Mostly because it freaked her out, there wasn't much beyond that. Slowly she crouched down behind a large hedge like bush then pointed carefully down to some stones. "There." She said softly, her voice short of breath and tired sounding.

The rocks themselves were tall, probably easily double their size, there were five of them forming a circle. There was white markings on each of them, like writing, in the center was a makeshift stone table. Build up using smaller rocks. Kagallie's face was in a frown. "There's...something on the table. " She squinted, they weren't terribly close yet there was still one river to cross, and this river encircled the entire rock formation. Though you couldn't quite call it a river, it never let off anywhere it wasn't a point Kagallie had noticed though. The entire shrine, as she called it, was massive in size. She leaned forward a little trying to get a better look, before leaning back and sitting down. "Well..there you have it. A shrine or something." She laid down on the ground and closed her eyes. She was beat. And hungry..why she hadn't eaten before leaving was beyond her. A soft huff left her lips as she tried to catch her breath.

"See..'dirty'" she mumbled. She herself was covered in mud and debris if he had made it out clean she'd have to be slightly jealous. SHe didn't quite have the energy to look yet. Instead she just laid on the ground.

[Troy Osia]

Troy gazed down the ravine to see the large stones, arranged in a strange circle. They were towering...menacing, and definitely not something natural. He wasn't sure whether it was excitement or uneasiness that he was feeling in his chest. The shrine itself was encircled by a thin water-stream. The girl pointed out the table in the middle and how something was sitting upon it. It didn't make a lot of sense to Troy. The abandoned cabins in the woods was weird enough, and now this?

"Something on that table...do you know what it is?"

His company seemed quite beat, the girl had taken a rest against the ground. Her heavy breathing could be faintly heard from where he was standing. The way she revealed that her definition of 'dirty' meant nothing more than a gruesome hike, he couldn't help but hide a grin. Of course it was, something could be said about the way his head managed to tease a false reality.

Troy sat down to catch his breath as well, brushing the mess of twigs, dried leaves, and blotches of mud from the front of his pants. He looked down at the girl as she was catching her breath, and he could tell she was exhausted.

"This place is..really strange. How did you know this was here?" He asked the girl, who had taken a rest against the ground. He gave her a long once over before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a satchel of dried fruit, mixed with an assortment of nuts. It was his favorite snack, and he always made sure to have some with him.

"Want some?" he asked genuinely.

[Kagallie Berry]

Kagallie sat quietly as she could while he looked. She wasn't sure why she was so beat, it wasn't the hardest hike ever... She felt out of shape and she was determined to fix that soon. He spoke and she shook her head "No..it wasn't here last time." she said and then shivered. The thought freaked her out but she quickly pushed it aside.

She was starting to regain herself and then he asked another question. "Lets say you're not the first to venture into the woods.. You did it in search for a home...I was bored." she shrugged and looked around cautiously. She wasn't sure what would happen if they were found out here but she had this uneasy feeling it wouldn't be good. She bit her lip faintly and was lost in the thought when he spoke, she jumped then smiled and nodded gladly taking some. She should have brought something. Oh well. She nibbled at the handful of stuff for a moment then stood up and smiled to Troy.

"Lets go look" she said with an ornery smile. She pushed through the hedge and started down the hill. She glanced back once to see if Troy was following but continued on either way. As she neared the river she slowed. The temperature was drastically different. A puzzled look sat very obviously on her face.
"I.." she trailed off her gaze shifting to the table, what ever was there wasn't there anymore she frowned and turned to Troy "This...place is weird." She said then gave a soft smile to try to laugh it off.

[Troy Osia]

The way the girl spoke about this place certainly made Troy want to ask more questions, but he knew it was better to see things for himself. He readily offered the satchel to her as she reached for it. With her help, he wouldn't need to ration it out as much as he originally thought.

"Yeah, I can't blame you for wanting to look around. This island is huge, who knows what could be here?" He hoped he didn't fill her head with any fears, as she took a long look around after that. 

She handed the satchel back to him, before bounding with energy again. Troy watched as she slipped between two large pushes, finding a makeshift path down to the stone shrine. They came all this way, might as well get a better look.

The two of them continued down the hill, the shrine growing closer and closer. The soft, warm breeze that ruffled through his hair earlier began to turn a biting cold. The mounds of clouds began to grow darker. "Great" Troy thought to himself "All this way out here and a storm starts brewin".

The reached the end of the hill, the faint sounds of water grew louder. The stones were much more imposing than they previously looked, Troy tilted his head up to stare at them. The girl caught his attention and trailed off, as her eyes found the table. Whatever they saw up there wasn't there anymore.

Troy took the lead, taking a few steps towards the water, his rugged shoes beginning to sink into the moist ground. He began to take a few steps across, making sure to lead the way. He did his best to keep his mind and vision sharp.

"Let's be careful...someone might be here" Troy said softly to her. "We going across?"