Scouting Beyond the Bubble - Day 2 - RPLOG

Participants

• Magnus
• Moresson
• Sheela
• Uvi
• Zen

Date

8/5/2021

Log

Recovering from being thrown to the ground by the giant cat, Zen pushes himself to his feet and makes ready to continue the fight. Four lacerations could be seen starting along his right arm and traveling across his chest at a slight downward angle. Blood slowly oozed from the wounds, collecting on tufts of fur before dripping onto the mud-covered ground. The tiger certainly has some strength behind them, capable of inflicting some serious injuries if it wasn't handled quickly. Sheela tried to intercept the tiger but was sent sprawling into the mud with a powerful kick. With Moresson tackled by the beast, its jaws crushing down against her shoulder, they needed help more than ever. Even if she was capable of sending rounds tearing into its underside, the creature wouldn't die fast enough to spare her.

Thankfully, Moresson wasn't alone! With Magnus intervening at the right time, Moresson was spared being mauled further by the aggressive feline. A power that defies scientific explanation allowed him to erect a sort of barrier around the fallen husky, preventing those deadly claws from ripping her apart. That wasn't all, because even if she was spared the damage, the tiger wasn't just going to stop. That was when Uvi's well-placed shot pieced through the beast, causing its body to shudder from the mortal wound it received. Reeling back, it releases its grip on the husky's shoulder and staggers to the side on shaky legs. It might have been looking for prey, but it had made the poor choice of attacking a well-armed group. With crimson blood pooling in its mouth, it only takes a few moments and a push to send it down to the ground. It was defeated and dying, any further wounds merely amplifying its agony as it bleeds out. Now with the threat dealt with, it was time to recover and re-evaluate the situation. Were their wounds too significant to continue, or would they be able to mend themselves and press on with the mission?

It was still raining rather heavily as Zen regroups with the rest. He was worried about what wounds the rest had suffered as his own would not stop him from pressing on. With a low growl he says, "Well, damn, looks like the predator we found tracks of before was still on the hunt. Even going so far as to track us down in the middle of the night." As Moresson took out her vengance on the dying feline, he rumbles, "I'm no doctor, but you should stop and focus on your injuries. It looked like it delivered a nasty bite to you." Brushing off some mud, he glances to the other three and says, "Lets try and get out of the rain an tend to our injuries. If anyone has any medical training, please take a look at Moresson and do what you can for them." It was unavoidable that some rain would have gotten into their tents, and Uvi's was now half-collapsed after he had been sent flying into it. It was unlikely that they had lost any supplies, but they still might have to suffer through some discomfort for the rest of the night. "Good shooting Uvi... and sorry about your tent. Feel free to use mine if you want to get out of the rain." He adds before moving over to it and starting to rifle through his supplies for a first-aid kit.

Even though she was wounded, she seemed to rise from the mud without a moment's delay. Still her neck fur stood puffed up, her teeth bared, while small drops of her saliva dripped from her muzzle, although one would probably not notice this in this miserable weather. The left flank of her snow-white fur was soaked with the brown mud, while a light crimson sheen mingled underneath... at first glance it might have looked bad, but the wounds were not very deep. As quickly as she had picked herself up, it seemed it was already over, she could see the predatory cat simply collapse, the last breath of its breath choked in its own blood. For her, however, the danger wasn't over yet, because as long as she didn't know that everyone else was okay, she simply ignored her own pain, hissing and growling from her lungs. "Is everyone okay? Have you seen any more of them?", she growled questioningly, but any danger seemed to have been averted.

Somewhat concerned, she looked to the husky, whose wounds looked painful, and was a bit annoyed that the big cat could just give her a quick swipe she hadn't seen. As the situation slowly cleared, the adrenaline slowly thinning from her body, she began to whimper softly as the pain returned and she realized that the injuries would definitely need to be treated. Gritting her teeth, she slowly limps over to Uvi and growls softly, "Phew, that was our rescue...thanks Uvi, what a shot!" She quickly looks to Zen a bit puzzled when he asks about medical training or something similar. Disappointed, she looks down at her paws before growling, "I don't have any training, but I do have the supplies for medicine, feel free to help yourselves." She shakes herself as splashes of mud and rain slide from her fur before she walking over to Zen's tent and dragging out the K9 harness the medicine supplies were in. "Looks like it's going to be a little tighter in the tent this night~", she jokes, growling as the slight whine of her pain accompanies each word.

Uvi stays still for a moment, shocked by what has just transpired - she basically killed a poor feral, and Moresson finished it in such a grisly display. Uvi doesn't register her party members' words at first, but finally she snaps out of this. People need help. Right! She wipes the water off her face and rushes towards Sheela, who has medical supplies. There's no point in looking for them in her crushed tent, obviously. As she opens Sheela's bag, only one thing goes through her mind - and that is 'rest, elevation, direct pressure'.

"What's this world coming to when fluffy critters like that are out for blood instead of cuddles. I was more than willing to share some of my rations with it! ...but then again I doubt it'd be interested in veggie stuffs." Magnus tosses out offhandedly and swings one hand to *slap* pat Uvi on the back. "Nice shot. Looked like it took the wind right out of your sails though. If this were some elaborately contrived simulation of events, some might say you exhausted a vital resource to achieve this one goal! ...or something." Magnus shrugs deeply, then peers down at himself. Soaked to the bone. "I missed the rain. The rain is nice considering it's water and not some form of mystery bile. Welp! Now that that's handled... I'm going back to bed!"

He hooks a thumb. "Unless you'd rather I take watch. In which case I'll sit at my tent's entrance and chew on berries until someone else has to." Upon the mention of the need for medical aid, he opens his mouth, then closes it, dismissing an idea. "I got nothing, sorry." He shakes his head and puffs out some air. "But hey, it doesn't look all that bad. It's like uncle used to say. Leave it to the nanobots." His features darken and he grumbles softly. "What a dingus he is." The hyena clasps his hands together. "Anywho! Yeah, looks like it might be best I take watch while you folks patch up. Okay? Sound good? Afraid I can't share my tent though. It's barely big enough for me alone." His thumb hooks towards the very small structure he called a temporary shelter. One quick look would confirm that he wasn't kidding about that.

Moresson groans and fights off the pain of the nasty bite, possibly the one that got it the worst. But at least she was able to help alert the others. After a moment of panting and mental recovery, the husky uses her good arm to struggle to her feet, glancing around at the rest of the group. "Thanks." she says through gritted teeth, letting her bitten shoulder rest, not using that arm. She's tough, but not stupid. Looking over at Magnus, she sneers and rolls her eyes. "You're an idiot. We can't make 'friends' with every throat-biting, backstabbing monster we come across. Friendship is a myth anyway." she growls out, heading over towards where the first aid kit is being pulled out, so she can get patched up. "I can still take second watch. Not like it takes much work. I'll get patched up, then I'll just sit here in my armor. If anything happens, I'll alert everyone before doing anything stupid. I have a megaphone in my helmet."

Kneeling at the entrance to his tent, Zen soon finds his medical supplies and opens the container to grab some bandages. His ears swivel atop his head as he listens to the others, slightly concerned that none of them were terribly adept with treating wounds. Well, how hard could it be? You just wrap up the wounds in bandages and you're good to go, right? Taking some dry cloth, he wipes away more of the mud so that he could see the lacerations trailing across his body. They weren't deep, but still caused a bit of pain. He starts wrapping up his arm first before focusing on the wounds across his chest. It would only be a matter of time before he found out if he did a good job or not.

Hearing Magnus offer to take watch, Zen nods and says, "Right, that works. Hopefully we don't have any more unpleasant surprises tonight." He looks towards Sheela, Uvi, and Moresson, wondering how they were fairing with the other wounds. How deep was the gouge? Was it something they could handle? Well, despite the sounds of her exertion, it sounded like Moresson wasn't doing too bad. "No, you should take a rest. Let Magnus handle the watch and focus on your own recovery." Zen rumbles, "We still have a lot of distance to cover tomorrow and our night has already been interrupted." With a look to Sheela and the sign of blood against her mud-splattered coat, he adds, "Sheela, get inside and I'll see what I can do about your own wounds. Magnus, keep watch for as long as you can before swapping out with Uvi. The rest of us will try and get whatever rest we can in this shitty weather."

While holding the bag for Uvi, she sees how thoughtful Uvi is, trying to calm herself down. With a slight pain consumed grin she growls, "Don't panic, there's enough for everyone..." At least she hoped so, especially since Moresson was so badly wounded and she had no idea if she had the right stuff for it. Somewhat taken aback, she drops the bag when she hears Magnus' words, wondering if he had even realized that we had crossed the bubble's boundaries and that the Nanites weren't really going to act here. [Had he smoked one too many? Did the berries do him no good?] she thought, but before she could say anything Magnus slipped into the role of guard who would keep an eye on the camp until everyone had licked their wounds.

"I think you should rest most Moresson, that wound looks bad, but I agree with you Magnus..." she rumbles at the top of her lungs before adding somewhat jokingly, "...not every fluffy cat wants to make friends, most of them are sneaky beasts anyway and want to be worshipped like gods." She looks up into the dark night as still the cold drops of nature soak her fur, slowly washing the mud from her fur as the wounds became more visible. "Mmh, I think I could use a little help... someone mind putting a band-aid on these scratches?" she growled a little more softly, though she would probably need more than just a band-aid as the three long drawn furrows on her left flank were revealed under the discolored fur. Hearing Zen, she shook the moisture out of her fur again before going into the tent and gently licking over Zen's arm, whose bandages didn't really look professional... Oh man, is it even worth putting on such a bandage that threatens to fall off again at any moment?

"Well ofcourse not! Not with that attitude!" Magnus barks back, then extends one hand and presses a finger right against Moresson's nose. "AND NOW I AM GOING TO BE YOUR FRIEND, JUST TO SPITE YOU!" He retrieves his hand, suspecting he was this close to losing said finger. "Well you all have fun patching up. I will be over here, getting dried off and waiting for us to resume our merry crusade into the unknown! Isn't that right Lin?" Wait, when did he retrieve his small pink-maned perpetually blepping raccoon plushie? It wasn't in his hands a moment ago... *squeak* When Zen speaks up, the hyena nods and ruffles his plush's mane. "That's right. You heard the bossman. You gonna keep your ears open and squeak if you hear something. Now let's get you out of the rain before your stuffing gets all soggy." *squeak* Then off he goes, hiding himself and his plushie away under the cover of the tent. Moments later, one might see Magnus' nose poking out the tent, the distinct pink maned plush sitting comfortably on his head while he chows down on one berry after the other, eats raised high, searching for the telltale sounds of something big and ugly that might want to give them one of those overly-aggressive hugs that may or may not result in various sideffects such as ripped tendrons, broken bones, excessive bloodloss, marmite, and/or spontaneous loss of life.

Seeing Moresson arrive, and how bad his wound looks, the lamia brushes off a wet strand of ginger hair clinging to her cheek and says to Zen and Sheela, "Sorry guys, Moresson takes priority." Having prepared the medical supplies, Uvi applies gauze directly to Moresson's wound. It's hard to see when the bleeding stops - it's dark, it's raining, so just to be sure, she makes sure to press really hard. Finally, she replaces the blood-soaked gauze with a fresh one and proceeds to bandaging the wound. She does a rather sloppy job and the bandages probbly won't hold for too long. She hopes it's enough for now. "That's the best I can do for now. You'll live. There are some hypos in my tent, so you can take a look, or I'll give you one later." She adresses Moresson, and then turns to Zen and Sheela, "Okay, now you two."

Moresson growls at Magnus and swats at his hand, making a bite too. "That'll never happen. Keep dreaming, asshole." she says, turning back to Zen. "I can rest and sit there at the same time. I'm not some weak little girl that needs saving and protecting! Plus, from here on out I'll feel better keeping my armor on. Can't do that if I'm asleep." she argues, wincing when Uvi applies pressure to her shoulder. "Fine, no one better out here right now." she tells the snake, making sure not to move her bad arm, as not to slow the wound's healing. If the tiger's teeth were sharp enough, the wound should heal faster.

Wiping away whatever mud still clung to Sheela's fur, Zen takes a look at the cuts as blood slowly oozed from them. "Mmmh, it doesn't look too bad. Probably more bruised than bloodied. Anyway, let me do what I can to get you taken care of." He rumbles while starting to wrap bandages across her torso. It wouldn't take too long before she was wrapped up, just as shoddily as he had treated himself. "There... that should do something at least. Maybe I should spend some time to actually learn how to treat a wound properly." He says, combing his fingers through the fur on Sheela's neck. Using the clean part of the cloth, he wipes down more of her body so that she could hopefully have a more comfortable rest. If there wasn't anything more for him to do outside, he would join her inside and wipe himself off the best he could too before making ready to get some more rest.

With Magnus stationing himself in his tent for guard duty, accompanied by a toy-raccoon, the group should be able to take some time to recover and rest for the rest of the night. Uvi's treatment of Moresson would help for sure, but a significant wound like that would probably be best looked at by a medical professional. Though, this far out in the wilds, how likely was that? She would just need to muscle through it for now and let the group know if her injuries were causing her any problems. However, with how spirited she was, maybe there wasn't any need to worry? From inside the ten, Zen growls, "Look, I can't force you to sleep. If you'd prefer to stand watch with Magnus, that is your call. Just... try not to let it bite you, alright?"

Just before she disappeared into the tent she saw Magnus looking out of the tent with the Lin plushie on his head...Damn it looked cute! At some point she would have to ask Magnus about this little cuddly toy, maybe a loan for the night? Before she could think more about it, she heard the painful hiss with the husky's aggressive words. "Phew, you should know when it's time to rest so your wounds can heal first.", she rumbles softly before disappearing into the tent, her ears pricking up as Uvi warbles that Zen and she are next. Wait? Was she going to bandage us both up now... hopefully this won't be a bondage game that lasts all night! Ah, that's right she had to take turns with Magnus keeping watch for the rest of the night, so it would just be a short fling.

Every now and then her lungs hissed as Zen surveyed and bandaged her wounds, she felt how loose the bandages were and growled, "We really should learn how to bandage wounds... though it makes little sense under the protection of the bladder." When Zen was done, she enjoyed the brief caress, the reassuring touch, before slowly laying down and sighing as pain flitted through her body once more. "Hehe, maybe Uvi can still do the fine work of lacing the bandage a little tighter so it doesn't fall right off~" she jokes, before more likely retiring to rest, licking her wounds and trying to get a little sleep over the rattling song of the rain.

Right after being done with Moresson, Uvi notices that Zen and Sheela are already bandaged. Oh. So that means... sleep. "We'll need to change the bandages in the morning, probably. I'm not sure how long it will take to heal out of bubble." The lamia says, before she crawls into Zen's tent. It's gonna be tight here, given how long her gummi tail is, but at least she tries her best to coil herself to occupy the least space possible. Which is still a lot of space. It only takes a moment for the lamia to fall asleep after saying "Goodnight." What an exhausting day, and night too.

*squeak* "I spy with my little eye, something very angry." Magnus chymes from the hole in his tent as he traces Mori with a glance. "Should I sound the alarm?" *squeak* "You're right Lin, maybe the rain will help her cool off. That high blood pressure can't be good for the wounds." *squeak* "She'll come around. It's like dad used to say, a flamer that burns twice as hot, breaks twice as fast." *squeak* "Shush, and keep yer eyes open. We're on watch, remember?" The rest of Magnus' night was spent just chilling there, assuming nothing tries to squeeze the jelly out of them, he'd be vibing in his tent, probably tinkering with his equipment while casting the occasional eye outside to do what he'd promised he'd do. Overall though, he kept fairly quiet for reasons beyond just trying not to disturb the others. T'was most prudent to remain silent when listening for threats, was it not?

After being patched up, Moresson heads to her tent to get fitted in her armor, sliding her helmet on. Listening to Magnus, she quietly fumes for a moment, before turning to him. "Shut the fuck up, you obnoxious child. Keep squeaking that shit, and I'm going to take it. I can't keep an ear out with that." she says sharply, but not loudly. Then she sits on a log or rock as close to the tents as she can get. Her suit will keep out the rain, so her clothes underneath can dry. Fortunately for her, no more wet shirt exhibit for the others. She stays up for what's left of the night, letting her arm rest as much as it can.

Despite it being a bit more cramped in his tent, Zen eventually finds himself relaxing and getting comfortable for the rest of the night. Magnus was on watch, everyone was bandaged up as well as they could be for now, and Moresson seemed to be doing well enough despite receiving the worst of it. With a nod to Uvi as she squeezes into the tent, he rumbles, "Yeah, perhaps. Hopefully the rain dies down. Not like I'd let rain bother me, but it isn't as pleasant to travel through mud." He could hear Magnus speaking to his plushie and Moresson snapping at him as he closed his eyes, trying to get even a little rest so that he would have the energy for tomorrow.

Thankfully, the rest of the night passes without too much trouble. The stormy weather continues to rage on, not relenting in the least. The ground gets muddier, the river they camped beside surges, and the booming of thunder makes it hard to get a truly restful sleep. Even the sun-rise is blotted out by dark clouds as the morning of their second day comes around. Maybe Zen would try and sleep a bit longer, getting as much rest as he could before the others were ready to move out. Maybe if he just kept sleeping the terrible weather would be gone before he woke up?

Truly it was not a restful sleep and yet Sheela's ocean blue eyes slowly closed as she felt the warmth of Zen in her back. It didn't take long for her paws to press against Uvi's scaly body, because it really was a bit cramped, despite Uvi trying to make herself small. As sleep slowly faded and the morning hours reached daylight, the rattling drums of rain could still be heard as the winds sang a song of the storm. A low growl and whimper slipped from Sheela's lips as the dream slowly faded and she seemingly clutched at something she had managed to grab during the night. Her paws closed tighter around Uvi's tail as the dream slowly dissipated and she smacked her dry tongue before growling softly, "Good morning Zen... mmh, what a short night..." She slowly opened her deep blue eyes and looked at what she had between her paws and let out a startled gasp! Phew, thankfully it was just Uvi's tail and not a morning wood she had clutched with her paws. "Oh... eeehh...", she stuttered, looking to see if Uvi had noticed anything at all, as Sheela began rubbing her sleeping sand out of her eyes.

Uvi Uvi wakes up! The first thing she feels is a nice, pleasant warmth spooning her tail - the lamia instinctively reaches with her hand to pet her partner. Normally, she'd snooze for a bit, but she remembers she's on a mission, and that there are people she needs to tend to as well. She lifts her torso, lets out a prolonged yawn, and finally opens her eyes. She realizes that the person spooning her is actually not her mate, but just Sheela. She pets her anyway, the wolf is so cute. Not wasting any time, she says, before crawling out of the tent, "Good morning!"

Well, that kinda sucks... Magnus' tent wasn't all that well built, so the hyena was left to deal with the storm somewhere around the middle of the night. He'd packed up his things in his backpack, then wrapped that up in the water-resistant fabric remnants of his shelter, and found himself a cozy tree to weather the rain under. Naturally that hadn't worked out so well, and he had opted to remove his shirt entirely, remaining bare-chested and with a pair of very soaked to the marrow pants beneath the waist. All and all he'd had a very cold and wet night, but at least he was expected to stay up anyway to keep watch, right? Sure enough, on the morning after, he was feeling the lack of sleep, if not showing it all that much quite yet. One could equate him to looking like someone in need of a quick nap.

Whenever the morning birds did rise, they'd catch the hyena doing some pullups on the tree he was using for shelter. Exercise was a very good way to keep the blood rushing and to raise one's core temperature. Warmth is what he needed and it was warmth he was producing for himself. "And a-twenty, and a-twenty-ne, and a-twenty-two..." he'd count to himself, as nonchalant as ever. That chiseled physique was proof enough of how well he took care of himself, even to the point where it was pushing a few lines, though one can't outwardly likely tell at a glance. At least he had an easier time than his injured comrades. It made sense that they'd want to sleep in, that big feline from yesterday had hugged them very aggressively. So much so that they'd spilled their ketchup! And that just won't do! Once he spots Uvi, *thud* he drops down onto the ground and greets her. "Good sunny morning to ya! Even though it's not sunny. Feeling better?"

Moresson occasionally glances over at Magnus as he does his exercising, her armor keeping her warm and dry through the rest of the night. As much as she hates to admit it, the pain of the bite would have been too much to sleep, but at least she could still take it easy and not make it worse, while still helping everyone. When the hyena speaks, she looks over to the snake, listening in to their exchange, without pitching in herself. Rather, she keeps watch in her spot until everyone is up and awake.

It wasn't all too much longer before Zen would join the rest in the waking world. He couldn't help but groan as the sound of rain and thunder told of the storm that had yet to pass. With a yawn, he pushes himself up and stretches his arms. It was clear to see that his bandages were already looking a bit loose. The red stain could be seen drifting to the edge of the wrapping, indicating that it wasn't really doing its job all too well. Quickly unwrapping it, he discards the bloody bandages outside before getting ready to apply some new ones. A glance to Sheela's bandages reveals much of the same, that he didn't apply enough pressure the first time around. Well, he would just have to tug a bit harder this time around to make sure it was a tight wrapping! It would only take a few minutes before Zen and Sheela were all dressed up in new bandages and ready to head back out into the stormy weather.

Joining the rest outside and waiting for Sheela to leave the tent, Zen promptly starts to take it all down. "Good morning. Well, as good as it can be despite getting rained on and losing a bit of blood last night." He grumbles while continuing his task. "Right, well, it doesn't look like it'll let up any time soon. Get packed up and ready to move. We'll continue on our journey as soon as everyone is ready. Looks like we won't be having a warm breakfast today anyway." He adds.

In a few minutes everything would be packed up and the group would be ready to go. "Glad we didn't have any further interruptions throughout the night. Thanks for keeping watch. Now, I hope you aren't too tired to put in a few miles today." Zen says, slinging his pack over his shoulders and waiting at the edge of the camp. Without much delay, the group would be on the move once again, traveling further beyond the bubble in search of a nice location for a new outpost.

Although Sheela enjoyed being petted, she soon rose and looked a little shyly at Uvi before leaning against Zen and giving him a little kiss on the forehead. The bandage dangled from her belly as she slowly walked out, seeing how the weather was still ruining the day. Even with this condition, Magnus seemed motivated to the bone as he demonstrated his masculine body and what engraved lines his muscles drew in his fur. She bent her nose down to her K9 harness and tossed it on her back while looking to Zen and growling softly, "Mags you fix it?" Once Zen was done, she would lick lovingly over his arm, not worrying about the dangling bandage that could become a tripping trap should she not be mindful. However, before it came to that, Zen would start to change her bandage before attaching the K9 harness, the holder of which unfortunately went over the wound. It would be a bit painful, but she had no other choice, because after all, in the pockets were all the things she needed to perhaps survive the last days of exploration. She looked around a bit and it seemed although one or the other was banged up, we would be ready to push our little expedition forward! "So, how about it, shall we break camp for the day and be on our way?" she barked questioningly as she winced slightly as the pain from her wounds made itself known again. As Zen gives the command and the beat, she helps stow the gear as best she can, even though everything she touched was soaked by the saliva of her muzzle.

Uvi waves to Magnus and Moresson. They could perhaps see that her expression is rather neutral, however, and that's not because of the terrible weather. She feels bad about the lost one, and how they had to end its life. It's sad that they won't even be able to bury it. So, without engaging in unecessary chatter, she changes clothes, packs her things, changes Moresson's bandages and also applies a hypo to help the wound heal and ease the pain. Just before the group departs, Uvi takes a moment to sit in front of the feral and quietly mutters a few parting words. Finally, she sets off with the rest. Gotta stay professional, after all.

"Good morrow to ya. I'm feeling the tug of drowsiness yanking my crank, thinkin' I'm gonna skip watch next time we set up camp and sleep like a rock all night, yeah?" Magnus casts them a wink, then moves over to retrieve his bundled up backpack, as well as some dry clothes from within it. He shakes the water off as best he can, then gets dressed appropriately with his underlay, as well as donning his own armor from the legs up. Plate boots, greaves, waistguard, chestplate and shoulderpads, gauntlets and armguards all secured and strapped in place firmly, coming together into the neo-knightly apparel he had been rocking for the better part of two years now. Along with all this, he too retrieves his weapons, slinging his laser rifle across one shoulder, sheathing the two-handed chainsword across his back, adjusting the other various holdout weapons in their places, and then swinging his backpack over the unoccupied shoulder. A soft *squeak* emanates from within once it impacts his back, hinting as to where his precious plushie was deposited. "Righto then! Onward with our jolly crusade! Let's see what kind of silly shenanigains we'll get up to!" When Sheela addresses him, he shakes his head slowly. "Not right here and now I'm afraid. I need the proper materials and a nanite-rich environment to patch that. Just roll it up and stash it somewhere, we'll get it fixed as soon as we get back." He ruffles Sheela's headfluff. *glop glop glop* Walking with heavy steel boots in the mud was anything but enjoyable, so he made an effort to avoid the obvious mud pits. "Onwards, friends! We have whimsical nonsense to butt our heads against!"

Moresson nods to Zen and Sheela as they finally emerge, moving to take down and roll up her tent. After hers is packed away, she looks over at Magnus'. It's in such a sad state, she almost has to stifle a chuckle. It seems the others are ready to get going though, so she heads out with them. "It was fine. Kind of relaxing, actually." she says, glancing over at Uvi and removing some of her armor in order to get her bandages replaced. And once that's done, she suits back up again fully. "That's a lot better though..." she admits. While she doesn't exactly agree with Uvi's care of the creature they dropped, she doesn't say anything. Perhaps she would make some sort of snarky comment or gesture if she wasn't tired. But she's been tired before, this isn't the worst she's had it. As they get on the road though, she looks over at Magnus. "I'm going to take second watch again, myself. Magnus, as stupid and annoying as you are, you need a place to sleep too... And their tent is too full. You can use my tent, but you better keep your hands to yourself, or I'll cut them off." she says, managing to offer him generosity in the same breath as threatening him. "The nanites won't reattach them out here."

Much of the second day passed without too much commotion. The strong winds caused the trees to dance back and forth as the rain continued to form puddles over the ground, wiping away previous tracks while allowing new ones to be etched deeper into the earth. None of the typical wildlife could be seen along their path, all of which were probably hunkering down and staying out of the rain. Getting soaked and chilled by the rain would become exhausting, but there was no point in complaining about it now. They could always try and find someplace dry to wait out the storm, but no one really wanted to be out here longer than they had to be.

Continuing on, the travelers would eventually pass another trail that seemed to bisect their own. The footprints were already starting to fade into muddy puddles, but there were enough of them that remained visible enough to find. Taking a quick glance at the tracks, Zen turns to the group and says, "Well, here is the first sign of other movement we have seen all day. Looks like they've headed off to the north somewhere. Well, we could decide to investigate... or we could continue on our way through the storm. I'd like to at least get to the next checkpoint before we need to set up camp again... even if we have to do so in such poor weather. Maybe we could even scout around for someplace a bit drier."

Instead of wearing her K9 harness on her back, she had to hold it in her muzzle the whole time as she made her way through the inevitable crappy weather. She grumbled a bit in annoyance because it was more than uncomfortable to have a muzzle lock the whole time and look like she was a good doggie. When Zen stopped she looked a little closer at the tracks, but through the soggy ground it was hard to tell how long it had been since those tracks had been stamped into the muddy ground. She put down her harness before growling, "I think we should take the direct path to our marker... maybe we'll find off a cave, because frankly I'm tired of walking in the rain." As if that wasn't enough, a strong wind blew again, turning the small drops into speeding bullets. "Aaaah, how I'd love to be home right now in front of the fireplace enjoying a fluffy evening, but what don't you do to make the woods safer!" it rumbles from her lungs before she tilts her head and looks at the bandage that is completely soaked. "Anyway, what do you think?", she growls questioningly, looking first at the husky to make sure she's okay, before her gaze wanders to Magnus and she can hear the soft squeak behind his back.

Uvi remains silent for most of the way. Even though she's in a sad mood, at least she appreciates the fact that it's actually much easier to slither across the wet mud, even if the side effect of it is having her tail all dirty and brown, instead of the usual pink.

"I don't know lemme take a closer look at these tracks." The lamia says as she leans forward to inpect the footprints. She nods a couple of times, rubs her chin and murmurs, "Hmmm, could be nomads, I think. The tracks are fresh and deep, so the ground had to be sufficiently muddy. And they are left by..." She pauses for a moment, then proudly announces to the rest of the group, "Komodo Dragons! Right! I saw a Komodo Dragon at New Dawn once and they had exactly feet like that, Right!"

"Awww, I love you too, fluffy girl. Your hateful words and violent threats do little to mask the niceness you have buried deep down in there." he reaches out and pokes her chestplate around where her heart would be. "But I must decline, as I am very comfortable sleeping in the open too. My only hope is that it doesn't rain again, but even if it does I'll figure something out. Come on! We have antics to get up to!" Sure enough, the trail was oh-so wetly trotted, or more accurately it was trudged and waded through as the rain didn't seem to end! Magnus was at least thankful his suit was built with such conditions in mind, and while sure he wasn't perfectly dry around the core, he could at the very least say he wasn't soaked or cold about it. So, they had a situation... "My two cents on the matter is we forget the muddy tracks. For all we know we'll follow a trail for another hour or three and find out it's been washed away by a particularly violent patch of rain somewhere, wasting more time and steering us further from the next checkpoint. Let's find someplace dry to settle down and do the job right when the rain lets up. Plus it will give your injuries more time to heal. But hey, the final word is yours. I am here solely for disaster prevention purposes and hijinks! I VOTE CAVE!"

Moresson growls a little hearing Magnus' patronizing words, swatting his arm away before he manages to touch her chest. "Fine, whatever. Tried to help keep you dry, but it's your choice. Just don't change your mind when you get soaked, because then you're not coming into the tent dripping." she says in a frustrated tone, stopping in her tracks when others are found once again. She leans down and inspects the tracks too, just like Uvi. Nodding along with her for a moment, she hears komodo dragons and double-takes. "What? Komodo Dragon?" she asks in disbelief, pointing to the tracks. "They're too wide to be komodo dragon tracks! Obviously they're bear tracks. What the hell are you talking about?" she asks, letting out a huff, believing herself to be indisputably correct. Hearing Magnus though, she sighs. "Okay, fine. Fuck the tracks, let's just go to the next checkpoint. I agree with Magnus. My last adventure into a cave didn't go well, but I have better shit now."

Zen looks at the tracks once more, tilting his head to the side and wondering if those tracks really did belong to a lizard or a bear. However, there wouldn't be much point in worrying about it now. Sheela, Magnus, and Moresson had already cast their vote towards ignoring the tracks and continuing with the plan. Still, he couldn't help but think that it might have been worth exploring along the tracks, even a little bit. There was always the chance that they could encounter others that knew more about the area, maybe even going as far as to enlist their help. Of course, there was also the possibility that the tracks were left by some people that were less than friendly. Without Johnny Law to step in, the lands beyond the bubble might as well be the wild west. Hell, even inside the bubble people are much more likely to get away with more than they could before.

Standing up with a nod to the rest, Zen growls, "Right. There is no guarantee we find whoever those tracks belong to, and we all wouldn't want to be wasting time out here in this storm. We continue onward and ignore the tracks. And, when it is time to rest, we take extra precautions." He can't help but snicker at Uvi and Moresson as they clash over what the tracks belong to... however, he isn't really able to make much of them either. It was true the rain distorted the shape, but like Moresson said, it didn't really matter much. Turning to continue on, they would all continue to trudge through the rain and mud before finally finding a place where they could relax for the evening and get a new camp set up.

Sheela chuckled softly as the discussion of the tracks heated up before she growled jokingly, "Maybe it was a Komodo bear... but never mind now, let's move on!" She bent her head and picks up her harness again, before getting a bit more curious and sticking to Magnus' heels, hearing the soft squeak. Was there a way to steal Magnus's the cuddly toy or should she just ask sweetly? She pondered for some time before simply abandoning the idea as Magnus was probably busy enough with Moresson to engage in another exchange of verbal repartee. When we finally reached the approximate location that was to be our destination for the day, she took a closer look around. She strayed a bit through the bushes, while at times you could hear the soft whine followed by a loud curse as a branch pressed against her wound, before she growling a bit louder, "Aaaah! Found it! Guys come quick I found a cave!" Even though the weather was clearing up, with the sun slowly fighting its way between the brittle clouds, the soggy ground could still be seen. Many puddles shone in the sun as Sheela waited for the group to inspect the cave together, which ran close to the river yet was camouflaged by lush greenery.

Uvi exclaims, "Wooo, cave party!" She slithers faster to join Sheela and looks at the entrance. The lamia nods, adjusts her glasses and says, "Yup, that's a cave." She leans to pet the good doggo and says, "Good job!" Her expression changes as a thought that maybe the cave is occupied crosses her mind. Perhaps a bear lives inside, or worse! A Komodo Bear! She asks, "Can you smell if someone's inside? It would be cool if we could stay here tonight, but I don't want go through the same situation as yesterday. My nose is kinda useless. My tongue too."