worthallthis | The Last Voyages: IC Inbox

[Enter Shaw, who has unilaterally decided not to let herself think about the Enclosure situation until all this is over and done with. By this point, she's heading down, not up, having been to her cabin and retrieved one of her favorite machine guns, which she's currently carrying in both arms.

When she spots them, a little grin flits across her face.]

You boys ready to have some fun?

[B's rifle, set in its semi-automatic configuration rather than the sniper configuration, is not even that big. His brows go up a little at the sight, as the cabin door slides shut behind him and Steve.]

That looks like you're ready for some fun, all right. How many guns did you bring with you?

[B only has his rifle, man. And it's mostly for sentimental and self-soothing reasons. (And the very occasional need to shoot things, sure.)]

Okay, so you two can cover the big things and I'll get the vines, [Steve says, sounding almost bemused, looking between the two of them and their weapons.

(He will not stick exclusively to vines, sorry. But at least they'll be particularly vulnerable to the edge of a vibranium shield. Or to a very strong person trying to tear them apart.)]

My pleasure.

[Shaw says, her smile widening a little more. And with that, she turns to head off, glancing over her shoulder to make sure they're coming along.]

Hey, either of you seen Cook? I thought she might like to play with this, too.

Not yet. She's got her own weapons, though. Maybe she'll want to trade.

[He hefts his rifle. Honestly he'd rather punch things, but with some of them flying, shooting will just go faster. And it's the only gun he's got.]

We goin' up or down?

[Well, Franky's Cabin is up, but -] I feel like the tighter spaces are where people are going to have more trouble with these things.

[Easier to get cornered in a hallway or common room than up on deck.]

Down?

[He clearly trusts either of them to handle their weapons even with civilians around. But he's certainly open to other strategies.]

Down works.

[Wanting to show off for Franky doesn't override the need to rescue people, after all, so no argument is made for immediately heading for her cabin. Once they reach the end of the hall, Shaw pops open the elevator to check for either hiding people who need help, or monsters that need killing; finding neither, she makes for the stairway down.]

[B follows, looking around at the creep of pulsing vines as they walk.]

So does anyone actually know what's going on? It's, uh. A little early for a flood.

[Steve's fingers flex on the leather of the shield strap; if any of those vines makes a move, he's slashing it.]

No idea, but it doesn't feel like a flood.

Anyone else notice that when you hit one of these things, the other ones seem to take immediate offense?

[Hence why he isn't slicing anything up prematurely.]

Sounds kinda flood-like.

[Shaw says, grinding a vine under the heel of her boot.]

Sounds more like when Jon's power went haywire and the fear spaces took over the ship, to me. Also, the timing's off. Floods almost always happen mid-month.

[He opens the stairwell door for them both.]

That was before your time, Sameen, and Steve was coma'd during it.

[Lucky bastard.]

You know, the more I hear about that one, the worse it sounds.

But on the chance that this isn't a flood - it might still have a cause we can deal with.

[He hefts the shield in front of himself.] Let me go down first. You can shoot over my shoulder.

What's with the people here just dropping stuff like that like it's no big thing?

[Shaw asks, falling back to do as requested, readying herself to snipe anything that comes into view.]

Should I be worrying about wardens' powers, too?

[Downwards is definitely the direction she's heading. Outside of holding up, reducing the number of angles from which one can be attacked is definitely a priority. And she's been through a number of fun encounters, especially with the bad creatures, as evidenced by the fact that she's covered in minor cuts and at least one larger slash from another encounter bound up on her arm.]

[But she's been in a bit of luck - crouched by her side is Beatrice, the one-meter-long Kulindradromeous who had been her pet since the dinosaur breach. Accustomed to very dangerous, very silent predators...she was a superb early warning system.]

[So far, the Webley and the large amount of ammunition she's carrying in a pack have sufficed - that and the ersatz spear she's made along the way. But it means that when she hears noises closing up on her, she's already setting a defensive pose, looking to Beatrice to gauge her reaction. Different. Does that mean people or one of the bigger things...]

Edited 2023-06-06 00:49 (UTC)

[B lets Steve lead on their way down, since he has both the shield and the serum. It only makes sense.]

Jon was kind of a special case. Avatar of a really creepy fear god. Somebody triggered his powers without his knowledge, he didn't mean for it to happen. His deal was to take that shit away so it could never happen again. He's a werewolf now, instead.

[He pauses at the sound of heartbeats up ahead, one of which sounds human but not in danger, and another... decidedly not.]

Huh. [Steve never knew that much about Jon, but the other man has always seemed full of surprises.

Either way, he calls back to Sameen:] Power's power. The idea is that a warden won't misuse it, but wardens are just people, too. Some of us aren't so smart.

[By some of us, he definitely means himself - and hey, that's when he comes up on Franky, so he doesn't have to worry about that any more.]

Hey, Franky. You and your friend wanna join the party?

[Shaw doesn't have anything close to B's superpowered hearing, but she knows how to pay close attention to her allies' body language - and so when he pauses, she pauses too, waiting for the penny to drop. She would have been fine with another monster to fight and neutralize - but another ally, particularly one in the form of Franky Cook, is even better.]

We could use a hand.

[She says after Steve makes his offer, hefting up her machine gun and propping it against her shoulder in a way that is definitely supposed to look very cool and badass.]

[And it will get an appreciative, if brief look, but it has to complete with relief that the weary, alone portion of things has come to an end. Beatrice, more to the point, has no concept of 'badass', but certain has one of 'friend' - and taps over to Shaw, hopping around her and chittering excitedly in a way that definitely says 'familiar person.' Steve and B both get a bit more of an appraising look from the little dinosaur.]

So could I, bloody glad you showed up when you did. Otherwise me and my little early warning system there would've been meat, sooner or later.

[Beatrice's beak does poke at Shaw's boot a bit with her beak. It's a move that has produced fruit before, might as well try. Life is short, fruit is tasty.]

[B is not jealous that Shaw is getting all the attention out of the dinosaur. He's not.

Okay, maybe he is a little.]

I obviously need to spend more time with you and your little pal, Franky. Look how big she's gotten. I take it she's been helping out with the hunt?

[Steve eyes the dinosaur - then Franky and her arsenal - with a rueful smile.]

It definitely would've been later. But let's make it not at all.

We're heading down, trying to clear the more cramped areas of the ship, where people might not have a clear escape route.

Vines count as veggies, right?

[He might be half-asking the dinosaur.]

[Shaw still doesn't know what to do with the dinosaur, honestly. It's an objectively badass pet, but it feels weird to treat it like a dog (even when it's acting like one), and dogs are the only animals she considers herself to be any good with. But when Beatrice hops and chitters her way, she gives her a dutiful, if slightly awkward, pat on the head.]

She gonna be okay? She's kinda small.

[She falls in next to Shaw, only leaning a little on the ersatz spear.]

She's a smart little survivor. She knows when to run, and she's got great smell and hearing - she knows something's coming before I do. But right, the sooner we're off...

I think the vines are animal, not vegetable. They bleed the same way the bats do.

[He brings up the rear for the group, letting Shaw and Franky fill in the middle of the little diamond, and Steve take the lead.]

The sooner we're off, the sooner we take out more monsters.

Ah, well. [So, no vines for this girl to eat. That's okay - he figures she'll get a well-deserved feast after all the hard work.

Which seems like it's about to start - because it's not long after they start moving that the little dino perks up and Steve slows, watching her silently for a minute before - ]

I hear it, too, [he says quietly, then glances back before pointing ahead to the common room at the end of the hall, on the left.] There's something up ahead. In there. Sounds like it's coming from something ugly.

[A sort of rumbling growl with a weird, shrieking undertone.]

Get ready, everybody.

[Shaw murmurs - staying back to let Steve continue to take point, but also stepping to the side a little, so that she can fire past him without having to worry about a friendly fire situation.]

The Last Voyages: IC Inbox

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[If anyone wants to NPC early-warning-system-dino, feel free!]

sorry for the slow, just finished month-end close this afternoon...

noooo worries <33

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