GAME EVENT: Day 17: [Ami] All Fall Down (open tag)

[island-muses.livejournal.com]

Three days after the survivors split themselves into two camps, either staying on the beach or moving into the caves, five days following Amanda's "banishment" from the camp and six days after Lucy's suicide, Mindfuck Island, as Scott so affectionately referred to it, settled down and life returned to normal. It said a lot, Ami reflected, that the survivors had reached a point where the day-to-day routines of survival were considered to be the height of normalacy.

There was a return to the routine of foraging, and Ami frequently found herself in the company of Rose and Molly, and surprisingly Daisy as well, when they ventured from the caves to go gathering fruit. More than once they also made the trek down to the beach to share the bounty with the older Rose, Claire and Sue, gathering up additional fruit and vegetables on their way back to the caves. They also scouted out an area for a garden, fortunately finding a suitable patch of land half-way between both camps. It was a bit of a trek for older Rose and Claire, who insisted on helping out with the garden and walked there with Sun, but Molly declared it to be the best spot and no one argued with the woman who seemed to know as much about herbs and such as Daniel did about languages.

Mid-afternoon found a small gaggle of women on hands and knees, working diligently to clear the area for what would become the community garden. Just a few minutes walk off the well-worn path between the caves and the beach, it had easy access to water, optimal sunlight, but was protected by foliage and shrubs enough to prevent anyone from accidentally stomping thorugh before the garden began a proper growth.

Laughing and talking with Claire, Daisy and Rose, her arms and clothes covered in dirt and grime, Ami realized that she was more relaxed than she had been for several days. She swiped at her face with the back of her hand, earning a laugh from the other women.

"Now you've gone and done it," Rose laughed. "Your own personal mud mask."

Ami dabbed at the dirt on her face, then winced as she realized she was only making it worse. "It's all natural at least. Maybe it will fight wrinkles."

"If it does, then we'll have to market it when we get rescued," Daisy suggested. Surprisingly, she too was covered in dirt from the weeding and clearing of the land.

"Craphole Island Face Care, eh?" Claire grinned, looking up from her patch of almost clear dirt. She made a face and promptly tapped her bump. "Don't you have somewhere else to put that foot?"

"Careful, Claire," Daisy warned, "When he's a teenager, he might just have an answer for you."

Ami cast out her awareness, as she did intermittently, just to be on the safe side. Scott and Megabyte were constants and most closely located were the women gardening with her. She knew that Molly was en route, and just beyond she could sense –

Startled, Ami blinked and peered cautiously into the distant trees. While the conversation continued, she reached out a bit more, a chill climbing up her spine. They were being watched; not by the Others, this didn't have that slimy, unnatural feeling to it, but they were being watched.

Just as the realization registered, Rose cried out, hand going to the side of her throat as she toppled over, twitching.

"Rose!" Ami scampered to her friend's side in alarm and that was when she heard it. The faint whizzing sound of air pressure escaping, and the same time that Claire gave a gasp and Daisy yelped, she felt the sharp pricking of something digging its way into her upper arm.

/Scott! Mega -/ was the only thought that Ami managed before the jungle tilted sideways and her awareness of everything became muted, blurred and then just wasn't anymore. Metaphorical fingers clawed at the metaphorical wall that cut her off from her abilities while darkness closed in on all sides. The world narrowed to a tunnel and then darkness swallowed her completely.

Comments

[Miho]What was that? (open tag)

[sweetnovicane.livejournal.com]

Miho started to walk back to her place by the river. She had gotten used to being by herself. She was never a people person anyway. She hated words more than anything. Why did she have to be forced to talk?

She was halfway there when she heard something. A scream. It was a bit faint, but Gail once said her hearing was better than anyone elses in Sin City. She looked up and around. "Did anyone hear that?"

[Clarice] What was that? (tag Miho, cookfire, open)

[lambs-heroine.livejournal.com]

Clarice was working on the damned trough some more; with nothing more than hand tools the damned thing was taking forever. She had sought the shade of a tree nearish the river to work in relative privacy, and was completely wrapped up in her work when she heard Miho's voice.

She stood up immediately, thinking of Daniel and the weight of the pistol in her waistband to try and fight the instinctive rush of sheer terror. "No. What did it sound like?"

"Sounded like somebody cried out up the hill. It could have been nothing--"

"In this hellhole? When is that ever the case?" Clarice breathed deeply several times, her odd pallor and tremor quite visible to Miho. Then she turned and waved her arms, yelling over to those around the fireplace. "Miho heard a yell from that way!" Then she turned back. "C'mon--if we check it it's more likely to be nothing. I...hope."

[Quentin] What was that? (tag Clarice, Miho, cookfire, open)

[rwarner.livejournal.com]

Quentin was sitting around the cookfire, taking a break after hauling a load of his belongings to the caves. The move to the caves had happened while he'd been out in the jungle at Mara and Faith's plane, and he was trying to get caught up since returning late last evening.

"Dude. That bird you saw said my name?" Hurley asked Quentin, who had just finished recounting his tale of discovering the DHARMA tube in the jungle.

"Yeah, at least that's what it sou-" Quentin's sentence was interrupted by Clarice's yell.

"Miho heard a yell from that way!" she shouted, waving in the direction of the garden.

"Bugger! Claire's up there!" Charlie spat, scrambling to his feet.

Quentin was already on the move, running after the two women who were already headed towards the commotion.

[Jon] Dropping everything (tag Miho, Clarice, Quentin, open)

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

OOC: I'm assuming that Miho & co are responding from the beach..

Jon was halfway up a tree when he heard it: a sharp sound that could have been a birdcall if it hadn't been so human. He'd never heard a bird sing an "O" either, and the silence that followed..

"Here we go again," he muttered angrily, unceremoniously dumping the guavas he'd collected before swinging under the branch and dropping to the forest floor. The habitual wince as he landed was counteracted by flexible young limbs, but that irony came second to the thump of running feet coming from the beach.

"Not my imagination then, I take it?" Jon commented sarcastically, joining the rear of the group. With Miho and Clarice taking point they'd be safe from any frontal attack, so the least he could do was cover their six.

Weapons check.. well he had a firearm, so did Clarice by the look of it, and Miho probably had a few knives hidden about her person. Not bad, providing they got there in time. Wherever there was.

Shoulda known we wouldn't be getting a break any time soon..

[Daniel] What was that? (tag open)

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

Dr. Jackson wasn't too far away from where Clarice was working, doing his 'own' thing. With the notebook that was found to the side, and the diffferent, for want of another word, artefacts nearby with their markings, Daniel was making marks on a piece of paper, working through what they knew, what they surmised, and what they didn't when the first shouts came. He looked up when Miho, then Clarice, then the others galvanized into motion. That's more like it... He knew the former agent was afraid, but then again, they all were in one way or another. She's just learning to deal with the terror, but she's doing okay... She'll be okay.

Rising from his spot, Daniel counted the numbers headed off. Clarice. Armed. Miho.. unknown, but she's with Clarice. Jon. Armed. Him, he has to watch. As much as McKay considers him to be Jack, the kid isn't. Still... And Quentin, Charlie... and McKay? Headcount of who is left here... Some were foraging, some...

Aw... sometimes you just had to forget it and act... and Daniel shook his head and began to lope off after the group.

[Scott] Sudden silence (tag Jin, Megabyte)

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

While Ami was working with her fellow gardeners, Scott joined Jin to help fish. The Korean man was as closed-mouthed as ever. Scott presumed that Sun had told her husband that he'd healed him. Maybe she hadn't. He didn't know what to think, so he worked in silence. The rhythmic crashing of the surf was a pleasant white noise.

They'd been net fishing for about an hour when Ami suddenly was gone. With no warning Scott's background awareness of his wife vanished. Scott dropped his end of the net, reeling from the cold of her absense. Turning in the direction where he'd last sensed her, he 'shouted,' /Ami!/ There was no reply.

"Ami is with Sun at the garden," Jin said cautiously. Either Jin had suddenly become telepathic, or Scott had shouted aloud as well.

His eyes continued to search the treeline in vain. "She's gone," he heard himself say shakily. Scott connected with his sphere in his pocket, remembering to call telepathically this time. /AMI!/

Silence.

Still connected with his sphere, Scott ran out of the surf reaching out with his mind across the camp, through the jungle, and to the caves. Ami's familiar presense was absent. Stretching his senses further was painful but necessary. He reached farther until stabbing pain made him see stars and shattered his concentration.

"Scott!" Jin's voice brought him back to reality. Scott was on his hands and knees in the sand. Jin crouched at his shoulder, wearing an uncharacteristically anxious expression. Scott's head throbbed. Ami's warmth was still absent, leaving him cold and empty.

[Megabyte] Sudden silence (tag Jin, Scott, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Something was wrong. It took Megabyte a few moments to recognize what was wrong, intent as he was on checking the seals on Dr. Pierson's still. The good doctor hadn't returned to camp with Jon, Tommy, Quentin and Rodney, deciding that for whatever reason he'd stay back with the survivors who decided they needed a "break" from camp. Yesterday, Megabyte siphoned off some of the alcohol and handed it over to ever so pleasant Dr. House to put into the medicinal stores – and wondered how it was that the man was even crabbier than he had been previously – today was simply a day for checking and monitoring.

The wrongness eventually caused him to look up and scrutinize the surrounding jungle, dropping his shields and reaching out with his awareness.

Ami. What was wrong was Ami. Her familiar always-on presence was gone, not hollow and void, but simply gone. He didn't panic; Megabyte forced himself to relax and reach further, examining the "place" where Ami's presence should have been and eventually, he didn't know how much longer later, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was not the hollow sucking void of emptiness, not the pulled apart and shoveled out blackness that would have been there if she'd been dead.

"And I would have *felt* that anyway," Megabyte muttered. He felt silly for his initial urge to panic, but still wasn't relaxed. Ami's presence was still there, an elusive thing like trying to catch a full look at something you could only glimpse out of the corner of one's eye. He couldn't lock onto her; each time he tried it was like trying to reach through an invisible forcefield. Megabyte could see what was on the other side but he bounced right off the wall.

Now the panic reared again, and it was considerably harder to push it back. Megabyte felt this before, this inability to connect, this fleeting and not quite there awareness, and the implications of it …

(Scott,) Megabyte thought. According to Ami she had some sort of mental connection with her lover, so there was a possibility that Scott could sense a bit more than Megabyte could.

He teleported as close to the beach as he dared, then broke free of the jungle. Megabyte noted the commotion as survivors took off into the jungle, but he was more interested in talking to Scott than he was to finding out what bit of uniqueness Craphole Island chose to grace them with today.

The man in question was kneeling in the sand, blood dripping from his nose, Jin leaning over him.

"Scott!" Megabyte skidded to a halt in front of the other man. He hated to be rude to Jin, but now wasn't the time for niceties. Clearly *something* had happened, and lacking other physical signs, Scott's nosebleed was caused by psychic trauma. The urge to panic was getting harder to resist. "Scott, something's happened to Ami."

"She's . . . gone." There was a frightening blank emptiness to Scott's voice that unsettled Megabyte more than a little.

"I know, she's . . ." Megabyte paused, not wanting to voice his suspicions, but finding no way around it. "She's cut off from me. Blocked, unnaturally. I can't focus on her at all. Can you?"

[Scott] Sudden silence (tag Jin, MB, open)

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

"Scott, you're bleeding!" Jin exclaimed. He was right. Scott felt blood dripping from his nose down his lips and chin. He frowned at the Korean man, puzzled. What difference did it make? Ami was gone. He refused to use the other word yet.

Jin looked up suddenly. Scott sat back, then followed Jin's gaze. Damon rushed toward them, his features creased with worry.

The hollowness and pain were more than Scott could bear. He retreated to the void, welcoming its placid numbness. Even though the pain no longer bothered him, he began repairing the ruptured blood vessels. There wasn't much point in having a body if it was broken.

Scott stood and wiped the blood from his face as Damon skidded to a halt in front of him. "Scott, something's happened to Ami."

"She's... gone," Scott stated. He absently noticed how flat his voice sounded. Judging from Jin's and Damon's expressions, they'd noticed as well.

Damon visibly fought back panic. "I know, she's... She's cut off from me. Blocked, unnaturally. I can't focus on her at all. Can you?"

Jin began speaking rapidly to Damon in Korean, then cut himself off, frustrated. To his and Scott's surprise, Damon asked him in Korean to continue. (I guess all Tomorrow People can cheat like Ami can. Like Ami could,) Scott mused. He could acknowledge her death in the void.

Damon turned from Jin to Scott, clearly alarmed. "Scott, what the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded. "What happened to Ami?"

"I'm fine," Scott answered truthfully. He'd finished healing the damaged tissue, and nothing hurt anymore.

"You sure as hell don't sound fine!"

Scott shrugged. "Ami's gone. Dead."

Damon stared, then shook his head vehemently. "No, she's not! I can tell. I just can't reache her. You can't?"

Scott frowned as the void trembled. "No. There's just a hole there, empty." He felt tears welling in his eyes and closed his tear ducts. He wouldn't cry over what he couldn't change.

Damon put his hands on Scott's shoulders. "Listen to me. I've felt this before. Ami's alive, but unconscious. I need you to hold it together so we can get with Daniel and the others and go see what happened. Okay?"

Scott nodded mutely. He hoped Damon was right. It would be nice to feel again.

[Daisy] Well...Damn!

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Rose clutched at her throat and toppled to one side, twitching. It was sudden and shocking and Daisy was alarmed to see it happen. It made her feel helpless, this not knowing whether someone was alive, dead or dying. She really didn't want to have to reap another survivor.

Daisy had been kneeling in the dirt to clear another section. She was just gathering herself to stand when she felt a painful jab in her ass. She yelped and jerked herself upright. Had she been stung?

She flicked a hand smartly across her buttock to swat away whatever had stung or bitten her. Her fingers brushed something unexpected--something large and metallic. Daisy plucked it free just as Ami shouted "Rose!"

Daisy glanced over at Rose again just in time to see Ami stumble, drop to her knees next to Rose and then tumble bonelessly to one side. There was something metallic protruding from Ami's arm. When Daisy looked, Claire lay unmoving as well. Daisy knew before she opened her fist what she would see: a brushed aluminum tube with a hypodermic needle on one end and a bright red tuft on the other.

(They're alive, then,) she thought. (You don't use tranquilizer darts to kill people.)

Daisy lurched to her feet--and swayed slightly, feeling lightheaded. (Potent stuff,) she thought. It had knocked Ami off her feet almost instantly and she was feeling drunk now. (I hate feeling drunk,) she thought.

Daisy turned toward the caves. Staying with her friends never even crossed her mind. Getting help would do them more good than anything else she could do. She took several running steps before she felt another stinging blow, this one in her back.

A veil seemed to fall between Daisy and the world around her, blurring her vision and muting the sounds around her. Daisy tried to keep moving, but could barely maintain her balance and reeled to one side, barely staying on her feet.

Daisy was distantly aware of it when a third dart struck her calf. She stumbled to a halt, then reached down to try to remove the dart in her leg. She managed to wrap unruly fingers around it but couldn't muster the strength to grip it. She kept trying, convinced that it was terribly important to get rid of the dart though she wasn't sure why.

Daisy fell over, still trying to pull the dart free of her leg. Around her blurry figures slowly emerged from hiding to converge on the unconscious women.

[Doctor] (w/Jack)

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

They were splitting fallen log with wedges and the back end of the axe and a crudely made hammer, making boards to help build up the varrying appartments in the caves.

"You punched me." The Doctor finally stated in a lull. Jack had to rest. Although the young human seemed to be glorying in the free movement of his arms.

"Seemed like an appropriate response at the time. You ever spend a three days in a station full of hundreds of rotting corpses? No explination. I just heard the engines and arrived in time to see the Tardis fading away. Had three years to let that punch build up." Jack mopped his brow.

"Great right hook, by the way. But you PUNCHED me." The Doctor rubbed his jaw. There was no bruise. Rose had used the dermal regenerator. There was still a phantom ache though.

"Yeah, but then I kissed you. You know how to insult a guy. Remember the punch more than the kiss." Jack grinned.

"Yeah, well my jaw was kind of hurting at the time." The Doctor moved to the log once more and motioned for Jack to do the same.

"I'd be happy to do a repeat, remind you what it's like." Jack's grin widened.

"Still haven't bought me that drink." The Doctor replied as he moved to make a swing.

Just then he heard the cry.

He stopped and frowned. That had come from somewhere down the trail leading to the beach.

"That was a person." Jack announced, as if that much weren't clear.

"Rose is down there." The Doctor announced.

Both men looked at each other and took off at a full run.

The Doctor was almost exaspirated. After all it was almost a week since they were in a scrape. Couldn't go much longer. It was against the laws of the universe. Whatever was going on, Rose was most likely helping whoever was hurt, or fending off attackers, or generally giving someone hell.

[Blaise] Have fun stormin' the castle! (open tag)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Blaise had been grinning to himself as he cleaned the P90, listening to the Doctor and this Jack Harkness bantering with one another. Jack was certainly a...free spirit. He'd gathered as much from what the Doctor and Rose had let drop, and Jack had certainly lived up to his billing. He'd arrived grinning and gladhanding and flirting shamelessly with everyone.

Then they both halted in mid-motion to listen intently, shared eight words and a look and then bolted for the jungle. Blaise swore and hastily reassembled the P90, shouting a heads-up to anyone nearby. So far the Others hadn't shown much cleverness; their one and only raid had been quick and silent initially, but direct. So this probably wasn't a diversion.

Probably. But the survivors had split themselves into two groups now--three, if you counted the few who had not yet returned from the crash site. So additional caution was in order.

Blaise slapped the magazine into place on the P90 as he got to his feet. He worked the slide to chamber the first round and then went still, looking and listening intently. A faint crunch of feet on gravel behind him. Blaise checked that it was one of the survivors exiting the cave, then turned his attention back to the front.

"Stay back," Blaise warned. "We may have trouble." He wished he could radio Dr. Jackson at the beach, but the battery situation precluded keeping the radios on constantly. Infrequent but regular contacts were the best they could do, and that wasn't due for hours yet.

He itched to follow the Doctor and Jack, but someone had to guard the campsite. And it looked like he was elected.

[Ash] Into the Breach! (open tag)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I got that from the way you leaped up with your gun and the Doc and Jack went running off," Ash said.

He raised the big walking stick he was carrying. "I'm going to follow those two," he said. "You've got the BFG-9000 there. If you have to use it, we'll hear--and I'll come running. In the mean time, I may be able to help out there."

Blaise clearly didn't like the idea, but he didn't argue. "Just be careful," he said. "And if it turns out to be nothing, be sure to send someone back this way to let us know."

"Sure," Ash said gruffly. They both knew the chances of it being 'nothing' were slim to none. That just wasn't how life was on the island.

Ash took off down the path, watching for trouble as he went.

[Chloe] Two Minds Are Better Than One

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Blaise was adamant. Enough people had already gone rushing headlong into possible danger. He didn't want anyone else to leave the caves until they knew what was going on. Chloe found his attitude unsurprising--but annoying.

Surprisingly, Lex and Weevil had agreed with him. The three of them presented a united front that left Veronica and Chloe with no choice but to back down...unless they were prepared to try to physically escape. And Lex and Weevil made it clear that were up for that. Blaise wisely kept silent and watched the jungle outside for threats.

"Fine," Veronica and Chloe said almost in unison, which forced an unwilling grin from Chloe, quickly hidden. They started back into the caves, stopping when Lex and Weevil made to follow. "Stay here," Veronica snapped.

"Yeah, you want to guard the caves--guard us," Chloe agreed, "then guard the caves. Stay with Blaise."

"Yes ma'am," Lex said.

Veronica and Chloe headed back into the dimly lit cave. Behind them, Lex asked Weevil, "There isn't another exit, is there?"

"Not that anybody's found yet," Weevil replied.

Veronica and Chloe resumed their places in one of the caverns, where they'd been weaving sleeping mats. The cave floor was remarkably even for the most part, but hard and cold. Some padding--and ideally some insulation--between your body and the floor of the cave was going to be very useful.

"So what have we learned today?" Veronica asked Chloe after a few moments of silence. It had become a ritual between them over the last two weeks. They were both insatiably curious and well-practiced at snooping. They each spent the day talking to people and gathering information and gossip, then shared it.

"I think Daisy's like George," Chloe said, then flicked her gaze up from the handwork she was concentrating on. She caught the momentary wince Veronica made. After growing up in Smallville, Chloe was much better prepared to face--and accept the reality of--all the strangeness on the island. Veronica had lived a much more...mundane life, adventurous though it had been.

"You mean a--" the hesitation was almost imperceptible "--Grim Reaper?"

"Yeah," Chloe said. "I mean, we know Amanda's dead, right?"

"Yes," Veronica said. And they did. The two of them had snuck away from camp with a cover story about foraging, even managing to ditch Lex and Weevil for once. It took them most of a day to laboriously follow the trail that Locke and the others had made. Neither of them was an expert tracker, but they'd managed, finding the makeshift cairn in which Amanda had been entombed.

"Well, assuming George's story is true, someone would need to take Amanda's soul...." Chloe said, and waited for Veronica to make the connection.

"...and George was away from camp, and is still away from camp," Veronica said. Chloe nodded. "But Daisy followed them," Veronica said, her discomfort forgotten in the excitement of working out a puzzle. "We wondered about that," she added.

Chloe nodded again. "Right. It might have been just because John was leading the group--"

"--but that didn't seem likely."

"Or maybe she wanted to make sure Amanda was punished--"

"--because she's George's friend."

"Or maybe she followed them because she knew or suspected that they would kill Amanda, and she had to be there to do her Grim Reaper bit," Chloe said. "After all, we know she and George knew one another before our flight. They even share a house."

Veronica nodded slowly. "Could be," she said. "And Daisy doesn't seem to be fazed by blood and gore any more than George is. That would explain it."

"It would," Chloe agreed.

[Veronica] Two Minds Are Better Than One

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Veronica settled back against the cave wall. "Jeez," she muttered. "Grim Reapers. Psychics. Time travelers." She flicked a glance at Chloe. "Meteor freaks, though at least there are none of those on the island."

Chloe smiled faintly. Veronica suspect she was thinking (That we know of, anyway.) Veronica was well aware of the item addressed to Chloe in that wooden box full of "gifts" for the group. A small velvet case--lead-lined, as it turned out--containing a delicate silver necklace with an unfamiliar glowing green stone set in it.

"Kryptonite," Chloe had called it once. Veronica asked why and Chloe had given her a song and dance neither of them thought she'd bought, but Veronica hadn't asked again. And Chloe was careful to refer to it only as "meteor rock" thereafter.

"So what do you think is going on out there?" Veronica asked.

Chloe shrugged. "Dunno. We'll find out soon enough, I guess."

"You know, Lex had a good idea," Veronica said. "About another exit. We really ought to see where these caves go, and whether there's another exit somewhere."

Chloe met Veronica's sly grin with one of her own. "We've got torches," she said. "And it's only reasonable to make sure we won't be attacked from behind, from another exit. Lex and Weevil won't like it, though."

"All the better," Veronica said.

They discarded their weaving projects and began collecting the things they'd need to explore the depths of the cave.

[Locke, Tommy, Emerson] Quick decision (open tag)

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Clarice's shout carried the short distance into the jungle to where Hugh, Locke, and Tommy were tanning a boar hide. The three immediately looked up from their messy work. One hundred feet to their left several survivors crashed through the foliage. "The garden," Locke stated. His immediate concern for Daisy's safety was somewhat assuaged by the fact that she was a grim reaper.

Tommy had already moved to join the others. "Tommy, wait!" Locke called. The young man skidded to a halt and turned to frown at Locke curiously. "I'll go. Hopefully it's nothing. If it's not, we'll need a tracker, and we shouldn't leave the camp unguarded."

Emerson nodded. "Right. C'mon, Tommy." He stiffly started back toward the camp. "Least you can run," he grumbled.

Although Tommy was clearly torn, he complied. Locke loped after the other survivors heading to the garden, clapping Tommy on the back as he passed.

[Chris] Should've been there

[estirose.livejournal.com]

Chris had not been at the community garden, though he should have been. Instead, he'd been caught up gathering fruits, and therefore seeds, near the beach camp.

When he saw a handful of people running in the direction of the path to the caves, he joined in, wishing that he could heal. He doubted it was a demon attack, but given this island, anything was possible.

[Kenzaki] Disturbances (open tag)

[estirose.livejournal.com]

Kenzaki was on high alert from the first scream.

He'd been patrolling in the general area of where the new garden was being set up, but in the opposite direction, hoping to find more snare traps before they got anyone else like they'd gotten him

When he heard the screams, he ran towards the garden, suddenly aware of how far off the path he'd gotten. When he arrived, all of the gardeners were missing.

He saw movement off the path. He struck out, tried to grab the person to see if they were friend or foe. The figure slashed at his hand, leaving bright green blood in its wake, and then he was punched into unconsciousness.

(OOC: Kenzaki's still there, just out of it for the moment.)

[Aiden] Strange New World (open tag)

[det-aiden-burn.livejournal.com]

Aiden was slowly settling into life at the caves. It had been a difficult a decision not to move from the beach. She never really liked the beach, unless it came with a boardwalk. And now that her medication was finally kicking in she didn't have to always have the cushion of the sand beneath here. But she wasn't sure she'd like life in the jungle. Unless it was an urban jungle.

She missed New York. She still felt like an outsider among the other castaways. She hated not knowing why she was missing two weeks from her memory. Though she knew it could very well be for the best. And she had yet to find her own place in this twisted little survivor family. She wondered what was going on back home. Did they miss her at work. Or had they forgotten her already.

Well in tuned to her surroundings (what self respecting Detective wasn't?) the commotion brought her to her feet and she raced off to find out what the hell was going on.

Molly

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

Molly had a basket of plants weighing on her shoulder. Both medicinal and savory shared the basket equally. She’d gone to gather more so the garden might be completed, at least the planting stage, by nightfall. Her bow was strung across her back, her quiver banged against her leg as she walked. Her other hip held her knife in its sheath, She moved freely through the forest now, often alone. But never unarmed.

She heard the cry and froze. A moment of panic gripped her as she relived the fear of her attempted kidnapping. But then she dropped the basket and climbed the nearest tree. Among the branches she ran and jumped, making only the slightest of noises when a more slender limb bent under her weight.

She pulled her bow over her shoulder, already reaching for an arrow by the time she reached the garden.

Already having been half way there she was the first to arrive.

There was no one in the garden. Neat little rows of soft earth had been dug up, but there was signs of a lot of trampling at the one end, next to the plants left laying unplanted and the few tools left abandoned on the ground. Molly was no tracker, not by a long shot, but she could see the signs of someone being dragged in the softer earth of the dug up garden.

“Daana bless us.” She whispered.

Jumping down from the tree she kept clear of the garden’s trampled earth. The few trackers they did have might be able to make some sense of it. But she did reach down to pick up something odd. It looked like a dart. The kind used in that old Mutual of Omaha series, not the newer kind.

What she wouldn’t give for Clarice’s gong right now. Which way should she run for help? She had just turned for the cave area, where she’d last seen Blaise with his nice big gun, when the first help arrived.

(**OOC: Very minor edit made in re: to Blaise's location...)

[Doctor] (w/ Jack and Molly) Anger (tag all)

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

The Doctor broke through the clearing seconds before Jack. He knew without looking that the ex-Time Agent had his gun out and was doing a sweep of the clearing before even coming to a complete stop.

The Garden area was empty except for the small redhead to the left.

“Stop! Don’t go any further.” The woman, Molly, held up her arm, the arrow she held touched him in the chest as if to block him. She gave the order crisply, but her voice shook a bit.

“What happened? Where are they? Where’s Rose?” His own tone was clipped and irritated about being told what to do.

“They were here, gardening. I heard a cry, someone yelled Rose’s name. By the time I got here this was all I found. If you go further you’ll fuck up the tracks. We do have people who can track. And you can’t possibly drag off four people without leaving a trail of some sort. Unless magic is involved.” The redhead closed her eyes and considered for a moment. “It wasn’t.” She handed The Doctor the old style tranquilizer dart.

Four people… Rose. The Doctor felt the cold creep over him. “This isn’t The Others.”

No time to panic. That did nothing. Now was the time to think and act. He brought the needle of the dart to his mouth and stuck it in his mouth. He considered what he could taste there. Metal, chemicals, blood… separate them. He analyzed each part.

“Blood, B positive, Ketamine and Flunitrazepam. Tranqualizers.” The Doctor announced.

“Wasn’t Claire here? Whoever did this didn’t much care what they were doing to her baby.” Jack spoke up.

“They kidnapped four women after drugging them, I seriously doubt they were bothered by the moral ramifications of drugging a pregnant woman.” The Doctor snapped.

Jack shut up, but the worry in his eyes was tinged with sypathy.

“Where were you? Weren’t you supposed to be here too?” The Doctor spun on Molly.

The petite redhead stood a bit straighter and glared back. “I went to collect more plants. You think I did this?” Her tone was both wounded and defensive.

“No, he doesn’t.” He heard Jack and felt the other man put his hand on his shoulder. “He’s worried and short tempered.”

And angry. Very, very angry. Why was Molly standing here and not Rose? That was not productive. It solved nothing.

But his musing was cut short as others began to arrive.

Molly turned away from him, her eyes already bright with tears, her shoulders shaking a bit.

“Don’t step in the garden, keep to the edge.” Molly called out to the new arrivals. A tiny, one woman, police line.

[Quentin] Ugh (tag Locke, other responders)

[rwarner.livejournal.com]

Quentin arrived at the garden just behind Clarice and Miho. Molly, The Doctor, and Jack were already there, and Molly was keeping people from walking on the freshly-dug dirt in the garden.

"Who all is missing?" Quentin asked.

"Claire, Rose, Ami, and Daisy were here when I left to gather plants," Molly replied.

Charlie arrived, panting, just in time to hear Claire's name. "Claire? What happened to Claire? Where is she?" Charlie tried to push through the small group.

"Calm down Charlie, quit your pushing. We need to keep the tracks preserved so that Locke or one of the other trackers can see where they've been taken."

Quentin put his hand on Charlie's shoulder and gave him a hard stare. Ever since he'd broken up the fight between Charlie and Harry a week ago, the young Brit had kept as far away from Quentin as possible. The stare was enough to remind him why.

"Has anyone seen Locke? Does he know what's happened yet?" Quentin asked the others.

In response a voice came from behind him, "I'm right here Quentin, and I'm beginning to get an idea of what's happened."

[Chris] Ugh (tag Quentin, Locke, other responders)

[estirose.livejournal.com]

Chris arrived shortly behind everybody else. Molly was keeping everybody off the garden patch; he knew why, but he still wanted to see if it was a demon attack.

He heard a groan, saw movement as one of the non-English speakers, one whose name he wasn't sure of but wasn't the one who fished, came out of the woods to one side, holding a hand to his head.

A hand with something green running down it. He ran to steady the man, trying to keep him out of the garden, and examine the hand. He doubted that anybody here was a demon, but it didn't hurt to check.

The man didn't seem to have any wounds, but the green stuff worried Chris. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Giving him a wan smile, the other answered, "I'm okay" in a thick accent. No comprehension laced the words.

[Jac] Un-f**king believable (Tag Quentin, larger rescue group)

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

Jack saw Quentin on the ground, blood coming from his head. Damnit. He'd caught a fleeting glance at Charlie the Mornon, as the Doctor called him, dissappearing into the trees.

Between his shouting and assinine lone ranger act, he was going to get someone killed. With any luck it would only be himself.

As it was he had cost one more hand in the rescue.

"Quentin. Comeone, buddy." Jack crouched, lightly slapping the older man's face. He checked his wrist comp. No skull fracture. But he was concussed. "Doctor..."

The Doctor bent over Quentin. He was utterly cold, now, his face a mask, and Jack was a bit worried.

He was the most dangerous when he was like that. That was the face of "The Oncoming Storm".

His impatience bit through the cold mask. He Checked the man's pulse and used his Sonic Screwdriver for a quick diagnostic of his own.

"Concussion. He can't be left alone, or he might be next."

"We need someone to stay with Quentin, maybe walk him back to the caves." Jack looked to the rest of the group.

[Clarice] Un-f**king believable (Tag Quentin, larger rescue group)

[lambs-heroine.livejournal.com]

Clarice heard the yelling and her eyes went huge. Oh God, can't these fucking idiots at least keep the internal betrayals and chaos down while we're trying to save people?

But no. Charlie had given Quentin a concussion and run off.

Clarice hurried over, and the sight of the fiasco almost made her lose it right fucking there. Her eyes brimmed with tears, the last of the color left her face and for a moment she looked ready to put that damned gun to her own temple. But instead, she swallowed and looked around at the others. "I can't stay. I'm still a decent shot and we need that." She glanced at Molly, but the redhead looked determined to see the offensive through.

"What about Charlie?" Jack asked. "Do we go after him?"

Clarice voted against it immediately. "He a-a-attacked one of us and sidetracked the search. He's able-bodied while the people we're rescuing are drugged, helpless and being guarded. I s-say we don't go after him. He can look after his own selfish ass until we get back with t-t-the captives, and t-then he can b-be found a-and punished for assaulting one of us."

[Doctor] We'll get them back (tag larger group, tag MARA)

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

When someone had stepped forward to watch over Quentin, Jack continued to lead the way. The Doctor wasn't about to be held up too long, not when it wasn't life or death and the girls situation could be.

The plants whipped at leather of his jacketbut the broken bits proved the kidnappers went this way. For another quarter mile, at least. Then Jack stopped and crouched down to examine the ground.

"What is it?" The Doctor crouched as well. He wasn't much of a tracker, never really had to be. But even he could see the well trapled path suddenly ceased.

"The stopped, and stood here." Jack pointed to the change in the tracks from striding to feet side by side. "Then nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Molly pushed through. The Doctor watched her close her eyes and breathe deeply and she crouched and held a open hand low, over the ground. "No magic." She almost whispered.

Jack looked up at The Doctor. "Transmat?"

"Or teleporters." He looked up to the treetops. They hadn't heard an aircraft of any sort, and the canopy was too thick to land anything, even to drop a ladder or a basket.

"Okay. So either way there has to be a range, right?" Jack stood and paced around the tracks.

"Limited to the island, at least. So they're still here." The Doctor considered the options. "They want them alive or they wouldn't have gone through all this trouble."

He used that as his own life line. Rose was alive. Otherwise they'd have killed them in the garden. But what was happening to her?

Ami was an advanced human, pleanty of reason for some immoral body to want to study her. He had his suspicions about Daisy as well. But that meant somone should head out and warn those who split off. George and Mara might be in serious danger.

There was no help for it, he was going to have to do the one thing he had avoided doing. But there just might be a way to reduce the shock for Mara...

The Doctor mentally reached out for the TARDIS, and she answered. Not in words, she never used words with him. But there was comfort and sympathy, and a dose of her own anger.

He mentally told her what he wanted to do. It used more of the energy she had so recently just built back up, delaying their escape by that bit more. But she would act as a buffer.

"Doc, what're you..."

He held up a hand to silence Jack. The Doctor went perfectly still, his own eyes closed as he reached out, through the Tardis...

(Continued in the Mara thread)