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fandomhigh2005-09-30 12:58 pm
likeguidelines.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2005-09-30 12:58 pm
Barbossa's Treasure Huntin' Group--Journalism Field Trip
His treasure map clasped in a grubby hand, Barbossa waves his hat above the milling crowd of journalism students to get his group's attention.
"Mister O'Neill, Mizz Sullivan, and wenches goin' by the names of Jake 'n George--ye be with me."
He looked around for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mitsumushi. "Let's be gettin' this adventure underway, then."
Clasping her hands together, Mitusmushi bowed and gave him a polite smile. "We will simply need to enter the library, and I will lead you to your destination."
Did he just call me a "wench?" George wonders to herself as she shuffles over to join Barbossa and Mitsumushi. She pushes her bag further up on her shoulder and sighs.
Jake steps carefully along after George, from the raised eyebrow, she's wondering the exact same thing.
Chloe follows them, wondering how she ended up not being called a wench.
Jack double-checks the safety on Glen (his P90) and hikes his pack up a little higher.
"Colonel O'neill is fine by me, the mister thing sounds weird. What's our first stop?"
"If you will follow me?" Mitsumushi pushed open the door to the library and ventured within. "We have merely to navigate the stacks and your destination is assured."
Jack had a bad feeling in the pit of is stomach. That was never good. "Sure just... Okay. Yeah."
"Hey, hey, wait!" Jake pressed her way forwards to eye Mitsumushi suspiciously. "Does this involve the Special Section somehow?"
"If it does then there's a good chance we're gonna need a lot more then a map..."
Jake frowned. "Well, if a drawer eats my hand again, I'm not going anywhere until I have it back. Just so's you know."
Jack doesn't look even remotely phased. "Don't worry I'm sure someone brought a stapler we can use if that happens." Jack's eyes scan the girl beside him. "Name's Jack, you?"
"Jake." Jake held up a hand, ticking items off as she went. "I'm a guy, you don't want to come between me and my coffee, I heal, so if you want to play hero, you'll better throw yourself in front of..." She paused, mentally going through the group. "..Uh, Chloe? 'Cause George is dead, I think."
Jack mirrors Jake, ticking off his responses with only the slightest bit of mocking. "Pre-op or post? Promise I won't touch the coffee, I've got my own. And I'll try not to jump in front of any woman-eaters for you. Is the George girl dead now or did she used to be?"
"I can tell we're going to get on just swimmingly," Jake said, grinning brightly. "And... I think she still is?" She glanced back over her shoulder, then frowned. "Kind of hard to say."
"I'm undead," George corrects flatly, then shrugs. "It has its perks."
"Does that mean you can get killed or not?" Jake wanted to know. "Or, like, lose bits?"
"Well, I'm already dead. I can't die twice. But I can definitely lose bits." George wrinkles her nose. "One time I was at work, and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Fed my finger through an industrial-grade paper shredder." She holds up her right index finger and grins. "It got better eventually."
"Undead as in zombie, vampire, death or something else entirely?"
"Undead as in Death Incarnate. I'm a reaper." George gives Jake a lopsided grin. "That might come in handy, too."
Jack: "A reaper? Say have you met a guy named Daniel? Sandy brownish hair, glasses, kinda dorky?"
George shakes her head. "No, can't say I have. Is he a student?"
"Teacher. Dies a lot though, thought maybe you'd... helped him along once or twice."
George laughs. "I think I'd remember reaping a teacher, so, no, that wasn't me."
"Oh he hasn't died since he's been here except for that one weekend... he used to be and archaeologist type thing.."
"Huh! Well, if I get his Post-It, I'll be sure to let you know."
"Sweet, though odds are I'll probably be right there next to him. Again."
"...Interesting." Jake sounds like she means it too. "So what're you all bringing? Better tally up now before heading into hell, right?"
George looks down and begins to rummage through her bag. "I didn't have much to bring, and I'm not all that great with the whole weapons thing, so all I've got is this X-Acto blade that my old roommate left behind." She holds up the blade, which still has its protective plastic covering. "I've also got some cookies left over from the campaign yesterday, this big econo-sized container of ibuprofen, um... I've got this little LED keychain flashlight. A bottle of Deer Park. Oh! And this little pad of Post-its."
"Oh, post-its!" Jake says approvingly. "I brought coffee. Lots of it." She holds up her thermos. "This, and beans and instant. In plastic bags for protection. Um. And a Swiss Army Knife, and a flashlight. But mostly coffee."
George grins. "Oh, honey. I think I love you."
"Coffee is the most important food group," Jake grins back. "Oh, I'm bringing my 'port key, just in case, and my shinypretty G-Reader."
Jack: "G-reader?"
"DNA reader. Was a gift from the professor. Tells me what people, uh, creature are. And stuff," Jake says vaguely. No need to share every little thing, after all.
"As opposed to looking at them?"
Jake stares at him. "...How do you expect that to work?"
"Well given a lot of things out there look human but I think it's safe to say that if it has multiple heads, a horn and a chicken growing outta it's back it's probably not. And besides, isn't it kinda unsafe to go...reading things left and right?"
“…No.”
Jack: "P90, side-arm, zat, knives, MRE's, water, first aid kit, maglight, nightvision goggles, alcohol (The kind for dissinfecting wounds), coffee, rope, compass, torch-lighter, electric lantern, a (music) radio, and a (walkie-talkie type) radio. The other one is with the Doc."
Chloe rifles through her bag, checking. "I've got two extra sets of clothes - female sized, sorry Jack - a flashlight and extra batteries, water, crackers, some bandanas we can use if we need cloth for bandages or anything, my camera, and a switchblade." She grabs the knife and puts it in her pocket. "Better keep that at easy reach.
"Damn. I really wanted to wear something frilly too. I do like the way you think though, practical."
Chloe laughs. "Thanks. I've never done something like this before, so I figured practical will be the best option. I'll bring something frilly next time, just for you."
"Practical is always good, it's amazing how many people completely overlook the obvious isn't it? And do make sure it's pink, got it? With ruffles."
Barbossa rifles through his sea bag. "I be havin' beans and crackers, the map, rum, me change of clothes, water, more rum than might be accounted as strictly necessary, and a few more bits 'n bobs." He pats his rifle and sword. "I think we be ready, then."
"Well as long as you have the...neccessities. Sir."
Barbossa looked around. "Last minute bathroom breaks? Runs back to the dorms? Pleas fer yer lives? Okay."
He bowed extravagantly at Mitsumushi. "We be ready when ye are."
"Pissed before I got here. I'm ready to go."
George swallows, a little nervous. "Ready as I'm ever going to be."
With a very shallow bow, Mitsumushi turned and headed into the library. She bypassed the more public area and made a left hand turn between the shelves.
Jake trotted along beside Chloe, eyeing the shelves suspiciously like she was expecting books to jump out and attack her.
Chloe glances over at Jake, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Don't get worried yet, we haven't even left school grounds."
Barbossa followed in his group's wake, reading titles of books as they walked past. He hadn't been in the library before.
"...You've obviously never been to this library," Jake mutters back. "Watch out for the trampling herd of wild Thesauri, and the drawers, and back there..." She twists to point. "I think Krycek was hit by the hallucination darts. That was fun. Not."
George mutters darkly to herself upon hearing this information. This is the first time she's been anywhere near the library since starting class almost a month ago. Sounds like there's no reason to start now!
Chloe smirks at Jake. "I was actually trapped in this library during the zombie invasion. I don't know, maybe I was too busy dealing with undead things trying to eat me to notice homicidal books. Or maybe the books just don't like you and Krycek," she teases.
"They were probably busy eating the zombies."
"Well then, that would make them good killer books, now wouldn't it?"
“…No.”
Jack snaps his fingers "That's where I know you from! Which team where you on?"
"I was on the shiny bladed weapons team. Although, I did get to use a gun for the first time too. That was loads of fun," she says, grinning at Jack.
"Sweet. I was commander of the guns team. Did you get anything?"
"A few things, yeah. My aim was better than I thought it would be. It was actually kind of fun to use."
"If the gun club ever gets going you should join, it just gets more fun every time you shoot."
Chloe nods. "I was actually thinking of getting someone to give me lessons, so I can shoot properly. That sounds like it could be fun."
"Just don't let Blank teach you, his last student shot him in the ass."
Chloe laughs. "I'll stay away from him then. Thanks for the warning."
"No problem, just trying to keep you safe."
Mitsumushi seemed perfectly certain of the way, ignoring the strange noises from some of the books and the way some of them seemed to move. The shelves were holding older and older texts now. Scrolls, papyrus... slowly they were moving into the realm of chiseled tablets.
"...Bet you any second now these things are gonna jump off the shelves and bludgeon you to death," Jake mutters darkly as they pass the chiseled tablets.
"Don't worry little lady, I'll protect you from the big bad books."
Barbossa grinned. "And wouldn't that be a grand way t'start the weekend."
Chloe snickers as Jack calls Jake "little lady." "We'll be fine, stop worrying. Save it for the cannibals."
"Poor girl, don't think she'll make it that far, she just might catch her death of fear right here in this isle don't'cha think?"
Chloe smirks as Jake grumbles and glares at Jack. "I think she'll be just fine. We all will. Professor Jerusalem wouldn't really send any of us out to die...I don't think."
"It's not death I'm worried about, it's being left alive."
"Hmm. You may have a point there," Chloe says, frowning a little.
"You mustn't upset the books," Mitsumushi advised her softly. "They're very sensitive...."
***
Abruptly, the rows of shelves ended, leaving them in a small stone hut, surrounded by carved tablets. "We have arrived," Mitsumushi announced unnecessarily.
"Thank ye kindly," Barbossa said to Mitsumushi.
He walked over to one of the tablets and stared at it for a while. "I be havin' no idea what it be sayin', but I figgered it couldn't hurt to check," he finally said.
He unrolled the map Professor Jerusalem had given him. "We be here," he said, pointing to the position marked "landfall" on the map with a grubby finger. "We be headin' here"--another finger poked the "X" on the opposite side of the island--"and it seems t'be mornin' by the daylight comin' in right now." He rolled up the map. "Shall we see what form of adventure be waitin' fer us?"
Chloe peered at the map over Barbossa's shoulder. "Oh, we've got cannibals and monsters. Fantastic." She rolled her eyes to Jake. "Well, I'm ready as I'll ever be."
"Any non-humans with us to tease the cannibals with?"
"Now thar be an idea. Mayhaps we kin pick one up along the way."
"More than one would probably be a good idea, at least one per person."
"If ye see anythin' that strikes ye as cannibal-snack like while we're walkin', give a shout. Assumin' it be not tryin' to eat us first, o' course."
"Got it."
"Before we head out into the island-forest-jungle-thing out thar, be there anything more ye might be able to tell us about this place, Mitsumushi?" Barbossa asked, turning to their guide.
"Hopefully that we won't die?"
"That would be rather reassurin'."
"I know I won't. You, I'm not so sure about," Jake smirked at Jack. She blinked suddenly. "...If you're here," she pointed at Barbossa. "And Logan's with the professor... Who the hell is watering my coffee tree?"
George impatiently blows stray hairs out of her face. She was already beginning to sweat. "They have these packets of gel you can get, for like when you go on vacation and stuff. You open one, and dump the gel all over the dirt, and it'll water your plant for up to a week." She shrugs. "They do an okay job."
"That still don't answer my question, since I didn't know about them before I left." Jake's face falls. "...My poor coffee tree."
Barbossa looked over at his roommate. "Remember what the good Professor be sayin' about time. Mayhaps when we finish, we be endin' up at the school last Wednesday or somethin'."
"That's true." Jake brightened again. "Coffee tree was definitely alive last Wednesday."
Barbossa turned around to where Mitsumushi had been. Now there was only bare earth. "That can't be a good sign," he said. He walked across the hut and pushed open the door. Sunlight flooded into the space. Outside birds were twittering in the trees, the waves were lapping gently on the beach, and tiny fuzzy rats singing "We've Got Cabin Fever" were running past.
Barbossa blinked at that last bit. "Shall we see what form of monsters be in that jungle, then?" He tapped the map. "Seems to be the only way to get from where we be to where the treasure be."
"If we must," Jake sighed, squinting after the rats. "Oh wait a moment." She pulled her backpack off, rummaged through it for a bit and came up with something the looked like a DVD-remote with a LED display. She put her backpack back on. "Okay, I'm ready."
Barbossa looked at the device in Jake's hands. "Shiny," he said. "What kin that do?"
"Tell me what creatures are." Jake shrugged. "I figure it could be handy to help us to figure out how to kill things or whatever. Like snails and salt, or something."
"That will be handy," Barbossa agreed. "Mayhaps we can use it t'find cannibal bait like O'Neill suggested."
He led the group towards the jungle.
Jake stepped carefully behind Barbossa, determinded to keep Rory's shoes unharmed (at least for as long as he possibly could). She was holding her thermos in one hand, and pointing the G-Reader towards the trees with the other. "Oh, wow, it's a jungle in there," she said, watching the G-Reader flicker to life.
Chloe follows behind Jake, trying not to let on how nervous the sudden excitedness of the G-Reader is making her. "Well, at least there are things out there that are recognizable. That's a good sign."
"...Yeah." Jake turns her head to look at her, eyebrows raised. "Except no. If I'm reading this right, there's an awful lot of carnivores here."
Barbossa turned to look at Jake. "Would that thing be tellin' ye how big these 'carnivores' be?" A thundering crash echoed from the jungle. "I be guessin' they not be tiny fluffy-type carnivores."
Jake squinted at the G-Reader. "...Not exactly, but if I'm going to make an educated guess? Big, sharp teeth..." She frowned. "Or beaks. Right thataway is bird-things." She pointed slightly to the left of where they'd paused.
Chloe swallows hard, glancing at the G-Reader. "Do I even want to ask what's in the other direction?"
"Small, fluffy bunnies." Jake shook the reader. "No, wait. Big bunnies with teef aik tiff."
"Oh, that's much better." Chloe rolls her eyes. "So, our choices are getting beaked to death, or bitten by raging bunnies?"
"...Pretty much," Jake nodded. "So which is more tempting, Barbossa, man? You great leader, you decide."
"I be sayin' bunnies. At least they probably be not able to fly." He looked at the group. "And because we have powerful incentive to do well against them. No one be ever lettin' us live down defeat at the hands, err, paws o' bunnies."
"All right then, bunnies it is." Chloe motions to the right, getting her switchblade out of her pocket. "If you have weapons, I think now would be the time to ready them."
Barbossa pulled his pistol from where it had been resting on his waist. "I be thinkin' tryin' t'hit a bunny with a sword may be a exercise in futility." They moved further into the jungle. A hundred feet in front of them, low lying-brush began moving ominously.
"Everyone be ready?" Barbossa muttered.
Jack takes the safety off on his P90.
"Ready."
A creature came zipping out of the undergrowth. Teeth bared, it bore a slight resemblance to rabbit if rabbits were larger, pinker, and inclined towards eating something other than carrots. Barbossa shot it with his pistol.
The undergrowth shook some more. Barbossa looked at the rest of the group. "Think we got their attention."
"Gee, ya think?"
George clutched her Swiss Army knife, almost wishing she had thought to ask Jayne for a gun, and wondering if her reaping abilities would work on bunnies. "Jesus Christ," she muttered, watching as the felled "rabbit" bled into the jungle floor. "That's no bunny. What the hell has the Professor got us into?"
Chloe is beginning to wish she'd started getting gun training a lot sooner. "Whatever it is, I think it's a lot worse than we joked about," she says, turning a little to watch Jake stare at the G-Reader behind her. "One down, dozens to go?"
"Yeah, can't that thing work faster?" George demands nervously.
Barbossa was reloading his pistol. "All in favor of movin' away from the scary rabbits be sayin' aye." He looked Jake. "Be thar an option other than scary beaked things or bunnies?"
"Aye." George replied automatically. "Let's get the hell out of here."
"...Yeah," Jake said slowly. "But I'm not sure if it's much better."
"Worse than zombies?" George grabs Jake's arm and tries to get a look at the G-Reader's screen. Her mouth drops open. "What the fuck is that?"
"I have no idea." Jake shook the G-Reader to see if that cleared things up. It didn't. "It might be plants." shake, shake. "Or not. We can go and find out, I guess."
"You realize if we go find out they're gonna be giant man woman people-eating plants, right?"
Barbossa fired another shot into the underbrush. "Do the plants be movin' as fast as the bunnies? If not, I say be headin' towards them."
"Seconded!" George shouted, ducking as one of the "bunnies" flew out from nowhere and dove effortlessly over the heads of the group.
"Thirded!" Chloe exclaims, moving closer into the group as more bunnies start to come out from the underbrush.
Jake stared down at the G-Reader trying to make sense of the readings. "No, I don't think they're mo-- what the fuck?" She exclaimed, hitting the ground as a bunny-thing bounced towards her. The bunny-thing bounced over her and away. Jake rolled over on her back. "Boss?" She said calmly. "May I suggest that we fucking RUN!"
With that shout, she was on her feet and busy storming in the direction of the plants, which hopefully at least didn't have teeth. Even if they probably did eat human flesh. Perhaps they wouldn't eat mutant flesh, though. Jake brightened at that thought.
George followed close behind Jake at a dead run, her heart racing, barely able to catch her breath.
Barbossa was right behind Jake. "How far to the evil plant things?" he asked, ducking as another bunny went shooting past. "Not that I be particularly carin', mind."
He shot another bunny. "Evil attackin' bunnies. No one be believin' us."
"That's true - Chloe, quick! Take a picture!" Jake yelled, stepping quickly around a ditch. The shoes would survive, damnit. "Not long now, boss, and I'm not reading any freaky bunnies, just the plant. Things. Um."
Barbossa pointed to a giant Venus fly-trap looming about fifty yards in front of them. "Yer gizmo has a way of understatin' things a bit, Jake," he muttered.
"...And now I get why there aren't any bunnies here."
Barbossa tossed a stick towards the plant and watched with a sickened fascination as it was snapped into tiny, tiny pieces.
He squinted up towards the sun. "This is the way we must be goin', though. Let's not be makin' any sudden-like movements near the angry plant then." He began carefully edging his way around it.
Chloe runs up behind them, having snapped as many pictures of the bunnies as she could without getting shiny bunny teeth-marks in her. She stops just in time to keep from crashing into George, and gazes up at the plant, swallowing all the swear words that immediately come to mind.
George glances at Chloe and mutters, "Feed me, Seymore."
Barbossa looked confused. "It be named Seymore?" He squinted. "I be not seein' a name tag on it, but ye seem t'be sure about it." He eased his way around the plant. "Nice Seymore. Ye don't want t'be eatin' us. We're far too chewy fer ye."
George shakes her head, realizing the movie reference was lost on Barbossa. "Yep." she agrees instead. "Waaaaaay too chewy."
Jake followed Barbossa, clutching her thermos and G-Reader tightly. "And no tripping," Jake adviced. "Tripping would be baaaaaaaaaaaa- :kertonk:"
Jake sat at the bottom of the hole, staring up. "Help! I'm fallen and I can't get up!" Jake shouted, and then she sat down to wait while her broken ankle and arm healed. They'd rescue her, surely?
Eventually?
Well, even if they didn't, at the bottom of a hole was probably the safest place to be on the entire island.
"Shit!" George hunkers down. "Jake, are you okay?"
"I'm fine! But I can't get up!" Jake yelled back. "Any of you have a rope or something? Oh and watch out for the plant-thing!"
Chloe glanced over towards the sound of Jake's voice, before straightening up and facing the plant. "I'll keep an eye on the plant, you guys get her out of there."
"I be havin' some rope," Barbossa said, reaching into his sea bag. He unfurled it and tossed it down the hole. "Jake?" he called. "Kin ye reach it?"
Jake tried, then winced. "No, and my arm's not healed, yet, sorry! It kind of broke in the fall. And my ankle," she added, as the twitching made her remember.
Chloe frowns a little at Jake's words, and tosses another stick to the plant to keep it occupied. "Nice plant," she coos. "Nice crazy man eating plant. Eat your stick and stay right over there."
"Do you need an extra hand?" George asks, indicating the end of the rope at her feet.
Barbossa listened to Jake's response with a grimace. He looked at George. "Ye think ye can go down after him if we be tying this rope to an non-people eatin' tree? Help him, err, her up?" He yelled down to Jake. "Would it be helpful to ye if George came down t'lend ye a hand gettin' back up here? Or would ye rather spend the rest of the day in the hole?" He thought about it. "Which might not be a bad choice, given what we've seen so far."
George's eyes widen. "You want me to go down there?"
"Up here thar be a man-eatin' plant," Barbossa said. "Down thar is just Jake. I'd be headin' down the hole meself if I thought ye could bring me back up."
"Shit shit shit!" George swore under her breath.
"Fine, I'll go." she said louder, to Barbossa. "How should we do this?"
Seriously considering Barbossa's suggestion for a moment, Jake ended up nixing that idea. Would be far too boring. "Tempting, but I think not. Send down George, I think I can get up if I get a push or something."
"Hold on, Jake; I'm on my way!"
"I'm not going anywhere," Jake replied, drily.
George continues to curse under her breath as she takes the end of the rope and begins to wrap it around her waist. She pulls the rest of the rope up from the hole and hands it to Barbossa. "Don't let go of that." she growls.
She goes to her knees, gazing down into the hole apprehensively. She sees Jake's upturned face, pale and anxious. With a final, futile curse, she turns flat onto her stomach and begins to lower herself downwards into the hole.
"You owe me, Gavin -- BIG time!"
Barbossa leaned into a non-carnivorous tree and held onto the rope. "Yer doin' fine," he called. "Just give a good hard yank when ye be ready to come back up."
"Almost there," George mutters to herself as she makes her way to the bottom of the hole. She was pleased to find numerous exposed roots to use as foot- and hand-holds. She glances over her shoulder to gauge whether or not to jump the final few feet, when the root she was standing upon shifts in the unstable, sandy earth. She falls to the bottom of the hole with a crash, landing flat on her ass.
"Ow." she hisses, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. "What the fuck did I land on?" She shifts, reaches beneath her, and pulls out the G-Reader.
"Oh, no... My shinyreadingthingy!" Jake groans upon seeing the shattered G-Reader. "Is it broken?"
"Who cares about that thing? I think my ass is broken." George says, rubbing her posterior. She slowly begins to unwrap the rope from around her waist, and moves to help Jake. "Can you stand at all?"
Jake looks doubtful. "Probably."
"Well, with that ankle and that arm you're not exactly going to be able to climb very far on your own. How do you propose we do this?" George demands.
"If Barbossa pulls, and you push, I should be able to pick up the slack." Jake replies, gasping a little as George accidentally bumps his arm.
"Sorry," George apologizes, wincing in sympathy. She checks the ropes around Jake's waist and sighs. "Okay, you're tied off. You ready?"
Jake nods. "Grab my bag for me, will you?"
George takes Jake's bag from him and drops the battered G-Reader inside. She then takes ahold of Jake's uninjured arm and helps him to his feet. They make their way slowly over to the side of the pit.
"Okay, Barbossa!" George calls. "Let's do this thing and get it over with."
With a grunt, Barbossa began pulling on the rope. His steps brought him dangerously close to the Venus fly-trap.
Chloe turns around at the sound of Barbossa's grunting, and sees him getting closer to the plant. "Look out!" she yells, whirling back around just in time to see that the fly-trap's attention is now on her. "Oooh...good plant," she murmurs, tightening her grip on her knife.
George crouches down and braces her shoulder against Jake's bottom, using all her strength to push him upwards in hopes of lightening Barbossa's load. As Jake's clumsy ascension continues, George switches from using her shoulder to pushing him upwards with her hands.
"Ouch, goddammit!" she exclaims as Jake accidentally brings his foot down on her face.
"Sorry," Jake grunts.
Having assisted him as much as she possible can, George backs up a few steps to watch as Jake manages, with Barbossa's help, to make it up to the lip of the hole. Hands reach down to grasp Jake and pull him up the remainder of the way.
"Okay, now hurry up!" George calls, swinging Jake's bag over her shoulder and looking around the hole nervously. "Get me the hell out of here."
Barbossa helped George out of the hole, and noticed that the plant had turned its attention to Chloe. He picked up another stick and threw it, hoping to distract it for just a little longer. He pointed further into the jungle. "We be headin' that way. And we be headin' quickly."
"Mister O'Neill, Mizz Sullivan, and wenches goin' by the names of Jake 'n George--ye be with me."
He looked around for
mitsumushi. "Let's be gettin' this adventure underway, then."Clasping her hands together, Mitusmushi bowed and gave him a polite smile. "We will simply need to enter the library, and I will lead you to your destination."
Did he just call me a "wench?" George wonders to herself as she shuffles over to join Barbossa and Mitsumushi. She pushes her bag further up on her shoulder and sighs.
Jake steps carefully along after George, from the raised eyebrow, she's wondering the exact same thing.
Chloe follows them, wondering how she ended up not being called a wench.
Jack double-checks the safety on Glen (his P90) and hikes his pack up a little higher.
"Colonel O'neill is fine by me, the mister thing sounds weird. What's our first stop?"
"If you will follow me?" Mitsumushi pushed open the door to the library and ventured within. "We have merely to navigate the stacks and your destination is assured."
Jack had a bad feeling in the pit of is stomach. That was never good. "Sure just... Okay. Yeah."
"Hey, hey, wait!" Jake pressed her way forwards to eye Mitsumushi suspiciously. "Does this involve the Special Section somehow?"
"If it does then there's a good chance we're gonna need a lot more then a map..."
Jake frowned. "Well, if a drawer eats my hand again, I'm not going anywhere until I have it back. Just so's you know."
Jack doesn't look even remotely phased. "Don't worry I'm sure someone brought a stapler we can use if that happens." Jack's eyes scan the girl beside him. "Name's Jack, you?"
"Jake." Jake held up a hand, ticking items off as she went. "I'm a guy, you don't want to come between me and my coffee, I heal, so if you want to play hero, you'll better throw yourself in front of..." She paused, mentally going through the group. "..Uh, Chloe? 'Cause George is dead, I think."
Jack mirrors Jake, ticking off his responses with only the slightest bit of mocking. "Pre-op or post? Promise I won't touch the coffee, I've got my own. And I'll try not to jump in front of any woman-eaters for you. Is the George girl dead now or did she used to be?"
"I can tell we're going to get on just swimmingly," Jake said, grinning brightly. "And... I think she still is?" She glanced back over her shoulder, then frowned. "Kind of hard to say."
"I'm undead," George corrects flatly, then shrugs. "It has its perks."
"Does that mean you can get killed or not?" Jake wanted to know. "Or, like, lose bits?"
"Well, I'm already dead. I can't die twice. But I can definitely lose bits." George wrinkles her nose. "One time I was at work, and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Fed my finger through an industrial-grade paper shredder." She holds up her right index finger and grins. "It got better eventually."
"Undead as in zombie, vampire, death or something else entirely?"
"Undead as in Death Incarnate. I'm a reaper." George gives Jake a lopsided grin. "That might come in handy, too."
Jack: "A reaper? Say have you met a guy named Daniel? Sandy brownish hair, glasses, kinda dorky?"
George shakes her head. "No, can't say I have. Is he a student?"
"Teacher. Dies a lot though, thought maybe you'd... helped him along once or twice."
George laughs. "I think I'd remember reaping a teacher, so, no, that wasn't me."
"Oh he hasn't died since he's been here except for that one weekend... he used to be and archaeologist type thing.."
"Huh! Well, if I get his Post-It, I'll be sure to let you know."
"Sweet, though odds are I'll probably be right there next to him. Again."
"...Interesting." Jake sounds like she means it too. "So what're you all bringing? Better tally up now before heading into hell, right?"
George looks down and begins to rummage through her bag. "I didn't have much to bring, and I'm not all that great with the whole weapons thing, so all I've got is this X-Acto blade that my old roommate left behind." She holds up the blade, which still has its protective plastic covering. "I've also got some cookies left over from the campaign yesterday, this big econo-sized container of ibuprofen, um... I've got this little LED keychain flashlight. A bottle of Deer Park. Oh! And this little pad of Post-its."
"Oh, post-its!" Jake says approvingly. "I brought coffee. Lots of it." She holds up her thermos. "This, and beans and instant. In plastic bags for protection. Um. And a Swiss Army Knife, and a flashlight. But mostly coffee."
George grins. "Oh, honey. I think I love you."
"Coffee is the most important food group," Jake grins back. "Oh, I'm bringing my 'port key, just in case, and my shinypretty G-Reader."
Jack: "G-reader?"
"DNA reader. Was a gift from the professor. Tells me what people, uh, creature are. And stuff," Jake says vaguely. No need to share every little thing, after all.
"As opposed to looking at them?"
Jake stares at him. "...How do you expect that to work?"
"Well given a lot of things out there look human but I think it's safe to say that if it has multiple heads, a horn and a chicken growing outta it's back it's probably not. And besides, isn't it kinda unsafe to go...reading things left and right?"
“…No.”
Jack: "P90, side-arm, zat, knives, MRE's, water, first aid kit, maglight, nightvision goggles, alcohol (The kind for dissinfecting wounds), coffee, rope, compass, torch-lighter, electric lantern, a (music) radio, and a (walkie-talkie type) radio. The other one is with the Doc."
Chloe rifles through her bag, checking. "I've got two extra sets of clothes - female sized, sorry Jack - a flashlight and extra batteries, water, crackers, some bandanas we can use if we need cloth for bandages or anything, my camera, and a switchblade." She grabs the knife and puts it in her pocket. "Better keep that at easy reach.
"Damn. I really wanted to wear something frilly too. I do like the way you think though, practical."
Chloe laughs. "Thanks. I've never done something like this before, so I figured practical will be the best option. I'll bring something frilly next time, just for you."
"Practical is always good, it's amazing how many people completely overlook the obvious isn't it? And do make sure it's pink, got it? With ruffles."
Barbossa rifles through his sea bag. "I be havin' beans and crackers, the map, rum, me change of clothes, water, more rum than might be accounted as strictly necessary, and a few more bits 'n bobs." He pats his rifle and sword. "I think we be ready, then."
"Well as long as you have the...neccessities. Sir."
Barbossa looked around. "Last minute bathroom breaks? Runs back to the dorms? Pleas fer yer lives? Okay."
He bowed extravagantly at Mitsumushi. "We be ready when ye are."
"Pissed before I got here. I'm ready to go."
George swallows, a little nervous. "Ready as I'm ever going to be."
With a very shallow bow, Mitsumushi turned and headed into the library. She bypassed the more public area and made a left hand turn between the shelves.
Jake trotted along beside Chloe, eyeing the shelves suspiciously like she was expecting books to jump out and attack her.
Chloe glances over at Jake, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Don't get worried yet, we haven't even left school grounds."
Barbossa followed in his group's wake, reading titles of books as they walked past. He hadn't been in the library before.
"...You've obviously never been to this library," Jake mutters back. "Watch out for the trampling herd of wild Thesauri, and the drawers, and back there..." She twists to point. "I think Krycek was hit by the hallucination darts. That was fun. Not."
George mutters darkly to herself upon hearing this information. This is the first time she's been anywhere near the library since starting class almost a month ago. Sounds like there's no reason to start now!
Chloe smirks at Jake. "I was actually trapped in this library during the zombie invasion. I don't know, maybe I was too busy dealing with undead things trying to eat me to notice homicidal books. Or maybe the books just don't like you and Krycek," she teases.
"They were probably busy eating the zombies."
"Well then, that would make them good killer books, now wouldn't it?"
“…No.”
Jack snaps his fingers "That's where I know you from! Which team where you on?"
"I was on the shiny bladed weapons team. Although, I did get to use a gun for the first time too. That was loads of fun," she says, grinning at Jack.
"Sweet. I was commander of the guns team. Did you get anything?"
"A few things, yeah. My aim was better than I thought it would be. It was actually kind of fun to use."
"If the gun club ever gets going you should join, it just gets more fun every time you shoot."
Chloe nods. "I was actually thinking of getting someone to give me lessons, so I can shoot properly. That sounds like it could be fun."
"Just don't let Blank teach you, his last student shot him in the ass."
Chloe laughs. "I'll stay away from him then. Thanks for the warning."
"No problem, just trying to keep you safe."
Mitsumushi seemed perfectly certain of the way, ignoring the strange noises from some of the books and the way some of them seemed to move. The shelves were holding older and older texts now. Scrolls, papyrus... slowly they were moving into the realm of chiseled tablets.
"...Bet you any second now these things are gonna jump off the shelves and bludgeon you to death," Jake mutters darkly as they pass the chiseled tablets.
"Don't worry little lady, I'll protect you from the big bad books."
Barbossa grinned. "And wouldn't that be a grand way t'start the weekend."
Chloe snickers as Jack calls Jake "little lady." "We'll be fine, stop worrying. Save it for the cannibals."
"Poor girl, don't think she'll make it that far, she just might catch her death of fear right here in this isle don't'cha think?"
Chloe smirks as Jake grumbles and glares at Jack. "I think she'll be just fine. We all will. Professor Jerusalem wouldn't really send any of us out to die...I don't think."
"It's not death I'm worried about, it's being left alive."
"Hmm. You may have a point there," Chloe says, frowning a little.
"You mustn't upset the books," Mitsumushi advised her softly. "They're very sensitive...."
Abruptly, the rows of shelves ended, leaving them in a small stone hut, surrounded by carved tablets. "We have arrived," Mitsumushi announced unnecessarily.
"Thank ye kindly," Barbossa said to Mitsumushi.
He walked over to one of the tablets and stared at it for a while. "I be havin' no idea what it be sayin', but I figgered it couldn't hurt to check," he finally said.
He unrolled the map Professor Jerusalem had given him. "We be here," he said, pointing to the position marked "landfall" on the map with a grubby finger. "We be headin' here"--another finger poked the "X" on the opposite side of the island--"and it seems t'be mornin' by the daylight comin' in right now." He rolled up the map. "Shall we see what form of adventure be waitin' fer us?"
Chloe peered at the map over Barbossa's shoulder. "Oh, we've got cannibals and monsters. Fantastic." She rolled her eyes to Jake. "Well, I'm ready as I'll ever be."
"Any non-humans with us to tease the cannibals with?"
"Now thar be an idea. Mayhaps we kin pick one up along the way."
"More than one would probably be a good idea, at least one per person."
"If ye see anythin' that strikes ye as cannibal-snack like while we're walkin', give a shout. Assumin' it be not tryin' to eat us first, o' course."
"Got it."
"Before we head out into the island-forest-jungle-thing out thar, be there anything more ye might be able to tell us about this place, Mitsumushi?" Barbossa asked, turning to their guide.
"Hopefully that we won't die?"
"That would be rather reassurin'."
"I know I won't. You, I'm not so sure about," Jake smirked at Jack. She blinked suddenly. "...If you're here," she pointed at Barbossa. "And Logan's with the professor... Who the hell is watering my coffee tree?"
George impatiently blows stray hairs out of her face. She was already beginning to sweat. "They have these packets of gel you can get, for like when you go on vacation and stuff. You open one, and dump the gel all over the dirt, and it'll water your plant for up to a week." She shrugs. "They do an okay job."
"That still don't answer my question, since I didn't know about them before I left." Jake's face falls. "...My poor coffee tree."
Barbossa looked over at his roommate. "Remember what the good Professor be sayin' about time. Mayhaps when we finish, we be endin' up at the school last Wednesday or somethin'."
"That's true." Jake brightened again. "Coffee tree was definitely alive last Wednesday."
Barbossa turned around to where Mitsumushi had been. Now there was only bare earth. "That can't be a good sign," he said. He walked across the hut and pushed open the door. Sunlight flooded into the space. Outside birds were twittering in the trees, the waves were lapping gently on the beach, and tiny fuzzy rats singing "We've Got Cabin Fever" were running past.
Barbossa blinked at that last bit. "Shall we see what form of monsters be in that jungle, then?" He tapped the map. "Seems to be the only way to get from where we be to where the treasure be."
"If we must," Jake sighed, squinting after the rats. "Oh wait a moment." She pulled her backpack off, rummaged through it for a bit and came up with something the looked like a DVD-remote with a LED display. She put her backpack back on. "Okay, I'm ready."
Barbossa looked at the device in Jake's hands. "Shiny," he said. "What kin that do?"
"Tell me what creatures are." Jake shrugged. "I figure it could be handy to help us to figure out how to kill things or whatever. Like snails and salt, or something."
"That will be handy," Barbossa agreed. "Mayhaps we can use it t'find cannibal bait like O'Neill suggested."
He led the group towards the jungle.
Jake stepped carefully behind Barbossa, determinded to keep Rory's shoes unharmed (at least for as long as he possibly could). She was holding her thermos in one hand, and pointing the G-Reader towards the trees with the other. "Oh, wow, it's a jungle in there," she said, watching the G-Reader flicker to life.
Chloe follows behind Jake, trying not to let on how nervous the sudden excitedness of the G-Reader is making her. "Well, at least there are things out there that are recognizable. That's a good sign."
"...Yeah." Jake turns her head to look at her, eyebrows raised. "Except no. If I'm reading this right, there's an awful lot of carnivores here."
Barbossa turned to look at Jake. "Would that thing be tellin' ye how big these 'carnivores' be?" A thundering crash echoed from the jungle. "I be guessin' they not be tiny fluffy-type carnivores."
Jake squinted at the G-Reader. "...Not exactly, but if I'm going to make an educated guess? Big, sharp teeth..." She frowned. "Or beaks. Right thataway is bird-things." She pointed slightly to the left of where they'd paused.
Chloe swallows hard, glancing at the G-Reader. "Do I even want to ask what's in the other direction?"
"Small, fluffy bunnies." Jake shook the reader. "No, wait. Big bunnies with teef aik tiff."
"Oh, that's much better." Chloe rolls her eyes. "So, our choices are getting beaked to death, or bitten by raging bunnies?"
"...Pretty much," Jake nodded. "So which is more tempting, Barbossa, man? You great leader, you decide."
"I be sayin' bunnies. At least they probably be not able to fly." He looked at the group. "And because we have powerful incentive to do well against them. No one be ever lettin' us live down defeat at the hands, err, paws o' bunnies."
"All right then, bunnies it is." Chloe motions to the right, getting her switchblade out of her pocket. "If you have weapons, I think now would be the time to ready them."
Barbossa pulled his pistol from where it had been resting on his waist. "I be thinkin' tryin' t'hit a bunny with a sword may be a exercise in futility." They moved further into the jungle. A hundred feet in front of them, low lying-brush began moving ominously.
"Everyone be ready?" Barbossa muttered.
Jack takes the safety off on his P90.
"Ready."
A creature came zipping out of the undergrowth. Teeth bared, it bore a slight resemblance to rabbit if rabbits were larger, pinker, and inclined towards eating something other than carrots. Barbossa shot it with his pistol.
The undergrowth shook some more. Barbossa looked at the rest of the group. "Think we got their attention."
"Gee, ya think?"
George clutched her Swiss Army knife, almost wishing she had thought to ask Jayne for a gun, and wondering if her reaping abilities would work on bunnies. "Jesus Christ," she muttered, watching as the felled "rabbit" bled into the jungle floor. "That's no bunny. What the hell has the Professor got us into?"
Chloe is beginning to wish she'd started getting gun training a lot sooner. "Whatever it is, I think it's a lot worse than we joked about," she says, turning a little to watch Jake stare at the G-Reader behind her. "One down, dozens to go?"
"Yeah, can't that thing work faster?" George demands nervously.
Barbossa was reloading his pistol. "All in favor of movin' away from the scary rabbits be sayin' aye." He looked Jake. "Be thar an option other than scary beaked things or bunnies?"
"Aye." George replied automatically. "Let's get the hell out of here."
"...Yeah," Jake said slowly. "But I'm not sure if it's much better."
"Worse than zombies?" George grabs Jake's arm and tries to get a look at the G-Reader's screen. Her mouth drops open. "What the fuck is that?"
"I have no idea." Jake shook the G-Reader to see if that cleared things up. It didn't. "It might be plants." shake, shake. "Or not. We can go and find out, I guess."
"You realize if we go find out they're gonna be giant man woman people-eating plants, right?"
Barbossa fired another shot into the underbrush. "Do the plants be movin' as fast as the bunnies? If not, I say be headin' towards them."
"Seconded!" George shouted, ducking as one of the "bunnies" flew out from nowhere and dove effortlessly over the heads of the group.
"Thirded!" Chloe exclaims, moving closer into the group as more bunnies start to come out from the underbrush.
Jake stared down at the G-Reader trying to make sense of the readings. "No, I don't think they're mo-- what the fuck?" She exclaimed, hitting the ground as a bunny-thing bounced towards her. The bunny-thing bounced over her and away. Jake rolled over on her back. "Boss?" She said calmly. "May I suggest that we fucking RUN!"
With that shout, she was on her feet and busy storming in the direction of the plants, which hopefully at least didn't have teeth. Even if they probably did eat human flesh. Perhaps they wouldn't eat mutant flesh, though. Jake brightened at that thought.
George followed close behind Jake at a dead run, her heart racing, barely able to catch her breath.
Barbossa was right behind Jake. "How far to the evil plant things?" he asked, ducking as another bunny went shooting past. "Not that I be particularly carin', mind."
He shot another bunny. "Evil attackin' bunnies. No one be believin' us."
"That's true - Chloe, quick! Take a picture!" Jake yelled, stepping quickly around a ditch. The shoes would survive, damnit. "Not long now, boss, and I'm not reading any freaky bunnies, just the plant. Things. Um."
Barbossa pointed to a giant Venus fly-trap looming about fifty yards in front of them. "Yer gizmo has a way of understatin' things a bit, Jake," he muttered.
"...And now I get why there aren't any bunnies here."
Barbossa tossed a stick towards the plant and watched with a sickened fascination as it was snapped into tiny, tiny pieces.
He squinted up towards the sun. "This is the way we must be goin', though. Let's not be makin' any sudden-like movements near the angry plant then." He began carefully edging his way around it.
Chloe runs up behind them, having snapped as many pictures of the bunnies as she could without getting shiny bunny teeth-marks in her. She stops just in time to keep from crashing into George, and gazes up at the plant, swallowing all the swear words that immediately come to mind.
George glances at Chloe and mutters, "Feed me, Seymore."
Barbossa looked confused. "It be named Seymore?" He squinted. "I be not seein' a name tag on it, but ye seem t'be sure about it." He eased his way around the plant. "Nice Seymore. Ye don't want t'be eatin' us. We're far too chewy fer ye."
George shakes her head, realizing the movie reference was lost on Barbossa. "Yep." she agrees instead. "Waaaaaay too chewy."
Jake followed Barbossa, clutching her thermos and G-Reader tightly. "And no tripping," Jake adviced. "Tripping would be baaaaaaaaaaaa- :kertonk:"
Jake sat at the bottom of the hole, staring up. "Help! I'm fallen and I can't get up!" Jake shouted, and then she sat down to wait while her broken ankle and arm healed. They'd rescue her, surely?
Eventually?
Well, even if they didn't, at the bottom of a hole was probably the safest place to be on the entire island.
"Shit!" George hunkers down. "Jake, are you okay?"
"I'm fine! But I can't get up!" Jake yelled back. "Any of you have a rope or something? Oh and watch out for the plant-thing!"
Chloe glanced over towards the sound of Jake's voice, before straightening up and facing the plant. "I'll keep an eye on the plant, you guys get her out of there."
"I be havin' some rope," Barbossa said, reaching into his sea bag. He unfurled it and tossed it down the hole. "Jake?" he called. "Kin ye reach it?"
Jake tried, then winced. "No, and my arm's not healed, yet, sorry! It kind of broke in the fall. And my ankle," she added, as the twitching made her remember.
Chloe frowns a little at Jake's words, and tosses another stick to the plant to keep it occupied. "Nice plant," she coos. "Nice crazy man eating plant. Eat your stick and stay right over there."
"Do you need an extra hand?" George asks, indicating the end of the rope at her feet.
Barbossa listened to Jake's response with a grimace. He looked at George. "Ye think ye can go down after him if we be tying this rope to an non-people eatin' tree? Help him, err, her up?" He yelled down to Jake. "Would it be helpful to ye if George came down t'lend ye a hand gettin' back up here? Or would ye rather spend the rest of the day in the hole?" He thought about it. "Which might not be a bad choice, given what we've seen so far."
George's eyes widen. "You want me to go down there?"
"Up here thar be a man-eatin' plant," Barbossa said. "Down thar is just Jake. I'd be headin' down the hole meself if I thought ye could bring me back up."
"Shit shit shit!" George swore under her breath.
"Fine, I'll go." she said louder, to Barbossa. "How should we do this?"
Seriously considering Barbossa's suggestion for a moment, Jake ended up nixing that idea. Would be far too boring. "Tempting, but I think not. Send down George, I think I can get up if I get a push or something."
"Hold on, Jake; I'm on my way!"
"I'm not going anywhere," Jake replied, drily.
George continues to curse under her breath as she takes the end of the rope and begins to wrap it around her waist. She pulls the rest of the rope up from the hole and hands it to Barbossa. "Don't let go of that." she growls.
She goes to her knees, gazing down into the hole apprehensively. She sees Jake's upturned face, pale and anxious. With a final, futile curse, she turns flat onto her stomach and begins to lower herself downwards into the hole.
"You owe me, Gavin -- BIG time!"
Barbossa leaned into a non-carnivorous tree and held onto the rope. "Yer doin' fine," he called. "Just give a good hard yank when ye be ready to come back up."
"Almost there," George mutters to herself as she makes her way to the bottom of the hole. She was pleased to find numerous exposed roots to use as foot- and hand-holds. She glances over her shoulder to gauge whether or not to jump the final few feet, when the root she was standing upon shifts in the unstable, sandy earth. She falls to the bottom of the hole with a crash, landing flat on her ass.
"Ow." she hisses, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. "What the fuck did I land on?" She shifts, reaches beneath her, and pulls out the G-Reader.
"Oh, no... My shinyreadingthingy!" Jake groans upon seeing the shattered G-Reader. "Is it broken?"
"Who cares about that thing? I think my ass is broken." George says, rubbing her posterior. She slowly begins to unwrap the rope from around her waist, and moves to help Jake. "Can you stand at all?"
Jake looks doubtful. "Probably."
"Well, with that ankle and that arm you're not exactly going to be able to climb very far on your own. How do you propose we do this?" George demands.
"If Barbossa pulls, and you push, I should be able to pick up the slack." Jake replies, gasping a little as George accidentally bumps his arm.
"Sorry," George apologizes, wincing in sympathy. She checks the ropes around Jake's waist and sighs. "Okay, you're tied off. You ready?"
Jake nods. "Grab my bag for me, will you?"
George takes Jake's bag from him and drops the battered G-Reader inside. She then takes ahold of Jake's uninjured arm and helps him to his feet. They make their way slowly over to the side of the pit.
"Okay, Barbossa!" George calls. "Let's do this thing and get it over with."
With a grunt, Barbossa began pulling on the rope. His steps brought him dangerously close to the Venus fly-trap.
Chloe turns around at the sound of Barbossa's grunting, and sees him getting closer to the plant. "Look out!" she yells, whirling back around just in time to see that the fly-trap's attention is now on her. "Oooh...good plant," she murmurs, tightening her grip on her knife.
George crouches down and braces her shoulder against Jake's bottom, using all her strength to push him upwards in hopes of lightening Barbossa's load. As Jake's clumsy ascension continues, George switches from using her shoulder to pushing him upwards with her hands.
"Ouch, goddammit!" she exclaims as Jake accidentally brings his foot down on her face.
"Sorry," Jake grunts.
Having assisted him as much as she possible can, George backs up a few steps to watch as Jake manages, with Barbossa's help, to make it up to the lip of the hole. Hands reach down to grasp Jake and pull him up the remainder of the way.
"Okay, now hurry up!" George calls, swinging Jake's bag over her shoulder and looking around the hole nervously. "Get me the hell out of here."
Barbossa helped George out of the hole, and noticed that the plant had turned its attention to Chloe. He picked up another stick and threw it, hoping to distract it for just a little longer. He pointed further into the jungle. "We be headin' that way. And we be headin' quickly."
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!
"Normally, fer a regular chest ye'd go about four feet down give or take."
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!
"We might be havin' somethin' here."
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!
Re: On the beach! Huzzah!