Ocker 101 - week two - period four [Friday 21/05]

[whatacrocdundee.livejournal.com]

When they walked into the Danger Shop, the students would find themselves in the Australian bush. Mick was leaning against a gum tree, watching them from under his hat.

"G'day and welcome to the bush. Not the real bush, mind, cause I reckon you lot'd end up dead right quick, but the blokes in the office did a good job setting this up. Today you're gonna learn about critters, and how a bunch of them can kill you. Even these little blighters." He reached down and picked up an adorable platypus, holding it out for the class to see. "Poisonous spurs in his feet. Even if it doesn't kill you, it hurts so bad you'll wish you were dead." He grinned. "Mate of mine reckons they're cute, but don't let that fool you. Just cause somethin's cute or looks harmless, don't mean it won't see you dead. And just cause it's ugly don't mean it'll hurt you. Not a bad lesson to learn, that."

He put the platypus down and it waddled away into the billabong with a offended splash. "Now, I could give you a lot of books or spend my time telling you all about them, but that's no fun." Another grin. Be afraid. "Instead, you're gonna meet a bunch of Aus' critters face to face. Now, the Outback has got more'n its fair share of things that'll kill you, but its not the only place. What you've gotta do is watch, listen, stay sharp. Look at how things move, how they act. You know what something's gonna do, you can stay out of trouble, but if you wanna know that, you've gotta pay attention. Don't just react. Think'n then act."

He hit a button and a door appeared. "Off you go, one at a time 'cause I wanna see what you do on your own. When you're done just say 'hooroo' and the door'll appear. No worries, nothing will actually hurt you, but still, try'n stay outta trouble."

[OOC: WARNING. THERE WILL BE SPIDER ICONS IN THE THIRD THREAD. And other animals, but the spiders are truly horrifying. OCD has been achieved. Have at it. Plz wait for the OCD.]

Comments

Re: Through the door you go

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Well, the quoll was in the same boat as Jonas because he froze too. He didn't want to make any sudden movements and cause the animal to attack him.

So, he sort of waved the fingers of one hand and said, "Hello." Not that he expected it to talk about. He hoped Australia wasn't that unusual. Eventually, Jonas did crouch down to be a little closer to the quoll's eye line.

Re: Through the door you go

[whatacrocdundee.livejournal.com]

At the sound of Jonas' voice, the quoll leapt straight up in the air, the very picture of startled surprise, and came down, quivering. It didn't run away though, just stretched out its nose towards Jonas, sniffing and sniffing, then crept closer, whiskers twitching.

Re: Through the door you go

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

This was either going to end up with Jonas as this tiny creature's meal or something a little less drastic. But, when he noticed the quoll get scared at his voice, he immediately shut up and very slowly moved his hand out towards the animal, keeping steady as he did.

Re: Through the door you go

[whatacrocdundee.livejournal.com]

The quoll held its ground, quivering. As the hand drew closer, it lunged forward, needle sharp teeth snapping together just short of Jonas' fingers, before dashing away, disappearing in a flash of spotty grey fur.

Re: Through the door you go

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Yep, next meal! Jonas yelped and fell backwards, already scrambling up to his feet and kicking up dirt as he moved backwards, putting a good bit of distance between the quoll and himself.

"I am stupid," he muttered, shaking his head and thrusting his hands in his pockets to keep himself from doing that again.

Re: Through the door you go

[whatacrocdundee.livejournal.com]

That kicking up of the dirt disturbed one of the creatures that lived beneath it.

It wasn't just any creature, though. This was an eight-legged arachnophobe's nightmare made flesh.

The larger-than-handsized trapdoor spider lifted the edge of its webby entrance, black hairy legs pushing out into the sunlight to probe the air outside its den. Which was right near Jonas' foot.

Re: Through the door you go

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Oh look, Jonas was yelping again and the mun was NEVAR GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!!! and trying to scamper backwards, far away from that monster of a spider.

He kicked up more dirt but managed to get a few feet away from the spider before stopping just to see what it'd do. If it moved towards him, he was so getting out of this simulation quick.

Re: Through the door you go

[whatacrocdundee.livejournal.com]

The spider's legs waved in the air, patting along the ground. When they didn't encounter anything that registered as food or danger, it curled back into its den, the webby flap falling shut behind it.

The only sign that it lurked beneath the surface was a slight shadow on the ground.

Re: Through the door you go

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

Well, thank goodness for small favors. Jonas still decided he'd had enough of things that wanted to eat him so he said, "Hooroo," and hoped he'd pronounced that right.

When the door appeared, he skittered towards it and out of the landscape with a quiet breath of relief.