Terre Haute

[paradisamods]

[Today, our intrepid explorers have finally made it to Terre Haute. It’s mostly grassland, and on the outskirts small spotted lions, about the size of leopards prowl around. They seem to be more interested in the strange antelope running around than in any people, however. Towards the edge, lies a cliff face, looking out to sea, on occasion giant whales can be seen breaching the water.

Of the weird thing they came to look for, in the distance is a cylindrical shape, lying on its side. But between them and it is a strange village. One made up of excessively tall wooden huts, all of which have electric lights, turned on, though how they’re creating such power is a mystery, they are still very much inside the dead zone.

The residents of this off little village are wandering around, going about their buisess. The residents being a group of bemused looking giraffes. Perhaps you will even see some familiar non-giraffe faces milling about.

Welcome to Terre Haute]

[[GRASSLANDS AND CLIFFS | TOWN SQUARE | JUICE BAR | DANCE HALL | THE ESCALATOR | MIRROR CONTROL ROOM ]]

Comments

[youfallback]

You don't need to. [She finally tugs her fist free with the dogtags inside of it. With that tiny victory, she's pretty ready for this conversation to be over. Time to find a place to pitch these so he can't ever find them.]

[encryptedlock]

You're wrong.

[Funny how she thinks he's just going to let her throw them away although there's a perfectly serviceable ocean nearby.]

[youfallback]

[With her prize in hand she just shakes her head at him, still scowling, before she turns and begins to stride purposefully away and possibly in the direction of that ocean, but she's still so turned around from everything that she's not likely heading in the right direction.]

[encryptedlock]

[Doop doop following. Nope, he wasn't kidding about not giving up on her.]

[youfallback]

Stop following me. [She notices him following her and her anger somehow continues to build as she walks, eyes searching for a good place to ditch the dog tags. After a couple yards, she spots the ocean and hurries her pace. So close.]

[encryptedlock]

[Not saying anything, because he'll follow if he wants to. But why is she heading for the ocean? She better not be thinking about jumping off another cliff.]

[youfallback]

[The cliff is the most intimidating part of this whole business and as she draws closer, her mind fills with the all-too-fresh memories of a grip around her throat, her AIs being ripped from her head. And it only gets worse as she comes in throwing range. She stops and cocks her arm back, preparing to throw.]

[encryptedlock]

No!

[What the hell is she thinking? York rushes up so he can try to get in front of her to block the throw. Although, he thinks bitterly, she'd probably only consider it fair if he jumped off a cliff, too.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina glares as he steps in the way and reaches out to try and push him to the side--- not toward the cliff--- so she can get a clear shot. As much as she hates him right now, she doesn't want him dead. She just wants him far, far away from her.] Get out of the way.

[encryptedlock]

You don't have to throw them away!

[He'll get right back into place after she pushes him away, because no way is he letting this happen.]

Jesus, Carolina, what is so wrong with letting me remember you used to give a shit about me?

[youfallback]

[Carolina tries to shove him again, but she's tempted to try and take a potshot to simply chuck them in the direction of the cliff.]

Stop it.

[encryptedlock]

Look, hate me all you want, but let me have what you gave me!

[Why so unreasonable, Carolina? He's really not getting out of her way....]

[youfallback]

They aren't yours. [If he isn't moving, then she's going to take her chances with a potshot. It's rushed, a fling of her arm at eye level, but instead of sailing over his head, they glance off of his face and land in the grass bare feet from the cliff's edge.]

[encryptedlock]

[He'd argue some more, but it's interrupted by an "oof" as the tags hit his face. He does manage to catch the general direction they went but doesn't rush after them just yet.

Why you always gotta be such a bitch, Carolina?]

Real classy.

[youfallback]

I wasn't aiming for your face. [Carolina barely barks out as she starts going for the tags again. All she has to do is push them off the cliff and be free of the possibility that he could see them.]

[encryptedlock]

Hey! Stay away from there!

[Is he really going to go rushing at a clif to fight with her over some pieces of metal?

Yes. Yes he is.]

[youfallback]

[Once she's close enough, Carolina drops down onto her stomach to card her fingers through the grass searching for the tags. She doesn't want to even be this close to the cliff, but being lower to the ground at least lowers her chance of falling over the edge.]

[encryptedlock]

[York, for his part, gets close enough to grab her if anything happens and seems to forget about the tags for the moment.]

Be careful, Christ. I wasn't there to catch you last time.

[You know, because she'd knocked him unconscious first.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina ignores him, even as more images flash through her mind. Being tugged up off the ground by her neck, being utterly helpless as Maine tore the AIs from her neck.

She tries to suppress the memories as her fingers come into contact with the ring and she tugs it free of the grass.]

[encryptedlock]

[York lets out a relieved breath as she picks it up.]

Don't throw it away again, okay? Hang onto it for now if you want, just--get away from the cliff. Okay?

[youfallback]

[Carolina shoots him an angry look, despite her confusion about him not wanting her near the cliff. For all she knew, he had never cared to look for her after her fall.] I never needed you to catch me.

[Still, she's barely hesitating with the ring as she quickly finds the rest of her dog tags and tugs them from the grass.]

[encryptedlock]

Oh, stop with the bullshit already. if you remember the castle, you remember how I beat myself up for letting you die every single goddanm day of my life.

[youfallback]

I survived and you never looked for me. [Carolina snorts in return, too distracted by the dog tags to care what she's saying. She sits up and away from the cliff, her arm already in motion to throw.]

[encryptedlock]

[York's face goes absolutely white at that (not that it's tanned much anyway, being in a helmet all day, but it goes even whiter). It's like he's just seen an AI a ghost.]

I looked for you for months! I scanned every single goddamn frequency there was. I spend weeks in the snow looking for any sign of you. And what was there? Nothing. No sign you'd ever survived that fall, no fucking news from you at all.

Hell, every time I heard about a female Freelancer on the radio I'd be thrilled, but you know who it always was? Who was always causing trouble after you left and they could never catch up with?

Don't you fucking tell me I never looked. You don't know shit about what I was doing.

[youfallback]

[That stops her arm dead in the air, her fingers still curled around the dog tags. She'd assumed he hadn't looked like her father and she'd been so pissed off that she didn't want to talk to him ever again like her father and she knew he'd chosen Tex like her father. She turns to face him, standing despite the terror of being this close to the edge of a cliff without her hook shot.] Don't lie. You were looking for her.