A death in the family (Open)

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

As Astrid looks at Jade, she finds him staring at her, firmly. He then starts to interrogate her "Astrid...have you ever seen those markings before? Like did anyone show you something like them when you were younger? Did you have something like a toy or something that had that design on them?? How do you know these markings?".
Astrid starts to get confused by so many questions that she just stays silent while making Jade a confused look. He notices this and sighs. "You know what, never mind. Just show me it. I need to know what it is we'll be looking for one day."
She takes him to the last tree she saw with a symbol and shows it to Jade. He then starts to look at the symbol but only to get confused by it. "Astrid, where did you first see this? Was it something your father showed you?"
With a nostalgic smile on her face, she looks up at Jade and takes her necklace off. She then hands it to him. "See this? This used to belong to my father. Well...actually, he gave it to me. See...my mother, sister, father and I have each a necklace that when the pendants are placed together, it forms a shape which turns out to be the exact one that figures on the trees. It might look like a simple shape if you just stand by it, but if you look straight at it, you can see a whole different shape, the one that figures with our necklaces, our family symbol". Astrid then focuses on the symbol and makes Jade look straight at it. He then sees what she was talking about.
While he looks at the symbol, Astrid remembers the day when she asked her father during her 9th birthday, why everyone would get different shaped pendants if they were all the family symbol. He took the four necklaces out of a box and placed the pendants together, making the symbol. Then he told her that this was the only time he was ever going to show the family symbol and that she should never forget how it looked like. That explains why only one person would know the symbol that would lead to that place because other than dad, I'm the only one who knows how it looks like. Although...why would it be our symbol the path indicator to the place from the letter? Is it because only my father and I know it and it would be hard for anyone to decipher the symbol and think that it meant something?.
Astrid then shakes her thoughts off and tells Jade "You know...if I would have never thought that you left and followed the symbols, I would have never looked closely at the trees and found out about this". Astrid soon swings her sword around and says "Um...should we go hunting right now", she then points towards the sky and says "Because it's kinda starting to get late".

[Mark Mollove]

Jade watches as Astrid removes her necklace and explains to Him how it all works. Looking at the marking on the tree Jade notices that it could easily pass as a simple scratch or "birthmark". It would be overlooked unless someone knew what it looked like and was LOOKING for it. Astrid explains how it looks simple from a glance but when looked at directly it becomes so complex. Jade slides left and bends down just a bit. "I see what you mean. It's like there's four layers to it all."

"Should we go hunting right now? Because it's kinda starting to get late." Astrid says pointing to the sky. Jade looks up with a stern look on his face and his hands on the handles of his swords, near his shoulders. "Astrid. Move very slowly and slide to your left. Slowly now. Ok...don't make any sudden moves" Jade says with a careful tone as He pulls out one of his short swords. When His blade is at the ready and Astrid slides the last few inches around a tree, the wild creature rushes Him from out of nowhere...

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

As Astrid asks him the question, Jade ignores her and suddenly puts an emotionless face. She is then puzzled by his behavior and stops swinging her sword around. As Jade sees this, he carefully and almost whispering says while pulling out one of his short swords "Astrid. Move very slowly and slide to your left. Slowly now. Ok...don't make and sudden moves".
What?...What's going on?, she thinks hesitating. Soon, she finds herself moving towards the left quietly and doesn't look back. Jade, then pulls his sword into a fighting position and Astrid starts to breathe hard while beginning to panic. She suddenly has an urge to turn around and see what is going on but restraints herself in doing it. Astrid closes her eyes and takes a deep breath then slowly opens them again to calm down.
When she gets to the tree, something passes by her and heads towards Jade. Her eyes widen with fear and by impulse, she runs while grabbing her sword. When she gets close to the animal, she jumps and places her sword in the animal, hurting it. By doing so, the animal growls and sends Astrid flying off it, then it stops moving.
When she falls to the ground, she notices that Jade isn't anywhere in sight.

[Molly]

~Colin
Kiara and I were assesing each others skills and how good we could work with each other. we werent that far away from the site where Jade and Astrid had run off to, just in case they needed us.
All of a sudden we hear a grunt and something rustle in the near by area. I look over at her, "lets go check it out?" i ask, but on impulse i just head the way the sound was coming from. I see Astrid on the ground, her sword near her and Jade no where in sight. something had happened.
"Astrid!" i say, running up to her, making sure everything was ok with her. "Jade," she breaths, her voice sounding weak. "Dont worry Astrid, i am sure he is around here somewhere." Boy, do i hope thats true.

[Innocent]

(I'm going to switch to 3rd person now because thats what i'm starting to get used to.)

I arrived a little after Colin who was tending to Astrid. I looked nervously around but saw nothing. I notch an arrow onto my bowstring and walk a little farther into the woods. "Jade!" I yell but theres no answer except the chirping of some birds in the tree above me. I turn to face Colin and Astrid. "What happed, where'd he run off to now?"

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

As Astrid watches that Jade is out of sight, she begins to worry for him. Where is he?...Jade where are you?..., thinks Astrid almost fainting due to the pain of the impact to the ground.
Suddenly Colin arrives and Astrid says in a weak tone "Jade". Her eyes soon start to get watery and Colin says "Don't worry Astrid, i am sure he is around here somewhere". Suddenly, she looks again to where the animal was and she sees that it too is missing. But it was here just a second ago, along with...Jade.
Soon, Kiara comes looking at Colin and Astrid. She then loads an arrow and goes farther in the woods screaming "Jade!" but there is no response. After this, Kiara turns and says "What happen, where'd he run off to now?"
Astrid stands up and says nervously "Jade told me to not make any sudden movements and...I did as he told me but then the animal came and went towards him...I...I then grabbed my sword and hurt the animal. It then growled and sended me to the ground. After this...Jade was gone and apparently the animal is too, although I saw that it stopped moving. I...", she then starts to cry but quickly wipes her tears and says "Let's look for him because maybe the animal went after him or something".
They all venture through the woods and suddenly hear a growl that is to their left and the three start running towards it. When they arrive to where the sound came from, they find Jade with his short sword up along with the animal who soon turns towards Astrid, Kiara, and Colin.
Astrid suddenly finds herself smiling to see that Jade is ok but she is then frightened because the animal turns away from Jade and is about to attack her along with Kiara and Colin.

[Mark Mollove]

The wild beast charges Jade right as Astrid slips behind the tree. It passes her hiding spot and leaps at Jade with it's claws extended. Jade rolls to his left as Astrid strikes from behind the tree. She barely pierces the hard flesh of the puma like creature, but it's enough to draw attention. With a thundering headbutt Astrid is sent flying a few feet to the ground. "ASTRID!!!" Jade yells as she crumples to the ground.
Filled with fury He leaps onto the puma like creature and stabs both of the front shoulder blades. The beast howls in pain and decides it is outmatched. Wishing to live another day it flees into the forest...with Jade still on its back.

The ride through the forest is fast. Very fast. It is very hard for Jade to hang onto the creature's back. Suddenly Jade is thrown from the large cat's back because it had fallen to the ground. The puma has it's back to Jade as Astrid, Colin and Kiara burst through the trees. It looks like it's preparing to attack the seemingly defenseless trio. With no weapon but throwing knives Jade pulls them out and throws one knife into both of the back paws. The beast tries to howl in pain but Jade quickly steps on it's neck. Crouching over it he quietly whispers "Shh...don't make a sound little kitty. We wouldn't want another animal to hear of this. Go to sleep...go to sleep...go. to sleep." While Jade says it for the third time he plunges a third throwing knife into the puma's heart, killing it instantly.

After wiping off the blood from each blade Jade sheaths all his blades and retrieves a bag for transporting the puma's body in. "Mind giving me a hand with the body here?" Jade asks.

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

As Astrid summons her sword to protect herself from the animal, Jade throws his knife onto both of the animal's back paws. This makes the animal howl in pain but Jade quickly steps on the animals neck and says while crouching over it "Shh...don't make a sound little kitty. We wouldn't want another animal to hear of this. Go to sleep...go to sleep...go. to sleep". His words seem to calm the animal and make Astrid put her sword down to watch what happens next. Suddenly Jade plunges another knife but this one in the animals heart killing it instantly. Astrid only closes her eyes to not watch this which is ironic considering how many animals she has helped kill.
After this, Jade wipes his weapons and says "Mind giving me a hand with the body here?". Astrid only watches him for a moment and quickly nods. She then helps him along with Kiara and Colin to put the heavy animal on the bag. When they are done Astrid says while giving a smile to everyone "Well, I think this covers the hunting part", she then pauses for a second because her back is starting to hurt very bad and slightly touches it Yeah, I think i'm not gonna be able to look for some clues right now like I wanted to after hunting, not with my back hurting like that, thinks Astrid. Soon after this she resumes with a casual voice to disguise the condition she's in "Um...so what do y'all want to do next?".

[Molly]

OOC: I am getting a bit overwhelemed with thg would you mind if i step out for a bit?

[Mark Mollove]

The other three come help Jade move the Puma into the bag meant for wild game. When they finish Astrid stands up and says: "Well, I think this covers the hunting part" Jade looks at her curiously. "Are you sure? Because I remember it took my dad several days for each hunting trip. I bet he bagged ten animals per week." We prepare the body for pickup and tag it "Um...so what do y'all want to do next?" Astrid says plainly.

"Well, it is getting late so we should probably call it a night." The time is somewhere around 8:00 and the sun will be setting in roughly an hour. "Does anyone know of a place where we could camp for the night? Kiara, didn't your dad have a place here in the woods? Do you know where it is?"




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OOC: Hey, that's fine. Good luck in the Games.
Good luck and Godspeed!

[Innocent]

I helped them with the puma, id always liked pumas. They were such beautiful animals... "Does anyone know of a place where we could camp for the night? Kiara, didn't your dad have a place here in the woods? Do you know where it is?" Jade asked me. I raised my head and smiled at the mention of the place. "Oh yeah I used to go there all the time. C'mon if we are where i think we are its not far off." After about twenty minutes of walking we came on a little three room hut type building, it was entirely over grown with ivy but other then that it was in good shape.

A little ways in the distance i could her the small creek running over the rocks. I used to love this place but being here without my dad makes it seem empty.

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

"Well, it is getting late so we should probably call it a night. Does anyone know of a place where we could camp for the night? Kiara, didn't your dad have a place here in the woods? Do you know where it is?", says Jade. Astrid then looks at Kiara while she says smiling "Oh yeah I used to go there all the time. C'mon if we are where i think we are its not far off".
Wow, they are so lucky to have been around here before. Unlike me, who has never been allowed to hunt alone much less be out here. It has always been mom, Maysee and dad with me hunting inside District 9. Of course, that is when my dad was not in the outside. Astrid then gives a slight smile as Kiara guides all of them to the place.
A few minutes have passed and they arrive to the place. Filled with ivy, you can barely see the three room hut-like type of place. Astrid looks at the place with such curiosity and wants to check it out already but waits for everyone to go in first. Out in the distance, she can hear what seems to be water flowing. Nice! I wonder what it is, thinks Astrid in much excitement (which she doesn't let show) because she doesn't know what it is. She soon turns around to face everyone and sees Kiara who looks sad. Astrid really wants to tell her something to cheer her up but doesn't because she's not that good with words. She only gives a smile to Kiara. Astrid then starts cutting the ivy around the entrance with her sword and soon after finishing, she says doubtfully "Should we go in?"

[Innocent]

"Yeah of coarse we should go in. Wouldn't do us much good staying out here all night." I said and turned the handle. The door was locked. I looked around the house. I could break a window or the door to get in... I chose the door. A quick kick to it broke the lock and i walked in. Slowly i rubbed the dust off the windows to let in a little light. "You can come in now." I say as i continue to wipe the dust off the windows.

[Mark Mollove]

The cottage looks like it could support three people comfortably. The vines have over grown in so much that it appears abandoned for years. While Astrid works on cutting the vines and Kiara opens the door, Jade looks around for the source of the water and is trying to get a survey of the surrounding land. "You can come in now." Kiara says, braking Jade from His scan. As he enters Jade looks behind him out the door, then He turns back around and addresses Kiara and Astrid: "Hey, um...does anyone know where Colin went? I think he either got lost or...something else."

Jade walks back out and looks around. The trees are still and the forest is silent. It was as if someone died and brought fourth a funeral procession. Suddenly one sound reaches Jade's ears...running water. "KIARA!" Jade yells. "Where is that water coming from?"



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Hey, just so you two know Colin is gonna be stepping out for a while due to the 55th hunger games.

[artemisa]

Astrid Aribarri

"Yeah of coarse we should go in. Wouldn't do us much good staying out here all night", says Kiara while kicking the door open. The inside of the place is very dark and appears to be dusty. Kiara soon wipes the dust from the windows, illuminating inside and says "You can come in now". Astrid is about to walk inside when Jade says already inside "Hey, um...does anyone know where Colin went? I think he either got lost or...something else".
"Maybe he's just looking around", says Astrid pointing towards the trees "Don't worry Jade", she resumes giving him a light smile. He then steps outside and suddenly yells "KIARA! Where is that water coming from?". Kiara soon smiles and explains where the noise comes from. She then decides to take Jade along with Astrid to the location where the water is since it's very close from where they are.