[open]

[ka_sera_sera]

Who| Roland Deschain & Commander Shepard & Thane Krios, Roland Deschain & anyone
What| walking, death and spider fighting (not in that order)
Where| an abandoned building, the lake, the amusement park
When| week two
Warnings/Notes| death

A.

During the day, during that heat, seems the best time to stop and rest. Any fighting - though he's not seen much - is probably best done in the cold, not during the day when he'll be sweaty and slow. The building's chosen deliberately, not in such good shape that others might have chosen it, but not so bad that it'll rot under him.

The choice was a careful one but, as he finds out shortly, not careful enough.

Before he's taken more than a few steps inside, before he's even had time to shut the door behind him, there's a glimpse of color high up amid the ruins of what was once a second floor. That shifting color is his only warning because the movement is fast, something huge and quick dropping right on top of him. Reflex takes over and he throws himself back, hitting the wall beside the doorway hard enough that it rattles. That same reflex has also got him dropping a hand to his hip, but of course - no gun there. Not now, probably never again. "Damn it," Roland spits, a little louder than he probably should have.

There's that height and those legs, and Roland's first look at it has him thinking of another enemy fought long before the gamemakers brought him here, and he can't help the wide-eyed look that slips over his face, the shiver of confused memory. The thing's colors are different, though, and it's taller. Much taller. Until it brings itself low, red things squirming inside that wide mouth, and makes a noise he can only be called a hiss. Between his own noise and that hiss anyone passing probably knows there's something happening in this house, knows there's someone inside who's distracted enough to take advantage of. No time to worry about that. Roland grips the screwdriver in his left hand, the only hand whole enough to still have a reliable grip, gets his feet under him, and waits for it to get close. Probably won't have to wait long.

B.

A while later, rested and having avoided becoming a meal for any mutie spiders, Roland makes his way along the edges of the lake. His eyes dart toward it now and again, keeping a wary eye on the huge swaths of darkness shifting under the water. He'd risked the wrath of those shapes to drink a little of that water not long ago and he hunches his shoulders now, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. More cold than usual, suddenly, but that may be because there's not too much cover here, nothing to break the wind. He'd be more cautious, but he's got to keep the big metal shapes in the distance in his view. The tallest of them, from what he can tell, looks like a giant wheel, and if he can get atop that Roland may be able to make some progress finding Cuthbert.

But that'll be no use until this fog clears a little, so for now he just walks, shouldering the windbreaker tied like a purse over one of his shoulders and trying to stay alert. Little harder than it should be. Maybe he should have slept a while longer.

Comments

[ka_sera_sera]

He takes the bug spray back without argument. "It might have been for mosquitoes if this were the outside world, more normal circumstances. But if someone went to the trouble of giving this to us here and now, do you really think it'd be for our comfort?" His words might sound like a rebuke, but his tone doesn't. He thinks no less of her for not seeing it. It's only that, though she may be no gunslinger, she'll probably need to learn how to think like one.

Without waiting for her answer, he moves on, calmly retying the windbreaker as he continues. "It's good to hear you found someone to travel with. Do you know them well?" He really ought to remind her to travel in pairs, if she's got someone willing to watch her back, but one rebuke's enough for the time being.

[smarterthanthem]

Clementine presses her lips thinly together and nods along with his words. She feels foolish for not thinking it, she'd had ample enough warning outside of the arena about what the Gamemakers were capable of. "No..." Needless to say the lesson had been learned now, she wouldn't be going anywhere without it again.

"I'm getting to. One of them offered to ally with me before the arena started. A man with two other girls, almost as young as me. They're nice."

[ka_sera_sera]

He's almost disappointed to hear that last part - this arena's no place for 'young', and it's no place for 'nice'. But chances are, if those kids are here they probably know that already. And it might do some good, at least, for Clementine to be able to stay with people her own age.

"I'd like to meet them sometime," he says, turning to put his back to the wall behind Clementine and sitting against it. "Outside the arena, if possible. But in the mean time, maybe you could teach them something about those arrows." He crosses his arms over his knees and smiles at her. "It looks like you remembered what I told you. Maybe well enough to teach someone else."

[smarterthanthem]

"You could come join us, if you wanted to." Clementine puts the offer out without hesitating. "It'd be safer than being alone."

Calming down she lets the compliment about the bow sink in this time, smiling to him in return. "Joel and Ellie know how to use a bow but not how to make one. We're working on making a second one." she takes it and shows him more closely. It's a rough make to be sure but not bad for what materials they could find, and it shoots more or less straight as she just proved. "It should be better."

[ka_sera_sera]

"Good. I look forward to seeing it once it's done. Afraid I can't stay, though. I haven't found Cuthbert yet, and..." He takes a moment for a deep, careful breath. The thought of that unsettles him more than any number of gigantic hungry spider attacks. Not that he doesn't trust his friend's ability, but the last time they'd battled together had been in his world, long in his past and Cuthbert's future. Roland remembers well how that turned out. Too well. "And I'd like to, before I settle anywhere."

He's inspecting the bow as he talks, and turns the topic back to it. "Well judged on the size. Keep in mind that if the man you're traveling with needs one, it should probably be much bigger if he's going to get the most out of it."

[smarterthanthem]

"I understand." Clementine says after a moment, not wanting to seem disappointed. "I hope you find him quickly."

She'd met Cuthbert once, briefly, in Roland's company and she knows they're close. Back home she'd had the similar urge to pass by safe company to find Christa who she still wonders for, if circumstances had allowed it she probably would have but instead she came here.

"Thank you. I'll remember."

[ka_sera_sera]

Roland slides an arm around her shoulders, squeezing briefly before drawing back. "Thank you for saving my ass," he says, smiling a little. He doesn't typically curse unless there's a good reason, but in this case it's an attempt to make her smile, and that's reason enough.

He stands, pulls his makeshift-purse higher on his shoulder, and raises a hand. "Take care to travel in pairs from now on, aye?" Then he turns and walks away toward a different, and hopefully emptier, house. And later, to his death, though he doesn't know it. Probably should have taken his own advice.

[smarterthanthem]

And Clementine leans into it, which is a true sign there of how much she's come to respect and trust Roland in their short time together. "Just try not to have it need saving again." she quips, nodding again to his advice.

She'll watch him go, watch him walk away and hope that he finds Cuthbert swiftly and that maybe after that they'll meet again and that time he'll stay. Turning away when he's far gone she hurries back to her own group, destined for disappointment.