long road home [backdated to March 6]

[tothefly]

WHO: (Who is making the post)
WHERE: (Where the post takes place)
WHEN: March 6 - March 17
OPEN TO: all + message/spam for Bev
WARNINGS: nada

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[network, open text]

[She'd message Bruce privately the day before to tell him about this very thing plus show him what she and Loki had brought back from their little surprise vacation, but it's taken a day before she'd felt up to anything else, and she's still not exactly feeling up to much.]

For those of you who didn't already know, Betty Ross is gone.

[network, voice, private to Beverly]

I think I might have done some damage while we were out in the woods. Mind stopping by to take a look? I don't want to tell Bruce until I know what's wrong, he'll make a bigger deal out of it than I want.

[video, open:]

[The map is a real find. She'd spent half the day before borrowing some of Bruce's precious paper to make her own copy before taking it out to the South Village Inn, but she's finally here, and the map is spread over one of the tables in the front room, one edge weighted down with the case and the other corners with empty glasses. The video opens on the carefully framed map itself, and Nat's voice narrates as she points out key locations.]

Think we're finally getting a birds-eye view of this place. We're here, and here's the ruins with the fever snakes; here's the shrine, and the southern beach I got to tour the last time this place decided to send me on an adventure. Loki and I were up here--there's ruins of an old settlement housed inside a bunch of scuttled ships on the rocks here, where we found this map.

But I think you'll all notice the biggest thing here: there's a second island to the northeast, here. [She taps the map, then turns the camera to face herself. She looks tired, but there's a glow to her green eyes that speaks to an inner purpose.]

Maybe we've been looking for our hosts in the wrong places. I'm leaving the map here in the South Village Inn front room, with the records. I've made a rough copy, but someone with a better hand should probably make a second.

[Spam, open:]

Nat remains in the front room of the Inn the rest of the day with the map, refining her smaller version and making some rough dimensional calculations. She's borrowed a spool of thread from the storeroom and roughly divided the map into a grid, trying to get a feel for the size of the space, and is available if anyone wants to come talk business.

Over the course of the next week and change, you can find her in the bunker, working away at the functioning consoles, trying to find answers with renewed purpose, or taking long soaks in the hot springs, where she'll be amenable to company of most kinds. Some nights might find her sitting out on the porch of #40 wrapped in a blanket, a tawny peacat draped over her lap and rumbling loud enough to be heard on the road. She won't be working out in the dojo for the next short while, doctor's orders, but she does stop by every few days to see if Nida needs a hand with anything, or if any of the regulars are there to chat.

Comments

[tothefly]

"I'll let you know. Bruce has been talking about the two of us taking a trip down to an abandoned village about a day or two's hike southwest of here," she answers. "But it might be good to have a slightly larger party if we're going further out. I wouldn't mind taking a trip back up to the coast, either. Check out some more of those boats. I don't think there's anything else to salvage, but it'd be worth a shot."

[ataashihunter]

"If nothing else it is worth looking. Maybe we can find something that will make life easier here even if we can't find a way to the other island."