sixthiterationlogs | if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

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if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

Hail had been falling for two days now, peppering the ground and shredding the grass but rather than melt away like a late spring storm it had only intensified, growing in diameter and moving from a mild annoyance to damned near deadly. As the storm raged, ice flew up through updrafts and was forced back to earth in the downdraft, accumulating layer after layer of murky debris until it went hurtling toward the earth with wicked accuracy.

Shingles were ripped from roofs, the wind howled and lightning cracked. The hail had driven both humans and animals into the safety of the indoors, to the dark corners of buildings that might withstand the assault. With only candlelight and the hushed voices of villagers to stave off fear and boredom, the storm raged like a sentient being heedless of those who might be caught in the path.

After the storm, a calm came over the land and weak sunlight glinted off smoke-tinged ice. Steam rose from the melt and humidity was thick in the air; petrichor hung heavy, a soothing scent after a savage display of natural fury.

[OOC: Your hail mingle post. Feel free to have characters on the run, gathering animals or inside the Town Hall waiting out the storm.]

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Moana was breathing heavily, her long dark hair matted to her cheek. She looked up at Cougar with the look of someone who was very near panic. "Itiiti" She breathed out the name before she began to cough. She'd run from the river when the storm had started. "My pig." She clarified, unsure if Cougar had seen her with her new pet.

"I need to find him. He's usually with me but the storm scared him. I need to see if he went back to the inn or if he's somewhere else." She had been running around but she knew that Itiiti was smart and would try and find a safe place to hide.

Moana just wanted that safe place to be with her.

He nods, briskly, already knowing that he's going to help. Hail isn't going to hurt him in any permanent way, though the storm picking up might take the both of them out of commission, so it's important they do this quickly. "Where was he last?" he asks, because if they know that, they can start a search radius from there.

"Pigs, they do not move very fast. If we go to the last place, you and I can fan out in different directions, do a sweep," he says, trying not to be excited about the prospect of doing some proper search and rescue.

Moana shook her head. "We were at the river and I think he'd head towards the Inn but..." The storm raged angrily and while Moana was currently under something that protected her from the hail she knew she couldn't stay there.

"If he isn't under something the ice is really going to hurt him." She couldn't chase the worry from her voice. "I'll head towards the Inn." She looked up at Cougar. "Can you check around it? I just came from the water and I hadn't seen him there. Itiiti hates water."

Cougar has the feeling that the river is the best place to look. The weather could have slipped the pig away without anyone seeing and he gives Moana a nod of his head. "Go," he says, giving her a mild push at her shoulder. He'll go to the river and do a sweep, already calculating how far the pig would've gone if he'd been running.

He gives her a promise of a nod. "I have to run," he apologizes, because he needs to make up for the lost time. Turning, he starts to sprint as quickly as he can, heading for the further spot of the river Ititi might have gotten to, ignoring the hail.

He's been in worse situations. At least this isn't bullets.

Moana didn't need to be told twice. She took off, the ground beneath her feet fleeing behind her. She ran fast despite being pelted by hail. She'd have bruises but it was nothing that she wouldn't heal from.

It was only when she neared the inn that she looked back and by that point she couldn't make out Cougar at all.

"Good luck." She whispered but her words were swallowed by the storm. She'd search the inn first. Grabbing the bunny and wrapping him in her winter jacket as she stepped back outside to look around the outside of the inn.

Cougar's heading for the river as quickly as he can, even if his boots slip in the mud a few times. His pants are spattered with it, but that can be washed out later. Right now, all that he needs to focus on is the animal in question. He whistles as he walks, keeping his peripheral vision attentive and open as he starts to work his way down the river, trying to find a place that a pig would want to go.

Warm and dry, he thinks. There's a small outcropping of trees and rocks close by and when Cougar squints, he thinks he sees an outline of a shape. Getting closer, he's relieved to find it a pig-one, reaching out to bundle it in his arms. "You've had your Mama very worried," he tells the pig, wrapping it under his shirt as he begins his light jog back, knowing Moana will be very worried if he doesn't hurry.

Itiiti was still small for a pig and while he was heavy, he would easily be gathered into Cougar's arms. He squirmed a lot, flailing his short legs and grunting wildly. It wasn't until Cougar mentioned Moana as mama that Itiiti appeared to calm down. He was trembling but as Cougar walked be remained still.

Moana met him outside, about halfway between the inn and the shore line. She'd kept searching and was now soaked all the way through. She didn't care, as long as Itiiti was safe. "Itiiti!" She was quick to take the pig in her arms, holding him protectively against her chest.

"Thank you." She looked up at Cougar, her hair glued to her face, a thin line of blood down one cheek where a piece of hail unfortunately clipped her face.

Cougar has held worse parcels. He still remembers having to struggle his way out of a hot zone with Jake wriggling in his arms, protesting the whole way. At least the little pig is a little quieter than that. "De nada," he says, pushing forward to get inside when the chill of the air is too much for him to bear outside.

He frowns, though, when he clears the water from his face and gestures to her. "Come inside, I need to patch you."

"I'll be fine." She replied quickly while also heading inside. She knew that it would be silly to remain outside in this weather, more so now that she'd collected the two small critters that were under her charge.

Wet hair matted to her cheek, neck and face. She felt the sting of the rain and hail as it pattered against her skin. Moana knew that she'd have bruises but she didn't know how back it would be. It was only once she was inside that she stopped running, looking a bit like a drown rat.

"Itiiti?" She looked down at the pig who continued to tremble in her arms. The pig didn't like the storm.

He doesn't care whether she thinks she'll be fine, he's a field medic and he can patch up a little wound. "Come inside, you will hold the pig and comfort, I will fix the bleed," Cougar says, giving her a look that says that he doesn't want to hear more argument, not when it's an easy thing. "You need warmth. It will give some time to catch your breath, too."

Once inside Moana stood dripping on the floor. She couldn’t squeeze the water from her hair with Itiiti trembling in her arms and she felt bad for the pool of water that grew at her feet. Her hair held a lot of water. She looked up at Cougar and flashed him an awkward smile.

"Can I borrow something to dry off?" She’d wait by the door and try not to make a mess.

Moana knew that she’d have a few bruises; she felt the ache of her skin as she shifted her weight from heel to heel. She didn’t want to worry Cougar more so she didn’t mention it and just waited for him to attend to the cut on her cheek. It wasn’t very big but she really wasn’t in a position to argue, her focus was mainly on Itiiti.

Cougar follows inside, taking off his hat instantly so he can knock it against the door before it closest, trying to keep as much water as he can from getting inside. He searches around and finds a towel for her, digging out the first aid kit in the meantime.

"Sit," he says, gesturing to a place where she can hold onto Ititi and still let him tend to her. "I will be quick," he vows. "Then you can tell me if you are hurt elsewhere."

Moana felt like a drowned rat as she moved towards the chair. She positioned Itiiti in her lap before pulling her hair over her shoulder in a somewhat neat pile. She cooed softly at the piglet and he began to calm down.

"Thank you." Her voice sounded softer than usual.

Moana looked up as Cougar moved around. "I might have a few bruises but I think my cheek is the only part that's bleeding. It stings."

Cougar works efficiently, already digging out his things as he pushes her hair back to look at the wound. He dries the area to get a better look, eyes scanning it quickly. "No stitches," he promises, gently pushing her hair aside so that he can dab at the area with some gauze, wanting to stop the bleeding before he applies anything on top of it.

"I'll have to clean," he warns, knowing that won't feel very good, but better to have a little bit of pain than an infection.

Moana wasn't that squeamish but she still winced when he touched her cheek. It stung in a very unpleasant way. Itiiti sensed her distress and Moana forced herself to relaxing hoping that it might help the trembling baby pork roll in her lap.

"Thanks." She hadn't ever heard of stitches before and it made her wonder. "Why would you stitch it?" She thought of stitching fabric together and shivered. She didn't want those.

Cougar presses his lips together with displeasure, always hating to see young people (kids, especially) get hurt. He has to turn off his emotions, knowing that his triggers are, and he stares ahead almost as if his gaze is dead, not wanting to scare her.

"If the cut is open too much, I would stitch so you wouldn't get infected," he explains. "No dirt, or other, it could not get in the wound."

Moana made a rather comical face at his reasoning. She didn't stick out her tongue but she definately thought about it. When he was finished she looked up at him a question pouring from her mouth before she could stop it.

"You look so severe. Are you okay?" It made her think of the look that she'd sometimes get from her father.

Cougar always looks serious, he knows, but still, some people like Jake have learned how to see flinches as full monologues of emotion. He inhales sharply and gestures to her as he ducks down to avoid her gaze as he folds away his gauze. "You are young," is what he says. "I don't like seeing young people get hurt."

At least she's still alive, which is more than Cougar can say for twenty-five little children in a helicopter in Bolivia and one unfortunate child in Afghanistan who didn't know what was going to happen.

It was difficult for Moana to understand the full meaning of Cougars comment. She puffed up her cheeks a bit and sat a little bit straighter in her chair.

"I am not young." She protested. "I am the daughter of the village chief and I will... would be taking his place." If she wasn't here or out on the ocean. She looked down at Itiiti and sighed. She knew she shouldn't be upset with Cougar, he was much older than she was but in her village she was an adult.

"I'm tired of being treated like a child." Her father was always treating her like she didn't know what she wanted, like he had to protect her from everything.

"Young does not mean immature or unwise," he clarifies, letting her have her anger. He's not young anymore, hasn't been in over a decade, but to her, she's still young. To him, it means that she's without the heavy sins that many adults bear on their shoulders. Not innocent, but new to those things.

"It's not to treat you like a child to worry," he adds. "You should still not be hurt."

Moana considered Cougar for a long time. In any other situation staring at him this intently might be a bit awkward but she was taking a measure of him, reading between each word that he had spoken. She wasn't as wise as her grandmother but there were things that she could see.

"You can't protect everyone." Her voice was very soft and very sympathetic. "And if you can't protect them it isn't your fault." She didn't know why but it felt like he carried a weight, a guilt, it was the same look that she'd see in her father.

"I'm supposed to," he says. It's the job he signed up for with Spec Ops and then with the Losers, and when he fails (and he has, too many times), it hits hard. He knows the hail isn't his fault, he knows Moana's injury isn't his fault, either. "Maybe not everyone, all the time, but that's what I fix," he says, gesturing to the cut.

"Then, at least I can do something."

Moana flashed him a smile and while she knew nothing of his past, she wanted him to be able to focus on the things that he could do. "Yeah." She didn't forget Itiiti in her lap though the pig began to wiggle as if he wasn't getting enough attention to placate him. Moana placed a hand on his head and scratched to get him to hold still

"You should do something but it isn't your fault if you can't do everything. No one person should have to do everything." Sadness seeped into her tone as she lifted herself from the chair.

"Thank you for helping the cut. I'm going to try and run to the closest building." Until she reached somewhere she could stay. "I'll see you when the storm passes."

Cougar allows a nod of his head, checking the cut one last time to make sure he did a good job. He needs to head back out into the storm and make sure Jake and Veronica are safe, but he needs to bundle back up and he wants to make sure that Moana is safe, too. "Stay safe," he warns. "No more cuts," he adds, as if he can somehow give her that kind of direction and have it listened to.

Moana looked up at him with a bright smile. Even the hail couldn't diminish the glow that surrounded her.

"I'll try!" With that she ran off and into the mixture of hail and rain. She was running quickly and soon disappeared from sight with Itiiti wrapped protectively in her arms.

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if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

Rescuing 101

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