She turned around quickly with her hands full of firewood ready to toss it all at the intruder when she sees it's Ben, her horse. That must mean they weren't far from the cabin! That was great news indeed! At least, she hoped it meant they were close. After the strange events of the day, she wasn't sure of anything anymore!
 "Ben! How'd you get here my buddy? Are we that close to home? How ya doing huh?"
 She petted him and thumped his neck and scratched his ear quite overjoyed to see him. She wrapped her arm over his neck and patted him as he nuzzled her pockets looking for a treat.
 "Sorry Ben, I gots no treats on me just now. I'll make it up to you though, ok?"
 She picked the firewood back up and carried it with her though, just in case. She could always stack it in a dry sheltered spot in case of need some other time. She headed back to the meeting spot, knowing that Ben would follow close behind now that he'd found her.
"Hey you all, I found a buddy of mine. That must mean we aren't too far from a cabin and a place to rest, clean up and get a bite to eat."
 She stopped though when she saw the two teenagers slipping into the clearing where they were to meet. She didn't recall ever meeting them before, so they must be lost hikers or something.
 "Hi. You all lost or something?"

As Luke arrived back, he seemed a little discombobulated, occasionally looking suspiciously at the trees behind him.
When he recognized a similar look in Alex's eye, he ventured, "The woods eyeballing you too, chum? Freaky, ennit".

The chick, Moon was wandering back also, with a pony in tow of all things.
And the big guy, what did he say his name was, 'John'? Was also drifting back towards the gathering, when they all were joined by two teens that came wandering out of the woods.
Luke wasn't sure why Moon pegged them as 'lost', cos they seemed right at home here.

But Luke wasn't one to wallflower away ... especially as there weren't any walls here to cling to.

He made his way towards the fore coming boys, and held out a hand to introduce himself, "Hi. Names Luke. 'Magine bumping into civilized folk out here, eh.
You, umm, wouldn't be willing to tell us where 'here' in, would you? Please?"

   OOC: Luke and Moon Child, I need a percentile roll from each of you please:)

rolled 25 using 1d100. As requested.

17:56, Today: Moon Child rolled 37 using 1d100. %.

   Alex nodded in reply to Luke's rather rhetorical question, his eyes never leaving the squirrels.  "Yep, definitely a ten on the creepy meter.  Not sure what stimulus would create such an atypical response in them."

   The two boys watch the exchange with seeming nonchalance, then the older red haired youth laughs and replies, first to Moon Child.  "No we're not lost, we're just out hunting...um mushrooms, heh.  No luck so far though.  We come here every once in awhile; haven't seen you before though.  I was just saying you  shouldn't go too far west, the old Indian ruins are there, and they're haunted..wooooooo...heehee."
   He turns to Luke as he approaches and takes Luke's hand briefly.  "S'cool, name's Dirk, and my friend's Eddie, though everyone calls him Scruff.  Heh, hard to get a word in with him around though."  Scruff just blinks and looks up at Dirk in silence.  "You don't know where you are?  OMG that's funny.  You're in the Shawnee Nat'nal Forest dude.  How'd you get here if ya don't know where you are?"

Luke smiled, "We kinda just fell out of anther world as it was passing by, and BAM, straight into this here nice forest ... if you know what I mean.
It's nice to meet you guys, though.

So, that way is some old Indian ruins, right?  Which way should we head for the nearest town, and ho long might we be walking that way?"

He liked these kids, and felt a lot more comfortable chatting with them than he had several minutes ago.

 She blinked at the boys, then blinked again before rubbing her eyes. She really must get to a doctor soon. Something was wrong, either her eyes, or maybe her brain was developing a tumor. Or something worse. Had those alien things even been real, or was it all in her head. Was anything real? She had to assume for now things were real, because if she didn't, and they were, she could be in for a lot of hurt. They all could be. She rubbed her mustang's nose for comfort as she answered the red haired boy's comments.

 "Ummm. Yeah. Old Indian ruins huh? Ok, we won't go that way then. Besides, I think we'll go that direction." She points in the direction she'd just com from, which was opposite the direct the boys indicated the Native American sacred lands were in.
 "If you're looking for mushrooms, look for May Apples and old orchards. That would be a good place to look."
 She looked at her horse to see if he was acting spooked or anything. Animals were sensitive to anything strange in nature...like sacred burial grounds or mutants.
This message was last edited by a game editor at 03:32, Sat 14 Apr 2012.

 Rhic watched the strangers, and the horse following along behind Moon Child. Both seemed freindly and helpful, but the forest itself set his nerves on edge. He scratched at a scar that reminded him never to take helpful strangers at face value and cradled the barrel of his rifle in one elbow, while keeping his hand on the grip and the muzzle pointed somewhere in the direction of the two strangers.
  "Shawnee Forest huh, well that's goood news."
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:23, Fri 13 Apr 2012.

   Dirk nods to Rhic, looking at his rifle nervously.  "Yep the Shawnee, hope that helps you get everything straight old timer.  You know, you might want to be careful with that thing.  Guns have a way of messing up a good day, y'know?  And hey, you'll get a lot more people to help you if you don't point your bang stick at em the very first time they talk to you.  Just sayin'.  I mean what is it with grown ups and guns, seriously?"
   Then the red haired youth turns to Luke, giving him a quizzical look.  "Another world huh?  Well, whatever, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's cool dude; hakuna matata and all that.  We all got secrets don't we?  The way the horse lady was pointing's right, more or less.  Go that way about five miles you'll find the main road.  Lots of horse trails along the way too, if ya want to ride that big ole horse."  He grinned at Moon Child's horse, Ben, who snorts in response, but seems otherwise calm.  "Keep on the down slope and you'll find the river soon, can't miss it trust me.  "Follow that and you'll get to the ranger station, not that they are all that big a help.  Anyway we..."
   Dirk paused as Scruff tugged on his jacket.  He bent down and listened as Scruff whispered into his ear.  He looked at Malcolm and nodded.  "Good point, Scruff.  "Scruff said the geezer in the suit's makin him antsy...say's he's way too quiet, says he reminds him of a cop.  He also wants to ask the Horse Lady somethin'  He wants to know if you're the daughter of that old arch..um archie..the professor guy who used to live in that big spooky cabin on the Wabash?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Fri 13 Apr 2012.

 She watches and listens, amused by the conversation and interaction between Rhic, Luke and the two "kids". The grey kid didn't talk much, but he watched the men with alert enough eyes. The foxy one was talkative enough for both. She turned the direction he gave, but didn't head that way.
 "Why, yes, I am. How did you know that?"

"Sorry to make you nervous, Scruff," Malcolm said, looking at the younger boy. "I didn't mean it. We're just a little lost, and I get really quiet when I'm lost. I tend to be quiet anyway...

Many things were going through Malcolm's mind. He still didn't feel safe... perhaps he never would again.

"We have to get out of here."

" Bad habit." Rhic smiled slightly and apologized as he turned slightly taking the muzzel of the weapon a little further away from the two teens." Spent a lot of time in the woods, with people who wanted to put big smoking holes in my teen aged arse...that was a few years ago buit it sort of sticks with you"
   You boys have any luck with those... mushrooms...I hear the local ones are really good with butter and a titch of salt." he broke intoe an easy freindly smile and lit another cigarette." You'll want to look on the shady side of the hill, find some nice moist ground, old rotten loggs and such make good places to find all sorts of Mushrooms...By the ay Names Rhic, well thats what most people end up calling me."he added with a slight grin.

"Well, then, ain't that nice, us all getting along.
Thanks for the GPS lads, and good luck with your endeavors" he said, then turned to his companions,
"Maybe we can all head on back to Moony's place up yonder then?" he continued. It was as much a question to Moon as a suggestion, "and rest up a little. Maybe strike up some friendly conversation and share some notes".

 Her attention was still mostly on the boys. There was a strangeness about them, but no one else seemed to think they were weird or anything so she kept her mouth shut. It was bad enough her name was Moon without making them all think she was nutty as a fruitcake. But she was still curious about the kids. They were pretty far off the beaten path and she still wondered how they'd gotten clear out here.
 "So, where do you all live? How did you know about my uncle? Not many people live this far away from town in this area. There's cougars, panthers, bobcats and rattle snakes out here. There's also feral pigs that's escaped from farms over the years. They do massive damage and are very dangerous to run into especially a sow with piglets. Most people don't like wildlife that inconveniences them so they prefer to live closer to town."
 She took her eyes off the boys briefly to answer Luke's suggestion then looked back at the boys to see what their answer would be. They didn't look like brothers either, so she had to wonder if they were runaways from some boot camp facility. Or maybe runaways from some foster home. Her mouth tightened at that thought. Some foster families were very bad news, so she prayed they weren't from such a place as that.
 "Ummm, sure, we can head to the cabin in a minute. It's probably a bit of a hike though. Of course, anyone who can't make it can ride. How is everybody? Any wounds or sprained ankles or anything?"

  "I'm okay, thanks Moon, just a few bruises, but otherwise I seem to be alright.  Actually your cabin sounds like a good idea to me, I'm not exactly a 'back to nature' kind of guy."  He wondered a bit about the boys too.  Something about them seemed strange.  And the combination of unusual activity that had befallen them in the last half hour seemed unlikely to be mere coincidence.  Then again, the whole day had been the weirdest he'd ever had and he wanted nothing more than to get back to so semblance of normalcy.

   The red haired teen waits as Rhic apologizes for the gun and then give the boys tips on mushroom hunting. "Its cool old dude...Rhic.  Good luck finding your way back; I mean it. Sucks to be lost, believe me no one knows better than me..."  His eyes searched Rhic's and Luke's for a long moment, lips pressed tightly together, his expression serious for that brief instant.
   Scruff just blinked at Malcolm, then he nodded almost imperceptibly, the brief smile flickering over his young face. "Oh....oh...oh...k..ku...kuku...kay," he managed to stammer quietly, as if that simple statement took all his effort.
   Dirk's attention spins back to Moon Child as she starts to ask other questions.  "Oh a few of the local kids know about the spooky old cabin on the river.  The old man hasn't been seen in years and there are a lot of stories about what happened...

   Suddenly, before he can finish his thought, a gunshot echoes through the woods, startling the wildlife, who quickly make for the nearest cover.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:34, Mon 16 Apr 2012.

Luke seemed about to say something, when the explosive interruption caused him to proverbially soil himself, and he dived towards both cover and ground simultaneously, hoping that whomever was voicing their displeasure at his presence had the aim of your average Stormtrooper.

 She dived for cover and made a hand signal to her horse to lay down, a trick she had trained him to do for shows. She hissed loudly for the others to get down as well. Hunters sometimes shot at anything that moved, especially newbie hunters or poachers.
 "Get down!"

Malcolm stood calmly, searching the woods for a source for the sound.

"Stutters," he said still looking around, "I used to stutter when I was a kid." He looked down at Scruff. "Completely grew out of it by the age of twelve. No worries."

"And you've got good eyes," he said. "I'm totally a cop."

Turning to Rhic, Malcolm asked, "Hunting weapon?"

   OOC: Rhic can confirm Malcolm's question easily; the discharge did not sound like rifle fire, more likely a pistol.  And it was fired somewhere nearby.  Malcolm and Rhic may both make me a percentile roll to discern the exact direction.

   Ben, being a well trained horse, did not panic at the sound of gunfire, but instead obediently laid on the ground, surprisingly quickly for an animal his size.  Alex has already hit the ground and is scanning the area nervously, from behind an old fallen oak, fortunately there's enough room for two, since Luke seems to have found the same bit of cover.  Moon Child finds a large jutting moss covered boulder to hide behind.  Dirk stays with her, searching the woods with an angry expression.  Scruff, to the older boy's astonishment, hides behind Malcolm, but does not leave him.

OOC: Malcolm Laurence rolled 51 using 1d100. Perception.

  " Thats a pistol." Rhic warned as his rifel came up and to his shoulder in one smooth move his finger resting on the trigger guard as he scanned for the source of the shot.
  Moving in a low crocuh he side stepped to the cover of a tree his head on a pivot as he as he covered the rest of the group. " Malcom keep an eye on the civvies, I'll check out the shooter."

17:39, Today: John Rhic Rhictor rolled 78 using 1d100.

"You got it," came Malcolm's quiet reply. His stance shifted and he brought his alien firearm to the ready. "Remember to give the blood-curdling scream if you're not coming back."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:00, Tue 17 Apr 2012.

" Don't worry It's not going to be me screaming." rhic replied with a smile." But if you hear soemthing like a ten year old girl with a spider on her leg...go on without me."