04-12-2009, 05:13 AM
“So…here’s a good one,” Sophia mentioned as an aside as she began to roll up another large mound of snow to place on top of the base of the snowman that they had just built. “If you could have one other person to be in this game with you, who would it be?”
“Jack Bauer,” Kaden answered without hesitation as he packed in snow.
Sophia stopped and looked up at the courier. “Jack Bauer’s not a real person.”
“So? He’s a badass, fictional or not,” he shrugged and helped the priestess lift the ball of snow. “You’d have to think that if we had Jack Bauer on our side, this would have been over days ago.”
“Okay, so funny story,” Ashe spoke up as she came back from the store. “They didn’t have carrots. Or coal. Or a top hat.”
Sophia clicked her tongue. “Okay. So what did they have?”
“Well, I found this pipe for the nose,” she pulled a lead pipe out of her pocket. It was horribly misshapen as it was, not like a pipe looks like a nose anyway. Sophia shrugged and took it anyway—maybe an odd-looking nose would somehow be endearing. Ashe went on. “I also got these buttons off of a shirt. It was free, anyway, so I didn’t think the cashier would mind. I also got this hat.”
The pink-haired girl brushed off a trucker hat and presented it to the priestess. It was something that she imagined Ashe pulling off of a homeless person after he had dozed off, or something equally depressing. It was old, it had what Sophia assumed was a grease stain, and it looked as though it was about to fall apart. The “Budweiser” logo that was printed across the face of the cap made it absolutely perfect in every way for a snowman.
“There,” the courier said from behind her. Turning around, Sophia couldn’t help but smile—the snowman was complete, ready for the finishing touches to be placed upon its visage. Ashe took the buttons and placed them where the eyes would have been as Sophia gently placed the hat on top of its snowy head. Kaden took the pipe that the healer had handed to him and jammed it in the middle of its face, almost causing it to crumble as the metal poked through to the other side.
“Oh, shit. Whoops,” the courier chuckled nervously as he smoothed over the cracks in the snow. The trio each took calculated steps backwards in unison as they inspected their creation. They all nodded in slight satisfaction.
“Pretty cool,” Ashe commented.
“Yeah, but it’s…”
“…missing something,” Sophia finished Kaden’s sentence, as they all had become accustomed to doing. The priestess shook her head and took another step backwards, turning around only to bump into the soft-spoken Sage.
“Um…uh…” she stuttered, holding out a wooden stick and two pieces of black cloth. “I…f-figured that it might need…arms. And maybe some eyebrows…”
“Thanks Sage,” the healer smiled brightly. “They’re perfect.”
Taking the stick, she broke it in half and handed the two pieces to Kaden. “Put them on the sides.”
“I know where arms go, Sophia,” he replied with mock indignance.
The three shared a small laugh as the blonde woman put on the eyebrows, pointing them upward to give it a sort of innocent look. Kaden, however, merely made a “tsk” sound and altered them so that the inside ends pointed down.
“Snow Bauer means business,” he smirked.
“Are we ever going to eat?” Piper had snuck into the crowd beside Sage and motioned for the blue haired girl to keep quiet, though she likely didn’t need to. The end result was what the medic was looking for—all three jumped slightly and turned around as quickly as they could. Upon seeing the snowman as they turned, Piper couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, I see.” She stepped towards the snowman and gently placed an uzi on top of one of the arms; just far enough so that it was possible for their imaginations to perceive that Snow Bauer was actually holding the gun without it actually falling off, misfiring, and killing everyone. Piper clapped her hands. “There. I thought it needed a personal touch.”
The red-haired medic turned around and started to look with the rest of the group. It was nice to be able to share what was in all likelihood their last peaceful moment together doing something so innocent. In a game in which the point was to test their psychological limits by placing the contestants into situations where they would have to make life or death decisions on a regular basis, Snow Bauer stood as a symbol to Sophia, although everyone else probably only saw a pile of dressed-up snow. It stood for the one shred of innocence that she had somehow left intact. All her beliefs, all her struggles—everything was inside that lump of snow.
“So…about that food,” Kaden spoke up after a moment of semi-awkward silence.
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry,” Ashe nodded, motioning for the rest of them to follow her into the restaurant. As the group in its entirety turned around to walk away, a commotion sounded from behind them. The hairs on the back of Sophia’s neck stood up; had the guards chosen the absolute worst time to show up? The healer turned around to see not Snow Bauer, but a masked gunman standing on top of what was now just a pile of shapeless snow. Sophia was too stunned to cry.
“Found you, you little shits,” the guard grunted.
“We’ve been here the entire time,” Kaden shrugged. “Isn’t this where we’re supposed to be?”
“Shut up!” he cocked his gun.
“How…how could…” Sophia forced out words as she clenched a fist.
“Sophia…” Kaden breathed, noticing her reaction.
“I…I know,” the healer sighed deeply and nodded.
“Good,” the courier grinned and formed a ball of ki as Ashe ran to Sage to check on her, confident in her allies’ ability to handle the situation. He threw it, which confused the ex-priestess somewhat until she found that he didn’t throw it at the guard, but rather around him. Before he even had time to react, the small explosion knocked the guard off-balance. That gave Sophia and Piper just enough time to make a dash at him and get into close range. The medic got there first and knocked the gun out of the masked man’s hands, leaving him practically defenseless in his haze. Realizing this, Sophia grabbed the man by his shoulder and gave him a swift kick to the back of his leg, knocking him down to his knees. Piper clutched onto his shoulder and squeezed until she heard a snap.
“Okay…okay…” Sophia said in between the man’s screams. “Take this opportunity and run. Go home.”
“But…but…it’s an island…”
“Just go!” Sophia and Piper roared in unison. The man screamed and ran away, through the gates of the temple and out of their sight. A shot sounded in the distance, likely one of Kai’s snipers taking care of a loose end, though none of them could be sure.
“We should just learn to expect things like this,” Ashe shook her head. “I hate surprises.”
“No kidding,” Sophia sighed. “So…what do we do now?”
The rumbling of Kaden’s stomach was all the answer she needed.
“Jack Bauer,” Kaden answered without hesitation as he packed in snow.
Sophia stopped and looked up at the courier. “Jack Bauer’s not a real person.”
“So? He’s a badass, fictional or not,” he shrugged and helped the priestess lift the ball of snow. “You’d have to think that if we had Jack Bauer on our side, this would have been over days ago.”
“Okay, so funny story,” Ashe spoke up as she came back from the store. “They didn’t have carrots. Or coal. Or a top hat.”
Sophia clicked her tongue. “Okay. So what did they have?”
“Well, I found this pipe for the nose,” she pulled a lead pipe out of her pocket. It was horribly misshapen as it was, not like a pipe looks like a nose anyway. Sophia shrugged and took it anyway—maybe an odd-looking nose would somehow be endearing. Ashe went on. “I also got these buttons off of a shirt. It was free, anyway, so I didn’t think the cashier would mind. I also got this hat.”
The pink-haired girl brushed off a trucker hat and presented it to the priestess. It was something that she imagined Ashe pulling off of a homeless person after he had dozed off, or something equally depressing. It was old, it had what Sophia assumed was a grease stain, and it looked as though it was about to fall apart. The “Budweiser” logo that was printed across the face of the cap made it absolutely perfect in every way for a snowman.
“There,” the courier said from behind her. Turning around, Sophia couldn’t help but smile—the snowman was complete, ready for the finishing touches to be placed upon its visage. Ashe took the buttons and placed them where the eyes would have been as Sophia gently placed the hat on top of its snowy head. Kaden took the pipe that the healer had handed to him and jammed it in the middle of its face, almost causing it to crumble as the metal poked through to the other side.
“Oh, shit. Whoops,” the courier chuckled nervously as he smoothed over the cracks in the snow. The trio each took calculated steps backwards in unison as they inspected their creation. They all nodded in slight satisfaction.
“Pretty cool,” Ashe commented.
“Yeah, but it’s…”
“…missing something,” Sophia finished Kaden’s sentence, as they all had become accustomed to doing. The priestess shook her head and took another step backwards, turning around only to bump into the soft-spoken Sage.
“Um…uh…” she stuttered, holding out a wooden stick and two pieces of black cloth. “I…f-figured that it might need…arms. And maybe some eyebrows…”
“Thanks Sage,” the healer smiled brightly. “They’re perfect.”
Taking the stick, she broke it in half and handed the two pieces to Kaden. “Put them on the sides.”
“I know where arms go, Sophia,” he replied with mock indignance.
The three shared a small laugh as the blonde woman put on the eyebrows, pointing them upward to give it a sort of innocent look. Kaden, however, merely made a “tsk” sound and altered them so that the inside ends pointed down.
“Snow Bauer means business,” he smirked.
“Are we ever going to eat?” Piper had snuck into the crowd beside Sage and motioned for the blue haired girl to keep quiet, though she likely didn’t need to. The end result was what the medic was looking for—all three jumped slightly and turned around as quickly as they could. Upon seeing the snowman as they turned, Piper couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, I see.” She stepped towards the snowman and gently placed an uzi on top of one of the arms; just far enough so that it was possible for their imaginations to perceive that Snow Bauer was actually holding the gun without it actually falling off, misfiring, and killing everyone. Piper clapped her hands. “There. I thought it needed a personal touch.”
The red-haired medic turned around and started to look with the rest of the group. It was nice to be able to share what was in all likelihood their last peaceful moment together doing something so innocent. In a game in which the point was to test their psychological limits by placing the contestants into situations where they would have to make life or death decisions on a regular basis, Snow Bauer stood as a symbol to Sophia, although everyone else probably only saw a pile of dressed-up snow. It stood for the one shred of innocence that she had somehow left intact. All her beliefs, all her struggles—everything was inside that lump of snow.
“So…about that food,” Kaden spoke up after a moment of semi-awkward silence.
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry,” Ashe nodded, motioning for the rest of them to follow her into the restaurant. As the group in its entirety turned around to walk away, a commotion sounded from behind them. The hairs on the back of Sophia’s neck stood up; had the guards chosen the absolute worst time to show up? The healer turned around to see not Snow Bauer, but a masked gunman standing on top of what was now just a pile of shapeless snow. Sophia was too stunned to cry.
“Found you, you little shits,” the guard grunted.
“We’ve been here the entire time,” Kaden shrugged. “Isn’t this where we’re supposed to be?”
“Shut up!” he cocked his gun.
“How…how could…” Sophia forced out words as she clenched a fist.
“Sophia…” Kaden breathed, noticing her reaction.
“I…I know,” the healer sighed deeply and nodded.
“Good,” the courier grinned and formed a ball of ki as Ashe ran to Sage to check on her, confident in her allies’ ability to handle the situation. He threw it, which confused the ex-priestess somewhat until she found that he didn’t throw it at the guard, but rather around him. Before he even had time to react, the small explosion knocked the guard off-balance. That gave Sophia and Piper just enough time to make a dash at him and get into close range. The medic got there first and knocked the gun out of the masked man’s hands, leaving him practically defenseless in his haze. Realizing this, Sophia grabbed the man by his shoulder and gave him a swift kick to the back of his leg, knocking him down to his knees. Piper clutched onto his shoulder and squeezed until she heard a snap.
“Okay…okay…” Sophia said in between the man’s screams. “Take this opportunity and run. Go home.”
“But…but…it’s an island…”
“Just go!” Sophia and Piper roared in unison. The man screamed and ran away, through the gates of the temple and out of their sight. A shot sounded in the distance, likely one of Kai’s snipers taking care of a loose end, though none of them could be sure.
“We should just learn to expect things like this,” Ashe shook her head. “I hate surprises.”
“No kidding,” Sophia sighed. “So…what do we do now?”
The rumbling of Kaden’s stomach was all the answer she needed.