shatterverse | (no subject)

On the road is a Sedan. In the Sedan is Ai-Ling and Jordan and Journey, who are talking about not much except how awesome Ai-Ling's driving is these days.

...actually, Ai-Ling's doing most of the talking.

Until she sees a movement in the long grass. Then she slows a little. More so when she sees the tent.

Ai-Ling's always doing most of the talking. That doesn't mean Jordan isn't listening, though.

And also taking the cue of the car slowing to look around. Which means she spies the tent, too.

And the movement faster.

She's already frowning and reaching in the back of the car for her backpack. If Ai-Ling's slowing down, she'll want to check it out, and if the movement is dangerous to whoever's in the tent, Jordan wants a firearm.

A scaly, rotting head peeks out of the grass, and then disappears again.

High-pitched trills echo across the field.

Inside the tent, Miki yawns, waking slowly, and reaches for his shirt -

- which he drops when he sees the shadow of movement outside his tent. Instead he grabs a hair-tie, yanks his hair back, and grabs his club.

One of the tent flaps lifts just slightly. From the outside, all that can be seen is a pair of wary eyes.

"They've got it surrounded," AI-Ling observes as she actually stops. "Can you pick them out from here?"

She talks as she unbuckles her seatbelt and reattaches her sword, reaching back for her spear as an afterthought. But all quickly and smoothly, eyes on the movements.

Jordan hesitates for a split second - then exchanges a handgun for the pieces of her hunting rifle.

"Yes," is her clipped response, already clicking the pieces together, rolling the window down by hand. Once that is finished, a gesture is given to Journey, who stays lying down in the back of the car, and Jordan climbs out.

--to climb on top of the roof of the car.

It's not so much a hunting rifle as a sniper's rifle, as Jordan crouches and gets the gun settled at her shoulder, braced by her knee, and takes aim.

She trusts Ai-Ling to get in there and do her own damage, but she can hold up just fine from here, as soon as the grass rustles again.

Miki has his boomerang in his other hand by now, crouching low, below the level of the grass, and sliding slowly out of his tent to look around.

There is rustling coming from in front of him - but also from behind, and he can pick out two more directions.

Surrounded, then. Hmm.

There are two more spots in the grass that Miki hasn't noticed, too.

And one of them is behind Ai-Ling and Jordan's car.

Ai-Ling does this; she unwinds the driver's window and sticks her spear out first, aiming it at the ground. When it connects, she follows through the window and using her size, vaulting over the spear like a pole so she's out and free.

She's aware the man coming out of the tent has brown hair and is wearing blue. But mostly she's aware that there are movements there, there and there.

She gains her feet and holds the spear in two hands, ready to go in any direction.

Jordan is aware that there is movement to her left and around. She's aware that she could get Journey to play lookout for her. She's also aware that a barking dog would get rid of any sort of advantage they have.

Then again, so would a rifle shot. But she'll take her chances with that.

As soon as Ai-Ling's out and vaulting, she twists and in the space of a blink, is settled and steady again, shot aimed, lined up - and then taken with a crack that shoots through the air almost after the bullet hits the raptor in the head.

One of them is down! Every other single raptor around the field jerks in reaction to the shot, and there are low growls. Two of the rustling points closest to the car begin to converge on it.

There's the whirr of a boomerang slicing through the air, and then there's only one moving patch of grass.

Except that that means that two more start converging on the tent, even as Miki jumps up to catch his boomerang and throws it again, swearing under his breath.

Ai-Ling moves as soon as she hears the shot, charging the second point with her spear held in both hands. She thrusts if with all her strength into the creature, piercing it through the throat. Abandoning that for later, she draws her sword and rushes the nest nearest movement.

The second the first raptor falls, Jordan swings around. She takes in what direction Ai-Ling is moving in, notes the arc of the boomerang and picks the one no one's targeted yet.

Another crack. In a regular city - even in a small town - the sound might go unnoticed, but in the silence here, it rings out before the raptor collapses with a thump in the grass.

Miki knows that sound - he's frowning, turning to stare at the car, trying to figure out who's on it and who they're targeting.

The boomerang takes down a final raptor and he lifts his hand to catch it and tucks it into its sheath, sliding low to move through the tall grass towards the car.

Ai-Ling is the last person to finish with her raptor, in a few large sword sweeps that bring it down mostly as a consequence of defending herself against claws and teeth.

She prods the corpse to make sure it's dead before looking up at the tent (leather, water-tribe style, remains of a fire and dinner prepared in the same style), processing the way two of the creatures died (bomerang), and finally really looking at the man trying to creep up on the car.

Her heart skips a beat, but she follows quietly.

Jordan isn't moving just yet, eyes sweeping the field around them critically.

She's not getting off the roof of the car until the grass around them stops moving.

Miki reaches the edge of the field, where the grass gives way to the embankment of the road, and frowns up at her.

"Thank you." He's still wary, especially because she has a gonne, but she did just save his arse - he may as well be polite.

Ai-Ling stands behind Miki, not saying anything yet because she can't find her voice and doesn't trust herself to say anything without making a prat of herself.

She just wipes the blade of her sword and slides it home in its sheath, aware that Jordan can see her, and that Miki might not even know she's there, yet.

Jordan glances at him, only half-aware since she's still looking over the field. But he's given a nod.

After she's finished, when she's satisfied, her posture relaxes and she sits back to start to disassemble the rifle.

This is about when she notices Ai-Ling, the look on her face, and how much she isn't moving. Jordan lifts an eyebrow, catches Miki's gaze, and nods behind him.

As soon as the nod happens, Ai-Ling makes herself relax, dropping to a casul stance and looking over the camp disdainfully.

"Lucky we came along. What kind of idiot camps on his own in hostile ground without setting predator traps?"

The kind, apparently, who stares at her in disbelief for a couple of seconds, and then in slowly-dawning understanding, and then in pure delight.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks up at the car, innocent. "Some of us need to sleep sometimes," he remarks, apparently to Jordan. "You should tell your friend to be nicer."

omg it's Ai-Ling! it REALLY IS!

The banter, their postures, the looks on their faces before looking at each other...

Jordan smirks a little, amused, and stays crouched on top of the car, settling her chin on top of the rifle's handle.

"Your husband?"

Ai-Ling rolls her eyes, like she hasn't been telling Jordan quite how awesome Miki at every opportunity.

"Don't know why. If I'd known he was going to get eaten by chickenlizards I'd've left him to it."

She comes forward, still talking to Jordan, but draws to a halt near Miki.

Miki yawns obnoxiously and regards the sky thoughtfully. "I had to marry someone. We all make bad decisions."

He edges a little closer to Ai-Ling.

Jordan rests her chin on the rifle, sighs at the both of them, and arches an eyebrow, like she's waiting impatiently.

It's ruined by her small, amused little smirk.

"Worst decision of my life, anyway." Ai-Ling tells Jordan.

Her hand finds Miki's, and tiny little fingers lace in amongst his big strong ones.

"So, Jordan, this is Miki."

Miki waves with his free hand, grinning bright enough to shame the sun. "Pleasure to meet you, Jordan," he says warmly, squeezing Ai-Ling's fingers with delight. "Pity you had to bring this one along."

He uses the hand-clasp to pull her closer, in against his side.

Jordan nods, still smirking at them and starts to unfold from her crouch. "I think I'll take Journey for a walk," she begins, utterly conversationally as she starts putting the pieces of her rifle away. "A long one," she adds.

And nods back over the hills behind the car.

"Over there."

"Oh, yeah, that's right, leave me with shorty."

Ai-Ling despairs of Jordan, if she's just going to abandon her like this. She shakes her head and sighs, then turns on her toes, pulling down to make Miki bend over.

"Just cause Journey likes really long walks..."

Then she clamps herself onto his face.

Miki likes Jordan.

He also likes Ai-Ling and face-clamping. Quite a lot, really. Enough not to say anything for quite some time.

He knew it! He knew she was here! He knew she'd be here all along!

Also, Miki is a big mature grownup man and would never get teary-eyed from joy or anything ever.

The thing about Ai-Ling being so tiny and Miki being so big - she has to climb half way up him to kiss him properly, wrapping her legs around his waist comfortably.

But when she stops, she grins at him through tears of her own, then wipes his away.

All the sarcasm she needs is in her eyeroll.

Miki tries to bite her nose, leaning back to counterbalance her weight on his hips.

"Hi, you."

He nose is perfectly biteable, when she lets him, just before sinking her head against his shoulder.

"Missed you."

If she doesn't look at him it doesn't count as admitting weakness.

"Wanna go in the tent?"

"Yes," Miki says, wrapping both arms around her and crushing her tight against him. "You, too. Don't know why, though."

He's already pushing through the long grass towards the tent, with no intention of putting her down.

Their voices fade into the rustling of the grass.

It's a perfect day.