A Prolonged Camping Trip [ANA]

[ryn]

Alek pulled the Audi A8 to a stop in the designated parking area for White Mountain National Park and stepped out of the car. He paired out at the mountains which weren't actually white except near the caps because of it being summer. Even with the warmer weather it would still be hard enough for her to make it out here with just the clothes on her back. They would have to travel a few days on foot until they were far enough off the beaten trail so that they didn't risk running into humans. Alek turned and looked back at the car. Ana was still nestled comfortably in the passenger seat. She had fallen asleep, and though he had no problem waking her. Alek decided that he'd let her sleep for now, after all once they were out there she wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably for a while.

Alek sat on the hood of the car and watched as a couple prepared to hike the trail. They were well prepared with their large packs full of supplies including a tent, rations, water, and the like. Unlike Ana and Alek who where going deep into the wilderness without so much as a bottle of water. She wanted to be strong he would force here to develop that strength on the natural need to survive. He shifted his eyes to look at Ana who was still sound asleep. He wondered if she'd be able to make it back alive. He had no doubt about his own survival skills, but this girl had probably never left the city much less spent time in the wilderness. Either way it was almost time to sink or swim

[Anastasia Kirilovna Marisova]

ANASTASIA KIRILOVNA MARISOVA

→ IT'S HARD TO SEE THE PAIN BEHIND THE MASK BEARING THE BURDEN
SHE STANDS HARD AS A STONE IN A WORLD THAT SHE CAN'T RISE ABOVE ←

As she had expected, Anastasia didn't get much sleep. It seemed like only seconds after she had closed her eyes that Aleksei was waking her up and she was shoveling food down her stomach. Breakfast that she didn't even remember what it was, she had still been so tired. The haze of sleep had started to lift as her body worked through the food, and she had been awake enough to go shopping.

The young werehyena had never been so happy to get out of a pair of clothes in her life. She hadn't had any sort of pack to keep Aleksei's clothes in, but she had cut of all the tags on her clothes and paid at the front while wearing the merchandise and just stowed the boxers and t-shirt in the back of the car. Anastasia felt so much better now that she was wearing clothes that fit her and covered her a little better. Shoes on her feet and her hair up in a ponytail. . . .

Yet, she had managed to fall asleep in the front seat, her head rested against the window and headrest, hands folded in her lap. Fatigued, she had slept through the majority of the ride and would probably wake up without a single clue how to get back to New York. Though, it wasn't like she had anything waiting there for her. She could bet any amount of money that the Novosi was going to keep tabs on her, anyway. Maybe somewhere Urjasz was getting updated. . . .

No, probably not. There didn't seem to be any sort of connection there. He probably didn't give a shit about her. . . otherwise he wouldn't have left at all. Men. . . she needed to stop being so trusting and get used to the fact that not everyone was her friend. . . . But that was easier for her to believe, though it was hard to see that when she flinched whenever anyone approached her.

Anastasia wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but when she woke up, the car was still and Aleksei was sitting on the hood, probably waiting for her. For someone who seemed not to give a rat's ass about her, he sure did make some nice gestures.

Before she got out of the car, Anastasia took a moment to look at what there was around them in the car. It seemed like the bottom of some hiking trail, and there was a fair number of people getting ready to hike and they all had some sort of pack. Anastasia looked around the car for theirs, but it didn't seem like there was a whole lot for them there. Of course, she wasn't going to question it for fear of being reprimanded.

The door clicked loudly as she opened the passenger's side door and then she climbed out, slamming the door shut behind her and shoving her hands in her pant's pocket, walking around the side to stand next to the spot the tiger was sitting, glancing up at him fleetingly. "A hiking trail?"

→ A FRAGILE SOUL CAUGHT IN THE HANDS OF FATE ←

→ STARRING Aleksei
→ COUNTING 514
→ LOCATION Hiking trail start
→ WEARING Coming soon
→ NOTES ~
→ LYRICS By Martina McBride

[ryn]

Alek smirks at Ana's statement about the hiking trail. If she thought he brought here all the way here to just go on a simple hike she was sadly mistaken. She was awake now and out of the car. Alek hit the button on the keys to lock the car, and stood up. "We follow the trail for a little while then we will take the path towards the mountains" he stated as he stood up and stretched and began walking towards the trail, nodding in a friendly manner to a couple also preparing to take the trail. He didn't bother to look back to see if Ana was following. She came this far after all. So he had no doubt that she was at the very least planning to see this through.

Alek walked intently up the path pointing out the different types of tree's, plants and animal tracks along the way, it was as if he was a tour guide. He had been here a few times before, and knew the area well. Mostly he was doing it so that other people on the trail didn't think of them as being suspicious. Once they got to the farther parts of the trail there wouldn't be many people, and they could break off the path without being noticed.

[Anastasia Kirilovna Marisova]

ANASTASIA KIRILOVNA MARISOVA

→ IT'S HARD TO SEE THE PAIN BEHIND THE MASK BEARING THE BURDEN
SHE STANDS HARD AS A STONE IN A WORLD THAT SHE CAN'T RISE ABOVE ←

Anastasia listened intently to the direction, but it wasn’t as complicated as she had imagined. They were just going to follow the trail, then go deeper into the mountains? Well that didn’t sound hard. . . but with no packs, Anastasia knew something was up. The young hyena knew perfectly well that they weren’t going to go for some leisurely stroll up in the mountains. . . . She was aware that he meant for them to stay in the mountains, and the lack of noticeable gear made her extremely nervous: Anastasia didn’t know how to hunt in the woods or. . . make shelter from nothing. . . .

Once again the tiger didn’t wait for her or ask her to follow him. . . he just locked the doors—the ensuing beeps from the car startled Anastasia—and then turned and left. Anastasia stared at him for a moment, looked back at the car, and then jogged after him to catch up, muttering an apology when she very nearly ran into a man walking his dog. As she reached her guide, she slowed down and remained at his side, if a step back.

Well, at least there wasn’t much of anything suspicious about them. Aleksei looked old enough to be her dad, or an older brother, maybe, and there was nothing suspicious about a mother-daughter or sister-brother bonding. Every little scrap of information that Aleksei fed her she swallowed up, figuring that it would probably be important later on. The trees were going to be hard to keep track of, but she did her best to retain whatever he was telling her.

There were quite a few people out that didn’t have some packs. Young couples, mostly, just out for a little bit of fun. They at least had some bottles of water, and as far as Anastasia knew Aleksei hadn’t brought any. She didn’t dare ask about it either for fear of being reprimanded or scolded. Anastasia was in fairly good shape in the first place, and she was good at not complaining so she would be able to go without water for quite a while longer before she started to get so thirsty she couldn’t help but ask. At least she had eaten before they’d left or else her stomach would give her away even if she never brought it up.

Less and less people started to pass them and Anastasia looked around, sticking close to Aleksei and paying close attention to how he moved, not wanting to get separated from him and lost. The young hyena supernatural wasn’t sure how much farther they were going to walk before he turned toward the mountains, but so far she hadn’t seen any off-splitting paths. Maybe a little farther ahead? She looked up at him curiously, then turned her attention back to the path.

→ A FRAGILE SOUL CAUGHT IN THE HANDS OF FATE ←

→ STARRING Aleksei
→ COUNTING 476
→ LOCATION Hiking trail
→ WEARING CLICK HERE YO
→ NOTES ~
→ LYRICS By Martina McBride

[ryn]

They walked for hours the sun got high in the sky, and then once again began to make its decent. They hadn't seen anyone else on the trail for the last hour or so. Suddenly Aleksei veered off of the path down a slightly steep hill. The tree's and brush at the bottom were thick but there was a large passage that seemed to have been made by some huge lumbering creature most likely a bear. Alek glanced back at Ana before making his way into it. It was only a few yards long and on the other side was a wooded area though not as thick as it was at the edges. Alek look up in the direction of the mountains and began to make his way towards them.

By the time it got dark they were deep in the forest miles and miles away from where they had originally arrived. Finally Alek stopped. They had been walking for hours, and he didn't stop for breaks the whole time. He wondered if Ana had been able to keep up. She looked like a frail girl, but she was an immortal same as him, well not the same but they shared at least that common trait. "This is a good place for this, no humans will come here. theres a water source in the general area and there are several species of game animals that live here. Now all you have to do is survive" he stated with a smirk as he sat down and leaned against a large pine tree.

[Anastasia Kirilovna Marisova]

ANASTASIA KIRILOVNA MARISOVA

→ IT'S HARD TO SEE THE PAIN BEHIND THE MASK BEARING THE BURDEN
SHE STANDS HARD AS A STONE IN A WORLD THAT SHE CAN'T RISE ABOVE ←

How long had they been walking? It seemed like days to the small girl. . . and she really wanted something to drink. Her mouth and throat felt dry, like she couldn’t make her own saliva anymore. She didn’t dare ask Aleksei for anything, not even a break. Her legs hurt and she could barely keep herself standing straight by the time they reached a stopping point.

“This is a good place for this, no humans will come here. There’s a water source in the general area and there are several species of game animals that live here. Now all you have to do is survive,” Aleksei announced, taking his own seat by a tree. His little explanation of what was around was incredibly vague, and Anastasia definitely didn’t think that she would be able to hunt. First of all she didn’t really know how to hunt outside of what her hyena did when it was loose, and second off she didn’t have any weapons or anything on her. What did he expect out of her?

But she wasn’t thinking about that very hard right then. She was exhausted from battling uphill and trying to keep her balance going downhill. . . not to mention that she didn’t stop walking since they’d started. Once Aleksei had sat down, that was all she could think about. Anastasia hit the ground on her knees, hands keeping herself from falling on her face as she sat there, her body trembling. There was one little fear in the back of her head, though. . . . Was he going to leave her there by herself?

→ A FRAGILE SOUL CAUGHT IN THE HANDS OF FATE ←

→ STARRING Aleksei
→ COUNTING 271
→ LOCATION Forest
→ WEARING ~
→ NOTES :U She's so tired.
→ LYRICS By Martina McBride

[ryn]

Alek smirked at the girl. "That look on your face...you just thought that I was gonna leave you here didn't you? though that would be the most effective method. Your not suited to it. You'd probably died in less than a week if I left you here alone" He stated as he looked up at the sky. The sun and begun its slow decent towards the horizon. It would be dark soon. If she didn't prepare here first night out here in the wilderness would be pretty horrible. Well it would be horrible either way because she was just a weak person but, building a shelter or maybe finding some wood for a fire to keep warm would probably be a good idea for her.

"Oh I forgot to mention....your not allowed to shift to your Hyena without my consent." He stated as he stretched. Since Ana was so young in terms of humans much-less immortals and she wasn't born this way. So unlike himself or older immortals that had been turned her Hyena was just a bundle of pure instinct with little or no rational thought. If she depended on it she would have a good chance of making it out here, but in the end she'd be just as weak as she was to begin with.

"Dun worry I won't let you die. but I won't help you live either. I'll answer questions and offer advice but that's it. I too will also be attempting to survive out here. Think of me as your competition" he stated as he turned and began walking in the direction that here could hear the sounds of flowing water with his sensitive ears. That long walk had made him quite thirsty

[Anastasia Kirilovna Marisova]

ANASTASIA KIRILOVNA MARISOVA

→ IT'S HARD TO SEE THE PAIN BEHIND THE MASK BEARING THE BURDEN
SHE STANDS HARD AS A STONE IN A WORLD THAT SHE CAN'T RISE ABOVE ←

She looked up at him as he began to speak, trying to look like she wasn’t completely exhausted, but it probably wasn’t working. Her legs were trembling and making the rest of her body follow suit and she looked as if she had just got done jogging several miles—she wasn’t panting like a dog, but she wasn’t exactly having an easy time catching her breath, either. Slowly she pushed herself to her knees and then up into an unsteady standing position. Anastasia had to steady herself against a tree, but she was still tired and all she wanted to do was sit for a little while, but she had to find a nice place to sit first.

Anastasia had no real doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t be able to make it out alive here if she was just left on her own. However, it wouldn’t take much time for her to wander back to town and call the Novosi for a ride home if that were the case. She would try, oh would she try! But after a day of no food, maybe even two days, she’d just leave the area and try to find her way back. She had a general direction to go in at least, and she’d be able to hear the hikers if she was near the path. If Aleksei just left, there wouldn’t be anything keeping her there on her own to die.

There it was. . . . Anastasia settled herself down on an upraised root under a tree that provided enough shade for her to cool down in. It wasn’t an extremely hot day, but walking for god knew how many hours straight was not a fun thing and it had gotten her tired and made her hot. She wanted to be out of the sun! “I can’t change on command, anyway. It only happens on the full moon or when I don’t want it to,” she explained quietly after Aleksei finished telling her the rules. All she really cared about was that he was going to stay there with her. At least now she had some chance of be able to at least get home okay. Or, semi-okay at least. She leaned back against the trees trunk and shook her head a little bit. She was allowed to ask questions. . . good.

Turning her head, Anastasia watched him head out. Competition? What was that supposed to mean? Shouldn’t they be working together? She looked down and sighed. No, that just meant that he’d be doing all the work while she sat around and had her own little pity party. But where was he going? Slowly, and with a sigh, she got up and slowly trailed behind him, trying to remember the path in case he disappeared and she got lost. “Ah. . . Aleksei. . . ?” she called softly. “I don’t. . . . I don’t have any idea. . . what I’m doing. I’ve never been camping. . . I haven’t seen any shows about camping. . . . I. . . ah. . . I don’t even know what questions to ask. . . .” Even as the words left her mouth, she wondered why she was even trying. It wasn’t like the were-tiger cared about her.

→ A FRAGILE SOUL CAUGHT IN THE HANDS OF FATE ←

→ STARRING Aleksei
→ COUNTING 552
→ LOCATION The woods
→ WEARING ~
→ NOTES ~
→ LYRICS By Martina McBride

[ryn]

So she had never been camping? Not like that would really help her in this situation even if she had. This wasn't anything like camping. Camping would mean that they would have came with supplies, and the necessities to survive out here. Instead they brought nothing. There were no marshmallows, tents, gallons of water. Nothing. Everything they needed could be taken from their surroundings. If she was smart she'd just pay close attention to Alek and try to learn what she needed to do to live out here. She didn't want to be the pathetic person that she was. Always cowering before others. By even coming out here she had already taken a big step. After all the wilderness is scarier than the worst part of any city.

"Just be smart and you should be okay." Alek stated as he finally for to the slow running creek that was caused by the constant freezing and melting of snow on the mountains. It wasn't very deep be Alek could see a few decent sized fish swimming around under the crystal clear water. Though with no gear catching them would be rather difficult. He hoped Anna didn't see them as a potential food source or she'd probably starve to death trying to catch one unless she fashioned a net of some kind. Alek crouch and dipped his hands into the cold water. Cupping the liquid and bringing it up to his mouth. He was very thirsty after such a long walk.

[Anastasia Kirilovna Marisova]

ANASTASIA KIRILOVNA MARISOVA

→ IT'S HARD TO SEE THE PAIN BEHIND THE MASK BEARING THE BURDEN
SHE STANDS HARD AS A STONE IN A WORLD THAT SHE CAN'T RISE ABOVE ←

It was extremely weird. This man was about as talkative as she was! Anastasia was used to hanging around men who couldn’t seem to shut up, always prattling on about every little thing that came to her head. Anastasia didn’t quite know yet if she liked it or was a little disgruntled by it. The less he said, the more the silence dragged on, and the more she felt awkward. Anastasia had always been bothered by long periods of silence, and out here in the woods, where every little sound was going to make her nervous, she needed something to talk about to get herself to a place where she isn’t going to fall apart into little strips.

And where was he going? She didn’t want to follow him, lose him, and then not be able to find her way back to the place he had deemed fit enough for their camp. . . but she didn’t want to be left along either! Like a lost puppy, she got herself up and trailed behind him a little ways. She was going to have to learn by shadowing him, she supposed. Get an idea of what he was going to do and maybe try to duplicate it. What was she going to do for food? She didn’t know how to hunt. Maybe she could just mooch stuff off of him like the omega of a pack. At least until she’d figured things out for herself, starting to get used to how things worked out here. . . in the forest. Mountains. Mountain forest. Whatever!

His path led the tiny little blonde to a stream and Anastasia blinked at it. Wasn’t it bad to drink water out in the wild? Well. . . the water was moving at least. That made things better, right? She had heard from some show on TV that it was better than drinking from still water. . . . But she hesitated and stared at the current, stuck in her spot. She was thirsty, too, and her throat ached dryly at the sight of the water. . . but it was just that. Water. In a river. She’d almost drowned in a river – just the other day, too. Well it had been about a week ago, but if her hyena Kaiser hadn’t been there, she would have surely gotten swept down the river and washed up on shore dead. She didn’t know how to swim. . . and she was scared of the water.

But in any case, she didn’t want to drink in front of him. That was embarrassing. And copying. She didn’t want to be copy cat. . . . It would probably be extremely entertaining for him, though. . . maybe. He didn’t seem like the type to be entertained easily. . . . But it was going to be hard enough for her to get close to the river. It wasn’t very deep, as she could see the rocks below the surface and fish darting around, but still. . . it didn’t take very much water to drown. Just a bucketful. . . a tubfull. . . even a bowlfull. She shudder as images flashed through her head of the current whisking her away and pulling her under. . . slowly draining her life as a weight fell on her lungs and her mind reeled from the lack of oxygen. . . before she realized it, she was shaking like a leaf, her gaze locked fearfully on the writhing surface of the river as all sorts of scenes danced in her terrified mind, ever muscle on edge. Hydrophobia. . . aquaphobia. . . both words meant the same thing and explained exactly what was going on. This was not a cry for attention, she wasn’t looking for sympathy or comfort, she was stuck where she stood, absolutely genuinely terrified to go any further. She would have to be dying of thirst before she got near that water. Maybe toward a calmer area she’d be fine. . . but first she had to pull herself out of this. . . and normally she did after a while.

Anastasia just wasn’t built to live on her own. . . survive on her own. She was like a parasite. . . only cuter and less annoying.

→ A FRAGILE SOUL CAUGHT IN THE HANDS OF FATE ←

→ STARRING Aleksei
→ COUNTING 720
→ LOCATION The woods
→ WEARING ~
→ NOTES Stay tuned for a new post template. And 8U she's so scared right now.
→ LYRICS By Martina McBride