The Prologue (1941) - Part I

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Yeah, I'm kinda curious what all the fuss is about as well." John adds.

"And what's the deal with all that sugar?"

[Nanshork]

Richard looks over at John.  "All traps must be baited by something, the Nazi's and I know what to bait our traps with is all."

[BowenSilverclaw]

"I take it you've hunted Dracula and the Boogeyman as well?" John says somewhat sarcastically, but obviously intended as a joke amongst companions.

[jacemachine]

"An actual story eh?" Bones gives a smile, and gives Pingo's direction a brief look. "He's not in the mood to talk at the moment." He gives a wink. "So I'll speak for him. If I miss anything important he'll flip me the bird or something.

"First off, I don't believe in this 'El Abuelo'. This is all a bunch of bunk. But here's what I know; It's this massive creature, some kinda crazy pissed-off angry skunkbearsquirrelpig or something.

"Local natives believe it to be the incarnation of a cursed shaman that roams these jungles, ravenous for flesh and feeding off of wild boar and anything else it catches.

"It's body is like a great bear, covered with shaggy fur that seems to blend into the jungle around it. Its got long, sharp talons on each foot. Few have gotten close enough to see its face, but it is said that it has the face of a man crying out in agony, and that it has a second mouth on its belly. It is said that the creature possesses a great stench about it, emanating a foul odor as it moves through the jungles."

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Pingo adds. Motioning to bones. Bones startled for a second continues, "Thanks, Pingo. Its bellow is loud, legendary in the Yucatan peninsula. But then again... All of it is legendary. A good campfire story, and that's about it. Don't get too riled up over it. We have greater threats ahead of us to contend with. If we can correlate Dunning's Mission with Machete Landing, then I think that we are going to have to travel into Xichachan territory." He gives Max a look, then looks over at Pingo who's pierced face holds a grim countenance.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Xicha-wha?...

You'll have to excuse me Bones, but I'm not exactly a native, so I really don't know anything about this place."

[jacemachine]

"Xichachan-- cannibals..." He says in low tones. He shares Pingo's expression.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"You have to be shitting me...

Any way to get trough that area without winding up on the menu?"

John asks somewhat baffled.

"Cannibals? You've got to be kidding me..." he thinks to himself.

[jacemachine]

Bones shakes his head. "But it is an immense jungle. I shouldn't think we'd be bumping elbows with them on a daily basis. It's completely possible we could miss them all together, but I'm just letting you know what may be in store. I wouldn't be a very good guide if I didn't."

[Neull//]

Max lights one of those cigars he bought from the market

“Xichachan Bones? It seems like history repeats itself my friend…”

“Well at least now we will be prepared…we are carrying some heavy firepower so I hope that will be enough to scare them off in case we will be so unlucky to encounter them again”

[Tarotdragoon]

"Jesus not those cannibals again" Russo murmurs to himself, he stands up and moves over to the supplies, fishes out a wristwatch, which he straps to his wrist, a torch and a tent and pegs, "considering the circumstances, if it's all the same to you guys I'm going to be spending the night with Alessa and Heather over there" he motions to the two heavy boxy bundles of his wrapped in tarp "you know just so I don't get lonely" he cracks a trademark smirk and moves off with his baggage to a clear spot just inside the firelight to put up his tent.

[j0lt]

Dr. Loder swallows to try and remove the dryness from his mouth.  "Xichachan..."

The thought is so troubling that even the Mayan glyphs in his hand are forgotten.

[Nanshork]

Richard shakes his head and rolls his eyes.  "Amateurs," he mutters to himself.

[jacemachine]

Wild baby pig is served, and the meat tastes incredible after the hiking of the past few hours.

"I'm going to to suggest getting some shut-eye. I'd like to get us started as early as we can travel in the morning. We didn't get too far outside of Santa Boca. Perhaps 6 miles or so before darkness came, so we have a lot of catching up to do. If we can keep up this sort of pace, with Richard's assistance, we can get to Orino Perro not tomorrow, but the following day. Probably closer to dinner time."

He get's a blanket out of his things, and puts his chest with its contents, near where his head will lay. "I'm willing to take a turn at watch tonight. I'd like to see us up and about in 8 hours, so let me know what you guys decide.

"You may have to kick me awake when it's my turn."

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Sounds good, I'll take first watch." John replies as he gets his blanket ready for when his guard is over.

[Nanshork]

Richard nods.  "That's fine.  I'll take last watch, whoever has watch before me wake me up."

[Flay Crimsonwind]

Nudging Richard, after the man's mutterings, "Don't let them get to you; each to his own specialty. We just happen to have ours here," with an indication towards their respective firearms, Eisen wiping the detached barrel on his disassembled rifle with a rough cloth. But even Eisen was anxious. The part bothering him wasn't so much how there might be cannibals on one side and Nazi taskforces on the other, but the fact that it would take them so long to cross the jungle. It felt to him as though he was losing time; and Germans like to keep their worlds running like clockwork. The whole thought made him restless, almost angry, his face reflective of his feelings. "Whichever watch, I can cover the midnight fine any and all nights. Short rotating shifts, or long shifts over rotating days?" He had finished taking his rifle slowly apart, laying the parts out on his coat, and was now snapping most pieces back into place. Not a wonderful cleaning, but it had been wiped down after the short firefight it had been through. He had a good number of shots left; the one thing he had plenty of.

[jacemachine]

The night was uncomfortably sticky. Mosquito netting kept you from being covered in welts by morning. If you were to take a turn watching this evening, you found yourself concerned with the variety of noises surrounding the camp site. All of them stemming from creeping animals of undetermined origin.

No El Abuelo. No Nazis. No Cannibals.
Just the nearly impenetrable jungle, and the utter blackness that only the humble fire held at bay throughout the night. The Kid cuddled up to Bones in his larger tent. Bones cuddled up to his chest. Pingo, slept at their feet at a 90 degree angle to them. Like an inverted Pi symbol. His body lay between the door and his family. Down the slope a bit, Esteban and Paco pitched their tents close to the animals. The snores were proof of them sleep soundly.

Above bats could still be seen swooping out of the air above the fire, dining on an endless buffet of flying bugs.

It began to drizzle at around 2AM. A steady miserable thrumming upon the canvas of the tents. The sounds of crickets and frogs came from everywhere.

Sunday June, 8th 1941

Guatemalan Rain Forest

The morning sky began to brighten and the sound of strange and exotic birds added itself once again to the day. Rain continued to fall steadily.

Paco could be heard cursing in Spanish and motioning to the sky, as Esteban urinates behind a tree. The two of them gather closer to the fire. The Kid wakes up and makes idle chatter in Spanish with Esteban who laughs heartily at his jokes. Pingo steps out and begins to boil water.

[[ Nanshork, if you wouldn't mind including Richard's Survival Check for today's worth of travel within your next post. I won't make you guys sweat out every inch down the muddy road, but I will tell you guys about anything you encountered along the way. ]]

[j0lt]

Dr. Loder wakes up with an explosive sneeze and thrashes about momentarily in a futile attempt to extricate himself from the mosquito netting.  Looking like he hadn't slept more than an hour, he grins sheepishly at those who are watching him.  "Takes me a day or two to get used to this."

After hastily bundling his things back together, he seems to brighten up and heads over to chat with Paco and Esteban, and trade quips with the Kid.

[jacemachine]

Bones crawls out of the tent, looking a bit disheveled... which is actually how he normally looks. He glances around the camp, wanders off into the underbrush, and takes a leak. "Ahhhhh!" he exclaims from behind a cieba.

Returning to the group, he glances at the hot water that Pingo has prepared.
"Who has got the coffee?"

He pulls a folded sheet of paper out of his front vest pocket, and approaches the Big Game hunter, "Richard, right? This is the map* of the immediate area. Normally cutting through the jungle between here... and here. doesn't save much time, but with your knack at Trailblazing I'd imagine that heading straight through might be the way to go.

"We'd be camping in about halfway, but it'd be good practice for what is yet to come. Don't you think?" Bones hands the map to Richard. "Besides, we'd avoid any Nazi element coming up behind us on the road. Keep that map if you want."

"Pingo's going to be out ahead with Richard today. Unless I he has reason to disagree with me we're going to be cutting across a strip of jungle to try and get to Orino Perro faster. The trip normally takes about three days or so, last night we barely got out of Santa Boca. I think that if we push hard, and luck is with us, we can be enjoying the hospitality of my friends, the friendly villagers of Orino Perro by tomorrow night.

"The weather is against us men. But then again, it almost always is out here. Suck it up. Get used to it because frankly we ain't got no other choice. Tonight you're going to want to use that foot powder, a dry pair of socks, and the fire to dry your boots.

"Now... about that coffee..." He says looking for his battered tin cup amongst his belongings.





*See the one posted OOC actually  .

[Nanshork]

Richard takes the map and studies it.  "Avoiding Nazi's is our best bet, if nothing else cannibals are easier to deal with.  I'll find us a good place to camp and we'll lose any Nazi's, don't worry about that."  He seems somewhat excited, glad to be doing what he knows and in the thick of the jungle.  He then glances at Bones and says, "How will Pingo talk to me if he spots something?"

Taking ten on survival and getting 28.