Survival on an unknown planet (Casual)

[Arashikage]

Amai was silent the whole trip, not quite wanting to speak up in the presence of the stranger.  He didn't seem to like humans, but she was quite fond of them.  Some of the cadets she was closest to in her group were humans.  It's not like she was going to mention that though. 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

The island that Pawel was exploring on was green and hilly, and ringed groves of oak trees were spread liberally across the landscape. He entered one of these groves, and went to the center of the ring. A cool ocean breeze whisked itself across the island, and throughout the groves. The wind started to make sounds: music notes of a sort. Pawel stood still and listened. As he was no musician, he had no idea what notes they were, but they did sound mystical. However, he heard another sound: the sound of a hundred legs tapping on wood. He turned to see a centipede reared up, its legs, mandibles, and pincers in full view of him. It was massive, larger than he. Pawel froze.

"Hey, buddy," said Pawel calmly. The terrifying bug instantly lunged at him. Pawel quickly turned his shotgun on the centipede and blew its head off, centipede gunk and blood splattering all over his shirt. "Goddamn!" he said with disgust. Most terrifyingly, he heard even more feet tapping on wood. He ran without even looking to see more hordes of hungry giant centipedes. He reloaded his shotgun as he sprinted to shore. "What is this, Giant Centipede Island?!"

[Snys93]

Kaan passively looked down at the bear and the leopard. Atleast they Didnt seem like a bother, but he wasn't in the mood to have a conversation with strangers. So he sat down, cross-legged with his hand on both knees with elbows pointed outward. There was the ever present look of anger on his face which of course was his normal look.

"Lord Sergeant," Muryin piped, "are you hungry sir?"

"I'll murder something later."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel dashed over a hill and down into a valley and over another ridge, the horrific centipedes still pursuing him. "This... is... madness!" he exclaimed. Pawel shot and killed two more bugs, but they seemed to be instantly replaced by five more. He soon realized that he was running out of island. But, by the powers that be, he spotted a small stack jutting just offshore of one of the island's sheer cliffs on the west side of the landmass. Running among the rocks, he tripped over a loose boulder and fell. One of the monstrous centipedes attempted to leap onto Pawel, but he unsheathed his saber and stabbed it before it had the chance to devour him. The rest of the bugs were quickly gaining ground, but Pawel managed to jump and glide the short distance over to the stack. The bugs could not pursue any further, and were befuddled by how their prey evaded them. After a few minutes, they left empty-handed.

Pawel breathed a sigh of relief when the giant centipedes left him alone at the sea stack, although he now realized that he could never return to the main island, at least without some company to eradicate the pests. However, he was not at all content with staying on the stack for long. He had to find a way to the mainland. Pawel gazed back out to that distant large expanse of earth, and sighed. He looked down, and saw that it was a 25 meter sheer drop to the waves crashing against the side of the stack. He glided down into the water to wash off the centipede gunk, and landed safely in the water, although he was precariously located next to some jagged rocks. A few moments of being soaked in the water washed away the centipede remains, and although he struggled to fly back up to the top of the sea stack due to the weight of the water, that feat was accomplished. He breathed deeply to replenish his oxygen levels, and rested on one of the smoother rocks. Small grasses and a few shrubs dotted the top of the sea stack, but other than that, it was a barren limestone formation in the middle of the ocean.

"I need a drink," Pawel said. He rummaged through his satchel, and took out the bottle of vodka. Opening it, he smelled its contents before taking a swill. He was satisfied by the strength of the liquor, and closed the bottle, putting it back in the satchel. He then looked behind him, and saw a small puddle of seemingly fresh water. As he bent down to take a sip, he noticed a small tadpole swimming inside. He leaned in closer to take a look at it. "Hey, little fella," said Pawel. He decided against drinking from the puddle. 

Pawel checked his ammunition: he had 60 shotgun shells left, after using four to dispatch some centipedes. His saber was in good condition even after being used. Most of his vodka was still available. He did not use his flare gun, as it was daytime. The most important thing, however, was Pawel himself. He was injury free, and wanted it to stay that way. Suddenly, though, he began to feel a slight shaking. Thinking that the drink had something to do with it, he slapped himself out of the drunken stupor. He was wrong, however, because as he glanced at some trees in the distance, they too shuddered. Some birds flew from the island, heading for the mainland.

"That was an earthquake," Pawel observed. "A weak one."

[Snys93]

Muryin sat beside Kaan after starting a small cooking fire.

"I am glad you are here," she said with a smile.

"Hn," Kaan seemed more inclined to wait for something to happen than small talk. Still Muryin being the persistent soul she was endeavored to let him know.

"We are members of the same unit, so I am pleased."

Kaan angled his eyes in puzzlement. "Good for you. You're pleased. Why are you telling me this?"

"Be-cause it is a comfort to see a familiar face."

"Hn..."

Muryin tried to engage the Lord Sergeant again. "Sir, did you receive my distress signal?"

"Only a partial interception, but I was able to track your transponder beacon. Doubt the medical frigate come pick us up."

"Did they head back to HQ?"

"No, I escaped the ship before the pirates blew it to hell."

She stumbled over her words upon realizing what he had just said. "Y-You mean...no one else made it...?"

With a nod of his head, Muryin bowed hers in silent sorrow as tears pooled around and out of her eyes.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel gazed out at the large landmass that was tantalizingly close, but yet so far away. He sighed, and then got up to look around the small sea stack he sheltered on. Perched precariously on the cliff side, he spotted what appeared to be the trunk of a palm tree.

"Now what force of nature brought you here, hm?" Pawel asked to the inanimate trunk. He bent down beside it and hit it once with the heel of his hand. It felt stiff and strong: it had not rotten. It seemed to have been displaced on top of the stack recently, but Pawel had no idea how. He set to work building a sort of raft. He took out his saber, and struck into the tree trunk. While indeed tough, it was no match for the highly advanced forging techniques of the Zaporozhians, and in a few moments, the trunk was divided into more manageable pieces. He then split the piece he wanted to work on in two, and carved out one half. It seemed to create a sort of canoe or surfboard. He glanced around, just to take in the scenery of the Mediterranean setting. However, as he looked behind him, he noticed a large blue bulge approaching. A mountain? No, mountains do not move. Maybe a mirage of some sort. Or was it a ship?

"Is that a tsunami?" Pawel pondered aloud. Indeed it was! The earthquake he felt earlier before was a harbinger of the wall of water that would soon smash into the island, the sea stack, and most horrifically, Pawel. "That's a tsunami," Pawel iterated calmly. He then rushed to complete his seafaring vessel, although the monstrous wave, which could easily engulf the island, was fast approaching. He had no more time to refine his boat, and watched as the tsunami steadily encroached to the coast. He then looked down onto his canoe: it looked more like a surfboard than anything else.

"Well, you gotta do what you gotta do!" said Pawel. He then grabbed the pseudo-surfboard and prepared himself, wrapping the saber and gun in plastic, and gripping them and the board tightly. He also kept his satchel close to him. When the wave neared the sea stack, he jumped, and placed the board underneath his two feet, landing almost flawlessly onto the tsunami. "Surf's up!"

The tsunami took him closer and closer to the shore, although he was having great trouble keeping his balance. "Thank God I decided to take up surfing on Zoness!" he yelled. He glided effortlessly as the wall of water sped across the strait towards the mainland. However, Pawel became very worried when the tsunami began to slow down, as he would lose momentum and fall into the water, far short of the beach. Fortunately for him, the wave did not let up, and crashed into the forested shoreline. He deftly dodged some trees, but could not avoid one indomitable pine tree, and he crashed into its trunk.

"Oww!" he cried, certain that he had broken something. Indeed, several of his ribs were cracked, but he held on for dear life as the water rushed over and beneath him, drenching him. Several minutes passed before the wave weakened, and water began receding back into the sea at ground level. Nevertheless, Pawel clung for dear life.

"Ahh... crap..." He most certainly felt like crap.

[Snys93]

Muryin snapped out of her sorrow though not fully. She felt somehow that she was needed but as Muryin looked about saw no one needing medical attention. Maybe it was just her imagination and decided to busy herself by taking a census of her supplies. They were getting low on provisions. She turned to Kaan.

"Lord Sergeant, if it is not too much trouble..."

Anticipating her request, he rose to her feet and ventured into jungle brush with makeshift spear in hand and cruel sword on his back. "Hope no one here is picky. I will hunt."

[Monokuma]

Loran's stomach wasn't rumbling, despite her metabolism working overtime constantly- She sat firm, actually wondering if the ration she ate was considered 'Tribal' food, but didn't fully care of her race's law just yet, she had sensed something in the nearby brush as Kaan left...

--

The pilot eyed Loran intently, keeping his gun down for the moment, suspicious of the other figures that had joined, unsure of their intent. One figure had just left, but the others remained. In an effort to quietly move around the brush and signal Loran, the pilot slipped in the dirt, cursing in an unknown tongue under his breath.

[UAZ-469]

Once again Andrej stumbled disoriented through the forest, not knowing where he was, hoping for a divine sign to guide him to the swamp. Turning around sporadically just to be sure that nobody was following him, he secretly hoped that Macrine would catch up to him, as she would have been a great help in finding the location. How long was he wandering already? His legs felt heavy and weak, as it was only a matter of time until they broke down under the weight of his equipment, sealing his doom alone in the wilderness, surrounded by likely vicious animals.
“I see, it wasn't a... perfectly thought-out plan”, Andrej mumbled. “Maybe I should head back and discuss our ways of proceeding first, before jumping head-first in.” But it seemed that he ventured so far into the unknown, that he already forgot the way back. Quickly trying to encourage himself by saying that he will run into the other survivors sometimes, he sat down on a fallen log for a short rest, immediately feeling a ton lighter and sighing in relief. But at the same time his body refused to get up, so Andrej just sat there and watched the majestic nature. Butterfly-like insects flying from flower to flower, small mammals jumping from tree to tree... if it wasn't for all those predators.
What was aching his heart suddenly?
Was that the feeling of...
Home?
The woods near his home on Earth, where he played as a child?
It surely wouldn't be a bad thing to sit here a while... like hours, or days, taking a stroll down memory lane.

“...llo... he...”
Andrej was just startled by a foreign, yet familiar sound coming from the supposedly damaged radio in his helmet. He held his breath and listened closely, trying to turn his head away from other sound sources. “...meo...ere...” The voice was distorted by white noise, thus almost impossible to understand, although the old officer thought to hear a Russian accent. “...ne...lp...”
“Hello?!”, Andrej responded excited, not believing his luck. As only other of his pirate companions could contact him with the radio's current programming, it could have been no other than them. “Can you hear me?! Hello!”
Nothing. The voice continued to send garbled messages, apparently without noticing him, if it was hearing him at all. Maybe he could receive transmissions, but not communicate?
“If I get closer to the sender, I might get a better connection!” Andrej then jumped from the log on his legs and went in random directions. That place was likely the maximum range of the other person's radio, so it shouldn't be hard to find the right way to his target.

Since he doubted that his friends arrived, because it would have been impossible to not notice, it left only one possibility:

The konkistador.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel sluggishly slid his way down from the top of the pine tree. When he placed his two feet down onto the ground, he stumbled, and leaned against the tree, grasping his ribs.

"Ah...!" He winced in pain. He then unwrapped the gun and saber from the plastic, and wrapped the scabbard around his waste. He reequipped his double-barreled shotgun, and walked in an arbitrarily chosen direction deeper inland. A long time of walking bored Pawel in between short respites to consume some vodka or simply to try and shake off the pain. He forged on, the odd breeze encouraging him to walk further through the forest. Eventually, he happened upon a small stream, and elected to follow it.

"Water!" he said excitedly. Pawel dropped down to drink straight from the crystal clear stream, and sighed with satisfaction. He then gathered some more water in his canteen, and continued on his way.

The birds sang as the day went on, and occasionally Pawel looked up to see the sun peeking through the deciduous canopy of the forest. He came upon a clearing in the forest, and although it was small, it made a profound impression on Pawel. After some time of being gangbanged by tall trees and other assorted vegetation, a small opening with a decent amount of wild blueberry bushes was more than a gracious relief. He sat down alongside one bush, and picked some berries. He examined the handful he had in his palm, and patiently picked and ate each berry. After consuming the handful, he took out a protein bar from his satchel, tore it from its wrapping, and ate a piece off. Pawel looked around, his head scanning the area for any creatures that might want to kill him and eat his face. Luckily, there were none of those hostiles around, so he relaxed placidly.

[Snys93]

Examining the area with spear readied, Kaan listened for any sign of wildlife. Nothing. Not a lizard, furry mammal or prime ape. Birds were singing but there were either too small or too high to be counted as prey. So he decided to go check the steam he passed earlier for anything food-wise, be it fish or fruit atleast it was something.

Suddenly something caught his eye. Someone drinking at the stream. Quickly he hid and was in full predator. He watch him as he gathered a handful of berries and ate them. Kaan toyed with the idea of killing him and carving his flesh on the spot. But he shut up the idea out and thought about how much Muryin might disapprove.

Kaan threw a rock to distract him and wait for the reaction.

[UAZ-469]

Andrej didn't have noteworthy problems in finding the right direction, as the connection got quickly interrupted when he went the wrong way. The voice also became easier to understand as he got closer, and like he assumed considering the Russian accent, it was indeed the konkistador. But as time went and he heard the same sentences over and over, it became obvious fast that the messages were on a loop and thus simple recordings. Which also raised his anxiety: Was the vehicle already dead and the computer still running, endlessly repeating a distress signal? In that case it wasn't a serious problem, because then Andrej could still drive it manually back to the camp, although another “survivor”, who didn't need to eat and sleep, was always a huge bonus. Its combat efficiency wasn't comparable to Bosman's of course, but given the AI-control, it would be easily the group's best “marksman”. And even if not, the weight proved to be a terrifying weapon if combined with speed.
Certain that he walked in the correct direction, Andrej lowered the sound volume and listened to his surroundings again. As usual the smaller animals were continuing with their daily business like nothing had happened, but who said that danger always announced itself through the ears?
So Andrej halted after spotting a strange... thing in the distance and hid behind a tree.

It seemed to be covered in grass, wood, moss and all forms of plants, while he could see mud in the few free spaces and judging its height from the distance, the creature appeared to be about the size of a minibus. But due to the plants on its body, it was difficult to discern distinct body parts, though for him the general shape resembled him kind of a mosquito without wings. Only with four legs and seemingly no eyes, but he surely just didn't see them yet. And he frankly didn't want it point-blank.
That monster didn't look armoured, even quite fragile for its size, but maybe its “skin” made up for that with toughness. Andrej checked his ammunition reserves again, which were enough for two reloads. Not that he aimed to fight it, but if he had to kill it to reach the konkistador... he shivered at the mere thought.
At least he could tell from the mud that the swamp wasn't far away anymore.

Crouching slowly and the dark Makarow in his hands, he followed the animal as it headed to the target destination.

[Monokuma]

Loran, despite her efforts to remain seated, just couldn't stand her curiosity and went to check the brush, the voice becoming all the more familiar as she neared it. When she got close enough to see who it was, the others could have noticed her attempting to belly flop on the new figure...

When she rose again, she was sitting around the neck of the unknown pilot, piggybacking as they both headed back to the gathering, Loran's laughter echoing as she ruffles the pilot's fur.

"Gesyne lysa vun sa- Op, wrong language- Kimari came for me!"

Kimari however, remained quiet, observing the others who had assisted Loran, giving them a slight nod along with a brief "Hmph."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel's head turned to the direction of where the rock landed. His chewing slowed as he observed his surroundings more carefully, turning to scan more and more of the nearby woods. He then looked down and checked his shotgun: both barrels were loaded. He sealed the breach and cocked it again. He then looked back in the rock's direction.

Animals can't throw rocks, not with any purpose at least... He thought to himself.

"Hello?" he said loudly.

[Snys93]

"What's your business here?" Kaan said from behind a tree. He wasnt here to make friends or enemies, best to choose one's battles rather than running full tilt into a fight. Still it was all Kaan could bear to resist the urge to flail his sword and bellow his warcry. But this wasn't the time to die in the glory of battle.

"Are you alone?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

I hate it when people ask me multiple questions all at once, Pawel thought to himself.

"I was stranded here by pirates," he said loudly. "And I'm alone. Name's Paul." He looked in the direction of the voice, although he still could not see the figure making it. Perhaps they were hiding behind a tree or had a cloaking device...?

[Snys93]

"Lay down your weapon, I will do the same." Kaan places his spear into ground in his visual range. He does not however do the same with the sword, the massive hunk of steel on his back.

"I am Molek Kaan."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Molek..." repeated Pawel, putting his shotgun aside. His saber was still in its scabbard, beside him.

"Paul, Molek. Molek, Paul. So, what brings you to this lonely world, hm?" Pawel sat patiently, cross-legged, on the ground by a blueberry bush. He placed his hands on his knees, almost in a meditation position.

[Snys93]

As Paul crossed his legs, Kaan crossed his arms. His eyes with like red beacons, hardly blinking, wide and always angry. "Molek is merely a title, Kaan is my name."

Every once in a while he would tilt his head when he heard something in the distance but his eyes were ever trained on Paul. "I came to rescue a friend, nothing more," he said coldly.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"I'm guessing from your demeanor towards me that I'm not that friend," said Pawel. Indeed, he was somewhat put off by Kaan's icy attitude. Nevertheless, he kept up a calm and stoic outer shell.

"You look human, but I don't think you are. Your skin's too pale, even for a sickly human. And those eyes... But, I won't judge. You hungry?" Pawel then gestured around him. "Berry bushes."

[Snys93]

"For something more substantial, yes. Have you seen any wildlife, any game?"

He went back for his spear but did not hold it in a readied position. Kaan still had an ear on the wind and ever cautious of his surroundings.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"No, at least, nothing substantial enough to be considered game," replied Pawel. His breathing became more labored, the abdominal pain dominating his mind. He then reached into his satchel to get his bottle of vodka.

"Are you hunting for yourself, or others?" inqured Pawel.

[Snys93]

"I am hunting for others." Kaan angled his eyes still staring at Paul, still listening for any prey to be had. Nothing so far. He gripped his spear out of irritation, his brow wrinkled and jaw tensed. "But it defeats the object of hunting if there is no prey."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel took out the bottle of vodka, opened the bottle, and drank a sip from it. He then looked back at Kaan.

"You know," he began, "if you need to hunt, hunt. Don't get caught up conversing with me if you need to eat or want the 'thrill of the kill'. There's no game in this field. Just berries. And me." A sudden sharp pain emanating from his torso consumed him, and he gripped it.

"Aghhh..." he groaned.

[UAZ-469]

Much to the old officer's disappointment, the monster was indeed going the same way like him, though it finally led him to the swamp. Trees were standing in large pools of murky, green water and Andrej couldn't see the ground, while he also had to proceed carefully if he didn't want to alarm the creature by stepping into the water. Considering the huge amounts of wood and plants swimming in it, the swamp seemed to be the perfect hiding place for the thing to wait and strike for prey. What if there were more of it here, just hiding below the water's surface? And despite following the animal in a safe distance without being seen, he felt being watched. So either it did know he was there and was thus luring him right into a trap – or the lorry saw him from afar. The latter would support the sudden silence in his radio, as if the AI wasn't sure if he was truly Andrej, an impostor or another survivor who killed him and looted his gear. Or it just died in this very moment.
Halting his walk another time and taking position behind a tree that wasn't in the water, the soldier witnessed how the thing waded into a pool, and to his surprise, disappeared under the surface. “How deep could it be?”, Andrej whispered, worried that he wouldn't be able to see those threats in time before they would catch him. But he had proceeded too far to just give up and retreat now, as the konkistador was worth the risk and be an invaluable help in their struggle for survival. So the kindergarten teacher sneaked forward, the gun raised and turning his head to all sides.

“It's so... quiet. Too quiet, actually.” He could hear the voices of birds from afar, but aside from that there was nothing. No insects, no birds, no mammals, no lizards, nothing. Only the trees and those predators in the water. Did they drive out the other animals out of the forest, their... territory?
“I... really shouldn't be here in the first place...”
He then passed a pool that had an unusually large gathering of wood and plants on something that resembled a giant stone in the shape of a step, sticking out of the water. Andrej only looked at it for a moment, before dismissing it as uninteresting, but then he stopped – and his pulse skyrocketed. Those two shimmering things on the front... were that eyes?
Sweating and his dread building up, he hoped that standing still would let him appear as a mere dead object, but he also knew that it was already too late. Was that a splash?
“Don't... move...”
It was the konkistador's voice again! Andrej smiled wanted to breath in relief as it was still alive – but the order to not move told him that something was prowling on him from behind. And indeed: It was stepping on the grass and sometimes in puddles, but it was so barely audible that he had to hold his breath. Wheresoever the lorry was, this was the time to save the man before he would suffer a horrible fate.
The sounds were getting louder and louder and a large shadow extended over the ground, right where Andrej could see it.
It was back.

Now his body quaked, the sweat streamed down and the soldier feared that he would fall unconscious from all the stress. The creature's shadow towered over him and moved its snout slowly – it touched his back and searched him for a spot where it could probably sting, bite or how ever it attacked its victims.
That was the final straw for Andrej's nerves – and turned around.
Face to face with the large abomination, the “mouth” only a pitch-black hole and the eyes two blue dots amidst the plants, staring at him.
He bawled his eyes out, prompting the monster to quickly pin him down with one of its legs.
“IDIOT!”
Then out a sudden the characteristic “Sawing noise” from the machine gun sounded and the storm of bullets pushed the creature away, so the officer could get up and see how the “stone” from before turned out to be the driver's cab of the lorry, the machine gun smoking from the firing. The opponent laid on the ground, barely moving and oozing a mud-like fluid out of the bullet holes, so the konkistador attacked it at full throttle and Andrej looked away, before the weight squashed the creature with disgusting sounds, but without bone-breaking.
“Jump in, NOW!”
This action seemed to have caused a chain-reaction: More monsters emerged from larger pools of water and the soldier screamed again, as he ran to the vehicle, its bodywork dripping a lot of water and covered in the same things like the animals. Not a bad idea to hide in the water, Andrej even mistook it for a simple stone.
A short look behind was everything his heart needed to pump out adrenaline in masses, as the things were extremely fast. He fired a bullet and even hit and stopped one, but there were still the others gunning for him.

Jumping through the opened door, he landed in the footwell and hastily crawled towards the other side – unfortunately, one creature managed to put its snout through the gap before the door closed and pierced his leg with... something, that surprisingly felt only like a sting, but the flesh surrounding the spot went numb almost instantly and it spread fast. Constantly screaming, he rolled on his back, saw how the monster tried to hold his numb leg and emptied his magazine, while kicking it. Simultaneously, the konkistador accelerated and thanks to their combined efforts, the animal got shaken off and the door closed.
Only to be halted; the monsters now attempted to stop the lorry by pushing against it from the front and behind, while others climbed on the bonnet and attacked the glass directly. Andrej knew that is was bulletproof glass, but how long would it take to smash it nevertheless?
“RAAAAAAGH!”, the vehicle yelled furiously and utilized the full capabilities of the nuclear reactor. “DIE YOU UGLY SONS OF..!”
Andrej meanwhile was knocked out by the sting, forced to simply watch how the creatures hit the windshield, no matter how much he wanted to move and cry.
But then, the interior was shaken, more nasty sounds were heard and shortly after, the things on the bonnet fell off. Did they finally make it?

“Don't thank me for this now”, the konkistador said, and then continued with an angry undertone, “Because I am not done with you yet, Wolanin...”