Only The Strong Survive

Ryan
 "Why did I leave?," he asked abruptly and without context, having turned back to looking at the horse instead of her. "I don't- I don't even know why I did it. Like... I don't mean that in a 'I made a stupid decision and I regret it' kind of way, I mean it in a 'I legitimately don't know why I did that' kind of way. I just... I left. I left her," Ryan rambled, shaking his head to himself - or was it at himself? "What kind of father - what kind of sick person - just up and leaves their family? Their daughter? And can't even tell you why? But doesn't- But isn't as affected by it as they know they should be? Like... like something else made them do it? I know that's, like, dumb and impossible, and I know I sound like a total- Sorry, shouldn't swear- But I didn't want to. And I didn't even really choose to. I don't-... I don't know what happened."

Last edited on 2019-05-29 at 06:10:19 by Raptor

Outlaw
She listened calmly, her jaw clenching slightly at the mention of him leaving his daughter. She unclenched it, calmly returned her face to it's usual non-expressional state, then spoke. "Some folks are just born to be loners maybe, and don't feel bad for leavin cause they where never really meant to be there" she suggested.

Ryan
 "But I do!," he fired back in what was clearly a very emotionally-charged response, gripping his forehead with his hand and swiveling away from the fence, turning back to Outlaw once more. "I don't-...," He trailed off, fingernails digging into the right side of his forehead in a circular sort of pattern before he flung his hand forward in a sharp, senseless gesture of frustration, his eyes shooting from the ground back up to Outlaw in unison with it. "I. Don't. Know. I don't know," he continued, falling silent after he had finished saying what had already been established multiple times, eyes staring blankly forward for a moment before filling with tears, which successfully broke his stare. "I don't... I don't know," he sobbed out, emotion and energy suddenly inverted. His hand slowly sunk back down to his side; he took a couple of steps backward, leaning with his back against the fence as he attempted to steady himself. He was unable to think; all he could do was cry, for the sound of his sobbing bounced around in his head too much for any coherent thoughts to form.

Last edited on 2019-06-04 at 07:28:37 by Raptor

Outlaw
She watched him silently, sympathetically. "Come up to the hut. It's comfier an safer up there." She offered gently.

                                                                    

Last edited on 2019-06-15 at 14:37:14 by Sessa4hawke

Vanessa:

Vanessa used the cuff of her sleeve to wipe the sweat that was leaving trails through the dirt on her face. It wasn't hot, but her anxiety still hadn't quite worn off. Hawke quietly ambled through the woods, Stormy not far behind, his muscles twitching from fatigue. Vanessa noticed that he had dropped a considerable amount of weight. 

"This isn't the weight loss program we had talked about, is it bud?" she muttered.

Hearing twigs snap in front of her, she pulled back on Hawke's leadrope. Stormy started growling and her fur stood on end.

"Stormy, shush!" Apparently trying to be as un-helpful as possible, Hawke let out an ear-piercing whinny and stomped his hoof. Stormy suddenly ran off, disappearing into the brush. "Oh come on you've got to be kidding me right now." She tiredly slipped off of Hawke's back and tied him to a tree, her knees almost buckling from exhaustion. She stumbled off in the general direction her reckless Doberman had went, mumbling something at her horse about staying put or else. As she pried herself away from the many thornbushes, she paused, hearing another whinny, but it wasn't Hawke's. Squinting her tired eyes, she made out the distant shape of a couple of people, a man and a woman, near a fence, talking to each other. The man was visibly upset about something. In the distance, she could also make out a couple of horses in a pen.

Finally, she thought, people.

Last edited on 2019-06-10 at 15:24:12 by Sessa4hawke

Outlaw
She snapped alertly to attention at the sound of brushes snapping and then a horse's whinny. "Oh you've gotta be kidding. What am I, a magnet?" She mumbled to herself quietly as she spotted a girl coming their way, following a Doberman dog. She sighed, waiting for the person to get close so she could find out what this one wanted.

Vanessa
Breaking free from the brambles, she looked ahead to see Stormy growling at the woman. Blasted dog..
She awkwardly jogged up to the two of them and placed a restraining hand on the dog's head. "Stand down, baby girl." Unsure, the dog stopped the sound of thunder coming from her throat, but continued to eye the woman suspiciously, hackles raised. Vanessa cast an apologetic look at the woman who didn't seem too happy to see her. 
She offered her her hand
"Hey there, how's the apocalypse?"

Outlaw
She glanced down at the dog, a slightly amused look flitting momentarily across her face at it's growling. She shook the lady's hand then returned her own hand to her side before replying, "It's an apocalypse. Do I really need to go into more detail?"

Vanessa
"Yeah that's fair." She grinned. "So...um..yeah it's been forever since I've come across people who weren't rotting corpses trying to eat me. Do you think..maybe I could stay here for a couple days before getting out of your hair?"
She took a moment to glance around and sighed. "This place seems pretty secure."
Suddenly snapping out of the brief moment of tranquility afforded by a sense of safety, she glanced back at the woman. "My name's Vanessa by the way."

Outlaw
"Long as you're fine with sleeping on a cot you can stay long as you want" she replied, not having the heart to turn anyone away. "You can bring that horse you've got tied up in the trees into the pen. It's secure enough, and since the pen's in the clearing it's easy enough to defend." She glanced down at the dog. "If the dog won't panic we can lift her up to the hut with a rope." She glanced up at the sound of a pitiful yowl to see her panther, Moon, clinging to a nearby tree, glaring at the dog. "I ain't getting you down" she grumbled to the big black cat before returning her gaze to the girl- Vanessa apparently. "I'm Outlaw" she informed her.

Vanessa
"Thanks, Outlaw. That's a cool name you've got there." She glanced down at her dog and then squinted as she gauged the distance from the ground to the hut. "Stormy should be fine as long as she can see me. She's actually pretty chill. Nice panther you got there." She stared at the glistening black cat in awe. "how the heck...this is so cool." she mumbled under her breath. "Once we get her up there, I'll run and go get Hawke."

Outlaw
She held back a grunt of surprise. "Usually people tell me it's a weird name I got, or ask how I got such a weird one. First time someone said that" she remarked. She glanced at the dog, then took her lasso from it's tied place on her belt and uncoiled it. "You wanna haul her up or should I?" She questioned the girl.

Vanessa
"Well she's a big girl," she laughed, "and you're probably stronger than I am. I think you better. Besides, I think she's fine with you now." she remarked as she saw Stormy sniff Outlaw's hand curiously. "Usually just takes her a minute to warm up to people. She's a pretty good judge of character I would say." she added.

Outlaw
"alright" she replied, glancing down at the dog as it sniffed her hand. "I'll go up and then throw one end down and you can get it around her" she added, then went over, roping down the ladder again and scrambling up it. Once at the top she went to the edge of the deck and dropped one end of the lasso down to the ground.