Beta Testing

OoC: Lol, u c wut i did ther?


It was an early summer morning. Minnie had mulled it over the night before as she lay in her sleeping bag, and decided that possibly the best way to get rid of the shadows was to try and eliminate the biggest threats. With their biggest weapons gone, the shadow force might become somewhat reckless and lost. This thought in mind, the British girl had fallen asleep, a plan already forming in her mind.

That morning, her watch had gone off, waking her shortly after sunrise. She slipped out of her bag silently, so as not to disturb the others, and went to change. Minnie returned momentarily to grab her weapon and set down her pajamas. Before she left the supermarket, she wrote a note on a piece of paper and taped it to her pillow. It read:

Gone to the forest. Anybody who wants to join in destroying Beta can join me. I will wait for one hour.
-Minnie

It took her 10 minutes to walk from the store to where she now sat, on a bench just outside the trees, watching the sun rise higher in the sky. The girl kept telling herself that she didn't need help, but secretly, she hoped somebody else would show up so she wouldn't have to face the beast alone. She had been waiting a half an hour, leaving half an hour for anybody who wanted to show up. Her heart pounding, she kept telling herself how it would happen.

Maybe I shouldn't do this by myself... The doubts started flooding her mind. Minnie couldn't believe it; this was the most exposed she had felt in a long long time.

It was early in the morning. Too early to be awake. But ever since the recent, urm, events, Clove made sure she woke up far before anyone else. Or at least, most of the time. Today was different. Groggily, the green haired girl sat up, stretching her long arms above her head. Her sleeping bag was a little away form everyone else's, but still close enough to notice a little note, taped niftyily to Minerva's pillow.

"What's this...?" Plucking the note tenderly from the pillow, Clove whispered it to herself.

Gone to the forest. Anybody who wants to join in destroying Beta can join me. I will wait for one hour.
-Minnie

Oh God, what had the girl gotten herself into? Sighing, Clove stood, and stretched her legs, letting her joints pop from the cramped sleep, then grabbed her weapons, hunting boots, and of course, two apples. One for herself, and one for Minerva: Wasn't she so... thoughtful? cx

Clove walked silently out of the Wal-Mart, as to not wake anyone, including Aleks. He'd surely be angry that the two were slipping away without the thought of letting him know, much less join. Once outside the sliding glass doors, she slipped the worn black leather boots over her leggings, tugged her sweat shirt down, and slung her sheath over her shoulder before starting her jog to the woods.

"Minerva?" She called, before she loped down the hill and saw her. "Oh there you are. I thought you could use some help. And a little breakfast." Clove said, tossing the girl an apple before taking a bite out of her own.

Minnie nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Clove speak. She turned just in time to catch the apple tossed to her. She had already had a light snack, but that had been what seemed ages ago, and needed something else. The girl bit into her fruit before speaking.
"Thanks a lot," she said to Clove. "Are any of the others awake?" For a moment, her thoughts slipped to one person, but she kicked herself for that. Instead, she chewed silently, waiting for an answer.

Blinking at the girls semi-strange behavior, she put on her fakest smile and spoke.
"You're welcome."
It wasn't that Clove was fake... she just didn't really see the need to smile at everything like other people did. But she guessed it would seem friendly to Minerva, so she did it anyways. She kind of, reacted to the emotions splayed on her face.
"You, um, want me to go wake someone up? I was the only one awake." She said softly, biting into her apple once more. Apples were yummy. x3

Omnomnom apples. Minnie shook her head, smiling back at Clove. She, too, wasn't necessarily smiling for the nice-factor; she felt it was courtesy, and being from England, it felt like the proper thing to do.
"It's alright," she told the other girl. "If anybody else shows up in--" she checked her watch-- "the next twenty minutes, that's that, otherwise, it's just us."

Clove nodded, looking around, her face stretched in that 'Not Bad' kinda way. She sat next to Minerva on the bench... Nonchalantly looking at her shoes, the trees, anywhere but Minerva.
"So uhm... What exactly is Beta?"
The green haired girl asked as though it was no big deal that she had no clue what they were facing.

Minnie finished her bite, and then answered, "I'm not exactly sure." She had spent the past few days in the forest, following the traces left behind of the huge creature. Mainly blood wiped on trees and bushes, but occasionally, there were large footprints. "I know for sure it spends most of its time down Rosemary Lane or in the trees, so we're bound to find it eventually. A large beast like that is bound to be somewhat loud."

"Agreed." Clove said, her mind automatically reeling to a giant spider, running around wrapping people up in cocoons. Face it, Clove was nervous, although she'd never admit or show it. Taking another bite of her apple, she pushed her quiver around to the front of her, and counted her arrows. Fifteen, there were fifteen arrows in her sheath. Was that enough to get the job done without having to get up close and personal with her knife? She could always uses her urm, skills. cx
"What weapon do you plan on using?" Clove inquired, craning her neck so that she could look at Minerva with burning brown eyes.

Minnie reached to her other side and came back around with her bow. She gave Clove a sincere smile this time.
"Same as you," she stated. She plucked at the drawstring, staring at it absentmindedly. She had had this bow since she was a young girl, and she never went to any of her competitions without it. She glanced up at Clove's bow. "That's a really nice one," she commented.

With a swift movement, Clove brought her bow to her face, running her fingers over the smooth cherrywood, then down the string. It was sorta... course. She wished she had a different one, made of bone like her brother's had. "My brother used to make me compete, with this bow. He used to hunt with my father when he was younger... But he never used a bow and arrow. Which is odd that he made me learn how to use one. Well, he knew how to use one... But he never competed or anything. His was beautiful, made of like... some sort of bone. It was really smooth, and had a long black string." She rambled, stroking hers, changing her mind about it.

Minnie smiled faintly at the thought. She loved bows, any kind of bow, really. But she had heard about ones made of bone, and though they were rare, they performed well.
"It sounds rather nice," she said, running a finger along the wood of her own. "How long have you been working with bows and arrows?"

Clove looked at the ground, tapping a finger on her chin. "Probably about, eh, seven years? My brother suggested my mother start me at a young age, so by now I'd be pretty good at it." She answered, smiling sheepishly. It kinda sounded like she was bragging on herself, but of course, she wasn't.
"I got started when I was nine. Braxton used to come pick me up at my house when I was younger, because my mother only really wanted me taking ballet and gymnastics, and of course the ever cliche piano. We had a piano at my house actually. No really though, Braxton came and got me, took me to the archery at three o' clock sharp, everyday except Wednesdays and Saturdays."
She stopped tapping her finger on her chin, and starred at the ground again, a little ashamed of her bragging nonsense.

"Wow, that's amazing," Minnie commented once Clove had finished. "Did you ever compete?"

OOC: BRINGING THIS TOPIC BACK TA LIFE.

Clove nodded. "Placed first in our area competition, first in the state too. I was training for nationals when the urm... Apocalypse hit." She kinda looked at the ground, her voice humbled.