A Friendship Over Peanut Butter

E

EquinoxSol

Guest
Original poster
God. This weather's absolutely terrible, Honor thought, pulling her jacket closer around her, shoving her hands into her pockets. All she owned was in the bag slung over her shoulders, not much more than a jar of peanut butter, a spare change of clothes, some food, and a sharp knife, which she used to ward off others. Most of the time, if you had anything that flashed like metal, then it would generally scare people away. Normally it meant you had a knife or gun, both of which were considered weapons of mass destruction in most circles. Course, with all the weirdness happening recently, like that boy she had seen the other day who created a flame upon his fingertips, Honor guessed that wouldn't be much of a problem anymore.

Tying her wet, dark hair behind her head with a ribbon, she looked out at the barren horizon for any sign of any sort of shelter. She knew that if she stayed out in the cold for very much longer, she'd probably end up losing toes or a finger, something she wasn't keen on doing, especially if she had to amputate alone.

There! Towards the west, she could see a dark formation above the lighter gray of the landscape. Running towards it, Honor soon saw it clearer. It was a plane of some sort! That was good; sometimes, the planes that had crashed so many years ago still had a bit of food in them somewhere. Most of the time, it wasn't good anymore, but if it was in a can...

The plane was too small to be a passenger plane, like the one Honor had seen a couple years ago, where a group of people had been living in, but it was of decent size. Getting closer to it, she found the cabin door off its hinges and lying next to the plane. The wings were both ripped off, one nearby, the other looking like it must have been taken somewhere else.

Stepping inside the cabin, she found it mostly intact and dry. Thank God, she thought, letting herself smile for a moment. Setting down her now-drenched bag, she sits down on the ground against the far wall of the cabin, in the darkest, and driest, corner of the plane, getting to work on wringing out her hair, hating how it felt wet against her neck.


Character Sheet:
Name: Honor (no last name, she doesn't remember it)
Age: 17 (though she'll say she's 18)
Appearance: Black hair, grey eyes. She has a slim body, lithe and quick. She normally wears dark clothes, simply because they are easier to take care of, it's easier to camouflage in, and they're all she has.
​
 
Character Sheet:
Name: Trinket
Age: 21
Appearance:
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Thankfully for Honor, she wasn't the only decent human being fighting for survival. But Trinket wasn't going to be beat down by the cold. She tightened her black coat as the flamed threads of her hair twirled out and danced around. The wind wasn't too strong but the chill wasn't pleasant either. Her eyes narrowed. She couldn't see much else past the broken down birds.

Her mouth watered at the thought of summer. At least then, would food be easier to find. Her stomach growled as she craved roasted chestnuts and sweet berries. What better than to go with clean water? She thought as she noticed her dirty boot ruined another ice patch that used to be a clean drinking source under it. It may not have been hard to find water from melting snow, but with metal shards and gasoline leaks it wasn't as easy as it should have been.

"I won't rest in that cold tin tombstone...." She grumbled to herself. She apparently was too good for them now. Or she just grew sick of the idea of her cheek being propped up against the cold sheet of metal while she slept.

She stumbled across foot prints after wondering for a while, the sun was starting to set and her tired mind was demanding rest was more important than food. So she shuffled under the nearest shelter and thought to herself that she would follow the foot prints in the morning.
 
Hearing muffled footsteps nearby, Honor silently reaches into her bag, feeling for the blade of her knife, not knowing who it might be. Taking it out, she creeps closer to the doorway of the plane, worried it might be bandits or worse. The optimist in her said that it might be just another traveling soul like her, but she couldn't afford the luxury of trusting anyone right now.

Walking towards from the plane, she could see a figure, though whether man or woman, young or old, she couldn't tell, only that they had a shock of red hair, billowing in the wind. Pretty sure she hadn't been seen yet, Honor backed away into the plane, wondering if the person would pass by her or walk in. Gripping the handle of the knife tightly in her hand, she resisted the urge to peer around the doorway, afraid that someone would be right next to her once she did.

However, it seemed that she was passed by, though by now she was already back in the shadows of the cabin, hiding behind a cover in case she hadn't been. Prepared to jump out and attack, just in case she saw the flash of steel or heard the sound of a pistol being cocked, she sat there, waiting.
 
Trinket awoke a few hours later. She didn't realize she caused a tense moment for Honor and probably left her terrified. She probably left Honor paranoid and feeling watched. Trinket rolled over as she tried to get her barrings. The tiredness made her forget to close off any openings. Snow had been swept in by the wind and her stiff body shivered as she strained to get up.

"Stupid..." Her icy breath muttered.

She scrambled about, the memory of finding foot prints excited her. She knew it wasn't morning, but she'll just light some gas or something to create some light. She tore about the entire plane, picking up food and ripping rags tying them around a stick. Her sack was heavy now with almost edible food and she dipped her cotton stick into a jar. She had collected snow that was saturated in gasoline. It may not work, but she was willing to try.

She breathed on the fingers of her left hand, they were chapped from the cold and scarred up. As her lungs emptied she warmed them under the steam of her breath. Her fingers clicked together, sparking. The darkness ran away from the sudden burst of light, and burned into a medium flame once it became steady.

Trinket was quick to leave her shelter, her torch waving calmly into the night. The foot prints were half filled and this made her anxiety rise a little more. Her arrival to where they ended may not be as welcomed as she hoped. Heck she didn't even think that the person who made them may be long gone by now.
 
Honor hadn't gotten any sleep that night. She had been able to pull a tarp over her, looking like a pile of nothingness, so she wasn't completely exposed, but she had been terrified that whomever it was that had entered her shelter would find her and kill her, taking her things. So, there she had lied, clutching her knife close to her, nearly immobile in her fear, ready to spring out of hiding if she heard any footsteps closer to her.

However, after several hours had passed, she drifted off into a half-sleep, exhausted form a day of traveling. Occasionally, she would wake up, thinking she heard something, but after stressful moments of listening for anything, she would determine it was nothing, and go back to sleep.

But this last time, she was certain she had heard something out of the ordinary, and lie there, eyes wide, trying to determine what it was.
 
Trinket's face was decorated in shadows that danced and formed shapes. The only thing that held still in the light was fiery hair, it burned along with the flame. To on lookers she was a burning shape shifter, with no solid form. But it was all just an illusion of light and darkness fighting for space. She pushed her hood back and breathed one last time before pulling in the silence around her.

She was at the entrance and almost lurking there. It never occurred to her that maybe others didn't want to be found. She didn't know how she was going to handle someone coming at her with a weapon. She was out of matches and only had her torch. She didn't want to waste it.

"Hello..." She called in softly, grabbing the doorway with her spare hand. The snow crunched and compacted onto the metal floors. It looked as though someone had pushed it all out some time ago. Not much had blown back in. "I saw your foot prints and thought..." Her voice was even more quiet this time.

She sighed when she didn't hear a sound and dropped her heavy sack. Cans clunked around before slamming onto dimples of the surface. She kicked in some snow and compacted it to hold up the fire. This time the shadows on her didn't dance, they were as still as she was. She enjoyed the fire, this would probably be the last of it she would ever see for a while. At least until she found some more matches, or found a way to create fire mostly on her own.

Trinket then noticed the tarp laying on the floor. She swore she saw it was covering some junk a moment ago, but now it was flat as though something had hid under it. Out of fear she slowly tried to reach for her nap sack. She'll have to protect herself with the weight of a can. "I'm quick enough! I could use a can to knock them out."
 
As soon as she was certain that someone had entered the plane's cabin, Honor did her best to silently move out from underneath it, backing into the opposite corner at the other end of the plane. She was able to see the same person from last time, the one with the red hair, and she took out her knife, biting her lip.

As the person approached the tarp she had been under, Honor crept closer to them, ready to attack just in case. Knowing that sneaking up behind someone was a very easy way to get shot or stabbed, she decided that it would be stupid to do so. She couldn't afford another bad injury, especially not when she didn't have anymore bandages.

Creeping towards her side, so the person, who she now saw was a woman, could probably see her in her peripheral vision, she whispered, her voice low and dangerous, "Who are you? Why are you here?" holding the knife at the ready, in case she attacked.
 
Trinket pushed her hair back from her eyes to her ear, relieved to hear a female's voice. It wasn't often that she encountered brute force from a female. They usually shoot after they get their information. This way she can have a chance to protect herself. She gently put down the can and turned her face to where the voice was coming from.

"My name is Trinket." She spoke simply, a little alarmed by the knife. The hand by her ear pulled away from the tangles and the light revealed chemical burns twirled up and down her arms. The scars had wrinkled and shrunken down from the cold. Her skin was tight in that particular area. As for how far up they went was unknown because of her jacket.

"I'm here because it's rare to come across another person." She looked up at the dark figure, no longer really threatened by the knife. "is that too frank?" She was quite honest about what was on her mind. There wasn't any point in lying. Not many people left to judge you on this Earth. "By the way you can put that down now, I need that to pry open these cans." She tried to bargain some peacefulness from the female.

She tried to relax next to the fire again, and saw in an couple of hours it would be low. At least day light would be soon and bundles could be collected. The plus side to the humans being nearly gone was that food wasn't as rare as it should have been and wood was easy to find.
 
Gradually, Honor lowered the knife, sighing. At least, it looked like, the woman named Trinket didn't have any weapons. However, that didn't mean that she would be harmless. She could still try and wrestle the knife away from her, and then there would be a real problem on her hands. Catching sight of the burns on her arms, for a moment she is caught off guard, staring at them.

Coming back to reality, having lost her concentration, she stated, "It's always rare to find another person, no matter where you are, unless you're already in a group." She spoke low, still wary of the woman. Putting away the knife, not about to put it in a position where Trinket could get it. Looking towards the fire longingly, knowing how freezing it had been, she sighs before saying,"I'll make a trade for you...I'll share some of my food if you let me by your fire."
 
"Don't mind my burns." She said with a quiet smile. "They're just chemical." She spoke and gently offered her a can to pry open for herself. "I think it's fruit. By what was left on the label it should still be sweet." Trinket was more at ease and willing to share now that Honor had put down the knife. She didn't know what else to share. Every thing was kind of a snap-open and test your luck kind of can. It made her a little nervous as life becoming this way. But she didn't see a point in fretting about it now. Her eyes were getting heavy, now that she was able to let her back slack against the curved place interior.

"Are you okay with me being here?" She asked before answering her deal. She almost didn't seem to need food. But Trinket patted the floor across from the fire.

"It's fine by me, you don't have to share anything if you're low. I'm a scavenger, and I'm not very good at trading." She wandered over to the door and gave it a tug to cut off the winds. It looked as though dawn's shining light wouldn't be blessing them this morning. A snow storm had started up again and made it harder for Trinket to leave if Honor was uncomfortable.

She sat back down in silence, mulling over in her head what can she should choose. It reminded her of the holidays and gifts but she shook the happy thoughts loose from her head. This allowed her the blindly pick. Again, she kept silent as she popped open the can and tried to guess if it had gone bad, then what flavor it was, or what it was supposed to represent. She also wondered if it had lost it's texture and shape over time from the original packaging.

"How long have you been alone?" She suddenly spoke.
 
"Since I was seven or eight," was Honor's immediate answer. Her words were true. She couldn't remember exactly when her father had told her to hide in the back of an old, broken-down truck, while he ran out, his small six-shot pistol in hand, but she knew that she had been just old enough that she was losing baby teeth by the dozens and had recently gotten a rebellious streak. That night had been the last time she had seen her father alive.

"And I don't mind you being here," she said, "it's fine. But I want to share something, at least..." She reaches into her bag, digging around for the jar of peanut butter. Using her knife to scrape away the crust that had gotten between the cap and the jar, she popped it open, inhaling deeply. the smell was wonderful. Though the peanut butter probably hadn't seen the light of day since before the cities burned, it still looked and smelled alright, at least in the flickering light of the fire.

Deciding to not leave her initial answer at that, she continues, "Before that, it was just my dad and I, after my mother died and younger brother died. What about you?"
 
"That's a shame your father didn't come back alive." Her face was still calm and thoughtful. She gave her a bit of a worried look through the fire, but didn't show any pity. After all Honor made it this far and it meant the sacrifice her father made didn't go to waste.

"Hmmm about three years now." She seemed to mumble in between bites. "My husband is probably still alive somewhere. We were separated by a bad storm. He went to look for furs for our coats and I went to find food. Somehow it lead to me running into a nuclear plant to find shelter." She lifted her arm a bit. "The marks you saw." She seemed to chuckle from it. "It was stupid really."

"I mean I haven't been entirely alone... I'd spend a few nights with people here and there. Not all of them are cruel, surprisingly." She looked up and smelled the peanut butter. "Now that is a rare treat I have not smelled in a while. I guess that beats human company any day." Joking around she nodded and agreed to take her up on her offer. "Only a little, you're probably are still growing and will need what that jar can offer you." Trinket smiled to herself at how the girl felt guilty so quickly about not trading.

She enjoyed watching Honor doing her little ritual over the peanut butter. Trinket didn't adore it to the level that Honor may have, but it was still yummy none the less. Gingerly she picked up the small offering, and thoroughly enjoyed it. She savored what she could to show her appreciation for the gift.

"Your skills on survival must be good," she commented. Her legs crossed as she started to mend a pair of mittens. She tried to keep the conversation going to make sure that Honor didn't know that she was getting tired. It worried her a little to go to sleep but eventually she knew she would have to. Her eyes weighed themselves down and she slumped a little more against the metal.
 
"I'm eighteen!" Honor says indignantly, at Trinket's statement about the state of her growing, but she didn't push the matter. Using her knife to scoop out a bit of peanut butter, she put it on her index finger, licking it. Savoring the taste, knowing how rare it was to find peanut butter, unopened at that, she stated, "I am," in response to her final statement.

"My father had these rules to follow, like if a person's wearing all black and he's not a priest, stay away, red is even worse than black, and never let yourself be alone with an older man by yourself. I think that one's one of the more important ones, it certainly has kept me out of a lot of trouble..." She chuckles softly, before seeing how tired Trinket looked.

"Are you tired?" she asked, a worried light coming to her eyes. She wasn't sure how she felt, being the only one awake inside the plane, but was concerned nonetheless.
 
She didn't answer from nodding off. Her body curled towards the fire as she slowly slipped down into horizontal position. When the storm outside had died down, Trinket woke up. She seemed to always wake up when the subtle changes in the weather come about. She looked around her to get sight of what might be different.

"Honor?" She said softly. Trinket had hopped she woke up in time to confirm she wasn't dreaming that another human was near. It saddened her to even think that it was all an illusion. She saw Honor sitting there, looking hungry again. But she was probably wrong in her assumption. To Trinket, it felt like she slept a full 8 hours.

"Good to see you're still here." She smiled rubbing one eye. "Want some mystery food? It has no label!" She laughed a little too loud like it was something worth excitement. She pushed the nap-sac with her foot and then she heard a scratching noise at the door. She cringed thinking the scratching sound did not sound like trees.

"I think we have a new neighbor." Trinket's sarcasm was a little too bothered to even sound the way she intended.

Outside a deep howl came from the lungs of hungry and cold wolves. Trinket crept to a broken window and pulled back a sealed off flap. "Looks like we'll be the minorities of this neighborhood." She shut the flap with her whisper. She looked towards the front of the plane. Maybe they could get out another way?
 
Hearing the howl, Honor immediately grabbed her knife, biting her lip. Standing up, she said, "We might have to kill a mess of wolves if they get in...I doubt we could just wait them out in here. I'll look around." Walking through the airplane as quietly as possible, she searches for another way out, damning herself for her negligence in choosing a shelter. Only one exit was always a bad idea, no matter how desperate you were.

Sighing, she returned to the fire. "I can't find any other way out. We might just have to fight our way out. What do you think?"

((Sorry for the shit reply))
 
Trinket leaned up against the door and nodded. This was her way of saying to be careful but that she would hold things down. She didn't mean for them to get her scent but she just had to keep the girl safe. Trinket's tiredness was swept away with the cold air starting to get in. They were more aggressive now, one was ramming his body into the metal door.

"Find a way out yet?" She knew being quiet didn't matter anymore. "Maybe kick out the front window if you can!"

She had to yell now, the growls were becoming more hungry. Her back was being weighed down by the hard thrusts of their bodies beating the metal door. She cringed as she tried to prepare herself to run. Fighting wasn't an option. She tried to weigh her chances of getting grabbing her bag of food before running out the window.

She heard the glass shatter and the wolves being drawn to the noise. "Crap..." She muttered to herself and took immediate action. She grabbed her nap sack, ripped open the door and made lots of noise as she took off. It seemed only half the pack was following. Her plan had back fired on her quickly. "So much for being able to protect her!" Her eyes grew wide as they grew a little closer.
 
Leaping out of the front window, having shattered it with a heavy box, Honor yelps when she realized that she drew many of the wolves towards her. Immediately running in the opposite direction of the fallen aircraft, she sees through the storm the woman, running away from the wolves as well. Tripping over an unseen stone, buried under the snow, she quickly turns, slashing out into the darkness with her knife, yelling.

She didn't hit much, her wild thrashings and screaming not helping her in the least. Feeling the blade connect with fur and skin, drawing blood, she fights blindly against the wolves, wishing she'd had the foresight to choose a better place to rest. Feeling the sleeve of her jacket being torn in the jaws of a hungry wolf, she yells as its teeth draw blood, dragging along her now-bare skin.

Stabbing out in the direction of the teeth, she retaliates accordingly, feeling warm animal blood rushing over her hands.
 
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