Across the Wasteland

E

EquinoxSol

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Original poster


Xavier cursed loudly and profusely, giving a sour look to the patch of ground in front of him that was supposed to be a fire. Instead, when he had used the last of his lighter's fluid to light it, a strong wind had blown through the barren waste and put out the sparks. Standing up, he angrily threw the lighter as far as he could make it go before kicking over the small pile of paper and cloth that he had tried to make a fire with.

Grumbling, he stood up, balling his hands into fists. Letting himself calm down for a few minutes before bending down to pick up the scraps of cloth and paper. Stuffing them into his pockets, he turned to the small shelter that he had made during the first days of survival. In this barren wasteland he now called home, trees were few and far between, so finding wood had been out of the question, and he had needed to make due with snow, ice, and what few stones he could find. After two days' work, he had formed a slightly rounded igloo, which provided a little insulation and protection from the biting wind and snow outside. Inside it were the few belongings he had, which consisted of a worn sleeping bag, a couple of half-empty lighters, and what little kindling they could find.

I am an idiot, Xavier thought to himself. He hadn't really been thinking when he had tried lighting the fire outside. Of course that wouldn't work. The wind would be too strong for a fire to survive, and though it would be smoky inside their small shelter, it would have been much more intelligent to light the fire inside. Walking back, he sighed as he entered, having to get on his hands and knees to get in. Gonna have to eat dinner cold... Running a hand through his hair, he sighed again before setting his bag against one of the walls, sitting down on top of the sleeping bag.

He looked down at his hands for a long moment before hearing the sounds of wolves howling. Out of all the animals that had died off during the freeze, wolves had seemed to be the only ones to survive. They were stronger and smarter now, and whenever he heard them, Xavier always felt a wave of fear run through him. A lone wolf could crawl through the entrance and slaughter him in his sleep, and there would be no room to fight it.

I'm probably going to have a sleepless night, he thought to himself, frowning. He hadn't slept in the last two days, and it was starting to takes its toll on him. Taking out the only knife he had been able to salvage, he thought, not for the first time, Sometime soon I need to make a spear or something for me...keep away the wolves better... Taking out the blade of the knife and taking the threadbare glove on his left hand, he ran his finger along the edge, making sure it was still sharp enough to cut skin. Wincing as blood spilled from the cut that appeared, he moved his thumb to his mouth, sucking away the blood. Putting his glove back on, he shivered, not looking forwards to a fearful night of waiting for the end to come.
 
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((Source // but you really can't see his eyes lol// ))

Snow.
Snow everywhere.
Snow everywhere the eye could reach.

There was nothing else, but the darned never stopping, snow.

His eyes shifted from side to side as he made his way amongst the white pure element, trying to be as silent as he could, his hands trembling even tough they were tucked into his pockets, not moving from the site in his pockets. They still were frost bitten already, and his feet were very numb already as well, even if he was wearing thick boots, and a long strong coat, with a small mantle of fur over his shoulders, hiding the scarf he was wearing, which was covering his nose and mouth. "..." he let out a strong breath and quit his walking to look around.

He was exhausted, his last hideout had died and been destroyed by wolves just the night before, and now he was left alone in a big quiet landscape with no one to run to and nothing to do about the unbearable cold, his last belongings and meals had also been destroyed by the beasts, and thus far, he had only hoped that his food hadn't been ravaged. It turned out it had when he tried returning to the site.

He sighed and pushed forward despite the pain he was going trough, his body was growing extremely cold and he couldn't bring himself to just dig a hole somewhere, he knew they would find him and tear him apart like a rag doll, and he didn't want it to all end that way. He decided for that reason to keep moving.

It was long ago, more than 10 years previous to this events when the world had "ended", humans had been vanquished by their own hands, and the world fell back to another "ice age" and the wolves were left to hunt down whatever humans were left, now stronger, bigger, faster, smarter. He didn't want to walk among the snow anymore, they were close he could hear them.

His eyes shifted to what looked like an igloo, he was almost breathless when he saw it, his surprise was just as strong as when he turned to his right and spotted a wolf staring at him, but apparently not interested, however he couldn't give it the chance and crawled into the hiding site, panting heavily and only looking back at the entrance to look for the wolf. However nothing ever came.
 
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Xavier had been sharpening the blade of his knife when he heard the noises. It was scrabbling, like someone--or something--was coming through the entrance into his home. Getting to his feet, he stood to the side of the entrance, prepared to pounce on anything that came through. Throughout the years, he had come to learn that people could be just as dangerous as the wolves. People now were desperate, and he had gotten his fair share of people who were desperate enough to attempt to kill him over a can of expired tuna or something equally unpleasant just to survive for a couple more days. Too many people Xavier had refused to help and had sent away with bleeding wounds, only to hear their cries later in the night, when the wolves got to them.

Poised over the entrance, he wasn't at all prepared to see a boy--just a kid--emerge through the hole. As he glanced back, Xavier pounced, tackling the kid to the ground. Reaching for his knife in his jacket pocket, he took out the blade and turned the boy over. "I don't have any supplies to spare," he said, right before he met his eyes and saw how young he was. He couldn't have been older than five, maybe six, when the end of the world happened. Barely old enough to remember a time before snow had covered the earth.

Very slowly, still in a state of near-shock, Xavier put the knife away before withdrawing from him. It was a miracle in itself that someone that young had survived for this long...ten years, it must be...To last that long, and to be so young, was amazing. Whoever this kid was, he was definitely resourceful, intelligent, and probably stronger than he looked.

"...Who are you...?" he finally asked, his cheeks flushed from the cold and exertion.
 
The younger one didn't even have the slight chance to even fight back or gasp by the time he was being smashed to the snowy gray ground by a body way far bigger than his, he also could feel his body turn around and be upwards now agaisn't his will, he couldn't even process completely what was even going on when his eyes caught the quick glance of the blade in front of his face. He blinked, of course the man wouldn't see that if the boy's charcoal black hair was in the way.

He then said that he had no food, he blinked again and only let out an unhearable whimper. Soon enough he backed away from the young one and stared at him surprised, but all the smaller one did was drag himself away from the man, afraid of him instantly. "..." He remained silent. Then he was asked who he was and he didn't know what exactly to answer, who was he ... was a problematic question.

" ... " he remained deadly quiet.
 
As soon as he saw how scared the kid was, Xavier's expression softened slightly. "Look," he said, lowering his arms so he would look less threatening, "I'm not going to hurt you. I...can't hurt a kid. But I don't have enough food for both of us...You...you can't stay here." At that, he felt his chest clenching. How could he send out a kid to die in the snow like that? Either by the cold or by wolves, if Xavier sent him away, he would die. By the looks of him, he was already frostbitten.

His eyes piercing the other's, he thought about it. In truth, he wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he sent the kid out into the snow again. Still...he knew he didn't have enough food for another person, and if he took in the kid, one of them would starve. Chewing his lip as he thought, he frowned slightly.

After several minutes of thought, he said, "One night. You can stay here for one night, but then you have to start pulling your own weight. You have to help me scavenge, you have to help hunt, you have to help me whenever I ask. Okay?" In truth, he was thinking that he had finally lost it, that his deal he was making was insanity, but he decided if he died helping this kid, at least his conscience would be clear.
 
His silence was practically close to that of a tomb's, there was no other example nor an explanation to why he was quiet, even after the man continued to speak, offering him to stay with him and actually live with him, but he'd have to take care of himself by his own. He turned then to the sides, noticing the worn out sleeping bag, then a few other personal objects and then turned to the man.

He watched for a moment, he had sky clear blue eyes and red-ish hair, he blinked (under his wild hairs), and then managed to somehow sit up, giving him an unpleasant smirk. " ... I never asked you any of that" he said, barely loud enough to be heard, his voice was deep enough for a 15-16 year old, but also a little childish still, probably because of the bad nutrition. " ... I can care for myself." he mumbled, shrugging now in the cold, shaking a little.
 
"Oh, really?" Xavier asked, not liking the kid's tone. "Would you rather I send you back out there, to die among the cold and the wolves? For your body to be picked clean by the remaining scavengers? If you can care for yourself so well, why did you come here in the first place?" Narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head at the boy. Right then, he had no mercy for a kid who came into his home, acting helpless, and then say that he didn't need help.

"If you're so strong and self-sufficient, then get out. Right now. Go die out there, with no one to remember your name." He pointed to the entrance before crossing his arms over his chest, his eyebrows pressed together as he waited for the boy to make a move. He had tried to be kind, tried to at least help someone for once in his life, but if this kid wanted to freeze to death or be torn to pieces by wolves, then who was he to stop him?

Flinching involuntarily as he heard the howling of wolves again, he forced his scowl to grow, furthering firming his resolve to let the kid go to his death.
 
" ... " he remained quiet for a moment " ..." his eyes shifted to the entrance and stood up, peeking outside for only a moment and then turned back at him "... Why don't you have traps or weapons?" he asked, as if the man hadn't even spoken at all, going completely ignored, almost as if he was used to been treated that way.

"... For such a high and mighty person... " he continued " ... You're vulnerable" he mumbled and then pulled out a shotgun from under his coat, holding it up with his knees as he knelled in a knighthood position. "The wolves are smart but they're stupid animals only. They can't handle traps or guns if they're starving, eventually they avoid an area when too many die too much." his eyes then shifted to the man "I thought it had been wolves, but people trashed my camp. They didn't expect the mines." he finished, before loading the weapon as the howling and growling neared them.
 
As soon as the kid spoke, completely ignoring Xavier's former words, the older male was tempted to repeat his previous words, specifically the, "Get out," part. However, he didn't, especially seeing the gun the kid pulled from his jacket. The last thing he needed was getting a bullet put through him, as that would draw the wolves quicker than anything. He had been holding on to the hope that the gun wasn't loaded, and that the kid had no bullets for it, but after seeing the kid load it, all hopes of that were dashed.

Clenching his hands, he forced himself to actually answer the boy's question. "I don't have traps and better weapons because I can't make them and there aren't any other people around who are willing to trade with me." In truth, most of the other survivors within a day's walk from his home thought of him as crazy, and would sooner stab him than offer to trade supplies with him. "Mines and shotguns may be well and good for a large camp like yours was, but for mine, just my knife and my wits are what I need to survive."

Folding his arms across his chest again, he frowned before saying, "If you won't help with those," he gestured towards the entrance, obviously meaning the wolves, "then get out. I can handle myself just fine in here."
 
" ... No." he responded, no emotion or any particular feeling came to it, it hardly sounded like a denial at all. " ... Those wolves will kill you before you see them" he mumbled, as if he cared for a moment. "You're the first man who hasn't tried to rape, or kill me." he stated, ruining all chance of finding any humanity in the boy. However his statement was by far very true, his isolation had turned him needy as a child, and for that same reason he had been victim to canibal crazed women or men, rapists, murderers and looters, specially because of his young age, reason for which he had decided to not allow himself to every trust anyone again.

However he did turn to the man and then turned away " ... You need to place traps." he stated quietly, lowering the volume of his voice and staring at the entrance. "... I don't care if you think that because you're big you can survive ... you can't." he ran a hand under his hair and let to the view an ugly bite mark that had already healed on the side under his ear. "... Make your own weapons."
 
"I've survived this long, haven't I?" Xavier said quietly, biting the inside of his cheek. Ten years he had made it on his own, refusing anyone who came his way, forcing himself to send away those who came to him, only to hear their screams as night fell, or to find their frostbitten bodies in the morning. Ten years he had forced his conscience down, forcing himself not to care about anyone but himself. And now, this kid, who by some miracle had survived up until now, was telling him that the only strategy that had kept him alive wouldn't work. Well, it had worked before, and he would stick with it until...until something happened to him like what had happened to the kid, right below his ear. And so far, nothing like that had happened. He had gotten cuts and minor puncture wounds, but nothing that left too big a scar, nothing like what the kid had.

"I may not be able to survive much longer, but it's not like any of us left alive are going to live past fifty. Christ, I'm not even thirty and I'm getting grey hairs already. But I will survive as I have these last ten years, and if you're going to try and change that, then please leave, now."
 
((OOC: This kid was designed to be an ass for a good reason lol~ this is going to be such a love-hate relationship))

He twitched for a second and turned to him -obviously his eyes where hidden by his fringe- "... " however he didn't say anything, he didn't even bother looking again before he moved his gun a little "Why would I" he asked, his tone still empty. "You look like a hermit" he answered suddenly to his comment about his appearance "Like my dad used to look like" he commented, adjusting his weapon a little. "He was always nervous."

The howling got even closer this time and he tensed up more, looking more eager than scared "... You ever played with the wolves?" he asked, reading his weapon when he could hear the cracking snow of the wolves approaching "hush" he whispered, and then afterwards just waited.
 
(( >:] ))

"Probably with damn good reason," Xavier said darkly as the kid mentioned his father. He hadn't been with his father since the first few days of the end, stranded at an airport as the snow continued to come down. Being the precocious seventeen-year-old he was, Xavier had wandered away from his family for a few minutes, wanting to see if he knew any of the others stranded at the airport--after all, thousands of people were at the airport, waiting for planes that would never come, so it was entirely possible that he knew someone, right?--and had gotten turned around. Three days he had searched for his father, and when the food in the airport ran out and rumors began spreading that the snow piling on the roof would bring it down, he got the best jacket he could find and left.

Starting as he heard the sounds of wolves growing closer, he took up position above the entrance, curling around it like a cat much in the same way that he had ambushed the kid. Taking out his knife, he stiffened when he heard the snuffling and scrabling of the wolves, a moment of fear and panic rushed through him. Swallowing it, he took a deep breath before the first of the wolves made it through the entrance.

Immediately, he was upon the wolve, leaping onto it and wrestling it to the ground, his knife struggling to stab the beast. Narrowly avoiding the snapping jaws of it, he rolled onto the sleeping bag as his head banged against a block of ice that was part of the wall of his home, yelling out as claws tore at his stomach. Raising his knife, he slashed at the beast's stomach until it stopped moving. Blood covered the majority of his clothing, but he paid it no mind, leaping to his feet and brandashing his knife as the sounds of wolves continued.
 
The young one didn't even react when the man was already struggling with the wolf and fighting it, he didn't blink when he saw the man covered in blood, and he didn't flinch when he noticed an heterocromic wolf staring millimeters from his face, literally the beast's muzzle was away from his face by a centimeter. However he just rose a hand and put the weapon down, caressing the animal's head gently before it went fully inside and sat down beside him, it had a white eye, and a blue one, and thick brown with grey marks fur, and it's size, sat down, was exactly the same height as the boy's.

The young man turned to the man as if it was normal and parted his lips to speak, "This is Vaughn" he mumbled, before raising the weapon and instantly shooting a grey wolf which was practically running to bite off Xavier, a perfect headshot in one try. "With two gone they should get the message" he mumbled like he was a cat and he was purring, before relaxing and beginning to temper the weapon slightly, making it useless for shooting for now.
 
Xavier was frowning down at his blood-stained jacket when he noticed another wolf stick its muzzle into his home. Raising his knife again, he stiffened, ready to attack the wolf. However, he stopped when the kid petted it and it sat down next to him. Still wary, he didn't lower his weapon, going to stab it the moment it took a step towards him. Flinching when the wolf was introduced to him, Xavier was about to speak when movement to his left startled him.

It was a wolf, streaking towards him too quickly for him to raise his weapon. An ear-splitting bang!--and the wolf dropped dead in front of him. Breathing heavily, Xavier rolled his left sleeve up, wincing as he saw the half-centimeter-deep puncture wounds in his forearm. Heart still pounding in his chest as the adrenaline in his system ran its course. Glaring over at the wolf still sitting next to the kid, he frowned before stating, "If the wolves are gone, and you have no intention of staying here, then leave. I appreciate--" he gestured towards the grey wolf on the ground in front of him, "--that, but it isn't enough to stay here without giving something in return. I have work to do, and I don't need to be worrying about that." This time, he gestured towards the wolf next to the kid, refusing to refer to it by the name the boy had given it.
 
" ... I won't freeze because you're afraid of him" he replied instantly without looking at the man "I don't need food and I don't need anything you think I want. Vaughn is harmless, he grew up with me." he continued as if the way he had been calling the beast offended him "He's a good wolf." he commented, as it curled up into a ball and the boy literally placed his head and part of his body on top of it. "Just ... t ... tonight" he barely mumbled, clearly exhausted, before he fell asleep on top of the animal, and it just curled up a little bit more, as if trying to warm him up.

Xavier had gone completely and utterly ignored. Despite his insisting and his nervousness, it was as if the man wasn't even there.

((OOC: This feels like the start of a show or something /shot/))
 
For a fleeting, terrifying moment, Xavier had considered stabbing the kid. To be honest, he had grown tired of the kid's insolence. How could he think that he could just walk into Xavier's home, bring in a wolf, act like a--well, a child--and expect to be allowed to stay there? It was madness, truly. Of course, Xavier definitely felt a touch of madness affecting him when he thought of killing the kid. Biting his lip as he forced the thought down, he clenched his hands into fists as he watched the kid fall asleep on the animal, completely ignoring him.

Tempted to simply move the kid outside of his home, he took one look at the wolf and thought better of it. Frowning down at the kid, he moved to where his sleeping bag was situated, setting it straight so that his home was much the same way it was before the wolves came. Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his hair, knowing that he wouldn't get a wink of sleep with that beast there. Shuffling around, he used his knife to cut off most of the dead wolves' fur, stuffing it into his jacket sleeves and sleeping bag, to keep as warm as possible. It was itchy most of the time, and smelled bad, but without it, Xavier would already be dead.

After he had cut the fur off of the wolves, he moved them outside, braving the cold in order to move the bodies away from his home. Let the scavengers get them, he thought to himself, before returning to his home. Glancing warily at the wolf, he frowned before sighing heavily. "Might as well," he said, before gingerly placing the sleeping bag over the kid's sleeping body. If he wasn't getting any sleep, the kid could probably use the bag more than he could.

Sinking against the curved wall of his home, he brought his knees up to his chest, rolling his sleeve up to examine his wound again. It would be a long night...
 
The wolf didn't care about the man's presence apparently, since all he did was ignore him and continue to try and maintain the boy as warm as his own body could manage, his eyes sometimes opening at the squishy cracking sounds the removal of the other wolf's skins made, looking back at him and following with his muzzle and black nose almost as if it was asking what he was doing, like a very tame dog.

After the man was done and had removed the corpses from the house, stuffed the fur into his jacket and sleeping bag, he took the later and approached the boy, reason which made the beast perk his ears up and get ready to leap at him in case he tried to do anything to the boy, but this time he saw the man leave the sleeping bag on top of the boy, and go to a corner, hugging his knees and watching the bite wound on his arm. The wolf only stared for one more moment before falling asleep on top of the stinky fur stuffed sleeping bag, there were probably fleas in there, reason that moved the wolf to, literally, begin to tend to the boy's hair, licking it and biting it very softly, like one animal would do to it's cub to maintain it clean. In this case it was more like a brother.
 
Xavier was silent as he sat in the corner, feeling like the victim of a hostile takeover. Flicking his gaze from the wolf to the kid to the entrance to his home, he eventually put away his knife, a drained feeling filling him as the adrenaline ran out. Stifling back a yawn, he shot a glare at the kid and the wolf, wishing he could feel safe in his own home.

Resting his chin on his knees, he struggled to remain awake. On normal nights, he would be able to stay up through the whole thing, but with his tussle with the wolf and lack of proper nutrition, he was finding it extremely difficult to keep his eyes open. Yawning again, he checked his wound again, making sure it wasn't bleeding anymore. Gladly, it wasn't, and he was able to clean off most of the drying blood.

He didn't make it that far. Just as he was beginning to roll up his sleeve to look at his wound, his head fell back down onto his knees, his eyes closed, and the male asleep.
 
Morning took it's sweet time arriving, slowly little light came in trough holes on the structure and among the entrance of the igloo site, making the wolf perk up it's ears and let out a loud big yawn, standing up and biting the boy's clothes and pulling him, making him wake up to then point with it's muzzle at the man still curled up on his corner. The smaller one stood up and pulled the sleeping bag to place it on top of him and walk outside very slowly, only peeking out and then moving out, but leaving his riffle and his wolf behind. The beast just curled up and fell asleep again.