(IC) Lost In Dreams [Peter]

[ericthered]

Peter keeps running, looking around desperately for something that he can cross but the dog can't. Correction-- something that Goliath can cross but the dog can't. Which will be a bit harder. He'll just have to find the right obstacle and hope goliath handles it better than his chaser.

He racks his mind for an obstacle around here. something, something. There's nice wide creek in the area -- how far? quarter mile, half a mile? its pretty slow -- will it be enough?

OCC: Yeah, its a fast dog. The animal is bred for chasing down wild animals -- but its also 10 to 15 seconds later. Peter took a few seconds crossing the field, then entered the woods and is running away.

[the_matrix_walker]

((OOC: So the dog has chased him down and is just keeping pace then?))

Peter heads for the stream...

[ericthered]

Peter keeps ahead of the hunters up to the river, dog yapping at his heals. He jumps into the water, and Goliath follows along with him. Swimming with the spear is hard, but he knows what he's doing and the two make it across. On the other side of the bank, the animal is yapping at them. Peter is breathing hard, but forces himself to move forward at least at a half decent pace.

The dog howls after them as they continue away.

Peter thinks he has outdistanced them, even if they are willing to cross the river, but he's not sure if they are tracking him or not -- Just to make sure he travels upstream until he gets to a fork, then wades (and gets goliath to wade) up one of the branches for quite a while. And just to make sure he masks their scent with some leaves rubbed on them afterwards.

OCC: yeah, it was just keeping pace. The animal isn't capable of taking on Peter or Goliath alone, let alone when they're working together.

*These tactics are the result of a survival roll to get them off of his tail.

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter finds a spot to camp at the end of the day, and continues his routine seeking out the English speaking people in his dreams, and avoiding the "shoot first and ask questions later" natives.

[ericthered]

Peter gets through the next few days with little incident. He still sees various local communities, and the modern folks. About eight days into his routine, he dreams of both of them together.

An African American (he sees quite american) wearing a medical style outfit is shown into a local hut, where a man is suffering from some sort of illness. The man looks him over, administers an injection, then calls in another man -- this one extremely weathered, and missing a lot of teeth. The two talk in english for a while (though the weathered man seems to use an archaic form of it). PEter hears it mostly as a diagnosis -- of small pox. The weathered man turns and seemingly tries to convey the issue to one of the locals -- neither of them speak the language well. Outside, other modern people start unloading crates of shining hypodermic needles.

OCC: Technically, they asked questions before they started shooting!

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by ericthered

OCC: Technically, they asked questions before they started shooting!

((OOC: Perhaps so, but three encounters have all had hostile reactions, and anyone able to attack him has done so. He will continue his search.))

[ericthered]

On day twelve, Peter finds an encouraging sign: a modern boot print. Looking around, he finds he is near a campsite that left its mark on the land -- a modern campsite. And it rained five days ago, so the campsite is less than that old. Peter can't track, but Goliath can -- if the trail isn't too old.

It takes some doing to make sure that the dog is on the right trail, but Peter thinks he has the dog on the trail, and the two start tracking the modern folks down. By the end of the day, Peter has found another camp -- Goliath has the proper scent. They hurry along -- the sky is overcast and it will rain in the next 36 hours -- the scent could be ruined. Night falls, and they haven't caught up yet.

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter sets up camp for the night, he knows he'll have no chance of keeping the trail in the dark if Goliath wanders off of it after some animal or something. As soon as the sun sets, he'll climb a tree to see if he can spot a campfire. If he does not, he tries to get some sleep immediately hoping he can continue tracking at first light.

[ericthered]

Peter wakes bright and early and stars off on the trail again. The wind is kicking up, and a storm is brewing. It will hit today, and the trail will be gone. Peter makes good progress, but at about 10:30, the trail heads directly into a populated village. The storm could hit anywhere from 15 minutes from now to 6 hours -- Peter isn't that good at predicting weather, particularly around here.

[the_matrix_walker]

Peter tries to stay hidden and circles the village, looking for signs of the English speakers (or unusual reactions from the "natives" that might be them reacting to an unusual presence), or seeing if Goliath reacts to the scent. If they have left the village and Goliath can pick up the trail on the other side, even better...

If seen, but not immediately threatened, he will approach... But if he feels threatened, he will flee.