Clouds of Dust and Death

[Patchworks]

Before we begin this ridiculous tale, we would like to emphasize that we did in fact roll for everything we find. You will understand the need for this disclaimer later. THESE WERE ALL GIFTS FROM THE DICE GODS!!!

The avian sighed as the bat cracked and split. It was one of the few things she managed to salvage from her house and now it was pretty useless. Of course, doing target practice with it probably didn't help matters but it was better than the other time-tested pastimes of the settlement: complaining about living on the run and suffering from Crimson Death.

Before she could look for other sources of entertainment, she was summoned to the scout barrack, or the warehouse for things they'd salvaged the weeks prior and didn't burn through yet.

"As you know, Veroe, we are in constant need of supplies. And the nearby town may be ripe for salvaging." Said a thin-faced human she couldn't quite remember the name of.

"Well, what is this, then? Was I picked to do the dumpster diving?" She replied, both slightly wary of the Cloud and excited with the prospect of having something to do. The man nodded.

"Last week's gusts pushed the cloud back so it's safe to wander there although you really should take the gas masks."
She frowned at him. "They stink of Asbestos... Wait, masks plural? Is someone coming with?"

The man nodded once more. "He should be coming soon."

[Vatusia]

As the Cat Mammalian skipped down the dying grass and dirt he found himself humming an older song he’d learned to play so very long ago. Landon had been called to see the lead scout, for what reason he couldn’t guess. Though he supposed he should just be thankful to be doing something. The last months had been spent sitting around trying to remain healthy and away from the Storms. And taking care of Lei. Landon’s skipping turned into a light jog at the thought of his younger sibling. She hadn’t taken the death of their Aunt very well and he was still trying to help the Kitten to figure out this new world they were in.

With thoughts of the little girl in his head, the short trip passed by in a blink until he was pushing through tent flap. “I’m here~ What did ya need me for?” Landon chirped, his tail waving behind him happily. The Mammalian paused as he spotted a female Avian standing by the Human, wondering why the Harpy had also been summoned by the lead scout. “Are we going out?” His eyes lit up with the idea of being let out of the settlement to go out exploring. Maybe he could even find something to cheer little Lei up. He could just imagine her face lighting up under the dust that seemed to cover everything now. “Where are we going~?”

[Patchworks]

The man seemed slightly startled, as he was well known to be, as he turned to face Landon.

"Ah, yes. I was just briefing Veroe here. We'll be letting you two out to do some salvaging for tools, materials and maybe even food at the nearby town. It's safe but please do take gas masks."

The Avian almost cut the man off. "I don't think we met, actually. I'm Veroe, I was from down south before... everything happened." She said, waving somewhat cautiously towards the man, unsure of his personality. The man coughed, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

[Vatusia]

As the Harpy introduced herself, Landon found himself smiling at the black haired female. “I’m Landon. My sister and I were on a family trip with my aunt when things went wrong. Originally we were from southern Texas, but I suppose it doesn’t matter too much anymore where you were from. Just where you are and where your family is.” Landon hummed, bouncing slightly on his feet as he looked between the Human and the Avian. The lead scout looked annoyed that they weren’t paying any attention to him and Landon was sorry for that, but he found that is was more important to know who would be having his back outside the relative safety of the settlement rather than why they were going out. However the Cat could easily figure out why they had to head to the city. They were running low on supplies again and it was an okay time to try and find things. “So we’re looking for basically anything we can use? Where are we going for this and how long should we stay out? Will you send someone to look after Lei if I’m out too long?” The words were a rush as Landon stared intently at the Human, his eyes going wide at the thought of leaving his sister alone for too long. Granted she wasn’t really alone, there were people all around who would look after the Kitten for the time he would be out, but Landon would much rather be there for his sister.

[Patchworks]

"Yes, you are to bring back whatever we can use. Tools, components, anything that's not too heavy to bring back. Someone found a shopping cart in almost good condition the last outing, you can take that with you. We would like if you could come back before dark, we don't know what's out there anymore. Don't worry, Landon, we'll keep an eye out on your sister, she'll be alright. And if you two take too long out there we'll send a second detachment to get you. The masks are on that box. Please be safe." The man sighed, pointing at a nearby cardboard box, looking as worried as ever.

Veroe continued from where she left off. "Ah, that's gotta be difficult on you all. Well, at least you'll have time to see the sights." The Avian smiled at Landon, relieved she didn't have to deal with a grump or some similar hard case and trying to somewhat ease the mood. She moved over to the box, picking through tools and empty cans until she found a pair of dusty brown masks, well worn. She frowned slightly at them, already unhappy with the smell.

[Vatusia]

Landon hopped over to the Avian’s side, wrinkling his nose as the smell from the gas masks wafted up to his nose. He didn’t want to put on the stinky masks, but if things got bad out there, then the Cat would have no choice. “Should we both with the shopping cart? It might get stuck on things… but we would be able to bring more stuff back…” Landon looked down at the Harpy as he picked up one of the gas masks and attached it to his belt. He didn’t really want to make decisions and the blond was sure that the female knew better than he did. Maybe with the Avian around, he would have a better chance of not getting lost. The last thing he wanted was to be out long enough for them to have to send out a second team to find the duo. Lei would probably worry so much if Landon didn’t get home before dark and as much as he trusted the scout to have people look after his little sister, he’d rather be there. His sister didn’t trust people as much as he did, but that wasn’t a bad thing, not in these times.

“It is difficult. But at least Lei and I made it through everything so far. I figure if we’ve survived this long then we’ll probably be alright until this all gets figured out. So do you have anyone?” Big golden eyes looked back as Landon moved out of the tent. He didn’t want to leave his companion behind, but the sooner this scavenging mission got done the better. One could never tell what the weather would do, but it was always better to do things when it looked nice rather than wait. “Also is there anything you want me to point out while we’re looking? We might as well look for stuff for those we know while we’re out there right?”

[Patchworks]

The girl dusted off the mask slightly before putting it away. It would likely make her feel like death but it was better than actually going through death. Probably. Staying out didn't seem like such a bad idea, but who knows what could be waiting out there.

"I think it's fine to take the cart, if the terrain gets too rough let's just leave it there and bring it back by day's end." She took a deeper breath, following the Cat out of the tent. "My father lives with us. Mother... She's still out there. She's pretty hardy so it should be fine. Anyway, it would be nice to find a bat, mine just snapped and playing ball isn't a bad way to kill time. Besides, y'know, whacking dummies over the head. And if you see a muscly middle aged Avian woman, you know who it is." She chuckled quietly and shrugged, walking around the back looking for the shopping cart.

[Vatusia]

Veroe wanted a bat? Landon supposed there were stranger things to want at times like these, but he never would have thought of a bat. “If you find any toy, I’d like to bring them back for Lei. Also any music related items, but that’s just for me.” Not that any sheet music would do him any good. His cello was still at home and there was no way he was going to be able to lug around even a keyboard let alone a full piano. Maybe one of those small keyboards, but then he’d have to be on the look out for batteries and there were more important uses for those. But still, just having sheet music would be an improvement on his current state of music-less.

Landon followed after the small Avian, his tail swishing behind him as he caught sight of the shopping cart. “How fun do you think it would be to push people around in that? I’ll push you if you’ll push me. That way we both don’t have to be on our feet all day!” Landon hummed. He was practically buzzing with the idea of having fun like any kid his age should be at this time of their life. But the world that had allowed that had been destroyed so the Kitten would take his enjoyment wherever he could get it. Wether it was looking for music he couldn’t play or having fun with a shopping cart and no adult supervision.

[Patchworks]

"Sure, I'll tell you if I find anything." Hardly intersecting goals, the two had, but she wouldn't mind listening to a song every once in a while. Toys would be something she'd likely ignore otherwise so it's good she was warned beforehand.

Veroe moved over to the shopping cart and leaning her weight on it, checking if it could support them. She turned to the cat, an excited smile on her face. "If anyone asks how we broke the cart, cuz we probably will pushing each other down slopes, the wheel got caught on a crack and we couldn't yank it off." She whispered, looking around for anyone listening in.

"Anything else we should take?"She asked, putting the mask inside the cart and pushing it closer to the boundaries of the settlement. She could tell it was going to be an exciting day, finally.

[Vatusia]

Anything else that they should take? “Besides things that I’m pretty sure we can’t take, I can’t think of anything. We should be fine, it’s just a short looting mission.” Then again nothing was fine anymore. Ever since the Crimson Death had been unleashed upon the world, things had been chaos. But that didn’t mean that this looting trip wouldn’t be normal. “We shouldn’t need anything else, not for a routine looting patrol thing. We just have to make sure we don’t get the cart stuck or anything~” the words were a happy song as Landon skipped alongside the cart, tempted to hop in but not sure that he should just yet. It would be better to wait to get in the cart until he was sure that the cranky adults wouldn’t see.

It was good to finally have someone else that he knew in the camp whose sense of fun hadn’t ended with the first wave of deaths. More often then not now, when Landon did decide to try and enjoy himself there was an elder waiting to tell him to stop taking the end of the world so lightly. Was it really his fault that the world had ended while he was still a teen? The Cat Mammalian shook his head as they got a bit further from the camp. He would have fun today with this Avian while also looking for things that the could be useful in the city. “So where do you think we should look first? Any building we can or should we see if we can find a speciality shop?” Landon hummed as his boots hit pavement. He missed the city lights right about now, because right now the overgrown city looked like it would eat them both alive. It probably could.

[Patchworks]

"Good question, I think it'd take too long to check every building." She considered their options before pointing at a somewhat nearby two-story house besides a restaurant. "Let's try our luck... there. See how things go.

She tilted the cart slightly to face the house and pushed it ahead, letting the boy's humming and the rattling of wheels against the ground break the oppressing silence. One question suddenly weighed heavily on her mind and her fists clenched against the cart. It was no use to worry the kid with it right now, so she pressed on, her head swaying slightly with his humming.

[Vatusia]

The two story house seemed to watch as Landon approached, his tail safely tucked against his leg. He understood the need for looting, but it was still a fresh enough wound that it felt wrong. Perhaps there would come a day when this wouldn’t feel terrible, like some crime against a probably dead owner, but Landon wasn’t sure it ever would feel okay. “So supplies and a baseball bat. Do you think the garage is out back? That’s usually where people keep tools and stuff right?” Landon didn’t want to focus on the fact that they were looting a dead person’s house. The sooner they could be out of the residential options the sooner the Kitten would feel better.

With a hop and a skip, Landon was up the porch and ready to open the door for the Avian. “We should probably stick together huh? Safety in numbers and all that~” the words were light, but Landon was scared that if he went off on his own something would happen to one of them. In these times he would much rather be safe than sorry. “Do you think we should move the cart up here or just leave it by the stairs?” Landon knew that he was asking a lot of questions, but this was his first time out since coming to the settlement and he was anxious. So many things could go wrong and keep him from returning to his sister. He just wanted things to go right.

[Patchworks]

The Avian stuffed her chest, as if to challenge the house itself to do anything. She turned to the cat. "Supplies, a bat, musical instruments and something nice for... Lei, was it? Anyway~ Let's leave the cart here, it's annoying to swerve it around. After we look at the house we can check for a garage. And let's stick together, things may be weird in here... Should we check if there's anyone home? Just in case."

She moved closer to the door and waved both arms towards the windows. "HEY! Anyone home?! We're not thugs but we're going in! Last warning!" She didn't want to think about how likely it was that the owners died a long time ago and, worse, that whatever was left of them was still in there. That didn't matter right now, she had to be strong no matter how ugly things looked.

"Nothing, huh? Well, do the honors." She said, staring at the door.

[Vatusia]

Landon had been about to say that they should see if the house was vacant before going in when the Avian called out to anyone that might be inside. Landon giggled as he stepped closer to the door. This little Harpy sure was amusing. As soon as they were both sure that there was nothing, at least nothing that was answering, on the other side of the door, Landon pulled open the screen door and pushed open the main door. The Cat sniffed at the air, trying to see if he could smell anything terrible before they got in the building. Besides stale air and dust, there wasn’t anything that smelled really concerning. “I don’t smell anything decaying, or at least nothing prominent. It should be safe, but I agree, we stick together~!” He chirped as he entered the house.

He stepped into the foyer and looked around, both giving Veroe time to get in the house and scanning to see if he could find anything that might help anyone. There was a very broken bike sitting in the corner, probably the kids who had been living in the house. Nothing on it looked worth picking up, which was a shame because having a bike would have been wonderful. “Have any use for a broken bike?” Maybe Veroe could find some use in the scrap metal that was the remains of the bike. Landon couldn’t think of anything other than the wheels that would be useful, but he didn’t have the tools to get just the wheels. Maybe if they found something to remove the wheels he would come back for it, but right now the Mammalian was more set on finding things that were easy to get and usable. “You wanna check the closet while I check behind that door?”

[Patchworks]

Veroe stepped inside, waving a cloud of floating dust particles away as she moved. She stared at the ruined bike with a small frown. "What a wreck. Shame, it would be great to have one. Let's see if we have room for it once we're done looting, maybe we can fix it back at base."

She looked deeper in the corridor, relieved there didn't seem to be any inhabitants, living or otherwise. She opened the closet to find a very serviceable, bright yellow rain coat, apparently worn once at the most. Sadly, it was a tiny thing, wouldn't fit either Icarii. She held it up, slightly disappointed. This and the bike... Just how much stuff did the children in here need? An idea came to her.
"Say, Lan. Would this fit your sister?" She asked, holding it up towards him.

[Vatusia]

Lavender eyes looked down at the scrap that was the bike. Maybe it would be repairable, but Landon knew nothing of bikes in the first place. He had just moved to the door when Veroe called out to him asking if something would fit his sister. He looked up and spotted the tiny raincoat. It looked to be maybe a little too small for the Kitten, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring it back just in case. Surely there would be someone at the camp who could use it if Lei couldn’t. “It might, but you know there’s always some kid who could use a new coat. It’ll make someone’s day at least!” Landon smiled towards the Avian as he turned the handle to what was apparently a bathroom. The Feline blinked a couple of times before stepping in. Laying on the edge of the sink was a cotton tee that, upon further inspection, looked to be just a little bit too big. “Hey I found something that might actually work! Do you want an oversized tee? It would be huge on you but that can be really comfy sometimes.” The words were spoken quickly as Landon moved to look under the sink. Again the Feline found himself blinking as he saw what was inside. Landon grabbed the PSDS and stepped back out into the foyer, holding up the gaming device in one hand and the shirt in the other. “Do you also maybe want a portable game?”

[Patchworks]

Veroe smiled at the thought the cat had put into something as small as a rain coat. He had a point though, someone was bound to use it. She folded it and threw it on her shoulder, ready to proceed. As she was about to leave, she noticed the shirt the boy had. "Ah, I could use one of those, these tend to rip tighter clothes. Thanks Lan~" She shrugged, moving her right elbow to show the sharp yellow spur that tore a hole through her jacket. Most shirts were a pain to put on due to this so baggy options were always welcome. "I'll go take a look ahead."

Veroe opened the door further into the house, being faced with a rather large, comfortable looking room with access to the kitchen and what seemed to be a bedroom. "Fancy..." she caught herself whispering as she rooted through the room, raising pillows and looking under tables. The only thing she seemed to find was a mostly-full large bottle of rubbing alcohol. Veroe sat down in a dusty couch, waiting for the Cat to move onto the big room before moving on herself.

[Vatusia]

Landon pocketed the game device and slung the shirt over his shoulder. He looked around at the little bit of the house that they had already covered and, deciding that there was nothing of interest, moved swiftly to follow after the Bird. Golden eyes blinked at the wide open room he had just entered. “I bet this house was wonderful to live in before. I wonder what happened to the people living here…” The last words were quieter. Chances were they were laying dead somewhere. Most people hadn’t survived the first wave of illness, even fewer were still alive a half a year after everything. Landon tucked his tail against his leg as he moved towards where Veroe was sitting. “What room should we hit next? The kitchen’s right there but we could also check upstairs then work our way down? Though I think the stairs are back near the entrance. It’s up to you Veroe, I don’t really mind, so long as we stick together.”

[Patchworks]

"Yeah, this place is really great. If the clouds would let off a bit, I don't think I'd mind staying. Maybe as a storage for whatever we find but can't carry back." Veroe concluded, raising a wave of dust as she sneezed, stretching and getting off the couch. She looked around, weighing her options. "Say, L. Let's play a game. Whoever finds the coolest things wins... Something. I'd offer cooking something but I don't think Dad recovered from the last time I made him some." She grumbled the last sentence, looking around the comfortable room.

Veroe pointed towards the kitchen, grinning towards Landon. "Onwards!" She hadn't realized, as usual, that the Cat didn't agree to her challenge, much less had any time to do so. Veroe marched towards the kitchen, pulling open the first cupboard she found. It was full of pans. Some beat up, some reeking of old oil, but usable. She frowned, half-expecting a video game system or something.

[Vatusia]

A game? Of who could find the best stuff? With no reward attached? How on Earth would he be able to pass this up? “I take your challenge! Though I’m not sure on reward either. However I can cook so that might be your prize should you win this. But you’re not going to win with all those pans!” Landon giggled as he followed behind the Harpy. The Cat looked around the kitchen before deciding to try the cupboard right next to Veroe. And upon opening it, Landon’s face lit up like a big city street. The Kitten reached forward carefully, taking up the damaged piece of paper as gently as he could. Golden lavender eyes looked att eh notes on the pieces of paper. A classic song by the looks of it, and only the one. The pages were tearing in multiple pages, but they were all there and still legible. “I think I win the bet. I just found sheet music in a kitchen cupboard~! This is possible the best day since the beginning of the apocalypse~!” The Kitten purred as he held the sheet music close, pleased with his find even if it wasn’t in the best condition. Now all he needed was an instrument to play it on.

[Patchworks]

Veroe shook her fist towards the boy, briefly before a pan fell besides her feet. She ducked and stepped to the side as the pans clanked and rained from the cupboards. "Who the hell needs so many pans?! Anyway! It's not over yet! Next up... Whatever that place is!"
Veroe pointed towards a door across the house, the last one they didn't look through on the ground floor. She dashed, jumping clumsily over the couch and slamming the door open.

Veroe gasped, standing in front of the door. When realization struck her, she cackled "Dibs on the huge package! You gotta see this, Lan~" and ran over to the bed, where a large package awaited, perfectly wrapped in brown paper. The shipping invoice glued to it had the exact date as when the plague clouds fell, whoever bought that thing never even opened it. She tore into the paper quickly and found a large cello case inside. Her heart throbbed with the impossible find, fumbling with the lock for a moment before sliding the lid open, expecting it to be empty or full of random trash. She gasped at the mint condition, really expensive-looking cello inside.
Veroe left the case open, waiting for the boy, a wide grin stamped on her face.

[Vatusia]

Golden eyes watched as all the pans fell from the cupboard and the Harpy ran to the next room. Landon grinned as he opened the next cupboard, spotting the unopened duct tape and the tiny box of nails. The Kitten smiled and was just about to call out toe Veroe when he heard the Avian cackling about some type of huge packaged and how he needed to see it. So the items were grabbed up along with the sheet music and all but ran to the door that the female had disappeared into. With wide eyes Landon approached where the Harpy was, with possibly the most glorious thing he had seen since leaving home.

Instantly the nails and duct tape were thrown on the floor, the sheet music laid out on the bed and the cello in his hands. It had been so long since he’d seen a musical instrument, let alone held one. Turns out the music had been for some old animated film, judging from the notes coming from the piece of wood he was holding. The bow was still in the case, but it looked to be in just as good of a condition as the Cello. “I think you’re gonna win this bet. I can’t think we’d find anything nearly as wonderful as this~” Landon hummed, quickly putting the instrument back into it’s hard case and then slinging it over his back. “I really hope you don’t mind, but I’m keeping this…”

[Patchworks]

Veroe chuckled softly after listening to the tune the boy was playing. It was probably the most calming thing she's heard ever since the world went weird. Veroe picked up a spare pillowcase and used it as a makeshift sack for the tape, nails and raincoat, motioning it towards the boy to see if he wanted to drop anything off. She stuffed her chest, a bright, innocent smile betraying her smug facade.
"What can I say, it takes years of practice to match my skill. Of course you can keep it, these hands are no good for handling fragile fancy stuff." Veroe said, rubbing her calloused hands. "Quite a haul, huh? Think we should move on to the restaurant over there? I don't wanna bite more than we can chew, not with those uphills back to camp."

[Vatusia]

“Well we could always leave it here, this is closer to the camp than any other place we are likely to visit. Plus I wanna see if there’s anything else that we might need more than what we’ve found. Besides this cello isn’t that terribly heavy. At least not enough that I can’t carry more. What's the trouble in seeing what else we might be able to find~?” Landon put the cello on the ground as he went to search the dresser, finding what looked to be entirely too many hats. He saw at least one of every type he knew off the top of his head. Slitted eyes blinked rapidly before the tall blonde fully pulled out the drawers of the strictly hat dresser. Pale fingers fished out an oversized beanie and pulled it over champagne locks. Luckily he didn’t have any cat ears, otherwise this would be so much more difficult. “Do you want a hat? Because I’m pretty sure at least some of these would help for when it gets cold. I say we bring at least some of these back for the others. Not the fashion hats of course, but at least some of these could be useful~!” The words were a chirp as Landon fished out another beanie, this one with a slight bill. He held the hat out towards Veroe, wondering if she would take it or if she would think that they should bring some of the hats with.

[Patchworks]

"Fair, not like anyone's gonna come around to take the stuff here. Thank the gods, too, I don't feel like hauling a truckload of pans back." Veroe stared curiously at Landon as he rummaged to what seemed to be a portal into the Hat Dimension. While the beanie didn't quite fit the boy's appearance it suited him, in a way. Veroe took the beanie the boy offered, fitting it snugly on her head, trying to smooth over the persistent single feather that stood up above her hair.

It did not yield, as expected, and Veroe settled for a beanie that was pushed slightly upwards where it shouldn't. "Hey, these do seem pretty comfy~ We oughta take some with us, too. Imagine the look on their faces when we arrive with games, music and clothing. She nodded to herself, turning to face the last door of this floor. Might as well take a look.

The bathroom was in a general state of disrepair. Apparently someone had started taking it apart for some kind of repair but abandoned it halfway through. Sadly the parts that were left over were the ones that needed repairing the most and most of it wouldn't be of any use without, at the very least, a thorough cleaning. She turned her back to the door, facing the Cat. "I don't think there's anything of use here, L. Let's take a look at the second floor?"

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