We are a literate, intermediate to advanced AU Transformers RPG Based off of the first season of TFP with dashes of other incarnations sprinkled here or there. Characters from any continuity are welcome however must be restyled to match the TFPrime universe.
Active, with ongoing plotlines, we are always willing to integrate new characters into storylines once incorporated into the setting.
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Sept 18, 2023 13:15:12 GMT -5
Cassandra slowed her pace so that she didn't go ahead of Nathan. He'd instructed her to stay by his side, so it wouldn't do her any good to get ahead. Nathan might observe she was more cautious this time, throwing a glance over her shoulder when something cracked in the bushes. The thought of Decepticons surprising the two of them was at the edge of her mind.
But what could be out here, the cleaner thought, that a bunch of alien robots would want so badly? There was the notion of that Energon stuff, but part of her told Butch she was being paranoid. Still, she didn't let her guard drop, not even when she stopped to put on a hunter-orange vest she'd forgotten about. The entire time she kept half an eye on her surroundings, body a little tense in case something unexpected came up.
A comfortable silence nonetheless persisted between the two. Butch didn't say much of anything as they went up the trail. It seemed like it would be up to Nathan to strike up conversation. That is, until Butch said, "So what inspired you to go on a hunting trip with almost a stranger? Me, I used to do this all the time. A buddy of mine would tell me about some random friends I'd never met, and then I'd just up and go on his word. Led to a few awkward situations, but most of the time it was fun."
Her tone was cavalier, nonchalant; she spoke in a hushed tone as to not scare nearby prey. She didn't elaborate on those awkward situations.
Post by Nathan Walker on Sept 24, 2023 20:44:07 GMT -5
He knew they would arrive at this question eventually...
He had been hoping to avoid it for as long as possible.
He knew it wasn’t good to postpone important things or to keep everything so close to the chest. Part of him wondered if that was why things with Ashley and Emily had gone so poorly. Nevermind that Ashley was batshit insane and Emily wasn’t going to deviate from the path that was laid out for her by her parents. Sometimes he wondered if he could have been more available instead of keeping all of his emotions a secret. He’d have to keep an eye on that with this new woman...Sarah...
“Truth be told, I’m not used to hunting alone anymore.”
Here goes something.
“I was introduced to hunting by my grandfather. He would take me when school was out along with my maternal uncle. Even when I was at college I would come home on school breaks and we’d go up into the mountains for a few days and hunt. But eventually he grew old...and I moved away for my career. I hunted alone then for a few years, but when I joined my last team I met another hunting partner. Bob Miller.”
He paused there, dropping down to one knee to examine a disturbance in the dirt.
“He and a couple of other team mates welcomed me into their circle. Anytime we were back at base and we had the time we’d all go into the hills and hunt for a few days.”
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Sept 28, 2023 21:00:23 GMT -5
"I'm guessing you haven't been able to find a new partner since you came here?" Butch replied. She peered over Nathan's shoulder as he examined the mark in the dirt. She didn't move to kneel beside him, instead moving off to the side after her cursory glance. Her shadow might obscure what had been left on the trail.
As Nathan preoccupied himself with the mark, Butch glanced left and right. Other than a shrike roosting in a branch (which she noted with a small amount of internal excitement), there was nothing. A wind stirred the branches of nearby bushes, carrying a leaf across the trail that bounced against her shoe. A sudden feeling of being exposed overcame her, and she reflexively glanced at the sky. She forced herself to relax a smidgen, telling herself that a perfectly-trained special ops guy was with her in case anything went hairy. Nathan had likely been trained to fight against Cybertronians (or at least know how to get around them), and he probably had the base on speed dial if something happened. Or something.
Yeah, that still help Butch feeling nervy about the whole experience. She was tempted to whistle or move around or do something to break the near-quiet. Even the scrubland ambiance wasn't doing anything to assure her, despite that being a sign that everything was normal.
Post by Nathan Walker on Oct 1, 2023 19:54:36 GMT -5
Thank goodness he wouldn’t have to spill the real reason so soon.
“Yeah. Something like that.” Nathan replied, trying to make the statement seem like it was offhand without too much thought behind it. Part of him wasn’t so sure that he was ready to talk about any of this yet. Perhaps it was for the best if they just left it at this and didn’t speak on it anymore? Yeah, that would be nice. Just let sleeping dogs lie and not worry about it anymore.
“Looks like we’re on the right track.”
He stood up and began to move in the direction the track pointed, going slow and watching the ground for any other signs of disturbance. If he was tracking a man he would have his head up more, looking for things like broken branches, rubbed bark, and other things. Animals tended to be much more careful around nature instead of humans, though they left tracks much easier than humans. Sure enough, there was a line of tracks heading away from them, along with some droppings. Fresh ones at that.
“It’s close too...”
He reached into his pocket and fingered some of the cartridges tucked there. For safety purposes he wouldn’t load until he had the target in sight.
Silently he shrugged the rifle off of his shoulder and into his hands, then he began to creep forward, making sure his feet didn't touch any fallen branches or leaves.
Last Edit: Oct 6, 2023 1:40:48 GMT -5 by Nathan Walker
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Oct 4, 2023 18:56:20 GMT -5
Butch didn't say anything. She let Nathan take the lead, moving behind him with her heels touching the ground first. Her step was light, her movements quiet, and she was as slow and careful as the hunter in front of her. Now was the time to focus, Nathan's prey not far ahead; Butch slowed her breathing and tucked her arms close to herself.
Now, Butch was a quiet stepper. Her gait was always dainty, feet naturally picking their way around any sticks or stones that might be in her path. The woman, however, was as quiet as a mouse, matching Nathan in silence as they crept through the bush. Her eyes were peeled for any sign of movement, in case something tried to slip by the two. The nervousness from before melted away, movement and purpose instead refocusing her mind.
There! A flash of white! Butch turned quickly towards where she'd seen the pale spot in the woods, moving swiftly between branches. Something cracked and crunched as if stepped on, a few branches swaying by. Was it a bird? A deer? Butch couldn't say, but it had moved fast, and wasn't there now. Hopefully it hadn't been Nathan's deer.
Post by Nathan Walker on Oct 7, 2023 22:19:45 GMT -5
There!
Nathan froze as he saw the same flash that Butch saw out of the corner of his eye, knowing that if he were to move it might ruin his chance to make a good shot. He was breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth as quietly as possible in an attempt to slow his heart rate as the excitement pounded through him. As much as he just enjoyed being out here, this is what got every hunter going. The chance to make a shot and have a successful hunt.
He began to creep forward again, making sure to step with the ball of his foot and gently shift his weight so as to avoid making too much noise. He stuck the tip of his right pointer finger into his mouth and raised it up to the sky in the ancient trick to determine wind direction. Sure enough, the wind was coming from the front, though it was quartering from the right to the left if he was reading it right. That would mean that he would need to take extra time to determine the wind speed and actual wind direction before taking the shot in order to account for the influence.
“Slowly.” he hissed to Butch as he pointed to where he had seen the flash disappear off to. “We’re going to try and get a bit closer. Be prepared to stop when I stop.”
While Nathan knew that he could probably make a shot from about five hundred yards out with his rifle, he generally preferred to get as close as he could to the target before taking his shot. It was a skill thing, something that his grandfather had drilled into him all those years of hunting in Arizona. For Marcus Crane, the true sign of a hunter wasn’t shooting from one mountain to the next. It was the approach, remaining undetected until you could see the target clearly with the naked eye even though you had a really nice scope.
Probably a hold over from the days before telescopic sights. Nathan’s uncle Daniel said that Marcus Crane didn’t buy a telescopic sight until the early 1990’s when his eyes started to fail.
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Oct 8, 2023 21:50:59 GMT -5
Butch nodded at Nathan's words, moving just as carefully as he did. She smiled a little as he tested the wind with his finger - her father used to do the same thing. She thought again of the Yukon wilds in her youth, moving between snow-capped evergreens with her father as something moved upwind. It occurred to Butch how much she'd like to do this sort of thing again.
Butch kept her eyes on the bushes as they moved. As they did, she noticed the forest had gone still. She hoped Nathan had noticed the same, and that it was them that was the cause. It wouldn't be the best thing if a cougar or bear decided to try and pounce on the same deer they were stalking. Butch scouted the bushes with her eyes, looking for something, anything that might be a sign of another predator about.
That's when she saw the white outline of something else, and a couple of pale prongs sticking through the underbrush. The shape was several feet away from them, further from where she saw the flash of white. Butch stopped, momentarily distracted, as the shape moved out of the flora that concealed it. The woman's eyes went wide as a snowy-white head emerged, ice-blue eyes piercing out from it. A magnificent eight-point rack adorned the top of the buck's head, a long scar down the side of its face. As it moved out to where Butch could better see it, she saw the whole animal was the color of alabaster. A slow breath escaped her.
Not knowing if Nathan had seen the albino buck, and probably a couple of steps behind him in her distraction, Butch hurried over to him as quietly and carefully as she could. She would tap him on the shoulder and point at the newest arrival, who now stood behind a cluster of tall bushes.
Post by Nathan Walker on Oct 15, 2023 21:05:40 GMT -5
He saw the buck alright, but he couldn’t believe it until Butch had pointed to it.
So he wasn’t dreaming.
He knew albinism was something that could occur in male deer. But it was one of those things that you never expected to see face to face. For a moment he was frozen, mouth agape as his mind tried to process what he was seeing. That scar down the face caught his attention as well. This guy was a fighter, that was the only way he could have gotten an injury like that.
After he managed to get over the shock Nathan’s mind went racing though the steps needed to age the buck. He raised the rifle to his shoulder and looked through the scope, sizing him up. Judging by the size of the antlers, the weight distribution, legs, and glands, he was estimating this buck was at least five years old. Perfect and prime for a shot.
He reached down to his belt and went to extract a device from his belt almost out of reflex before he paused, realizing that at this range he probably could have fired blindfolded in the buck’s general direction and hit it. So his hands shifted, his left hand gripping the forend of the rifle while his right hand manipulated the bolt and opened up the action. His hand then shot down and gripped a single cartridge from his store of ammunition and he insert the cartridge into the breech, then pushed the bolt forward and turned it down. Once the weapon he shouldered the weapon and peered down the scope, cranking it to the lowest magnification so that he could see the whole target.
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Oct 15, 2023 21:22:27 GMT -5
"The questing beast," Butch whispered to Nathan, with such quiet words that one might have thought her lips moved without sound. "Or a sign from the next world. That's what the stories say."
The buck stood still - very, very still - as the pair beheld it. He turned his head in their direction, watching where they stood in the foliage. It took a step forward, hesitant, but it seemed more curious than afraid. Butch wondered why he hadn't turned tail and fled yet, and fought every urge to move in case she spooked it. Beside her, Nathan prepared his rifle after a moment of standing stunned, probably in as much shock as Butch was at their find.
Part of Butch felt bad about this part of the hunt. The deer was magnificent, and probably one out of a hundred of its kind. It showed little to no fear despite the humans that were standing so close to it. It was a symbol of the wilderness, a king of the forest and all it entailed. It was stoic, unearthly, and beautiful.
But this was Nathan's hunt, and his call on whether to take the shot. Whatever happened, Butch would ask to use what parts of the deer she could if Nathan didn't. The bones might have too many contaminants for broth, and the head and spinal cord could have prion diseases, but those pale hooves would look pretty as some kind of decoration. Butch would have to think more once the deer was actually on the ground and being processed.
Post by Nathan Walker on Oct 29, 2023 19:22:46 GMT -5
It was an easy shot.
There was no way that Nathan could miss at this range. Hell he was sure that one of the kids back at Omega couldn’t miss at this range.
And yet Nathan held his fire.
He slowly brought the rifle down from his shoulder, muzzle towards the ground as he regarded the animal in front of him. There was something...familiar about this one. Though if he was asked later what it was Nathan wouldn’t be able to say what it was. Instead Nathan reached up and decocked the rifle, then opened the bolt and extracted the unfired round from the chamber and placed it in his pocket with the rest of his ammunition.
“Go on! Get!” he yelled, suddenly raising his arms and yelling in an attempt to scare the deer off into the brush again.
Another hunter might get him today or another day. But Nathan wouldn’t kill him. Not today.
Last Edit: Dec 3, 2023 20:07:56 GMT -5 by Nathan Walker
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Nov 4, 2023 17:41:11 GMT -5
And just like that, the tension in the air melted away. Butch turned her head, surprised, as Nathan unloaded his gun and yelled at the deer to go away. She looked back at the magnificent creature, who stared passively at Butch and Nathan a moment more. In the distance, something spooked and darted away, cracking brush and snapping twigs as it went. That was probably the other animal Butch had seen a flash of - she wouldn't have been surprised if it was this buck's doe, or another deer of some sort.
The white stag turned his head away from Butch and Nathan. He sauntered off into the bush, flicking an ear as he went. His disappearance was slow, swallowed up by pine and scrub as he carefully picked his way through it. Butch watched him go, a small smile on her face. Nathan didn't have to do that, but she was glad he did. Animals like that were a once in a lifetime find.
Now, however, they needed to find something else to hunt. Butch glanced over at Nathan, wordlessly waiting for further direction. The forest around them was silent now, likely startled by the Sergeant's yell. Still, the woman kept an ear out, just in case something else was out there.
Post by Nathan Walker on Dec 3, 2023 20:14:10 GMT -5
Nathan just continued to stare off after the white stag as it disappeared into the treeline, then let out a sigh as it vanished from sight. He then turned to Butch, a bit of an apologetic expression on his face.
“Sorry...I just prefer something more sporting than that...”
It was partially true. If Nathan had been hunting solely for food he would have most likely taken that easy shot and called it a day. And if it had been a predator he most definitely would have taken that shot out of a sense of self-defense. But neither of those were on the cards today. Plus...there was something else that had caused him to hesitate. But for the life of him he couldn’t place what it was.
He slung the rifle over his shoulder with the leather sling, then pulled out a map and his compass, moving off to the side and spreading the map on the ground.
“We still got time in the day...” he began as he did some basic calculations to figure out roughly where they were, then pointed to a circled area on the map.
“I bet we could find something over here. It’s about five miles to the north if you’re up for a hike?”
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Dec 9, 2023 21:47:35 GMT -5
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't shoot," Butch admitted. "That stag was beautiful."
The cleaner approached Nathan when he stepped off to the side to read his map. She kept out of the way of the sun, watching him as he worked quickly to figure out a route. When a hike was mentioned, Butch smiled. "I'm always up for a hike," she said. "This park is just as gorgeous as that deer. It'd be good to see more of it."
She stood aside and let Nathan lead the way. Butch followed alongside him in relative silence, ever-watchful of the trees and whatever moved beyond their border. Tension grew in her shoulders again, but it was mitigated by the sounds of nature. Nothing was out of place - there was the sandstone-and-gypsum ground beneath them, and around them, the scrubby pines and oaks that managed to thrive in the harsh mountains. The sky above them was blue and cloudless, not a thing in the air to mar the firmament. Butch even heard a pinyon jay singing, which had her canting her head to listen and almost stopping to do so. She remembered herself, however, and continued to walk along.
Eventually, when the two were about three miles into the hike, Butch spoke up. "My father would've liked you," said she. "You would've been the kind of person he hung out with."
((Permission to move the scene along approved by Deak.))
Post by Nathan Walker on Jan 7, 2024 19:10:51 GMT -5
“I hope you don’t feel that way about all the deer in the park, because if the next one is old enough and far enough away I don’t think I’ll hold my fire.” Nathan chuckled as he began folding up his map and placed the compass back in its pouch.
“Looks like it’s about six miles that way.” he said pointing ahead of them before slinging the rifle over his shoulder with the sling, then motioning her to follow behind him. “Glad you feel that way, because at the rate we’re going that is all we’re going to be doing unless we happen to stumble across another deer trail. And even then, we have about a fifty percent chance of being able to shoot.”
Not that it wouldn’t be too bad. Nathan had moved on from the point in his life where he absolutely needed to bring home a deer every hunting trip. But it was still nice to have something to show for a hunt besides some sore muscles and stinky clothes.
Butch’s comment caused him to pause and look back at her before continuing on the trail, climbing up a small hill as he moved forward.
“I’m not surprised, judging by what you’ve told me about him.” he said, letting out a sigh. “He probably could have taught me a thing or two.”
Post by Cassandra Cassidy on Jan 24, 2024 22:10:17 GMT -5
"Or you could have taught him," Butch said, following up the hill in a couple of steps. She eyed the ground after it for snakes, stepping a bit delicately until she was sure there were no rattlers to be found. "He was open to learning from people of all ages and stripes. The conversations you two would've had could probably last h - "
Her fond words were interrupted by a quiet roar overhead. Butch stopped in place, frozen like a deer caught in the brush. Her blue-and-brown eyes went skyward, and she stared hard at the above like a predator was in the air. It might as well have been - two thin contrails followed the white form of a plane or jet, flying over them at top speed. It was miles above them, and probably was a regular plane, but Butch's mind didn't think that. The woman suddenly moved to the edge of the trail, taut and ready to sprint into the bush.
The jet passed by. Butch let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Her head tracked the last of its movement until it disappeared over the horizon. She blinked, looked back at Nathan, and realized what she had done. She cleared her throat a little, moving back to his side.