trans_9 | Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

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Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as the party drew closer. Spider webbing out across the top of the canyon were signs that a civilization had once flourished here. Traces of broken pillars and half submerged buildings, as well as what looked like a downed ship that had embedded itself in a massive building. There was no movement visible amongst the ruins now. As the dry wind blew through the stonework, it would became clear that they were walking into a mass graveyard.

Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.

For some people, this was going to be a field day.

According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.

[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]

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Cassie nodded, a little disappointed, but she knew that it had been a lot to expect, so she said nothing. "I'll ask them then the next time I see them then. It can't hurt."

It was sweet of Jamie to be concerned for her, but he needn't have worried. If worse came to worse, Cassie was perfectly capable of protecting herself, although she preferred to avoid confrontation if she could. "I wanted to look around for a few more minutes to see if I could find anything that might tell me more. After all, it would be better to go back with more then a vague idea of an animal that squawks," she responded slowly. Then she hesitated though as she watched her companion. She didn't want to worry him and she could tell he was concerned about leaving her alone from his tone. "If you'd really like then I can walk back with you, but you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

Jamie knows on some level that most of the female part of the crew is capable of taking care of themselves, some of them quite well. But he comes from a time when women weren't doing such things, and he tends to be protective when it comes to their well-being. At the same time, though, he's also starting to know when it's better to compromise. Or at least try to compromise.

"Well," he says, after a moment's thought. "I should take a look around anyway, so I can go with ye. Two eyes'll be better than one, I'd say."

Cassie smiled at Jamie and nodded, happy enough to have his company if he wished to offer it, although she felt bad keeping him when he wished to return to the camp. She wondered for a moment if she should tell him about her morphing ability, if only to make him feel more comfortable about her safety, but years of secrecy stopped her. She'd just finish up quickly, so that she didn't keep the kind man occupied for long. "The more the merrier," she told him with a grin. "Why don't we just explore for another few minutes? If we find nothing of interest, we'll return to camp." If Jamie felt he had to stay with her, then she wouldn't keep him for long if possible.

(OOC: I am so very sorry about how long this response took. If you'd prefer not to continue this thread then I understand. Thank you and I'm sorry.)

In this case, he's not completely unfamiliar with the idea of morphing - and not just in terms of what he can do as one of the ship's Rangers. But even though he considers Rachel to be a friend, and Marco to be...well, Marco, knowing that she can do so as well likely wouldn't have made too much difference. Truth be told, it's good to get away from the bustle of camp and just stretch his legs. He would have wanted to go along anyway.

"Aye, that sounds like a good idea," he agrees. He takes a moment to scan the area, searching for the most likely location a bird - or bird-like beastie - could possibly be hiding. Not too far away is a small outcropping of rocks that looks like it has potential, and he points at it. "Let's try this way, then."

As he starts to head off in that direction, he glances back at her thoughtfully. While they're looking for signs of the bird-beastie, he's not entirely sure they'll be able to find any. So he figures maybe going on with the conversation might not be a bad thing. She seems nice enough, and he's curious about a few things. "If ye don't mind my asking, do ye have much experience as an archeologist?"

(OOC: No worries. I'll be happy to go on with the thread!)

"Sounds good," Cassie agreed, quickening her step to keep pace with Jamie. As she walked, she surveyed the area as well, looking for signs of movement and listening for any noises that might lead to further clues, but she spotted nothing suspicious. She could only hope that this absence meant that the animals in questions had managed to find shelter somewhere.

Cassie shook her head, a frown flickering across her face. "No actually. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this." And, although she was learning, she still felt very out of place. Not that this was a new feeling to her, but she couldn't help the worry that persisted no matter how many time she tried to banish it that she was more a nuisance then a help. "My knowledge base is actually more focused around animals, but even that's pretty limited. And... almost useless here," she added with a sigh as her eyes scanned the area. "What about you? Do you do things like this often?"

(OOC: Thank you. :) )

Jamie shakes his head. "Och, no. I've been to a quite a few different places in my day but not anything where ye would be trying to preserve artifacts." That is, except Telos - which wasn't exactly the same thing, if you ask him.

"Well, unless ye count the one place I was at with the Doctor. Ee weren't with the group that were looking to gather information, though. We...er, ran across them there, ye could say."

So far it appears to be quite quiet, which is good. There are some tracks here as well, but they're just as old as the others. Still, it couldn't hurt to take a look, in case it's weather that's eroded them rather than inactivity. He leads them towards that outcropping, keeping his eyes on the rocks, then shakes his head.

"Even then, there wasn't anything we needed to use those wee tools and brushes on. Give me a corridor to go down instead, or something where I'll be able to use my wits. I'd say I'll be more of use than trying to figure out how ye actually tell if that rock is a rock or if it's some rare tablet, aye?"

Cassie nodded. "Well, at least we can help each other at least," she smiled. "I imagine that we'll learn a lot while here."

Then she raised an eyebrow as she questioned further, her voice reflecting some confusion. "You ran across them? May I ask what your duty was there?" Given the evasiveness of Jamie's original response, she didn't necessarily expect an answer, but she still felt that she'd be remiss if she didn't at least ask. If he turned her down, then she'd drop the issue.

She nodded agreeably as she followed, also watching the area around them carefully, keeping a particular watch for signs of movement. That was usually a telltale sign of life. "I can understand that," she mused sympathetically. "I'm still struggling with it too and I imagine that it'll be a while yet before it feels comfortable. Is there anything in particular that you're having trouble with? I probably won't be able to help directly, although I'll certainly try to help to the best of my ability, but there are plenty of others on site who seem to have a much better idea of what needs to be done. We can ask them if needed."

Cassie froze as she heard a noise, a rustling this time from a nearby bush. Turning to look at it, she held her breath and waited another moment before mumbling an "I'll be right back" to Jamie and then stepping as quietly as she could towards the source of the sound. There was no movement and, now, no sound either. She paused briefly in front of the bush and waited another moment to see if anything moved. Still there was nothing. Very cautiously she pushed the top of the bush out of the way. A frown crossed her face as she saw nothing there. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd really heard what she'd thought that she heard. It wasn't like her ears to play tricks on her, but it was certainly possible.

She bent to inspect for prints and found a few, most of which looked old, but a couple which were questionably newer, although it wasn't enough to prove anything.

There's some things that happened on Telos that would sound daft to most people, although maybe not as much to those from the ship. However, he figures it wouldn't hurt any to explain at least a little bit about how they were there.

"Aye, well, there wasn't any real duty to speak of. The Doctor, Victoria and I were traveling together, and we wound up in the same place as the expedition, that's all. We did agree to lend them a hand, but it wasn't something we had been planning on doing."

It never was, really, he thinks, but he doesn't get a chance to dwell on that thought for long. When Cassie freezes, all thoughts of his past travels slip away, lost to the present moment. He doesn't care for the idea of her being the one to search the bush, but he's not fast enough to stop her. With a small frown on his face, he stays back and watches instead. If there is something there, two of them trying to sneak up on it could very well scare whatever it is away. That doesn't mean that he won't be prepared to rush in if need be, and one hand drops to his waist, where he usually keeps his dirk sheathed.

Fortunately, it turns out that it's an unnecessary gesture, and after it's clear there's nothing there he walks up to join her, bending down to try and peer at the roots of the bush to see if he can see anything. He can't, but he's beginning to wonder if there is something there after all. It's not as though it could have been the wind, however - the air here is as unmoving as some of the rocks. So what could it be?

"Whatever it is, it's a very canny beastie. Maybe it's an invisible one, too."

"Sounds like an interesting experience," she'd responded at the time, smiling. "At least you got some extra experience that way."

All thoughts of other topics had flown from Cassie's mind though upon hearing the rustling and she now thoroughly searched the area. Animal tracking could often come down to being a matter of patience and persistence as much as anything else, but still it was disappointing to find so little. Whatever the animal was, assuming that there had been one, hadn't even broken any of the branches within the bush. That didn't necessarily mean anything, but it would be a surprise if an animal had been able to hide here without disrupting the branches within the plant.

"Very canny," she agreed, shooting a smile back at Jamie. "Either that or I'm losing my mind. Did you hear a rustling from the bush or was that just me?" Although, to be fair, after some of the stuff that she'd seen and experienced, it wouldn't be as though such a particularly elusive animal would be the oddest thing around. Who knew what kind of creatures roamed this planet?

"If you're losing your mind then so am I," Jamie replies, rather dryly. "No, I heard something, I'm sure of it."

Rocking back on his heels, he frowns at the small shrub, trying to figure out what to do now. If it is invisible, they'll have an awful time trying to get it to show itself, unless it's some sort of chameleon. Unless there's some way to get trick it, maybe?

"I wonder..." he says, then pops open his sporran and starts to rummage through it, finally pulling out a small trowel - which shouldn't quite fit inside the thing, but manages to have done so anyway. He starts using it to scrape at the the packed earth next to him to try and loosen it up somewhat, glancing up at Cassie. "If it is invisible, some of this dirt might help us to see it better, aye?"

That was a relief at least. Not losing her mind was always a plus. Her smile widened and her face brightened. "Well, at least I don't feel so alone now. Thank you, Jamie."

Still, now her mind turned to the real issue. If the noise had been real then that meant something had caused it. Had it indeed been an animal that had caused it?

There was some confusion in her eyes when Jamie suggested using the dirt to help them see the elusive and possibly invisible creature. "What do you mean? How would the dirt help?" Dirt had many uses, but it didn't usually make the invisible visible as far as she knew. At least not if you stuck to more conventional uses... Was Jamie thinking of something less conventional?

"Well, maybe not see it," he amends. "But if it's fine enough, it might pick up tracks better than the packed stuff that's around here."

Normally he'd just set a trap and wait to see if it was sprung, but given Cassie's reactions earlier, he's quite sure that would upset her, even if he made it as non-lethal as possible. Although, it might be worth it to try and throw some on the area where yon beastie might be once they can figure out where it is - but they'd have to get that far first.

"If we scatter it around the edges and wait a bit, it might get bold enough to walk out from under the bush. Even if we're still not able to see it then, we might be able to get an idea where it's headed, and decide what to do from there."

Cassie nodded eagerly. It sounded like a good idea to her and she was more then willing to give it a try. The worst that could happen is that they wouldn't find anything, so it wasn't as though there was anything to be lost by trying and there was something to potentially be gained.

It was indeed a wise decision not to mention trapping anywhere near Cassie as she would definitely not have responded well to such a suggestion. It would be sad to ruin such a nice developing friendship. After all, even if the trap in question was non-lethal, it could still hurt the animal or frighten it badly. She'd much prefer to not ever see this creature then to put it through anything like that.

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise at seeing Jamie pull the trowel out, but she quickly brushed it away. Given that they were currently discussing how to find what might be an invisible animal, the fact that he had a trowel with him without her noticing should probably not be a major point of concern. She quickly bent down and began gathering the dirt that Jamie had managed to loosen with his trowel, taking as much as she could with her to spread it as her new friend had suggested. There was a bit of regret in the back of her mind now that she hadn't thought to bring her own tools with her, but they'd accomplish more by working as a team anyway.

"If you'd like me to take a turn digging, then please let me know so that we can switch," she offered with a friendly grin.

Unfortunately, Jamie is oblivious to Cassie's surprise when the trowel is pulled out - although maybe it's for the best. Having him try and explain the Doctor's bigger-on-the-inside-than-on-the-outside gift could get a bit tricky, especially if he tries to do any explanation more complicated than, well, bigger on the inside.

"Och, it's nothing I can't handle," he replies, without a second thought. He's a bit stubborn when it comes to things like that sometimes. And even though after a few minutes of digging his hands start to get sore, he doggedly keeps at it until he's satisfied there's enough dirt to go around. Once he's through the packed stuff at the top, it does seem to go a little easier, at least.

"How are ye coming along with getting it spread out? I should be able to come help ye with that if ye like."

Cassie nodded, not wanting to argue with him. She hoped that if Jamie needed some relief from the digging, then he'd ask, but she could hardly force it on him. "Okay," she agreed willingly, although there was still a bit of hesitation in her voice. "But just let me know if you want to switch." After pausing for a moment, she then added, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but thank you for the help. I'm grateful." She remembered well that he hadn't initially wanted to come out this way and had come because of her, so she felt bad that he seemed to be the one shouldering the most work here.

She continued to spread the dirt, but turned when she heard Jamie's offer. "If you'd like, then I'd welcome the help. It's going well, but there's a lot of ground to cover."

"Hey, now. There's no need to do that," Jamie says, giving her a small smile. As reluctant as he was to go in the first place, now that they're here he's willing to go along with the hunt for the beastie. "Besides, if there is something out here, best we find it now before it comes into camp."

He sets the trowel aside for the moment, in case it's needed again, and scoops up as much of the dirt as he can carry. He moves over to the next section and begins to scatter it around. After a bit, he brushes his hands together to remove the last small bits of the dirt and looks at his handiwork in satisfaction.

"I think that'll do. Come on, let's find a place to hide and see if our beastie won't come out for a visit."

Cassie smiled, appreciating Jamie's response. "Thank you. And you're right. Better to deal with this now."

After taking one last glance over the area, she nodded. "We could hide over here," she suggested, leading the way over to an area where the ground dipped down steeply, although the drop itself was pretty shallow. She'd noticed it earlier, but hadn't thought much about it until now. It wasn't that deep, but if they kept their heads down then it was deep enough to keep them hidden. "Unless you've noticed a better hiding spot at least."

"Aye, that'll do." It's almost perfect, actually, as long as they stayed still. It's been awhile since he's had to do that, but he's confident it'll be no problem to do it again. The beastie should show itself in short order...even if it's just its footprints.

He waits to make sure Cassie is settled first, just to make sure there's no problems with the ground shifting unexpectedly. Once that's done, he joins her, lifting his head enough so he can see over the top of the depression without making it obvious he's looking.

"All right," he says to her, pitching his voice so it's barely above a whisper. "All we have to do now is wait."

And wait they did. Cassie too watched carefully, keeping perfectly still so as not to startle any coming animals, but she saw nothing. On top of that, she also heard nothing now.

Still, she waited quietly, letting the time pass without comment. As it dragged on though, she bit her lip and shot Jamie a look. If there had been an animal there originally, it wasn't hard to believe that they might have scared it off nor was it that hard to believe that it was possible that there had never been an animal following them.

Sighing, she finally spoke again, although in a voice barely above a whisper. "How long do you think we should wait?" She'd have been fine watching for longer, but it wasn't fair to hold Jamie here, waiting on an animal that might never come or even exist.

As the time ticks by, Jamie tries to wait as patiently as he can. But the longer they do so, the more it's becoming apparent that the beastie isn't about to make an appearance - that is, if it had even existed in the first place.

When Cassie whispers, he glances over at her. To him, it doesn't seem fair to keep her here when it was likely only going to result in them getting stiff muscles - or worse, if they stay too long and night falls.

"Aye, well, I'd say if it's not shown itself by now, it's not likely going to. At least, not anytime soon. We should head back. It's likely to get cold quickly once it gets dark, and there's not that much daylight left."

Cassie nodded slowly, agreeing with Jamie's reasoning. It was disappointing, but that was hardly a first for her and there was no point in keeping Jamie here unless she had some reason to believe that something would happen soon, which she didn't. Besides, the others at camp might be starting to worry about them. It was time to head back.

"Yes, you're right. Let's go then." Cassie stood up and dusted herself off before starting back in the direction from which they had come. With a smile, she added, "Thank you for coming with me, Jamie. I enjoyed your company."

Jamie does trail behind for a moment, but it's only to retrieve the trowel. No sense in leaving it behind when it could still come in useful for the rest of the dig. He catches up quickly enough after that, soon falling into step with Cassie.

"There's no need to thank me for that, although I'm glad I got the chance to talk with ye," he says, with a smile of his own. Seems he's enjoyed her company as well. "Sorry we weren't able to turn up your beastie, though."

Soon enough, they're back at the outskirts of the camp, and Jamie glances around for sign f a familiar, too-skinny figure in a bow-tie...but doesn't see him. "Look, I should go find the Doctor before he decides I've wandered off somewhere. Will ye be alright from here?"

"I'm happy that I had the opportunity to get to speak with you too, Jamie. I hope that I'll have the chance to see much more of you even after this mission ends." It was wonderful that she'd had the chance to have met someone as kind as Jamie. You couldn't have too many friends as far as she was concerned.

"Oh, don't worry about it at all," Cassie smiled. "It's probably better this way anyway. It was nice to be able to stretch my legs."

She nodded in response to Jamie's question when they reach the camp. "I'll be fine. It's not too much farther to where I was set up anyway. Thank you and good luck with everything."

"Well," he comments dryly, "It's not as though we'll not be around in the same places up there from time to time...but I'd not mind that at all."

It's said with a lopsided smile. They're to be friends, after all, in Jamie's mind, and it seems Cassie may be thinking along the same lines. So that's perfectly fine by him. Satisfied that she'll be able to get back to where she's set up on her own, he nods as well.

"Aye, all right, then. And thank ye. Don't worry, though, I should be able to find him easily enough." With a grin, he turns away, heading deeper into the camp. After a few minutes, she may be able to hear a faint "Doctor! Doctor, where are ye?" drifting back in her general direction. Soon enough, though, even that fades away, leaving just the regular noises of the camp to be heard.

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Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

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