Note: in this chapter {words} is English, "words" is Japanese.
Chapter 13: Appearances
Three men stood by a road. All wore the faces of weary travelers, looking expectantly down their straight section of road. The front-most was a scrawny young man, of short stature and awkward stance. His pant legs were torn, he had a slight tilt to his stance, and leaned against a staff as if born down by the weight of his pack. His dirty blonde hair was kept in place by a hair tie, as his dirt marked face peered down the road with hope.
At the rear stood a tall and thin man with his pack off and on the ground. His black hair framed his face from the shortly cropped hair on top and the well-kept beard below. He occasionally offered a word to the man in front, often letting out a sharp laugh at the retort. Both these men seemed at peace with where they were, with relaxed postures and open smiles.
Between them stood a third man. Awkwardly tall, seemingly uncomfortable and without a pack. He looked between the men in front of him and behind him as if following their cues, rarely responding to words they spoke. Where the other men had amiable expressions on their faces and mostly looked down the road, this man had a nervous quality to his face, glancing in every direction. Occasionally looking into the forest behind them, across the road, or even into the sky.
They stood there for several minutes, putting their thumbs out to the road whenever they heard or saw a car pass.
{Man, nobody's stopping for us.} Vlad said.
Eli shrugged, {Eh, probably because he looks like he's going to murder someone.} He nodded towards Hazou. {Not too much we can do about it. Maybe if we put him behind me? Have him stand back a bit?} Eli pointed towards Hazou, then behind him. {Stand here.}
Hazou looked at Eli, figured that the pointing probably meant he should go there, so he went there. Eli took Hazou's spot in the middle.
{Should be better.} Eli said.
{I'll unleash my secret weapon.} Vlad offered. He reached up and pulled out his hair tie, hair falling sloppily over his face. {I'm gonna make the pose.} He shifted imperceptibly and leaned harder against his staff, putting a fair amount of his weight on it. He swept his hair out of his eyes and leaned with his thumb out.
{You know, it might be better if you hid the ax on your pack?} Eli critiqued.
{Nah man. Fits best on the outside.} Vlad shrugged. {Besides, it hasn't hurt our chances yet.}
Two minutes later, the first vehicle that saw them pulled over and stopped.
-o-
The contraption that had stopped for them had a small enclosed space with two seats in it, and a larger flat area with some equipment in the rear. Through unspoken agreement, Vlad had taken the seat in the car, and Eli and Hazou sat in the opening in the back.
Eli and Vlad's packs sat next to Eli and Hazou, along with some tools and equipment Hazou hadn't seen before that had been in the truckbed. Hazou was busy investigating the equipment. It had some sharp edges, but wasn't metal, and he wasn't sure what it's purpose was. He looked at Eli who was doing things with the phone. He tried saying something, but his voice was lost in the howling wind produced by the contraption and the speed they were traveling at. Eli handed Hazou the phone.
"Driver taking us halfway. Will need to get second ride to Bangor." The phone read.
Hazou hit the button he was supposed to hit to talk and responded, "Is there a problem?"
The phone didn't change after he spoke. He looked up at Eli. Eli held out his hand, and Hazou placed the phone in it. When Eli handed it back it read, "You'll have to talk louder or type. It can't make out your voice over the wind."
Hazou again hit the button and shouted, "Is there a problem!?" After confirming that there were words on the screen, he handed it back to Eli.
Eli didn't speak, but touched the phone with his fingers repeatedly, then reached over to hand the phone back to Hazou. While reaching over, the truck hit a particularly large bump, jolting Hazou and knocking the phone out of Eli's lap. Between the shock of the bump and the phone's impact, Hazou's henge failed. The tall, white hikers's visage was replaced by Hazou's 13 year old Mist body, complete with forest camouflage and kunai sharp jaw, and killing expression. Eli's eyes widened and he let out a shout.
-o-
Your plans have been interrupted due to the shocking force of the truck's movement. You're henge failed and, as per your safety measures, you didn't tell Eli or Vlad about it previously. Currently, you know Eli has noticed, but don't think either Vlad or the driver have. What do you do?
[] Write-in
Additionally, if you wish to change your itinerary for when you get to Bangor (assuming you go there), you should include that in your vote. The current plan (as communicated by Eli and Vlad to Hazou) is:
- Arrive (via a second hitchhike)
- Secure temporary housing
- Secure additional food
- Begin the process for getting a phone
- Other purchases for Hazou (currently just a dictionary)
- Solidify plans for storage seal money making (input from Hazou will greatly help here)
- Spend time at a place with computer access to look for Hazou's remaining teammates (exact mechanics on this they have been unspecific on)
AN: I considered just going past this with what I would do in Hazou's situation, then realized you guys might want to respond to this incident differently than I would, so stopped it.
Voting will be open until Wednesday, February 8 at 10 AM PST.
Note: I'm going backpacking in the desert starting Monday (where neither internet nor cell coverage exist), so will be unable to respond to question or things from then until voting closes.
