[network video] @JPHawkins; DAY 17, 1pm [open]

[rattlingthestars]

[ When the video cuts on, Jim isn't looking at the camera. His head is twisted around to stare somewhere over his shoulder as his chest heaves with exertion (or maybe fear.) There's a bruise blossoming on his cheek where he'd fallen trying to escape and a dried trail of blood from his nose to his chin that he's forgotten about.

The microphone picks up the noise of the monsters outside in the snow over the rattle of Jim's breath. When there's a break in the sound Jim seems to remember what he'd been doing and turns back to the tablet. ]

Please tell me someone else is seeing these things. They're some kind of - of - of shadow things.

[ Jim has seen weird. He's seen creepy, thanks to Captain Flint. But he's never seen anything like those. Still, something about them had seemed almost too familiar. It's that which makes him wonder if it's all in his own head. ]

If you are? Don't fight them. Just run.

Comments

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim would kill for that little pistol he had during the mutiny, he really would. A pointy stick would be better than defenselessness.

Meanwhile, he's planted himself firmly behind his barricade and isn't looking out any windows. If they can't see him, maybe they'll go away. ]

Maybe they're trying to starve us out. Or herd us somewhere.

[villainously]

( Hook isn't sure that he buys that. )

They were trying to get in. If they wanted to herd us somewhere, they'd need to be willing to let us out. They wouldn't stay so close, they'd keep out of sight. Make us think the coast is clear.

( starvation, well. that one is very possible, isn't it. )

[rattlingthestars]

[ Well, maybe was a stupid theory anyway, Jim thinks. He's still grasping a straws to make sense of anything that's happening to them. ]

Then what do they want?

[villainously]

I don't know. Up until I saw you bleeding, I wasn't even sure they were entirely real.

( because that happens here, so why not assume these things weren't any more real than anything else? )

[rattlingthestars]

I thought maybe they were holograms, but they're mostly solid.

[ Ghosts? They might be ghosts, but Jim's not going to be the first one to venture that theory. Ghosts aren't real. ]

[villainously]

( rude. hook would believe in ghosts over holograms. )

I'd rather not get any closer to them than I need to, to figure their intentions. It's a lacking hope to just wish they'd go away, though, we need a better solution than that.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Space pirates are boring that way. ]

That or we're back to the starving thing.

[villainously]

( OPEN UR HORIZONS SPACE PIRATE the earth pirate says so )

If there were any sort of weapon around here, we might stand a chance. The only one I had I broke trying to get through a sealed door.

[rattlingthestars]

[ can you show him the world? shining, shimmering splendor? ]

I've got a piece of glass. And a washcloth.

[ Plus some soap and, after rummaging around in the living room, a cup that looks like it's for a baby and a book with some kind of weird space ship on the cover. Very helpful. ]

[villainously]

( the most he's got right now are a pen and notebook, so he's not really much better off. )

I had a wooden club for a bit, but it's gone now. And I found a metal one but it was too thin, it'd break in this cold.

( he should have brought it along, he was just so out of sorts he couldn't really carry it. )

[rattlingthestars]

What happened? How'd you lose them?

[ Jim's frustrated on Hook's behalf. Having such a decent weapon in your grasp, only to loose it just when it starts to seem really important? Argh. ]

[villainously]

I broke the wooden one trying to get through a sealed door.

( nobody can say the pirate didn't try to get through, if he had enough tenacity to break a wooden bat trying. )

The metal one I left behind, I should have taken it. I thought the wooden one would serve me better. It's likely still there, but I'd need to make a map to properly mark where I found it. Suffice to say if you find something you may use and can carry it, don't leave it behind. ( live and learn, right? )

[rattlingthestars]

There are a couple of people making maps.

[ Jim's voice is deceptively light as he tries to get his courage up to investigate the window again. He's already got his newly found goodies squirreled away in his duffle, and there's nothing here to do but try and figure out the monsters. He leaves the tablet in his spot on the floor, facing up to the ceiling. ]