Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

[puppy_fair]

"Yep," Zack said, as the members of the reserves gathered, "I'm still getting you guys to think about what happened a few weeks ago with the gremlins, this week."

Wasn't Zack mean? He'd brought extra cookies to make up for it, this week.

"There were some troubles with communication when the gremlins hit, and we're working with the other reserve groups in order to iron those out so that hopefully getting the word out about invasions won't be so much trouble in the future. So, while we work on that, there's something else that we ought to take into consideration in the meantime."

He shot the group a grin, and then reached for his back, where his sword usually rested. He wasn't wearing it, today, and his hand groped around his shoulders for a moment before, with a shrug, he returned it to his sides.

"What do you do when you're caught off-guard by an enemy attack? I got lucky when the gremlins hit, because I was on my morning run, and had brought my sword with me for the extra weight while training. But if I didn't have my sword, what would that have left me with? Usually, I at least have some potions on me, but nothing that I can really call a weapon. I keep most of my attack materia- yes, I do cast spells when I fight, too- in my sword, so without that, all I have to rely on is my wits, my body, and my surroundings."

Don't mind him reaching for a cookie. It was something to toy with in his hands while he talked.

"Today, our activity is easy, but that doesn't make it unimportant at all. I want you all to talk about what it is that you usually carry with you that you can put to use in an unexpected fight, if you happen to get caught in one before we can get the word out to you. Weapons aren't allowed in the dorms, and so it might come to be habit to just wander around the island without all of the time. How many of you stop on your way outside to arm yourselves? How many of you can just grab something from your surroundings to use as a weapon? If you have some kind of physical ability that puts you at an advantage, that's awesome. If the best you have is some means of getting out of harm's way until you're ready for a fight, that's good too. But I don't want anybody to leave here today without at least trying to come up with something."

Zack, for example, had enough potions to keep himself from dying a horrible death if he was forced to retreat. Or, if worse came to worse, he could always just grab a beach umbrella and use that instead of a sword.

[OCD on the way up! Open Reserves is open!]

Roof, Late Tuesday Evening

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Two very simple and important facts: Rose was back in Fandom, and Rose had had a rough trip. The really bad kind of rough trip, it sounded like, from what she'd said on the phone.

Elena didn't know the specifics yet. She didn't need to. Not until Rose wanted to tell her.

In the meantime, there was a roof, and there was alcohol, and there could be talking, or silence, or staring at things. Whatever worked.

"I brought rum," Elena said helpfully.

(the guardian modded with permission. open roof is open.)