Encounterlogs
Angeliques Odd Encounter Sr Deacon
In Conguillio National Park, Chile, a group gathers at the behest of a mutual acquaintance to hunt a mythical creature, a Chupacabra. Among them are Yasmin and Angelique, both there for training purposes, and Autumn, tapped for her knowledge of the creature's origins. The team, including Yasmin strategically armed with a bow and arrows, is met by a small, local tribesman serving as their guide. Tomas arrives, equipped with a bow and a new sword, adding a skeptical but committed presence. Their guide leads them into the forest, with the group preparing for the encounter and Angelique seeming out of place but determined.
As they move deeper into the Conguillio National Park, Tomas notices a peculiar scent near a river delta, and their cautious guide signals to prepare for the hunt. Autumn, intrigued by the wilderness, announces her otherworldly origins from Hell, adding mystique to the group’s dynamic. After steady tracking, they finally spot the Chupacabra—a creature with a blend of reptilian and mammalian features—perched in a tree. The creature slips away as the team debates their strategy, with Tomas suggesting surrounding it and Angelique insisting on keeping it alive for a ritualistic extraction of its heart. Their guide remains by the river, leaving them to their pursuit. The story concludes with the Chupacabra evading capture for the moment, but the determined hunters ready to continue their chase.
(Yasmin's odd encounter(SRDeacon):SRDeacon)
[Sun Dec 10 2023]
In The Andes: Conguillio National Park
In the south of Chile, this park lies deep within the heart of the Andes mountains, and is one of the country's most popular parks, home to the Sierra Nevada and the Llaima Volcanoes. The expanse of the park is filled with lush vegetation, including rare and unique Araucarias trees that can be found nowhere else. Cutting through the green expanse of forest is a broad river delta, and the snow-capped peaks of the volcanoes off on the horizon.
It is noon, about 26F(-3C) degrees,
The three people that have arrived this fine morning have been brought here at the behest of a man they all know. Deep into the Andes mountains in the south of Chile, they find themselves in one of the most beautiful places on Earth in search of a mythical creature no doubt as scared of them as they may be of it. Angelique and Yasmin both have similar connotations for their arrivals here: Training with supervision. In effort to throw them in the deep end of the pool the Cajun man has sent them here with support to make a hunt of this beast. Autumn on the other hand was tapped for some basic knowledge of this creature and its origins - all three of them are met at the Path by a small, darkly-brown man. He can't be more than 4'11'' inches tall, dressed more like a local tribesman than a local resident of any city.
Yasmin isn't quite dressed for hunting down Chupacabras, however anyone dresses for such a thing. She /is/ dressed for warmth though, and she's got her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. She's been keeping a casual eye on the surroundings while they wait to gather and get started, and Angelique's arrival makes her smile brightly at the other woman in greeting. Autumn gets a more restrained nod of the head, and a casual introduction of, "Good morning. I'm Yasmin." And then there's the fourth person joining them, the tribesman; Yasmin certainly doesn't meet many people her height. She tries not to look too excited about it.
Recap: These people have gathered for their various reasons here to help with the hunt of this creature and this fantastic four is joined by ... one more!
Having arrived at the Andes with some help, Autumn greets Yasmin, Angelique, and the man with a nod of her head. "Greetings," she says, walking to join them before she turns towards Yasmin. "And also morning. I am Autumn Lynx." She then looks into her backpack to make sure her weapons are inside.
Could this Mediterranean, beach- and city-loving woman be any further out of her comfort zone than this? If Angelique's attire is any way to judge, then no, no she could not. Having at least managed to acquire winter gear after arriving, she's dressed in the most eclectic mess of chic couture and borrowed essentials. The chill is certainly not playing well with her mood, either, and her polished, practiced social grace is distinctly absent as she scowls. Since she's holding gloved hands over her face for warmth, the scowl might actually go missed, however, but the muttered, "Esto es el infierno," is not so well concealed. Perhaps, however, her companions don't speak enough Spanish to know what she's saying. Their guide, however?
Yasmin's smile and choice of introductions over complaints does, eventually, pull the sulky Inigo woman out of her funk enough to greet, "Hola, bella," to the woman, and then to Autumn she adds, "Hello. Yo-- I am Angelique." Being cold (or pouty) clearly inhibits language skills.
"God-damned fuckin' mountains," Tomas grumbles as he trudges belatedly into view, loose stone shifting and scattering under each of his booted footfalls. He's certainly strapped up for the hunt - and the sword he'd lost on his last favour to Deacon's been replaced with a curvier, sexier sword, strapped fashionably on his belt. At least it'd pass for a wanky bush machete, if pressed. The bow over his back is less ambiguous - but that's okay. "So," he grunts, flashing everyone a nod of their own. "Blood-suckin', goat-eating werewolfy kind of thing, right? At least, that's what a Google search told me." There's a pause, and then a question, spoken aloud: "Anyone actually seen a Chupacabra before?"
The addition of another has one more person arriving on the scene as Tomas makes his way up to the group! Now that everyone he expects is here, the small mountain guide of a height with Yasmin gives first her a bow of his head in silence. He may understand English but he doesn't speak it. He gives a similar bow to the others in turn, dropping his head toward Autumn and Tomas, Angelique last, and perhaps that pouty scowl has something to do with his hesitant choice to leave her for the end. At mention of the creature, this small man chitters in some indigenous language that's not immediately recognizeable but he sounds excited. This may be clue enough as to his presence now. A guide to lead those through the forests here in Chile - one how if you're gonna judge a book by it's cover probably knows these forests well.
"I have heard about chupacabras," Autumn tells Tomas with a lift of one hand. "Demonic creatures that once escaped from Hell to devour goats." She then looks at Angelique and Yasmin and belately replies with, "Good to meet you."
"No," Angelique informs Tomas firmly. "Es de Mexico." And judging from her dismissive tone, anything from Mexico is definitely not worth bothering with. Who cares that they're not -in- Mexico right now? But then she spreads her hands and mutters, "Deac says I need to learn fighting so I am here to find this myth and make it extinct with all of you." Briefly, a smile crosses her face, and she tacks on, "Hola, hermano." But then her hands are back over her face, trapping her breath in an effort to keep her nose from getting any redder with cold than it already is. Then: "Are you not both too tired from dancing all night to hunt stories in the snow?"
Angelique nods briefly over to Autumn as well, at her much more complimentary words. "Si. A pleasure," she offers sweetly to one who, as of yet, has only seen the mildest edge of this woman's tongue.
Going by Yasmin's pregnant pause after Tomas's asked his question, no. She's certainly not seen a Chupacabra before, and by the looks of it, that's about as much information she'd been able to pull out from her own Google search. The answer goes unsaid in favor of listening to someone who might actually know what they're talking about, her attention turned towards Autumn.
Angelique's question has Yasmin shooting her a quick Look though, wide-eyed and carrying a tinge of embarrassment. "I am not too tired to help a friend," she claims quickly, not glancing Tomas's way, her attention all on their guide now.
A glance around until Autumn looks at herself and finds that she's still standing. "Huh, didn't get pulled yet again," she murmurs while her earpiece buzzes. "But this is more important now." She then lifts her hand to turn off her earpiece for now before she looks back to the rest of the group, her gaze on the guide.
"No descartara a Mxico tan rpido... A menos que quieras que te pegue un cholo, hermana," Tomas mumbles in reply, his Castellano much less brushed-up than Angelique's. There's a nod thrown Autumn's way, as well: "No point dancin' around with Sammy's little clique. No gain to be had, really. Not when there are more pressin' issues on the line." He eyes the mountain guide a little - a diminutive man, even for a Chilean, but one must make do with what one gets. "My sister and I speak Spanish," he offers - European Spanish, but still. "If that'll help you at all, I mean."
"No descartara a Mexico tan rapido... A menos que quieras que te pegue un cholo, hermana," Tomas mumbles in reply, his Castellano much less brushed-up than Angelique's. There's a nod thrown Autumn's way, as well: "No point dancin' around with Sammy's little clique. No gain to be had, really. Not when there are more pressin' issues on the line." He eyes the mountain guide a little - a diminutive man, even for a Chilean, but one must make do with what one gets. "My sister and I speak Spanish," he offers - European Spanish, but still. "If that'll help you at all, I mean." (fix, whoops)
With the group gathering around and introducing themselves for the time being silence doesn't seem to be important to their guide at least for the moment - he's not trying to shush them or wave them down. He does begin to lead them down into the trees and forests of the national park here now. UP and into the mountains, this landscape is still quite lush with green trees stretching out as far as the eye can see and a broad river delta in the distance that provides a clear and clean scent to the fresh air out here. Far form the cities and sins of Man .. at least moments of peace. To the small man the words seem understood from Tomas, a smile revealing brown-stained teeth from chewing the local coca. Himself he remains without words to use or chooses not to? They follow footpaths and trails for now, not yet ready for the more cautious stalking that's soon to come. The further they travel into the park, the more the rest of the world leaves them behind.
Following the group, Autumn looks around the scenery with slight awe. "I have never been here before," she comments, clutching her backpack as she walks. "Earth must have lot of places I never knew."
Maybe Yasmin's not too experienced with the wilderness, but she's certainly not as much of a city girl as Angelique either, and while they trail along the path, she sticks close to the elder Inigo, keeping a bit of a careful eye on the woman in an attempt to seem companionable even if she doesn't try to strike up conversation with her or with anyone else - though Autumn's words do earn her a bit of an odd look with that usage of 'Earth'. The bits of Spanish go over her head - definitely not her forte.
Angelique gives Tomas a look that says 'try me' without actually saying 'try me,' because maybe she has a little bit of self-preservation in there somewhere. A punch is not likely to unteach years of societal discrimination, however, but she does bite her tongue on any further insults to the country neither of them were born in or standing in currently, and instead focus on walking. Because walking through forests and up mountains is not her favorite form of walking. At least today, the socialite isn't wearing heels, even if her boots do sport a Gucci tag.
"People can spend years and years exploring this planet and not see all of it," she offers, distractedly and a bit out of breath, when Autumn speaks up about the sights. "No place is quite like any other." With Yasmin beside her, there's the occasional slant of eyes in her direction, but eventually she adds on to her commentary to Autumn by asking the petite girl, "Where are you from? I imagine it is beautiful too."
"It's a big damn planet," Tomas supplies, reaching up to fiddle with his jaw as he approaches Yasmin from behind, dropping that same hand down onto her shoulder. "Yasmin here is the quickest young woman you ever met, if it comes to a chase. And I taught her how to fight myself, so you can depend on her with a knife." He seems to take a good deal of pride in the short woman's abilities, though he seems mostly to be talking to Autumn, here - everyone else is rather familiar with each other. It's not as if he's unfamiliar with trudging through greenery, either - even if this is more sunny and lush than the misty, eerie confines of Haven's forests. Then, skipping ahead a little to catch up with the guide, he leans down a bit and asks quietly, "Are the animals here protected? Or can you hunt for food here? Chupacabras aside."
Further and further into the forests they go, and the group makes decent headway down mostly clean pathways and trails. Down they go, until eventually after many minutes of walking, the scout that travels with the group leads them out of the treeline and toward the shores of the broad delta that sees the river winding through this part of the park diverge into two paths. Easily a quarter-mile across, the water is expansive but beautiful and it fills the air with a quiet background of rushing water. It's been a decent trek all the same however and the small brown man gives Tomas a fair nod of the head, gesturing around them wide. Now he does offer a finger to the press of his lips though before trotting with bare feet to kneel and crouch by the water to scoop up liquid to drink. The sight of a man's business behind what can only be described as a 'butt-flap' wasn't anything anyone needed to see this morning. But there it is.
Finally, in broken Spanish that's heavily inflected to the South American dialect the guide speaks in quiet tones. "We will be close now. Prepare." Those who speak ANY form of Spanish will be able to make heads or tails, those who can't - won't. Angelique's question for Autumn provides a good opportunity for dialogue and preperation as the group is provided something more like instruction at last.
Has Yasmin just been voluntold to chase down a Chupacabra? She may have been. She only offers Tomas a blink of the eyes though - it /did/ come with a few compliments, so surely she cannot complain. For her part, she's entirely content to take in the sights of the surroundings and walk along with Angelique, a curious look turned towards Autumn when the question is asked - and then towards the guide when Tomas asks his questions. So many answers to eavesdrop upon.
Eavesdropping won't be necessary when the scout's not speaking up at all though, and Yasmin quickly diverts her gaze when he kneels - she didn't see anything, nope. Other than the trees that are looking particularly green this day. The words in a different language bring her questioning gaze to flick between the Inigos, though, 'please translate' written across her face.
Taking the time to look out into the distance, from the clearing the group can now see the tops of the infamous 'Monkey Puzzle' trees, known as Araucarias to the locals.
While the scout is drinking, Autumn turns her head towards Angelique. "I am not from Earth," she says in a low voice with a glance at the scout. "I am from Hell. Fell through hidden gate into this world."
"He says we're getting close and to get ready," Angelique translates, before nodding to the guide with a mild, "Si." However, when he kneels to drink, there's just no hiding her blatant amusement. She doesn't bother spending time to check him out, but turns with a snicker and toss of her head. "Goodness," she says, thick, dark ponytail bouncing as she does her best to bring her features back into schooled neutrality. "Si. That was clear," she tells Autumn, quickly. "But-- ahhh." Her smile slants a little brighter, with a flash of perfect white teeth. "This sounds like a dangerous place. No wonder Deac thought you could handle yourself in a fight. Y tu, Yasmin?" she then asks of the woman who speaks no Spanish.
Someone is clearly not taking the 'get ready' part of their instructions too seriously right now, though she is armed, and maybe she believes that's enough preparation.
Where everyone else seems to find their voices a little in the brief moment of calm before things kick off, Tomas pays a little more attention to that press of a finger to the lips, stepping forwards to stand at the guide's side by the bank of the stream, staring out into the park. He doesn't see anything, doesn't hear anything - but those aren't senses he's particularly blessed with, anyway. He sucks in a deep breath of air through his nose - what is it he /smells/ that's out of the ordinary, if anything?
Spanish in her direction? Yasmin blinks up at Angelique, then, slowly... nods. That seems like a sound answer.
Getting prepared though, that part she's more familiar with, and she pulls her bow from over her shoulder in a one-handed grip, knife close at hand even if it's not drawn out of its sheathe. While Tomas focuses upon the smells, Yasmin's eyes track the surroundings, as though trying to spot anything that looks like anything a goat-vampire should look like.
Whilst some conversation happens, it seems that Tomas is more on the mission for the sake of putting his skills to immediate use. This close to the river, the man picks up the scent of something alright, but direction is another matter. The scout with them seems to take heed of the actions by the eldest Inigo in attendance and there's a silent nod of the man's head as he once more turns his small frame back over toward the rest of the group. With quiet gestures he's once more silent and he appears to suggest the rest of the group prepare to do the same. Then with a motion of a hand he's leading them down the river bank and keeping close to it - likely for the same reasons Tomas has difficulty pinpointing that direction for the smell of whatever it is he does pick up. Everyone making preperations complete in their own way ... soon they'll be off.
With a nod of her head, Autumn looks outwards towards the park, scanning the area for something unusual. She opens her backpack and quietly fishes out her khopesh and bow. Strapping the latter onto her back, she wields her blade while she watches.
A half a mile down the river bank, the scout will pause to crouch nearby the ground again. The group may need to pause in order not to run into him, but he's pointing at the top of one of those trees more easily visible in the distance from here.
"It is all gray to me," Angelique mutters in complaint as the others start to seek out what they can determine. She can't determine a damn thing, apparently. But finally, her hand goes to the bow strapped to her back and she takes it down, fumbling with an arrow to get it ready. When the guide sets off, she follows after, as light-footed as she can hope to be. The walk is taken with little more than a grumble beneath her breath, and a silent trudge, though when the guide stops and points, she frowns, squinting upward, and repeats, "Gray."
Once she is all set, Autumn continues to walk along with the group, until she stops and her gaze follows the scout's finger towards the tree. She's ready to say something, but then she remains silent and squints her eyes.
"Don't tell Dad you're colourblind," Tomas murmurs under his breath, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow a fair bit more smoothly than his sister had managed. There'd been an actual warning in his voice, but that's all he gets out - his eyes are - figuratively, if not literally - on the prize. His sunglasses made it a bit harder to see things at a distance. "Yasmin," he asks, softly. "What's he pointing at?"
To all but Angelique, the point of the scout brings to their sight something of what they search for. In the southern parts of North America the true nature of this beast has been lost, often looking canine in nature with a large central incisor to bite with and spiney-like quills along it's back. This creature doesn't quite fit that bill, rather looking a little more reptillian in nature. Large, black eyes that dominate either side of the thing's head and scaley skin. Those spines do trail along it's back ridge and the big almost buck-tooth like incisor can be seen. A cross perhaps between something like a 'Gray Man' sighting and what the rest of them may have been expecting. To Angelique - it may well LOOK like an ET sighting from this distance in grey-scale.
OOC: The art on the following wiki link is cloests to the 'South American' Variety of this creature.
OOC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
Yasmin wishes she knew what he's pointing at. "Lizard man," is her best answer for Tomas, voice kept low and an arrow of her own nocked into her bow. She's trying, even if she's just a wee bit lacking in descriptive vocabulary. For now though, her eyes flick questioningly to the scout and then over to Tomas, and it's to the latter she asks, "... do we shoot?"
"...That is chupacabra?" Autumn says upon seeing the creature, cracking a small smile. "I had expected it to be more demonic like in tales." Reaching for her bow, she grabs it off her back and pulls out an arrow from her bag to draw.
"I don't think we can get a shot from this range," Tomas admits. Not with a bow, anyway. "If he sees us, though, I'm goin' to struggle. I'm not exactly a stealthy guy. Still, ideal scenario is that we close around it from multiple directions and shoot it to death while keepin' it between the four of us, so it can't escape." There's a pause, then, "I mean, we could try and piss it off. Maybe it speaks Spanish, too." He glances over to the guide, one eyebrow lifting up over his glasses - could the thing speak?
"Not to death. To almost death," Angelique quickly corrects Tomas. "Its heart must still be beating when it is cut out, no?"
At last, a sighting of the creature! While the group discusses what to do with this opportunity though, the thing pops into the brush and bush that exists at the top of one of those monkey puzzle trees and disappears from sight. Still, now they know what to look for, and perhaps where to look for it. The speaking even quietly - it definitely spooks the creature and the small guide scout only takes heed. His job now .. to wait by the river while they pursue their pray as they please.
will BRB>
As they move deeper into the Conguillio National Park, Tomas notices a peculiar scent near a river delta, and their cautious guide signals to prepare for the hunt. Autumn, intrigued by the wilderness, announces her otherworldly origins from Hell, adding mystique to the group’s dynamic. After steady tracking, they finally spot the Chupacabra—a creature with a blend of reptilian and mammalian features—perched in a tree. The creature slips away as the team debates their strategy, with Tomas suggesting surrounding it and Angelique insisting on keeping it alive for a ritualistic extraction of its heart. Their guide remains by the river, leaving them to their pursuit. The story concludes with the Chupacabra evading capture for the moment, but the determined hunters ready to continue their chase.
(Yasmin's odd encounter(SRDeacon):SRDeacon)
[Sun Dec 10 2023]
In The Andes: Conguillio National Park
In the south of Chile, this park lies deep within the heart of the Andes mountains, and is one of the country's most popular parks, home to the Sierra Nevada and the Llaima Volcanoes. The expanse of the park is filled with lush vegetation, including rare and unique Araucarias trees that can be found nowhere else. Cutting through the green expanse of forest is a broad river delta, and the snow-capped peaks of the volcanoes off on the horizon.
It is noon, about 26F(-3C) degrees,
The three people that have arrived this fine morning have been brought here at the behest of a man they all know. Deep into the Andes mountains in the south of Chile, they find themselves in one of the most beautiful places on Earth in search of a mythical creature no doubt as scared of them as they may be of it. Angelique and Yasmin both have similar connotations for their arrivals here: Training with supervision. In effort to throw them in the deep end of the pool the Cajun man has sent them here with support to make a hunt of this beast. Autumn on the other hand was tapped for some basic knowledge of this creature and its origins - all three of them are met at the Path by a small, darkly-brown man. He can't be more than 4'11'' inches tall, dressed more like a local tribesman than a local resident of any city.
Yasmin isn't quite dressed for hunting down Chupacabras, however anyone dresses for such a thing. She /is/ dressed for warmth though, and she's got her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. She's been keeping a casual eye on the surroundings while they wait to gather and get started, and Angelique's arrival makes her smile brightly at the other woman in greeting. Autumn gets a more restrained nod of the head, and a casual introduction of, "Good morning. I'm Yasmin." And then there's the fourth person joining them, the tribesman; Yasmin certainly doesn't meet many people her height. She tries not to look too excited about it.
Recap: These people have gathered for their various reasons here to help with the hunt of this creature and this fantastic four is joined by ... one more!
Having arrived at the Andes with some help, Autumn greets Yasmin, Angelique, and the man with a nod of her head. "Greetings," she says, walking to join them before she turns towards Yasmin. "And also morning. I am Autumn Lynx." She then looks into her backpack to make sure her weapons are inside.
Could this Mediterranean, beach- and city-loving woman be any further out of her comfort zone than this? If Angelique's attire is any way to judge, then no, no she could not. Having at least managed to acquire winter gear after arriving, she's dressed in the most eclectic mess of chic couture and borrowed essentials. The chill is certainly not playing well with her mood, either, and her polished, practiced social grace is distinctly absent as she scowls. Since she's holding gloved hands over her face for warmth, the scowl might actually go missed, however, but the muttered, "Esto es el infierno," is not so well concealed. Perhaps, however, her companions don't speak enough Spanish to know what she's saying. Their guide, however?
Yasmin's smile and choice of introductions over complaints does, eventually, pull the sulky Inigo woman out of her funk enough to greet, "Hola, bella," to the woman, and then to Autumn she adds, "Hello. Yo-- I am Angelique." Being cold (or pouty) clearly inhibits language skills.
"God-damned fuckin' mountains," Tomas grumbles as he trudges belatedly into view, loose stone shifting and scattering under each of his booted footfalls. He's certainly strapped up for the hunt - and the sword he'd lost on his last favour to Deacon's been replaced with a curvier, sexier sword, strapped fashionably on his belt. At least it'd pass for a wanky bush machete, if pressed. The bow over his back is less ambiguous - but that's okay. "So," he grunts, flashing everyone a nod of their own. "Blood-suckin', goat-eating werewolfy kind of thing, right? At least, that's what a Google search told me." There's a pause, and then a question, spoken aloud: "Anyone actually seen a Chupacabra before?"
The addition of another has one more person arriving on the scene as Tomas makes his way up to the group! Now that everyone he expects is here, the small mountain guide of a height with Yasmin gives first her a bow of his head in silence. He may understand English but he doesn't speak it. He gives a similar bow to the others in turn, dropping his head toward Autumn and Tomas, Angelique last, and perhaps that pouty scowl has something to do with his hesitant choice to leave her for the end. At mention of the creature, this small man chitters in some indigenous language that's not immediately recognizeable but he sounds excited. This may be clue enough as to his presence now. A guide to lead those through the forests here in Chile - one how if you're gonna judge a book by it's cover probably knows these forests well.
"I have heard about chupacabras," Autumn tells Tomas with a lift of one hand. "Demonic creatures that once escaped from Hell to devour goats." She then looks at Angelique and Yasmin and belately replies with, "Good to meet you."
"No," Angelique informs Tomas firmly. "Es de Mexico." And judging from her dismissive tone, anything from Mexico is definitely not worth bothering with. Who cares that they're not -in- Mexico right now? But then she spreads her hands and mutters, "Deac says I need to learn fighting so I am here to find this myth and make it extinct with all of you." Briefly, a smile crosses her face, and she tacks on, "Hola, hermano." But then her hands are back over her face, trapping her breath in an effort to keep her nose from getting any redder with cold than it already is. Then: "Are you not both too tired from dancing all night to hunt stories in the snow?"
Angelique nods briefly over to Autumn as well, at her much more complimentary words. "Si. A pleasure," she offers sweetly to one who, as of yet, has only seen the mildest edge of this woman's tongue.
Going by Yasmin's pregnant pause after Tomas's asked his question, no. She's certainly not seen a Chupacabra before, and by the looks of it, that's about as much information she'd been able to pull out from her own Google search. The answer goes unsaid in favor of listening to someone who might actually know what they're talking about, her attention turned towards Autumn.
Angelique's question has Yasmin shooting her a quick Look though, wide-eyed and carrying a tinge of embarrassment. "I am not too tired to help a friend," she claims quickly, not glancing Tomas's way, her attention all on their guide now.
A glance around until Autumn looks at herself and finds that she's still standing. "Huh, didn't get pulled yet again," she murmurs while her earpiece buzzes. "But this is more important now." She then lifts her hand to turn off her earpiece for now before she looks back to the rest of the group, her gaze on the guide.
"No descartara a Mxico tan rpido... A menos que quieras que te pegue un cholo, hermana," Tomas mumbles in reply, his Castellano much less brushed-up than Angelique's. There's a nod thrown Autumn's way, as well: "No point dancin' around with Sammy's little clique. No gain to be had, really. Not when there are more pressin' issues on the line." He eyes the mountain guide a little - a diminutive man, even for a Chilean, but one must make do with what one gets. "My sister and I speak Spanish," he offers - European Spanish, but still. "If that'll help you at all, I mean."
"No descartara a Mexico tan rapido... A menos que quieras que te pegue un cholo, hermana," Tomas mumbles in reply, his Castellano much less brushed-up than Angelique's. There's a nod thrown Autumn's way, as well: "No point dancin' around with Sammy's little clique. No gain to be had, really. Not when there are more pressin' issues on the line." He eyes the mountain guide a little - a diminutive man, even for a Chilean, but one must make do with what one gets. "My sister and I speak Spanish," he offers - European Spanish, but still. "If that'll help you at all, I mean." (fix, whoops)
With the group gathering around and introducing themselves for the time being silence doesn't seem to be important to their guide at least for the moment - he's not trying to shush them or wave them down. He does begin to lead them down into the trees and forests of the national park here now. UP and into the mountains, this landscape is still quite lush with green trees stretching out as far as the eye can see and a broad river delta in the distance that provides a clear and clean scent to the fresh air out here. Far form the cities and sins of Man .. at least moments of peace. To the small man the words seem understood from Tomas, a smile revealing brown-stained teeth from chewing the local coca. Himself he remains without words to use or chooses not to? They follow footpaths and trails for now, not yet ready for the more cautious stalking that's soon to come. The further they travel into the park, the more the rest of the world leaves them behind.
Following the group, Autumn looks around the scenery with slight awe. "I have never been here before," she comments, clutching her backpack as she walks. "Earth must have lot of places I never knew."
Maybe Yasmin's not too experienced with the wilderness, but she's certainly not as much of a city girl as Angelique either, and while they trail along the path, she sticks close to the elder Inigo, keeping a bit of a careful eye on the woman in an attempt to seem companionable even if she doesn't try to strike up conversation with her or with anyone else - though Autumn's words do earn her a bit of an odd look with that usage of 'Earth'. The bits of Spanish go over her head - definitely not her forte.
Angelique gives Tomas a look that says 'try me' without actually saying 'try me,' because maybe she has a little bit of self-preservation in there somewhere. A punch is not likely to unteach years of societal discrimination, however, but she does bite her tongue on any further insults to the country neither of them were born in or standing in currently, and instead focus on walking. Because walking through forests and up mountains is not her favorite form of walking. At least today, the socialite isn't wearing heels, even if her boots do sport a Gucci tag.
"People can spend years and years exploring this planet and not see all of it," she offers, distractedly and a bit out of breath, when Autumn speaks up about the sights. "No place is quite like any other." With Yasmin beside her, there's the occasional slant of eyes in her direction, but eventually she adds on to her commentary to Autumn by asking the petite girl, "Where are you from? I imagine it is beautiful too."
"It's a big damn planet," Tomas supplies, reaching up to fiddle with his jaw as he approaches Yasmin from behind, dropping that same hand down onto her shoulder. "Yasmin here is the quickest young woman you ever met, if it comes to a chase. And I taught her how to fight myself, so you can depend on her with a knife." He seems to take a good deal of pride in the short woman's abilities, though he seems mostly to be talking to Autumn, here - everyone else is rather familiar with each other. It's not as if he's unfamiliar with trudging through greenery, either - even if this is more sunny and lush than the misty, eerie confines of Haven's forests. Then, skipping ahead a little to catch up with the guide, he leans down a bit and asks quietly, "Are the animals here protected? Or can you hunt for food here? Chupacabras aside."
Further and further into the forests they go, and the group makes decent headway down mostly clean pathways and trails. Down they go, until eventually after many minutes of walking, the scout that travels with the group leads them out of the treeline and toward the shores of the broad delta that sees the river winding through this part of the park diverge into two paths. Easily a quarter-mile across, the water is expansive but beautiful and it fills the air with a quiet background of rushing water. It's been a decent trek all the same however and the small brown man gives Tomas a fair nod of the head, gesturing around them wide. Now he does offer a finger to the press of his lips though before trotting with bare feet to kneel and crouch by the water to scoop up liquid to drink. The sight of a man's business behind what can only be described as a 'butt-flap' wasn't anything anyone needed to see this morning. But there it is.
Finally, in broken Spanish that's heavily inflected to the South American dialect the guide speaks in quiet tones. "We will be close now. Prepare." Those who speak ANY form of Spanish will be able to make heads or tails, those who can't - won't. Angelique's question for Autumn provides a good opportunity for dialogue and preperation as the group is provided something more like instruction at last.
Has Yasmin just been voluntold to chase down a Chupacabra? She may have been. She only offers Tomas a blink of the eyes though - it /did/ come with a few compliments, so surely she cannot complain. For her part, she's entirely content to take in the sights of the surroundings and walk along with Angelique, a curious look turned towards Autumn when the question is asked - and then towards the guide when Tomas asks his questions. So many answers to eavesdrop upon.
Eavesdropping won't be necessary when the scout's not speaking up at all though, and Yasmin quickly diverts her gaze when he kneels - she didn't see anything, nope. Other than the trees that are looking particularly green this day. The words in a different language bring her questioning gaze to flick between the Inigos, though, 'please translate' written across her face.
Taking the time to look out into the distance, from the clearing the group can now see the tops of the infamous 'Monkey Puzzle' trees, known as Araucarias to the locals.
While the scout is drinking, Autumn turns her head towards Angelique. "I am not from Earth," she says in a low voice with a glance at the scout. "I am from Hell. Fell through hidden gate into this world."
"He says we're getting close and to get ready," Angelique translates, before nodding to the guide with a mild, "Si." However, when he kneels to drink, there's just no hiding her blatant amusement. She doesn't bother spending time to check him out, but turns with a snicker and toss of her head. "Goodness," she says, thick, dark ponytail bouncing as she does her best to bring her features back into schooled neutrality. "Si. That was clear," she tells Autumn, quickly. "But-- ahhh." Her smile slants a little brighter, with a flash of perfect white teeth. "This sounds like a dangerous place. No wonder Deac thought you could handle yourself in a fight. Y tu, Yasmin?" she then asks of the woman who speaks no Spanish.
Someone is clearly not taking the 'get ready' part of their instructions too seriously right now, though she is armed, and maybe she believes that's enough preparation.
Where everyone else seems to find their voices a little in the brief moment of calm before things kick off, Tomas pays a little more attention to that press of a finger to the lips, stepping forwards to stand at the guide's side by the bank of the stream, staring out into the park. He doesn't see anything, doesn't hear anything - but those aren't senses he's particularly blessed with, anyway. He sucks in a deep breath of air through his nose - what is it he /smells/ that's out of the ordinary, if anything?
Spanish in her direction? Yasmin blinks up at Angelique, then, slowly... nods. That seems like a sound answer.
Getting prepared though, that part she's more familiar with, and she pulls her bow from over her shoulder in a one-handed grip, knife close at hand even if it's not drawn out of its sheathe. While Tomas focuses upon the smells, Yasmin's eyes track the surroundings, as though trying to spot anything that looks like anything a goat-vampire should look like.
Whilst some conversation happens, it seems that Tomas is more on the mission for the sake of putting his skills to immediate use. This close to the river, the man picks up the scent of something alright, but direction is another matter. The scout with them seems to take heed of the actions by the eldest Inigo in attendance and there's a silent nod of the man's head as he once more turns his small frame back over toward the rest of the group. With quiet gestures he's once more silent and he appears to suggest the rest of the group prepare to do the same. Then with a motion of a hand he's leading them down the river bank and keeping close to it - likely for the same reasons Tomas has difficulty pinpointing that direction for the smell of whatever it is he does pick up. Everyone making preperations complete in their own way ... soon they'll be off.
With a nod of her head, Autumn looks outwards towards the park, scanning the area for something unusual. She opens her backpack and quietly fishes out her khopesh and bow. Strapping the latter onto her back, she wields her blade while she watches.
A half a mile down the river bank, the scout will pause to crouch nearby the ground again. The group may need to pause in order not to run into him, but he's pointing at the top of one of those trees more easily visible in the distance from here.
"It is all gray to me," Angelique mutters in complaint as the others start to seek out what they can determine. She can't determine a damn thing, apparently. But finally, her hand goes to the bow strapped to her back and she takes it down, fumbling with an arrow to get it ready. When the guide sets off, she follows after, as light-footed as she can hope to be. The walk is taken with little more than a grumble beneath her breath, and a silent trudge, though when the guide stops and points, she frowns, squinting upward, and repeats, "Gray."
Once she is all set, Autumn continues to walk along with the group, until she stops and her gaze follows the scout's finger towards the tree. She's ready to say something, but then she remains silent and squints her eyes.
"Don't tell Dad you're colourblind," Tomas murmurs under his breath, drawing his bow and nocking an arrow a fair bit more smoothly than his sister had managed. There'd been an actual warning in his voice, but that's all he gets out - his eyes are - figuratively, if not literally - on the prize. His sunglasses made it a bit harder to see things at a distance. "Yasmin," he asks, softly. "What's he pointing at?"
To all but Angelique, the point of the scout brings to their sight something of what they search for. In the southern parts of North America the true nature of this beast has been lost, often looking canine in nature with a large central incisor to bite with and spiney-like quills along it's back. This creature doesn't quite fit that bill, rather looking a little more reptillian in nature. Large, black eyes that dominate either side of the thing's head and scaley skin. Those spines do trail along it's back ridge and the big almost buck-tooth like incisor can be seen. A cross perhaps between something like a 'Gray Man' sighting and what the rest of them may have been expecting. To Angelique - it may well LOOK like an ET sighting from this distance in grey-scale.
OOC: The art on the following wiki link is cloests to the 'South American' Variety of this creature.
OOC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra
Yasmin wishes she knew what he's pointing at. "Lizard man," is her best answer for Tomas, voice kept low and an arrow of her own nocked into her bow. She's trying, even if she's just a wee bit lacking in descriptive vocabulary. For now though, her eyes flick questioningly to the scout and then over to Tomas, and it's to the latter she asks, "... do we shoot?"
"...That is chupacabra?" Autumn says upon seeing the creature, cracking a small smile. "I had expected it to be more demonic like in tales." Reaching for her bow, she grabs it off her back and pulls out an arrow from her bag to draw.
"I don't think we can get a shot from this range," Tomas admits. Not with a bow, anyway. "If he sees us, though, I'm goin' to struggle. I'm not exactly a stealthy guy. Still, ideal scenario is that we close around it from multiple directions and shoot it to death while keepin' it between the four of us, so it can't escape." There's a pause, then, "I mean, we could try and piss it off. Maybe it speaks Spanish, too." He glances over to the guide, one eyebrow lifting up over his glasses - could the thing speak?
"Not to death. To almost death," Angelique quickly corrects Tomas. "Its heart must still be beating when it is cut out, no?"
At last, a sighting of the creature! While the group discusses what to do with this opportunity though, the thing pops into the brush and bush that exists at the top of one of those monkey puzzle trees and disappears from sight. Still, now they know what to look for, and perhaps where to look for it. The speaking even quietly - it definitely spooks the creature and the small guide scout only takes heed. His job now .. to wait by the river while they pursue their pray as they please.
will BRB>