Proper Introductions (Open)

[Melanie Martin]

Melanie didn't push Richard when he walked away; she hadn't felt like talking either after losses. Especially since she'd been getting close to a faction mate before things blew up, literally. She did wonder as she demorphed back to human where everyone else was-was this it? Were they on a mission? Richard didn't seem like a leaderly sort, so there had to be more people somewhere.

She was indeed hungry, but made sure she ate fast, she wanted to be polite and be able to show respect during the burial. She still didn't push Richard to talk, but stood quietly while things took place. When it was over, she would introduce herself to him properly. After that, she really hoped she could grab a bit of sleep, but somehow she didn't think that would happen anytime soon after what had just occured.

[Richard]

Richard came back carrying a shovel, a wooden box that he found somewhere in the kitchen area, and a flat piece of wood. He was going to make this quick as there was no need for the others to be here to see what had happened to Dustin, and Richard did not feel right leaving a friend unburied for long. If only he knew where the others were at right now, then he could send Melanie to go look for them, but he didn't so she couldn't.

"Keep an eye out for a very irritated lion coming at you. If you see one, then get my attention, so you don't get eaten by Suji." Richard was being completely serious about this comment as Suji was definitely someone who would find a new presence at her base of operations to be suspicious. He walked around to a side of the base where people usually didn't hang out as much and began digging a hole. "So what's your story?"

[Melanie Martin]

"All right. I can see why I'd make the leader nervous...no way to tell I'm a morpher right now." she said with a nod. She definitely didn't want to be facing an angry lion, even if she could go wolf. Richard asked her about her story, and she started to talk.

"I'm from Chicago originally. Still have a sister there...word is, she's YPM there, all by herself. I headed to Chicago after avoiding being infested, and they sent me west. Been in Vancouver and LA before here. Some of the factions are getting reorganized, the Yeerks got to playing with a few of the hideouts, blew them up."

She didn't go into the fact that she was still reeling from losing someone she had started getting close to. She still hated to talk about it.

[Richard]

Richard listened to Melanie as she talked about herself, and he wondered what was up with all of the changes to where she had been. There was definitely a story there that he would have to ask about once this was done.

"So exactly which bases got blown up?" He wanted to keep the conversation going by any means at this point. He just needed to keep his mind distracted from what had happened even if it meant hearing something that would potentially make him think back on what happened.

He was almost done digging the hole which was deeper than it needed to be, but he didn't want any animal digging it up.

[Melanie Martin]

"LA, Vegas,Chicago...then there was already Dallas, longer ago, but that's probably old news." she replied. The virus had hit Dallas first, then the city was reduced to ruins. "Technically, Vancouver too, but that was some time ago, that was why I went to LA. But at least the other cities will still have factions. Things just got rearranged." she said.

"So, who else is here? I guess they're away or something... It's quiet right now." she said. Richard was still digging on the hole, but it looked like he was almost done. She kept expecting other faction members to show up any time now, since there had to be more than three people here.

[Richard]

The cities that Melanie listed off were major cities if Richard remembered his high school Geography class right, which meant that the key locations had been removed from the playing field by these tactical demolitions. He knew all about rearrangements as he had heard that people were being moved to locations that needed defending, which is why he was in Miami.

"There is Suji the leader, Adrian, and myself, which doesn't really mean much as people get moved around a lot apparently so someone new like you might show up out of the blue." Richard wasn't really sure about how everything worked inside the Animorph planning committee or whoever was running the show, but it must be one complex system of decisions.

[Melanie Martin]

"Ah. Small group. Means we have to work harder." she said. She knew the faction leader would brief her on whatever she needed to know when they met finally. She just hoped that things didn't fall apart here as they had as the Vancouver group had dwindled. The explosion had been the last straw, really. LA was the harder one, they'd been doing good until the blast.

She pushed it aside, knowing that all she could do now was focus on the future.

"So, do you have a story? I mean, if you want to tell it, that is. I don't want to push or anything. I know all of us have tough stuff in our backgrounds." She shut up then, clamping down on her tendency to ramble.

[Richard]

A small group definitely meant that they would all have to work like each one of them was two to three people. Richard had been trying to pull double duty as it was, but with this loss he was really going to have to kick it up a few notches just to make sure all the essentials got done at a fast rate.

"My story is probably the baseline for most people nowadays. I was living a normal life until my family was grabbed during a routine clinic visit. Due to some luck, I got away and went underground. I eventually found my way to some people who sent me off to the Academy, where I became an Animorph. After graduating, I was sent here, and now we are at this point in my life. Not much of a story."