BLUE SHADOWS / JOINING

[JAY]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Christ, it was cold.

Cold may have been a bit of an understatement. It was freezing, an icy hell, a goddamn Winter Wonderland! Golly, the penguins and the polar bears were probably having a field day right about now ( did those animals even live in these parts..? ). Jay, on the other hand, was freezing his ass off as he and his horse trudged through the fresh, falling powder. He was certain that his horse, Angus, wasn't having too fun of a time either. He felt for the animal, and as soon as they saw any sign of shelter, he would take refuge for sure. "Let's keep goin', buddy. Should be somethin' around here..." Maybe a den or a cave at the very least would suffice.

Why was he here? Jay didn't even know. Perhaps they had taken a wrong turn at the pass, and he was starting to believe that the assumption was right. Why would he ever want to end up here? "Jesus, we're gonna get frostbite at this rate." Muttered the man upon horseback. He could handle some levels of cold, but he was not used to a borderline blizzard. It snowed nearly every year from where he was from, but that did not mean that he necessarily enjoyed it. He didn't. He would much rather relax at a nice, mild sixty-degrees. Or maybe kicking back on a beach in the Bahamas. Yeah, that sounded nice. Maybe if he wished hard enough, his dreams would come true.

Yeah, right.

[tomorrow]

JUST STANDING WAITING FOR THE PUNCHES

The cold was starting to bother Tomorrow a little bit less by the day, though it was still wet and cold and horrible on the best of days. But he had his trusted companions, Claire and Jeremiah by his side, and that was enough. Plus Flintlock was a good place to warm up and rest, even if it wasn't exactly homely for him.

He was trudging through the snow on foot, dogs a few feet behind him pushing through the deep layer of snow at their own pace. He saw in the distance what he thought was some sort of deer, but upon closer inspection it looked like a man on horseback. Not immediately scary, but still threatening enough that Tomorrow's hand went to his machete and he whistled at Jeremiah and Claire to make sure they stayed close.

"Hello?" Tomorrow called out, trying to stay diplomatic about the whole thing. They must be freezing out here and- Well, if Hayley wasn't around he should attempt to be the nice one and offer them shelter so they don't freeze to death, right?

[HAYLEY]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: calibri; font-size: 8pt; color: #484848; line-height: 22px;"]hayley liked the cold. she liked how it made her feel awake, alive. she liked the way it could wake her up, remind her she was alive. there were moments where everything was hazy and she felt sort of numb, as if she was on autopilot, moving through a routine of preparing meals and changing diapers and stitching up wounds, but the moment she stepped outside, the sting of cold air on her face could shock her back to consciousness.

she was tired, having had a long night with the colicky newborn, and at some point she was pretty sure she'd forgotten a meal. but as soon as she stepped outside, the cold air hit her, and she felt awake, alive. she'd only been intending to go on a brief little patrol when she found the scene; brendan and tomorrow, standing before a man and a horse. stopping beside the pair, she stayed silent, as the necessary questions had already been asked, and they simply had to await answers.

( this is so lame i'm sorry sdkjdsahjsda )

[JAY]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 1.4;"]And suddenly, appearing in the distance: an eskimo! Wait, did those even exist here? He would've assumed some sort of dog-sledder as well, considering the animals that followed this person, but there was no sled in sight. It was just someone and their dogs, wandering around in the snow like it was nothing. Sheesh, he wished he could harness that kind of patience. Jay felt like he was going to freeze his ass off out here and become a fleshy popsicle.

The stranger had called out to him. "Hello?" Echoed back the man, realizing that this could possibly be his chance to get some help. Now, hopefully this person was a friend and not a foe. Another person had appeared out of the blue, a bit more demanding of his presence in the area. Perhaps there was a family and this was their land, or maybe this was a damned group of bandits. Angus huffed and nearly reeled at the sight of the dogs, and Jay patted his neck to reassure him.

He climbed off of the back of the stallion, planting his boots in the snow. He looked up at the two strangers, and explained, "Okay, I don't want any trouble." Jay expressively raised his hands. "I'm just passin' through, tryin' to take cover from this godforsaken weather." He reached to pet Angus's shoulder before turning back to them. "Y'all wouldn't happen to know where to find shelter, wouldja'?" He had an undeniably Southern drawl. Another person had shown up soon after, in which he gave a brief tip of his hat to her, but offered no other words as he was still waiting for someone to answer his initial question.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7pt; line-height: 1.5;"]･ﾟ✧ — Ellie was quiet as she looked on at the commotion further down the hill. If you could necessarily call it commotion as such... It was more like... Just a lot of people. She was intrigued, however, squinting her eyes with curiosity as she pointed out the figures she recognized, and the one she did not. Oh, a newcomer. She lowered the bundle of wood that she'd been carrying onto the ground before she inquisitively began to wander downhill towards the growing group. Hands wringing together in front of her, she stepped closer, pastel green eyes scanning the newcomer before turning her gaze to admire the stallion.

She turned her eyes to Hayley, and then Brendan, and then Tomorrow, waiting for any potential negative reaction towards the new person... But they stayed put (despite Brendan pointing his notorious staff at the man, but that seemed quite normal of him). And so, he was no danger, she assumed. She allowed for the others to answer the man's question before noting quietly, "I was just getting some more wood from the storage to top up the fire." Indoors was warm; it was the optimal place to take shelter from such treacherous conditions. Ellie blinked back over to the stallion and, to no surprise, she gestured towards the him, offering gently, "We have a free stable for him. I can take him there... If you want."

[tomorrow]

JUST STANDING WAITING FOR THE PUNCHES

Tomorrow was quite used to the concept of snow; he'd spent many months weathering it, outdoors near constantly and a freezing death at the back of his mind constantly. Still, didn't mean he was immune to frostbite or anything; he was just simply able to push the shocks of pain to the back of his mind and continue where others may give up.

Tomorrow relaxed as Brendan and Hayley approached; though Brendan certainly wasn't friendly towards him, the teenager had a fair bit of prowess if this man was going to be hostile. Not that Tomorrow wanted Brendan to get hurt for him; he'd rather the teenager ran and got help if the situation turned bloody. He'd rather Hayley got out of there if things got messy as well, since she had a baby and... Whatever the hell Jackson was to her.

"Uh- As she said, we've got shelter. A stables and a lodge, you'd be free to join us for a bit and thaw out." Tomorrow said, offering a tentative smile. He glanced at Ellie, happy to let her take initiative on the situation.