#threads: natalie

[feminaferitas]

@ashesrebirthed {jackie} is huddled outside when Nat returns...

Nat and Travis had a lot of shit to sort out. That's what they determined when they left the cabin after the botched mess of a Doomcoming (which could have been pretty fun up until that absolute clusterfuck of Lottie-fueled bullshit, all things considered). But everything between them sort of paled in comparison to the fact that they couldn't find Javi. The nights were getting colder and the food was scarce -- so where could he have gone?

As much as she wanted to help Travis, both teens were still raw over the betrayal that had transpired. Sleeping with the enemy, if they wanted to get cute about it. But... there was no time for that now. There were too many broken pieces for Travis for Natalie to pick up -- better they focus on the freshest ones, where the edges were sharpest.

She'd done too much already for this to be the way it went. She broke his dad's goddamn finger off for that ring he gave to Javi. She was the one picking up the gun to feed the team, when food could be found. To lose anyone now felt like failure. It felt like a waste of survival. They were not losing anyone else if they could help it. Least of all, Natalie didn't want to watch herself losing Travis day by day. It was in his eyes, a light receding and dimming.

"We'll go back out first thing in the morning and look for him," she grunted as they returned to the cabin. Her vow was gruff but earnest, all she had to give at this point. The crash site was too cold for an overnight venture now. Better to be back with the team, where Javi may have already returned. But as they approached in the dusky clearing, a sight caught her eye -- huddled in her varsity jacket, Jackie. Sitting on a stump alone in the woods, looking like a fucking pariah. Natalie rolled her eyes, inwardly groaning. The waning light in the cabin window was warm and buttery, so what the hell was this about?

Natalie put a hand on Travis' bicep and urged him to go inside. He did quietly, without question. Then she tromped her dirt-crusted boots towards the place where a fire would have been, for anyone slightly competent in survival skills.

"Hey, c'mon -- the fuck is this about, Jackie? This the next step of your hunger strike, or --?"

[feminaferitas]

@silencedrage {lottie matthews} tried to bless Natalie Scatorccio

Natalie looked at the cup in Lottie's hands with disdain. She could feel the weight of expectant gazes on her back, but wished they were warming instead of the bone chill cutting through the cabin. Sure, on a good day at home she'd be putting all sorts of toxic shit into her body with far less noble intentions, but it was easy for everyone else to encourage Lottie's wicca bullshit when they weren't the ones being asked to drink blood and boiled snow. She scoffed.

"Seriously? Don't you have any little rituals that don't involve a form of biohazard? It's just a routine hunt, Lottie. Nothing Travis and I haven't managed before."

Nat's irritation with indulging these arbitrary rituals had been growing as of late, probably directly in proportion to the decrease of game during the bite of winter. Fewer animals to hunt meant an increase in hunger, tempers, and paranoia -- and an increase in her teammate's attempts to appease the wilderness.

"If we make it back fine, it's because we know what we're doing out there, not because you cut yourself over a cup of tea."

[feminaferitas]

@vitaegratis sent: “fucking hell.” //idk I just miss writing with you 👉👈

The party had been broken up by the cops in the middle of an acid trip, but Natalie still had enough sense to know she could go to a neighbor -- one particular neighbor -- for some refuge. Her mom wouldn't really care that her daughter was out all night, so long as the girl wasn't truant at school the next day. And for the most part, Nat always made it to class eventually. She just needed a place to crash the night.

She was a little banged up from crashing through the back woods, pupils wide -- but she still figured Eddie wouldn't be a total dick to her in this state. Plus, he knew his way around different drugs. Though her expression remained dazed, Natalie was relieved when he opened the door.

"Look, man, I just need a place to crash for the night... cops busted the fun and I'm tripping right now."

[feminaferitas]

@darkconsumed {Lottie} has kidnapped Natalie. Now what?

Lottie really put the 'S' in subtlety with the antlers mounted right on top of her private quarters. As if it wasn't bad enough Natalie had to see that damn symbol all over the place. Whatever operation she was running here, it was rotten from top to bottom. And dragging her into all of this? Nat was as mad as she was absolutely baffled.

Between that and the bullshit Lottie had given her about the night Travis died, she knew there was something more dangerous going on here. Especially considering none of them had been given so much as a warning or a greeting when their former teammate had been released from the looney bin. Not like Nat send postcards every time she finished a stint in rehab, but this wasn't the same. It wasn't the same, and Lottie was dangerous. To herself, to these people.

The sun was coming up over the compound and Nat was stalking around it like a cat in the chicken coop (which coincidentally they did seem to have here). These... acolytes, as Lottie called them -- they were using the isolation from society to reconnect and focus inward or some shit. Like they were roleplaying some rustic living-off-the-land fantasy as though Lottie didn't remember exactly what the fuck their team endured in the wilderness. To decorate the grounds with that symbol too... it scared Nat more than she cared to admit. But for now, her distrust propelled her forward.

Not waiting for permission, she marched up to the raven-haired woman's anointed quarters and pounded on the door. Heaven forbid she was at some sunrise yoga bullshit activity or something. Natalie wanted answers, or at least to share a piece of her mind. "Rise and shine, Lot. I've got a bone to pick with you."