Haven: The Beginning

[GamesMaster]

They had met online, at first: in a chat room for beasties, where the conversation was mostly unmoderated and touched on just about every aspect of day to day life. After a few years, they'd had a plan: since none of them can find affordable housing, or at least, can find a place that's both affordable and rents to "our kind", why not buy a place together? And the plan got bigger and bigger; one of them managed to secure some land, others pooled their money towards a mortgage, somehow horses became involved, and now they had a surprising amount of space: two houses, a barn, a paddock, a big space that could be turned into a kitchen garden, and plenty of room to expand. They each packed up their things, rented moving vans, and made their way to the Colorado mountains to move into their new home on April 1. 

A home they will share with several other people they've only met on the internet. This is either going to be paradise or a living hell by fall. 

[Wylde]

The first one to arrive is Wylde Lowell, username BadBitch69. For the long drive from Southern California she has dressed comfortably: a tank top, comfortable jeans, boots, and a flannel over top. She's got pure white hair, done up in a punk style, and piercing blue eyes set in a pale-skinned face. She has four piercings in one ear and three in the other, all silver; the bottom set are little dangling crescent moons, because who doesn't like irony right? She drives a pickup truck with a uhaul trailer hitched to the back full of her things. 

She gets out, stretching, and does the necessary: grabs the key from the fake rock to the nearest building, lets herself in, and uses the restroom. That done, she sets out to explore the house, finally settling on the first bedroom upstairs on the left. That gives her the ability to oversee the dirt road coming in; there's a window seat, giving her the ability to watch the horse paddock across the road. Hopefully someone brought horses. Or maybe she'll have to buy one. Ooh, what if there's chickens?

[Ryle “Rocket” Arora]

I step off the plain in calarodo and stretch. After spending the last 36 hrs traveling I'm exsousted. The flight from the us military base in Pakistan is only 16 hours but getting all my discharge papers, vampire registration, and blood rations took forever.  I head to baggage and grab my ruck sack. Almost everything I own is in this sack.  My buddy is waiting to drive me up to my new home.

I sigh sinking into the grunt seat and taking my right leg off rubbing the stump. I hate my prosthetic it's not my leg and it never will be. I listen dully to reaper trying to convince me to live with him again, but I'm not gonna live with the man who turned me agenst my will, even if he did it to save my life.  I give the same argument about needing space and promis to come live with him if this goes wrong as we pull in the drive.

I pop my prosthetic back on and get out rock sack on my back and start unloading my animals.  Three dairy cows, five sheep, four hens, one rooster, and my perseron draft horse team maple and syrup. Once everything is squared away I give reaper a quick cold good by and hand him my singed divorce papers to mail for me so my ex stops texting me about it, and head in to the main house to start over, taking the only bedroom on the main floor.

[Wylde]

Wylde passes Rocket on her way back out, grinning broadly. "Hello! I'm running late, catch you in a few!" she says, a stupidly large grin on her face as she bolts for the car.

Gotta pick up Puppy! I almost forgot. All my stuff is stored, so it's just a matter of not getting lost...

She gets lost. Over the next hour, she grows increasingly frustrated with country roads and endless cornfields and stupid cities where missing the turn means travelling another ten miles before there's another and the dead spots where her GPS cuts out and...

By the time she gets to the greyhound station, it's a good half hour after the bus has arrived. Hopefully she's still here. Where else would she go?

[Snowball]

Just when I think she's not coming, Wylde shows up. Oh thank god, I say under my breath. I was so sure I had been abandoned, so I'm glad she's here to pick me up.

"Hey girl!" I say softly to her, giving her a big hug. "You're a better hugger than I thought you'd be!"

We chat on the car ride there for a while, and when we get there, I immediately feel like I bit off more than I can chew. I know in my heart that things are gonna be better, but I don't know how.

But there's a yard to run around, and when we get out of the car, excitement gets the better of me, and I feel my body lowering into the dog I know everyone wants me to be, dropping into a play stance for Wylde and running around the yard.

[Ryle “Rocket” Arora]

There's squeaking from my hens and I look out to see a puppy sniffing the hen house. I shake my head as one of them peaks it and it runs off. Time to meet these kids I think to myself.I take a quick look in the mirror debating about changing out of my fatigues before it hits me... I only own fatigues any more.  They'll just have to get used to if I check to make sure my legs hidden  before striding into the yard.

"Hey" I call joint the kids in the yard. "Roll call who's in?"

[Wylde]

"Yo," says Wylde, before throwing herself into the air. By the time she hits the ground, she's a white-furred wolf, spriting after the husky in a clear attempt to play -- tail wagging, yipping like a puppy. 

[Snowball]

Wylde and I run across the yard, and I run up to Rocket to give a greeting smooch and a stick. I look up at Rocket expectantly.

[Ryle “Rocket” Arora]

I look down at this puppy and sigh "nows not the time for play. We've got work to do. House needs set up, folks need to unpack, rules need set, dinners need cooked, animals need settled, and we need to finish planning out crops and upgrades to the home stead. So it's time to fall in and get moving"

[Wylde]

Wylde snorts, running up to grab the end of the stick and try to play tug with Snowball. 

[Snowball]

I immediately switch back to human form. "Okay," I fawn, "I'm sorry. I'll be better."

I walk up to the buildings, feeling overwhelmed. Where do I go from here? I don't have any things, and I've only ever slept in a dog bed... "Wylde...?"

[Ryle “Rocket” Arora]

At least one of these kids is responsible I think "good. Farming isn't a game it's hard work and takes dedication. Wild! Come on let's get moving!"

[Wylde]

Wylde drops the stick, shaking herself a bit at the sudden flip back. She sits back on her butt, shifting to a crouching humanoid form. "Playtime's over?" she asks, grimacing. "Sorry, I haven't been able to run like that for months. You said you wanted to bunk with me, right? I'll show you the room I picked for us."

[Ryle “Rocket” Arora]

"You two go get settled I'll start unpacking the kitchen I'll see you both at 1700 for dinner"

[Snowball]

"Yeah, Wylde, I can bunk with you." I smile slightly, relieved I don't have to make a big decision.

Still, there is so much independence already, it's intimidating. When I walk into the room, I'm surprised to find one bed. "Where is my crate?" I ask gently. "Or do you want me to sleep on the floor? That works for me, I just want to make sure-- I'm sorry, I'm talking too much. Just, like let me know where you want me?"