((My apologies for the delay. Same old busyness. I find it amusing that I wrote half this post months ago and it still applies.))

Fickle. Elias wasn’t sure exactly why, but that was the word that popped into his mind to describe the young woman that had saved him in the square many hours ago. It could have been any of a multitude of other words. Unstable. Strange. Unpredictable. Bipolar, perhaps. But fickle it was. One moment she was a shy, frightened young lady unsure of how to cope with the events that had befallen New Moscow. The next, she was a strong, no-nonsense leader determined to ensure the survival of the group that she found herself with. Elias admired her sudden display of courage, but remained puzzled at how one human being could seemingly experience such a drastic shift in demeanor. Fickle indeed.

The other two were different matters entirely. The one in green, Arthur, wasn’t it it? He seemed like a decent young man. He had said nary a word since they had exited the ruined city, content to follow the others. Something about him bothered Elias, but the old Spaniard was not in the habit of prying into other people’s minds to indulge his own curiosity. He decided to let it be, for now at least. The last member of their quartet was far more worrisome, anyway. Elias found that he could not get within more than four feet of of the paper bag-crowned man without hearing the most bizarre, nonsensical and downright creepy thoughts in his mind. He made sure to keep his distance as the group made their way towards the mountains.

They travelled in silence for a few miles, for the most part keeping to themselves. An hour or two later Elias was jerked out of his thinking by a crazed laugh, no where near human. If he was not mistaken, it was the cry of a polar hyena, though by his estimate it was still a good ways away. Clearly unnerved, the refugees trudged on, until at last the youngest member of the troupe broke the silence with the question that had been on all of their minds. "Does anyone have any idea where we are actually headed to?”

Elias paused. Truthfully, he had not given the matter much consideration. He, like the others, had been more preoccupied with getting as far away from New Moscow as they could in the least amount of time possible. Thinking aloud, he suggested; “We might take the trail to Manda,” he started slowly. “I have friends there who would be glad to take you in until we can recover from the horrors suffered this past day. I must caution, however, that the journey is not for the faint of heart. The mountains ahead will be our greatest enemy should we chose that path, and we are ill prepared to traverse them. Were I alone, I might chose to risk it, but I have no wish to lead you to your deaths by my folly. What say you?”

Those who had once bothered him had long since gone, and once again Hadrian sat alone atop the Kremlin ruins perplexing over the situation at hand. Avoiding contact with those below had become one of his highest priorities, he saw no point in mingling with the people of New Moscow, but somewhere deep inside he felt he should express some sort of pity for those who could not help themselves. "Be it a simple world, nay, a brutish world, only the strong may survive." He uttered to himself in assurance that his actions were acceptable. "This is nature, both in the physical world and the human mind. They have cast this upon themselves with ignorance, avaricious-ness and contempt. What part do I have in this?" he exclaimed silently as he perched himself on the wall, tossing from on high the violin and bow he had stolen away. "-and yet, I cannot shake this damnable feeling of charity. Is it not my place to watch?" Pausing for a moment he stepped away from the wall and headed directly for the stairs. "Is it not my place to watch..." he repeated shortly to himself, his feet padding against each step softly. Climbing over and across debris Hadrian exited the Kremlin with an audible crunch, his unknowing steps crushing the remains of his lost instrument with such force that he paused to inspect the remains. "I will take it upon myself to leave New Moscow before I tie myself into any more of this delirium." he determined in his mind, slowly stepping out into the empty streets. "Though be it for better or worse, I will lend what little aid I am allotted to those whom may need it."

ooc: that's what I got, kiki, nowhere for me to really go without throwing myself in someone els' affairs as of now.

"Alright kids, listen up."

Frank was running mostly in circles, using a circuitous route to force the beetle to change directions. He was starting to lose breath.

"If these beetles are one thing, is they're territorial. They are also pretty stupid, but that's an insect for ya. I guess that also makes it two eh?"

He burst out the room and rounded another corner, trusting the other two to be able to follow.

"We need to lead this beetle to another one, hopefully it'll get them confused. Then we can run away. Maybe find Trisha."

He couldn't keep running forever, he was going to give out soon. There was a hole in the wall up ahead. Nothing ventured nothing gained he thought as he jumped through. It landed him behind another one of those goddamn beetles. This one had it's attention turned, but not for long as he hit it as hard as he could when he jumped through without regard as to what was inside.

"Wait, kid?!" Ivan shouted while panting. "I look almost as old as you!" After that first sentence, he didn't really listen to anything Frank said.

They seemed to be doing nothing but running in circles, which was fine for someone in Ivan's line of work, considering most scavengers spent around 70% of their time trying to escape the various hungry critters and trigger-happy degenerates found in the ruins. That being said, they weren't really making any progress, and the others didn't seem to be holding up as well as he was.

He considered sacrificing his consciousness to smash the beetle with a shield, when Frank suddenly dove through a hole in the wall. Ivan reflexively jumped in the same direction and nearly missed the opening. The beetle on the other side didn't seem very pleased with the uninvited company.

Matthias cautiously stepped away from the Bolsho Beetle before them, ready to take flight at a moment's notice. However, this wasn't necessary. A small group of people plummeted through the freshly made hole in the wall and headlong into the menacing insect. The three trespassers temporarily forgotten, it turned to face the newcomers. Matthias wasn't sure whether to call it luck, but he was thankful nonetheless. He quickly took the opportunity to run up and mount the beetle from behind, making sure to slide far enough forward that it couldn't toss him off by opening its wings. He drew his knife, preparing to plunge it into the small gap in its exoskeleton just behind its head, but he stopped short when he saw another Bolsho Beetle come hurtling around the corner. He instantly regretted his decision.

Trisha's eyes widened with shock and then rounded with relief as she saw Frank, the other man, Ivan, that they had met earlier, and yet another boy she had never met run into the hall. She then gasped as yet another Bolsho Beetle smashed through the wall the three had slipped through. They were all doomed, was all she could think.

The Bolsho Beetle was shocked by the appearance of another beetle and immediately forgot about the little man who had crawled onto its back. Sure it knew that these small creatures were impeding upon its territory, but they were weak and easy to gut. Another Bolsho Beetle was an actual threat to its home. The beetle reared upon its back two legs its other two forelegs waved in the air as a threat. The other beetle screeched loudly immediately forgetting the small creatures it had been chasing, and gave an insectoid hiss at the other Bolsho Beetle.

Trisha wasn't sure how Frank knew this was going to happen, but she was glad it did. He had turned out to be her saviour yet again. She glanced in the direction where the man had run in a desperate attempt to attack the beetle. She honestly hoped he was alright, even if she herself did not trust him entirely. His efforts were valiant.

"Run!" she yelled, while grabbing Patrick by the hand and running in the direction where the man had been thrown. Luckily for them, that had also been near the massive hole where the Bolsho Beetle had smashed through earlier before the second one appeared. The beetles were much too busy with each other to care about the small creatures who were running about and left them alone as they ran.

Trisha more or less dragged Patrick as she ran through the halls blindly, unsure of where she was going, she continued making sure to stay away from the sound of any loud buzzing or noise that indicated the presence of yet another Bolsho Beetle. She never stopped to look behind to determine whether Frank and the others had followed, all she could do was hope that they had run as well. She hoped that Frank was nearby or had followed. Trisha skidded to a stop as she nearly collided with yet another individual. Had she looked up earlier when Ivan had literally fallen upon them, she would have recognized that he was the man who had accompanied Ivan, Hadrian.

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The men looked at the grizzled man suspiciously, unsure of what to make of him. Meanwhile Anya had managed to slip from Pitre's side unknowingly and found herself cuddling one of the furry legs of the great dogs that the man was riding. The cold gaze that the dog had when it had smelled the strangers earlier disappeared and it licked Anya in a friendly manner that caused the child to giggle loudly while wiping her face. Both men looked down at the girl who looked up at the men vacantly while she nuzzled her head against the dog's leg.

"Austin..." began the younger leaner man who had fallen down earlier.

"I know. I know." grumbled Austin while rubbing his temples with his hand. "Look," he finally stated with a sigh. "If you want to stay with us and our people, you're not going to stay for free. You'll have to work. Maybe even scavenge, since you look like you know your way around with a gun. Are you willing to work?"

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OOC: Waiting for Arthur.

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OCC: Waiting for Arthur.

It worked! It worked like a charm. It was all Frank could think of before Trisha shouted to run. He had been able to catch what little breath he could and took after her as fast as he could. It wasn't very fast though and she didn't go far. She ran in to yet another person. It seems everyone and their mother lived in the Kremlin.

The beetle Matthias had mounted reared up threateningly as a message to the one that had just arrived. Unprepared, he slid off of the insect's back and crashed into the ground. He stood up, rubbing his behind, and stalked off after the others. He was less sure than before if the turn of events could be described as beneficial.
He glanced back at the Bolsho Beetles, any kind of urgency dispelled. They would be far too absorbed in fighting each other to chase the trespassers, although two others were still caught between the menacing beasts. If they didn't move soon, they'd be completely eviscerated. Aside from that, Matthias was thankful that the only damage to his person was a sore backside. His pride, however, had taken a pretty big hit.

Pitre grunted like a wild boar at the thought of being ordered around by these two, but as he watched Anya cuddle with the dog he felt different. His anger subsided and he felt warm deep inside. The girl calmed him and tamed his long stone heart, hardened by the desire to come out on top in the wilds.

"Ok," he softly cooed, watching Anya. "Pauve ti bete, now we will rest."

For a moment Hadrian stood still and silent, his eyes gazing blankly into the distance. He had channeled away the outside world, taking notice, but not caring much for the girl who had nearly collided with him. After his instance of thought had finally finished Hadrian turned towards the girl, recognizing her instantly from before he kept himself silent of their previous encounter. "Excuse me." He uttered evenly, stepping backwards ever so slightly in a way that could provide passage for the two. "Aspirations burn quickly, don't they?" he added with a carefree smirk.

After Arthur asked his question to the group, only one of the others provided an answer. The oldest one of the group, Elias, shared his plan. He suggested they all head to Manda where people could provide some shelter. Without any other options, Arthur decided to agree.

"Alright, doesn't seem like we have much choice then. The mountains can't be that bad can they?"

Patrick couldn't do much but be dragged along with Trisha as they ran. Luckily there was another beetle taking the attention of the one before them, and they made their escape, away from the newcomers that Pat saw for a second. They stopped in front of another man, who moved a little for them to move through. "Thank you! I think." he said, responding with his own small smile.

Everyone seemed to be bolting away one by one. "Hey! Whoah! Wait for me!" shouted Ivan as he ran after them. After running for much too long, he saw someone he recognized.
"H-hey! What's up!" He wheezed.

Trisha still panting, smiled as she heard the footsteps of other approach. She wasn't sure what to make of the man, and she didn't know whether the boy would be able to help her if he turned out to be hostile. Thankfully, Ivan also caught up to the growing group greeting the stranger as though the two knew each other.

"You know him?" she asked looking at the stranger warily.

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Anya's head perked up as she heard Pitre mention her name and she walked over to his side while rubbing her eyes. It had been a long night. While dragging her bunny on the grand with one hand, she reached up and held Pitre's with the other.

"Alright Kayde get off the ground" commanded Austin while gently nudging the sides of his dog to turn around. Kayde rubbed his head while grinning like a fool and patted his dog on the head. He looked over at Pitre and Anya, then looked back at Austin.

"Hey..." he began hesitantly "If you don't mind you and your little girl can ride my dog" he offered while nodding his head in the shaggy dog's direction "You guys look like you've been through hell and back again"

Anya looked up at Pitre with her eyes sparkling excitedly, all traces of tiredness she had earlier displayed seemed to melt away.

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"Get out of the way!!" screamed an unknown voice in the minds of Elias, Arthur and the others. It was soon followed by the sound of many hooves thundering towards them.

"A mere handful of vague words between us, and nothing more." Hadrian explained as he nodded his head slightly, in a bowing fashion. "Quite the ruckus today, eh?" Hadrian began in a slightly sarcastic tone, meandering away from the group. "If you ever intend on leaving the city, I know of a way." he added keeping an easy pace as he continued on his way.