F3 - Jungle Outskirts of Caves

[Hollywood Heidi]

Jungle Outskirts of Caves

Located about an hour's walk from the south western survivors' camp beach area. Jungle area around caves.

Location found in box F3 below:

Each box is 3 miles by 3 miles. It takes an hour to walk 3 miles. But also keep in mind that hiking (like that really steep hill to get to higher ground) will take a heck of a lot longer and that if you're running (like from some jungle thing), that you'll get somewhere faster.

[Hollywood Heidi]

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Day 13

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[Mod post: Transcript of NPC scene of what's occurring elsewhere in the current timeline to refresh current players and let anyone interested in picking up one of these canon characters know where these characters currently are.]


[We see Locke's knife flying into a tree, instead.]

LOCKE: Does your father know you're here?

WALT: [shaking his head] Can you teach me how to do that?

[Locke hands Walt the knife.]

[Hollywood Heidi]

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The rest of Day 13 and all of Day 14

pass by fairly uneventfully. It is now:



Day 15 - Mid-Day

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[Hollywood Heidi]

[Mod post: Transcript of NPC scene of what's occurring elsewhere in the current timeline to refresh current players and let anyone interested in picking up one of these canon characters know where these characters currently are.]


[Shot of Claire sitting on a rock or stump in the jungle writing in her journal, Charlie brings her tea.]

CHARLIE: "Dear diary, still on the bloody Island. Today I swallowed a bug. Love, Claire." [He hands her tea.] Here, what separates us from these savage Yanks if we can't drink tea? Feeling better?

CLAIRE: It was just a dream.

CHARLIE: Mmmmm. I have this dream... I'm driving a bus and my teeth start falling out. My mom's in the back eating biscuits. Everything smells of bacon. It's weird. Of course, I don't wake up screaming.

CLAIRE: I'm alright, Charlie.

CHARLIE: No, of course you are. It's just, I think about you in this place -- how hard it must be for you without your family and your friends. And I think we could be friends. I could be your friend. We don't have to do each other's hair or anything. I just mean that if you needed someone to talk to about anything, I'm here.

CLAIRE: Charlie.

CHARLIE: Okay -- [he gets up to leave].

CLAIRE: I didn't mean that --

CHARLIE: It's cool, Claire. It's cool.

[Hollywood Heidi]

***Kate and Jack enter from F3 - Jungle Outskirts of Survivor's Camp***


"No," "Not me at least. With everything going on, especially with Claire, I probably won't stray to far until she is starting to show signs of improvement,"

The fact he was always so absorbed in the needs of others was exactly why she'd brought it up but her shared concern over Claire and her new situation gave her hesitation to proceed on the thought long enough for him to broach another subject.


"And you?"

The turn of the attention her way and his choice of words gave her the immediate impression he was politely suggesting she was guilty of also not taking the time for some fun, and he'd have been right. The way Jack always pushed himself beyond the brink had been clear since day one and her assumption in regards to him not taking time for himself was easily made. But Kate's closed off nature and her built-in defense mechanism of changing up her ways and activities when she felt someone was starting to learn them made her harder to figure out. The fact they hadn't exactly been around each other as much made it even more difficult for him to have a way of knowing what she'd been up to or if there had been any patterns starting to emerge.


"You still living it up on the beach? You know, there's still plenty of room at the caves if you ever need a change of scenery."

The way he glanced at her with that smile gave her that warm and fuzzy feeling that always had her glancing away but the grin remaining on her face. Funny how a topic that had been a source of contention between them at the start now evoked different feelings with their understanding of why both camps were important. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who missed being able to simply glance around to catch sight of the person who always popped into her mind.

For Kate, that fact alone was another reason why it was good to keep the distance. Even with it, she still found herself growing more and more attached. But she most definitely did not voice that thought in her reasoning because that alone would reveal too much of what was going on behind her walls. "Someone's gotta keep the signal fires going and keep an eye on the beach crew... until you figure out how to be in two places at once," she teased, grinning her amusement at him over poking fun at his overachieving nature and the thought that if it was anywhere within the realm of possibility, he sure as hell would be attempting the feat.

"Let me know if you ever find a little free time for a round of golf." Kate could hear the cave crew a little ahead and slowed to a stop to face him for a few more private moments. "I mean, unless you're afraid of losing," she challenged with a cheeky grin.

[Ariel]

"Someone's gotta keep the signal fires going and keep an eye on the beach crew... until you figure out how to be in two places at once,"

Jack chuckled at Kate's playful poke, and appreciated her spirit. She always found a way to manage keeping him on his toes and making him forget for a moment that they had landed themselves in such a dire situation. He nodded through his amused grin as he let her comment sink in, "Two places at once, you say? Well, this place is wacky enough, maybe we'll find a teleporter buried in the jungle." Jack smiled at his own comment as the trail towards the cave entrance grew shorter and shorter. They were almost there, and Jack was itching to replenish everyone's hydration and appetites.

 "Let me know if you ever find a little free time for a round of golf." "I mean, unless you're afraid of losing,"

A short laugh burst from Jack's throat as he smiled down at his feet for a moment, taking a few steps in towards where Kate had planted herself in front of him. Closer than before, he peered upwards at her with a flirtatious competitive look in his eyes, "Are you making it your goal to beat me? Might be unrealistic, but it's nice to set goals for yourself Kate. Competitive looks good on you." Jack remarked playfully, loosening the bag off of his shoulder and allowing it to hang in his hands as he enjoyed one last moment of fun with Kate before getting back to work.

[Kristi Lynne]

*** Gwen and Sawyer enter from F3 - Mid-Jungle Area ***

Gwen wasn't sure how far they were from the caves, but it seemed like they were close. As if in confirmation, she and Sawyer cleared a patch of trees to see the island doctor not too far ahead. "Jack!" she called out, running the rest of the way. "Hey, Kate, sorry," she added upon seeing the other woman, short of breath but still apologetic for interrupting the conversation between the two. "Something's happened. We found Sebastian. He ... he's dead," Gwen willed herself to say it. Any other details about this waking nightmare would be easier once she embraced that basic truth.

[Ariel]

"Jack!" 

Suddenly startled by someone calling his name from out of nowhere, Jack jumped as his gaze snapped up from Kate's. It was Gwen. She approached him quickly, appearing in great distress. He could feel his pulse quicken as a sense of dread entered the atmosphere. Between everything that had happened to them, Jack wasn't ready to have another terrible situation on their hands. But he knew that he had to be. Concern was flashing in his eyes as he turned his body to face Gwen, taking a few steps forward to meet her. 

"Hey, Kate, sorry,"

"Gwen, what's wrong?" Jack interjected, sweating through the suspense that had built up rapidly. Sawyer emerged from behind Gwen which gave Jack another startling surprise. He appeared to be stricken with anxiety as well, though Jack still wondered what in the world Sawyer's intentions were to venture out into the middle of the jungle with Gwen. The attention he paid to Sawyer was minor before turning his attention back onto Gwen to hear what had happened.

"Something's happened. We found Sebastian. He ... he's dead," 

"What? How?" Jack's jaw dropped as he fell into shock. Jack didn't think that things could have possibly gotten worse, but they did. Sebastian had been gone for quite some time, and yet he hadn't thought much about it with having everything else on his plate. Most of everyone in their camps were grown adults, capable of handling themselves even if they decided to venture out on their own. Jack felt partially responsible in a way, almost as if he had failed Sebastian, but he needed to get to the bottom of what happened. Perhaps if Sebastian had been attacked, it could even verify Claire's case, "Where is he? Where did you find him?" Jack asked as painful regret filled his voice.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Are you making it your goal to beat me? Might be unrealistic, but it's nice to set goals for yourself Kate. Competitive looks good on you."

She probably would have feigned exaggerated insult at his insinuation but seeing she'd managed to go beyond simply coaxing a smile out of him to making him laugh caused her usual grin to transform into a smile.

Kate was startled by a panicked shout before she had the chance to retort, her gaze also snapping in the direction it had come from.


"Jack!" "Hey, Kate, sorry,"

Kate silently made a dismissive gesture to swipe away any feelings of guilt Gwen might have before loosely crossing her arms. It was obvious Gwen had something far more important than competitive bantering to share. Sawyer emerged right behind Gwen, causing Kate to subconsciously shift slightly, putting a little space in the close proximity that she and Jack had ended up migrating into once again.


"Gwen, what's wrong?"

"Something's happened. We found Sebastian. He ... he's dead,"

Eyes widening slightly at the news, Kate's startled gaze went to Jack before looking toward Gwen and Sawyer again for the answer to the same questions she had. The mystery as to why the two had trekked into the jungle together was solved with unfortunate findings and their expressions as well as the air about them gave her a bad feeling regarding the circumstances.


"What? How?" "Where is he? Where did you find him?"

Kate automatically moved toward Gwen, the look of how this was affecting her bringing sadness and sympathy to Kate's face as she put a supportive hand on Gwen's upper arm, trying to ease her nerves. "Catch your breath. Take your time," she said quietly to Gwen. Kate glanced over at Jack with a silent request for him to reel in his own emotions a bit. Now was not the time for him to get worked up into his own guilt as he twisted it into a way he could blame himself for his imagined shortcomings. It was hard enough for Gwen to have seen it, harder still to talk about it when the trauma of it was still so fresh.

[DarkSideCookie]

Sawyer hadn't meant to leave the commando to Gwen, but as soon as Jack and also Kate had come into their view, she was not to stop. He didn't even get a word in when Jack started the questioning, guilt for his own part already readable on his features. That man still believed he could fix everything and everyone. Sawyer really had to pull himself together not to roll his eyes at that realization. He also felt both their gazes upon him for a moment. Right now, though, he was ignoring those, still slightly shocked himself. After all, it didn't happen every day that you found a corpse in the stream.

"What? How?""Where is he? Where did you find him?"

"Jack!" he suddenly intervened as Jack was pushing with questions while Gwen was still almost unable to breathe.

"Catch your breath. Take your time,"

Sawyer gave Kate just a short glance before using the chance to explain things further to Jack himself, pulling him aside a little. "We found him in the jungle, half-drowned in the stream." He was speaking as composed and quiet as he could so that his words wouldn't trigger Gwen too much again before she even took that advice from Kate. "You don't have to fix somethin' here, okay?" he added with a bit of that restrained annoyance, after all. He just couldn't help it. "We thought you might wanna get a look at him to tell us how he died."

[Kristi Lynne]

"Catch your breath. Take your time."

Gwen nodded in response to Kate's gentle advice and proceeded to do as instructed. "I'm fine," she insisted, even though that was far from the truth. She was grateful for the other woman's sympathy, but also for Sawyer's taking the lead in answering Jack's questions.

"We found him in the jungle, half-drowned in the stream…. You don't have to fix somethin' here, okay? We thought you might wanna get a look at him to tell us how he died."

"He was quite far inland, Jack. Even past the golf course," Gwen added, voicing a fact that added to the mystery. “We don’t know how long Sebastian was missing. But it looked as if he’d been there a couple days.” She shared a glance with Sawyer to confirm that he held the same opinion.

“I mean, this has to be a terrible accident, right?" Gwen wondered aloud, looking between jack and Kate. "No one would have wanted to harm him.”

[Ariel]

"We found him in the jungle, half-drowned in the stream" "You don't have to fix somethin' here, okay" "We thought you might wanna get a look at him to tell us how he died."


Jack allowed Sawyer to slide him to the side slightly to lay out the details of the tragic scenario that they witnessed as Kate helped Gwen compose herself. Jack shook his head in disbelief, rubbing his forehead covered in sweat half from the heat and half from the stress of the situation. He threw his hand back down to his side and gave Sawyer a stern look of warning at the bold remark. Jack refused to believe Sawyer's remark came from a good place, but he let it slide in this moment as there was something far bigger than their quarrels that they had to take care of. Jack also didn't want to upset Gwen any more than he did with his reaction and questions.


“I mean, this has to be a terrible accident, right?" "No one would have wanted to harm him.”


Jack turned his attention back onto Gwen as he took a step back into where she stood with Kate. He looked upon her empathetically as he calmed his voice to speak gently to her, "With all of the unpredictable elements we've been facing, it could have been anything from a run-in with an animal or even starvation. I promise that I'll do everything that I can to get to the bottom of what happened," Jack declared before turning back to Sawyer, "You can take me to this inland stream you found him in? I'm no coroner but I could probably take a few good guesses at what happened to him," Jack asked before passing his backpack off at Kate's feet, "Kate, you got Gwen? Make sure she gets some rest and lots of water, but don't tell anyone about what happened yet. I want to make sure we know what we're dealing with here first before we send a wave of panic through the camps," Jack instructed before looking back at Sawyer and waiting for him to lead the way.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Kate, you got Gwen? Make sure she gets some rest and lots of water, but don't tell anyone about what happened yet. I want to make sure we know what we're dealing with here first before we send a wave of panic through the camps,"

Kate nodded, strongly agreeing. "Yah, of course." Panic was the last thing they needed, especially when they weren't sure it was warranted. "Be safe," she called after them, momentarily watching and slightly worried that the two who got along the worst were heading out without anyone to buffer them from each other.

Picking up Jack's backpack, heavy with fruit and empty water bottles by the straps, Kate gave her attention to Gwen while Sawyer and Jack headed off. "Come on, let's get you back to the caves," she said, a gentle hand on Gwen's arm to guide her in the opposite direction of the men.


After walking in silence for a minute while mulling over the news, Kate finally addressed the situation. "I don't think anyone here would hurt someone," she said, partially distracted in thought as the various survivors ran through her head, but then she began to recall situations. "Not counting the various fist fights... And the--" she cut herself short before mentioning the stabbing in the whole Sayid/Sawyer/Jack debacle. "I'm... not helping my case," she said sheepishly, switching the heavy straps of the second backpack to her other hand as she pointed out her poorly thought-out initial comment at her own expense in hopes of easing some of the tension, despite completely missing her goal of easing Gwen's mind.

"I don't think anyone here is capable of going that far," she corrected in a sobered tone. The irony of that statement coming from someone who had gone that far wasn't lost on her. Though Kate easily brushed that aside as her only reason for having gone that far was to save her mother. "But there's more than just us is in this jungle," she reminded, but then offered some reassurance. "As long as we stick to groups, we should be okay."

[DarkSideCookie]

Sawyer didn't bother the stern expression to his remark on Jack's face. He was, just the same, well aware that, right now, they had to put their personal war aside to function in this situation. Not that he would be bothered by the doctor's reactions at any other time.

"You can take me to this inland stream you found him in? I'm no coroner but I could probably take a few good guesses at what happened to him,"

Sawyer replied with no more than a slight nod, then looked back at Gwen for the moment of Jack turning his attention towards Kate. He didn't say anything, but in his eyes, there was something that wasn't there pretty often, at least not for anyone to see: Sympathy. Of all people he had gotten to know more or less during their stay here, Gwen probably was the only one he saw completely innocent and unfairly confronted with a find like that.

As soon as Jack came closer again, Sawyer drew his attention away from her and back to him. "I hope you don't mind a little hike, doc," he stated rather sarcastically before leading them back into the jungle. Yeah, well, Sawyer couldn't help but not to miss a chance for some more mocking, after all. Maybe that was because he couldn't even imagine himself to deal in a normal way with him, or anybody on this island, for that matter. He was just too deep into it by now.


*** Sawyer and Jack exit to F3 - Mid-Jungle Area ***

[Kristi Lynne]

"Come on, let's get you back to the caves."

"Yeah, sure," Gwen agreed, without really thinking about it. Going through the motions, following Kate's lead. Shock wasn't something new; she'd been through it before. They all had when the plane crashed. She just had to give it time to wear off. She gave a small smile to Sawyer in response to his sympathetic look, not only to express her gratitude that he'd taken the initiative to lead Jack to the body but also her desire that the two boys play nice.

"Do you think that was a mistake?" she remarked rhetorically, as the shape of the two men was soon obscured by the trees. After all, Kate knew both of them better than she. Gwen had no doubt that Jack could set aside his differences with the Southerner for the length of the trip, and today's events certainly made it seem like Sawyer could do the same. At least she hoped that was true.  

"I don't think anyone here would hurt someone. Not counting the various fist fights... And the-- I'm... not helping my case. I don't think anyone here is capable of going that far, but there's more than just us in this jungle. As long as we stick to groups, we should be okay."

"Well, I'm not sure which explanation I prefer," Gwen sighed. "Cold-blooded killer, rogue polar bear...or some deadly danger we don't even know about yet." Then she held out her hand to Kate in order to assist with the seemingly heavy bag that she was carrying. "Here, let me help," she offered, eager to get to the relative safety of the caves.

*** Kate and Gwen exit to F3 - Caves ***

[Hollywood Heidi]

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The rest of Day 15 passes by. It is now:


Day 16 - Morning


Thursday, October 7, 2004

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